The Nancy Drew Files

The Nancy Drew Files, or the Nancy Drew Case Files, is a detective fiction series started in 1986 and released by Simon & Schuster,[1] New York. It is a spin-off of the original series of novels featuring Nancy Drew, with a greater emphasis on adventure, malice and romance. All the books have been written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. This series has been targeted at readers who are age eleven and up. With a new book released almost every month, 124 titles were released in 11 years. More than 17 million copies are in print and the books have appeared on the bestseller lists of Publishers Weekly, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks. In 2014, Simon & Schuster started releasing this series in eBook format.

Secrets Can Kill, the first book in the Nancy Drew Files series

Series background

The Nancy Drew Files is a spin-off from the Nancy Drew series. The stories follow teenage detective Nancy Drew. Her father, Carson Drew, is a successful attorney and a widower. Their house is taken care of by their full-time housekeeper, Hannah Gruen. Nancy's companions are usually her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne, no matter whether she is sleuthing or shopping. Her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson also helps her with investigations. Contrary to their stable relationship in the original Nancy Drew series, Nancy and Ned's relationship is given more depth, and the two are portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional couple. They break-up and reconcile multiple times throughout the series. But in the last book of this series, it is shown that they kept dating each other.

Notable books
  • Secrets Can Kill (#1), Stay Tuned for Danger (#17), Death by Design (#30), and The Final Scene (#38) were all adapted into the popular Nancy Drew video game series by Her Interactive.
  • Two Points to Murder (#8) features the first break-up between Nancy and Ned.
  • Till Death Do Us Part (#24) sees Ned Nickerson proposing to Nancy, although she turns him down.
  • The Suspect Next Door (#39) launched a spin-off of The Nancy Drew Files series, titled River Heights. However, that series was a romance series, with occasional cameos by Nancy.
  • All books from #112 (For Love or Money) to #119 (Against the Rules) feature stills from the 1995 television adaption as the covers.

Development

The Nancy Drew Files is the first spin-off from the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. The series was developed by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, in its final year. The series was first introduced in two books from the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #77: The Bluebeard Room, and #78: The Phantom of Venice. These two books were much more modern and serious, while also featuring romance. These two books were the final books overseen by the Syndicate, prior to its sale to Simon & Schuster in 1986. The publishers soon launched The Nancy Drew Files concurrent to the original series, to aim for more mature readers.

The series is known as the most successful spin-off of the original book series, and also inspired a similar spin-off for The Hardy Boys. In 1995, the series reduced its release rate in half, by beginning to release a book every other month, instead of every month. Finally, the series was cancelled in 1997, in a mass cancellation of all mature-themed Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys spin-offs.

Television adaptation

The 1995 television adaption, Nancy Drew, was based on The Nancy Drew Files. The adaption had very little to do with The Nancy Drew Files series, other than its modern and trendy setting, more mature themes, and Nancy and Ned's relationship issues. The series featured a college-aged Nancy, who moved to New York City, to attend college and live with Bess (who was an advice columnist) and George (a mail carrier, and amateur filmmaker). The series was produced by Canadian production company Nelvana, and filmed in Toronto (with an arc in Paris).

The series' stars — Tracy Ryan, Jhene Erwin, and Joy Tanner — were featured on the covers of the books, which were promotional stills of the television series. The promotion began on the 112th book, For Love or Money, and continued until book 119, Against The Rules. Ironically, For Love or Money was released the month the last episode of the series aired. By the time the books stopped the promotion, the television series had been cancelled for over a year (and in another twist of irony, The Nancy Drew Files would also be cancelled that same year).

List of books in the series

The series featured 124 books (plus a promotional packet, distributed to promote the series ahead of its launch), all of which were edited by Anne Greenberg. Four additional titles of The Nancy Drew Files were planned, three of them rewritten as entries for the original series.[2]

Titles, authorship, and publication dates
# Title Pub. Manuscript
1 Secrets Can Kill June 1986
2 Deadly Intent June 1986
3 Murder on Ice September 1986
4 Smile and Say Murder October 1986
5 Hit and Run Holiday November 1986
6 White Water Terror December 1986 Susan Wittig Albert[3]
7 Deadly Doubles January 1987
8 Two Points to Murder February 1987
9 False Moves March 1987
10 Buried Secrets April 1987
11 Heart of Danger May 1987 Susan Wittig Albert[3]
12 Fatal Ransom June 1987
13 Wings of Fear July 1987
14 This Side of Evil August 1987 Susan Wittig Albert & Bill Albert[3]
15 Trial by Fire September 1987
16 Never Say Die October 1987
17 Stay Tuned for Danger November 1987
18 Circle of Evil December 1987
19 Sisters in Crime January 1988
20 Very Deadly Yours February 1988
21 Recipe for Murder March 1988
22 Fatal Attraction April 1988 Susan Wittig Albert & Bill Albert[3]
23 Sinister Paradise May 1988
24 Till Death Do Us Part June 1988
25 Rich and Dangerous July 1988
26 Playing with Fire August 1988 Susan Wittig Albert & Bill Albert[3]
27 Most Likely to Die September 1988
28 The Black Widow October 1988
29 Pure Poison November 1988
30 Death by Design December 1988
31 Trouble in Tahiti January 1989
32 High Marks for Malice February 1989
33 Danger in Disguise March 1989
34 Vanishing Act April 1989
35 Bad Medicine May 1989
36 Over the Edge June 1989
37 Last Dance July 1989
38 The Final Scene August 1989
39 The Suspect Next Door September 1989
40 Shadow of a Doubt October 1989 Deborah Gaines[2]
41 Something to Hide November 1989
42 The Wrong Chemistry December 1989
43 False Impressions January 1990
44 Scent of Danger February 1990 Deborah Gaines[2]
45 Out of Bounds March 1990
46 Win, Place, or Die April 1990
47 Flirting with Danger May 1990
48 A Date with Deception[note 1] June 1990
49 Portrait in Crime[note 1] July 1990
50 Deep Secrets[note 1] August 1990
51 A Model Crime September 1990
52 Danger for Hire October 1990
53 Trail of Lies November 1990
54 Cold as Ice December 1990
55 Don't Look Twice January 1991
56 Make No Mistake February 1991
57 Into Thin Air March 1991
58 Hot Pursuit April 1991
59 High Risk May 1991
60 Poison Pen June 1991
61 Sweet Revenge July 1991
62 Easy Marks August 1991
63 Mixed Signals September 1991
64 The Wrong Track October 1991
65 Final Notes November 1991
66 Tall, Dark, and Deadly December 1991
67 Nobody's Business January 1992
68 Crosscurrents February 1992 Rosalind Noonan[4]
69 Running Scared March 1992
70 Cutting Edge April 1992
71 Hot Tracks May 1992
72 Swiss Secrets[note 2] June 1992
73 Rendezvous in Rome[note 2] July 1992
74 Greek Odyssey[note 2] August 1992
75 A Talent for Murder September 1992
76 The Perfect Plot October 1992
77 Danger on Parade November 1992
78 Update on Crime December 1992
79 No Laughing Matter January 1993
80 Power of Suggestion February 1993
81 Making Waves March 1993
82 Dangerous Relations April 1993
83 Diamond Deceit May 1993
84 Choosing Sides June 1993
85 Sea of Suspicion July 1993
86 Let's Talk Terror August 1993
87 Moving Target September 1993
88 False Pretenses October 1993
89 Designs in Crime November 1993
90 Stage Fright December 1993 Louise Ladd[5]
91 If Looks Could Kill January 1994
92 My Deadly Valentine February 1994
93 Hotline to Danger March 1994
94 Illusions of Evil April 1994
95 An Instinct for Trouble May 1994
96 The Runaway Bride June 1994
97 Squeeze Play July 1994
98 Island of Secrets August 1994 Louise Ladd[5]
99 The Cheating Heart September 1994
100 Dance Till You Die October 1994
101 The Picture of Guilt November 1994
102 Counterfeit Christmas December 1994
103 Heart of Ice January 1995
104 Kiss and Tell February 1995
105 Stolen Affections March 1995
106 Flying Too High April 1995
107 Anything for Love May 1995
108 Captive Heart June 1995
109 Love Notes July 1995
110 Hidden Meanings August 1995
111 The Stolen Kiss October 1995
112 For Love or Money December 1995
113 Wicked Ways February 1996
114 Rehearsing for Romance April 1996
115 Running into Trouble June 1996
116 Under His Spell August 1996
117 Skipping a Beat October 1996
118 Betrayed by Love December 1996
119 Against the Rules February 1997
120 Dangerous Loves April 1997
121 Natural Enemies June 1997
122 Strange Memories August 1997
123 Wicked for the Weekend October 1997
124 Crime at the Chat Café December 1997

See also

Notes
  1. Part of the "A Summer of Love" Trilogy.
  2. Part of the "Passport To Romance" Trilogy.

References and sources
  1. Rediscovering Nancy Drew. Dyer, Carolyn Stewart., Romalov, Nancy Tillman, 1946-. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. 1995. ISBN 9780877455011. OCLC 44960894.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Bigfootman's Review Blog: A Nancy Drew Files Mystery Solved?". 13 February 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. "Susan Wittig Albert". www.susanalbert.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  4. "Nancy Drew sleuths in Baltimore", Baltimore Sun, April 22, 1992. Retrieved 20 August 2021
  5. Rochman, Joanne Greco (March 19, 2012). "Nancy Drew Is Alive And Well at 82: Interview With CT Writer Louise Ladd". CBS Connecticut. CBS Broadcasting Inc.
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