Trail of Lies

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew Files (53), Nancy Drew (Case Files — Files 53)

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Nancy and Jon join Carson Drew on a visit to Anchorage shipping magnate Henry Wilcox, and they are thrilled by the idea of exploring Alaska. But a cold case awaits...

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Member Reviews

1 review
This book really surprised me. Not just who the smuggler turned out to be, but also my reaction. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out things before Nancy, or at least picking up on things that Nancy doesn't notice right away... but this time, for some reason, I was SO sure of the culprit's identity that I missed the little hints that I'd usually pick up on. Which meant that I was VERY surprised when the real smuggler was revealed... maybe this book was just written better, hiding the clues more discretely or something. Whatever the reason, I really liked it!

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925+ Works 201,405 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
Trail of Lies
Original publication date
1990
Important places
Alaska, USA

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Tween, Young Adult
DDC/MDS
813Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English
LCC
PS3521 .E27 .T73Language and LiteratureAmerican literatureAmerican literatureIndividual authors1900-1960
BISAC

Statistics

Members
127
Popularity
256,210
Reviews
1
Rating
(3.90)
Languages
English, Swedish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
5
ASINs
2