Nancy Drew: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall / The Clue of the Leaning Chimney
by Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew (Omnibus Collections — 25-26)
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A search for stolen jewelry takes Nancy to New Orleans where she uncovers a swindling racket in which a medium uses her trade to relieve victims of their valuables.Tags
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929+ Works 202,011 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
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Nancy Drew: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall / The Clue of the Leaning Chimney
- Original title
- The Ghost of Blackwood Hall / The Clue of the Leaning Chimney
- People/Characters
- Nancy Drew; Ned Nickerson; George Fayne; Bess Marvin
- First words
- "If I ever try to solve a mystery with a ghost in it, I'll use a smart cat to help me!"
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Anyway,it's much more fun to catch the people who try to do the flimflamming!" Nancy said, smiling.
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- Languages
- English
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- Paper
- ASINs
- 2
