False Pretenses

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Files (88), Nancy Drew (Case Files — Files 88)

81 Members 1 Review ½ (3.63)

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"A visit to her father's law firm leads Nancy to take legal action ... against a murderer."

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1 review
{Possible spoilers}

I just finished reading this book, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It was a great plot, made a LOT more interesting and intriguing by the fact that Carson Drew was a suspect (!!). However, I had my suspicions about a certain character right from the start, and halfway through the book it was very apparent that he was the killer, even though it obviously wasn't apparent to Nancy. I was let down by the easiness in which I figured out the killer, most ND books really leave me hanging until the very end. However, I still liked the plot and the interesting twists in the case.
½

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927+ Works 201,876 Members
Carolyn Keene was the pseudonym that Mildred Wirt Benson and Walter Karig used to write Nancy Drew books. The idea of Nancy Drew came from Edward Stratemeyer in 1929. He also had other series, that included the Hardy Boys, but he died in 1930 before the Nancy Drew series became famous. His daughters, Harriet and Edna, inherited his company and show more maintained Nancy Drew having Mildred Wirt Benson, the original Carolyn Keene, as the principal ghostwriter. During the Depression, they asked Benson to take a pay cut and she refused, which is when Karig wrote the books. Karig's Nancy Drew books were Nancy's Mysterious Letter, The Sign of the Twisted Candles, and Password to Larkspur Lane. He was fired from writing more books because of his refusal to honor the request that he keep his work as Carolyn Keene a secret. He allowed the Library of Congress to learn of his authorship and his name appeared on their catalog cards. Afterwards, they rehired Benson and she wrote until her last Nancy Drew book (#30) was written in 1953, Clue of the Velvet Mask. Harriet and Edna Stratemeyer also contributed to the Nancy Drew series. Edna wrote plot outlines for several of the early books and Harriet, who claimed to be the sole author, had actually outlined and edited nearly all the volumes written by Benson. The Stratemeyer Syndicate had begun to make its writers sign contracts that prohibited them from claiming any credit for their works, but Benson never denied her writing books for the series. After Harriet's death in 1982, Simon and Schuster became the owners of the Stratemeyer Syndicate properties and in 1994, publicly recognized Benson for her work at a Nancy Drew conference at her alma mater, the University of Iowa. Now, Nancy Drew has several ghostwriters and artists that have contributed to her more recent incarnations. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
False Pretenses
Original publication date
1993

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Tween, Young Adult
DDC/MDS
813.52Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991900-1945
BISAC

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Members
81
Popularity
391,500
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (3.63)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
5
ASINs
2