The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is the long-running 'main' series of the Nancy Drew franchise, which was published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. There are 175 novels and 34 revised stories that were published between 1930 and 2003 under the banner. Grosset & Dunlap published the first 56, and 34 revised stories, while Simon & Schuster published the series beginning with volume 57.
A spinoff, the Nancy Drew Files, ran concurrently from 1986 to 1997. In 2003, Simon & Schuster announced that Nancy Drew Mystery Stories would end and be replaced by a new, more contemporary series titled Nancy Drew: Girl Detective. Launched in 2004, the series ended in 2012. The Nancy Drew Diaries was launched in its place in 2013.
Publishing history Mildred Wirt Benson is credited with writing 23 of the first 30 novels in the series. Other authors contributed as well, but in 1959, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Adams, began rewriting or overseeing the writing of the earlier books in the series, sometimes substituting entirely new plots while retaining the same title.
In the Harriet Adams revisions, Nancy is depicted as a less impulsive, less headstrong girl of Stratemeyer and Mildred's vision, to a milder, more sedate and refined girl— "more sugar and less spice", with an extensive wardrobe and a more charitable outlook. Nancy's friend Helen Corning is aged up in preparation for her "write-out" after volume 4 of the revised series (no explanation was made in the original series), and to introduce Bess and her cousin George. Perceived racial stereotypes — and, arguably, characters of color period — were omitted. Action increased significantly and became faster-paced. Greater developmental detail was given to Nancy and her home.
In 1979, the Stratemeyer Syndicate left Grosset & Dunlap over contractual and creative disputes, transferring their operations to Simon & Schuster. An ensuing legal battle resolved in 1982 with a court granting Grosset & Dunlap the right to continue publishing the first 56 Nancy Drew titles in hardback, and the publication rights of new stories to Simon & Schuster, or whomever the Syndicate chose. Titles from #57, The Triple Hoax (1979), were thereafter published primarily in paperback.Nancy Drew World: Digest Paperbacks – The Triple Hoax. Accessed April 3, 2008 The company initially printed titles under their children's imprint Wanderer, utilizing digest sized paperbacks. Titles were presented in a set cover format referred to as the "Arch" design, with sixteen covers drawn by Ruth Sanderson. Wanderer redesigned and rereleased covers with a new "checkerboard" design before the series moved, from #79 on, to the new Minstrel imprint that continued the "checkerboard" design until #128, moving to a standardized book cover with the series logo and book title on a white background. The series ultimately moved again to Simon & Schuster's Aladdin Paperbacks imprint beginning with #164, with a new design of the Nancy Drew silhouette logo printed over cover art.
Several foreign editions utilized a mass market paperback format, such as the British releases by Armada).
Grosset & Dunlap titles (1930–1979) The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were first published in the United States in 1930 by Grosset & Dunlap in a series of hardbacks. Revision of all titles through #34 began in 1959.
+ Titles, authorship, and publication datesTitleOutlineManuscriptEditorRevised by 1 The Secret of the Old Clock 1930 Edward Stratemeyer Mildred Wirt Edward Stratemeyer 1959 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 2 The Hidden Staircase 1930 1959 3 The Bungalow Mystery 1930 1960 Patricia Doll 4 The Mystery at Lilac Inn 1930 Harriet Otis Smith 1961 5The Secret at Shadow Ranch 1931 Harriet Otis Smith 1965 Grace Grote 6 The Secret of Red Gate Farm 1931 Edna Stratemeyer Squier Edna Stratemeyer Squier andHarriet Stratemeyer Adams 1961 Lynn Ealer 7 The Clue in the Diary 1932 1962 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 8 Nancy's Mysterious Letter 1932 Walter Karig 1968 9 The Sign of the Twisted Candles 1933 1968 Patricia Doll 10 The Password to Larkspur Lane 1933 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1966 11 The Clue of the Broken Locket 1934 Edna Stratemeyer Squier Mildred Wirt 1965 Harriet Stratemeyer Adamsand Grace Grote 12 The Message in the Hollow Oak 1935 1972 Grace Grote 13 The Mystery of the Ivory Charm 1936 1974 Priscilla Baker-Carr 14 The Whispering Statue 1937 1970 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 15 The Haunted Bridge 1937 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1972 Priscilla Baker-Carr 16 The Clue of the Tapping Heels 1939 Edna Stratemeyer Squier 1969 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 17 The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk 1940 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1976 18 The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion 1941 Edna Stratemeyer Squier 1971 19 The Quest of the Missing Map 1942 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1969 Priscilla Baker-Carr 20 The Clue in the Jewel Box 1943 1972 21 The Secret in the Old Attic 1944 1970 22 The Clue in the Crumbling Wall 1945 1973 23 The Mystery of the Tolling Bell 1946 1973 24 The Clue in the Old Album 1947 1977 25 The Ghost of Blackwood Hall 1948 1967 26 The Clue of the Leaning Chimney 1949 George Waller, Jr. andHarriet Stratemeyer Adams 1967 27 The Secret of the Wooden Lady 1950 Margaret Scherf 1967 28 The Clue of the Black Keys 1951 Wilhelmina Rankin andHarriet Stratemeyer Adams 1968 29 The Mystery at the Ski Jump 1952 Alma Sasse 1968 Ann Shultes 30 The Clue of the Velvet Mask 1953 Andrew Svenson Mildred Wirt 1969 Priscilla Baker-Carr 31 The Ringmaster's Secret 1953 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1974 June Dunn 32 The Scarlet Slipper Mystery 1954 Charles Strong 1974 Ann Shultes 33 The Witch Tree Symbol 1955 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 1975 34 The Hidden Window Mystery 1956 Patricia Doll andHarriet Stratemeyer Adams 1975 Mary Fisher 35 The Haunted Showboat 1957 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams June Dunn andJ. Sanderson colspan="2" rowspan="22" 36 The Secret of the Golden Pavilion 1959 37 The Clue in the Old Stagecoach 1960 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams 38 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon 1961 39 The Clue of the Dancing Puppet 1962 40 The Moonstone Castle Mystery 1963 41 The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes 1964 42 The Phantom of Pine Hill 1965 43 The Mystery of the 99 Steps 1966 44 The Clue in the Crossword Cipher 1967 45 The Spider Sapphire Mystery 1968 46 The Invisible Intruder 1969 47 The Mysterious Mannequin 1970 48 The Crooked Banister 1971 49 The Secret of Mirror Bay 1972 50 The Double Jinx Mystery 1973 51 Mystery of the Glowing Eye 1974 52 The Secret of the Forgotten City 1975 53 The Sky Phantom 1976 54 The Strange Message in the Parchment 1977 55 Mystery of Crocodile Island 1978 56 The Thirteenth Pearl 1979
Simon & Schuster titles In 1979, the Nancy Drew books began to be published by Wanderer Books Simon & Schuster in paperback format. Though formatted differently from the original 56-volume series which continued under Grosset & Dunlap's control, these new books were published under the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories banner. These books feature increasingly contemporary cover illustrations and some books have multiple versions of the cover art.
These books are sometimes referred to as "Digests", since Simon & Schuster published them as digest-size paperbacks, as opposed to Grosset & Dunlap's hardcover books. (One of the reasons why Adams switched to Simon & Schuster was that Grosset & Dunlap was opposed to such a change, while Simon & Schuster agreed to it.)
In 2005, the first eight volumes from the Wanderer section (#57-64) were republished by Grosset & Dunlap, as a special promotion for the celebration of Nancy Drew's 75th anniversary. These republications went out of print in 2013.
Wanderer Books (1979–1985) The Triple Hoax was originally listed as the next book at the end of The Thirteenth Pearl. Grosset & Dunlap continued to list this until they lost a court case against the Syndicate and Simon & Schuster in May 1980. The book was later revised to eliminate The Triple Hoax. However, they later published this book — and the seven after that — in 2005, with the permission and collaboration of Simon & Schuster, in celebration of Nancy Drew's 75th anniversary.
The main plot, formula, and continuity of the books remained similar to the original Grosset & Dunlap books still being published at the time. Harriet Adams was still involved in the Syndicate, even after she stopped writing the books in 1980. Simon & Schuster rejected her original manuscript for The Secret in the Old Lace, with the story being rewritten by Nancy Axelrad. After she died in 1982, the Syndicate continued with five of its partners (Adams' remaining three children, plus authors Axelrad and Lilo Wuenn), until its sale to Simon & Schuster in 1987.
During this period, the Syndicate began to hire new, younger writers, including Sharon Wagner, Richard Ballad, and James Duncan Lawrence. Ballad's two books, Captive Witness and The Sinister Omen, as well as The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery, were originally written for The Hardy Boys, but were rewritten for unknown reasons.
The final two books (#77 and #78) were "backdoor pilots" for the spin-off The Nancy Drew Files, which began in 1986. Due to this, and the sale of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the series went on a two-year hiatus to retool the series.
+ Titles, authorship, and publication dates (1979–1985) Title OutlineManuscriptEditor 57 The Triple Hoax 1979 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adamsand Lilo Wuenn 58 The Flying Saucer Mystery 1980Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Lilo Wuenn 59 The Secret in the Old Lace 1980 Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adams & Nancy Axelrad 60 The Greek Symbol Mystery 1981 Harriet Stratemeyer Adamsand Nancy AxelradNancy Axelrad 61 The Swami's Ring 1981 62 The Kachina Doll Mystery 1981 Sharon Wagner Nancy Axelrad 63 The Twin Dilemma 1981 Nancy Axelrad Lilo Wuenn 64 Captive Witness 1981 Richard Ballad Nancy Axelrad 65 Mystery of the Winged Lion 1982 Nancy Axelrad 66 Race Against Time 1982 James Duncan Lawrence 67 The Sinister Omen 1982 Richard Ballad 68 The Elusive Heiress 1982 Sharon Wagner 69 Clue in the Ancient Disguise 1982 James Duncan Lawrence 70 The Broken Anchor 1983 Sharon Wagner 71 The Silver Cobweb 1983 James Duncan Lawrence 72 The Haunted Carousel 1983James Duncan Lawrence 73 Enemy Match 1984 Donetta Bowers 74 The Mysterious Image 1984 James Duncan Lawrence 75 The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery 1984 Sharon Wagner 76 The Eskimo's Secret 1985 Sharon Wagner 77 The Bluebeard Room 1985 James Duncan Lawrence 78 The Phantom of Venice 1985James Duncan Lawrence
Minstrel Books (1987–2001)
After volume 78, the series took a -year hiatus due to the sale of the Stratemeyer Syndicate to Simon & Schuster, and to begin The Nancy Drew Files spin-off. At this point, book packager Mega-Books took over the series, and hired different ghostwriters for the job (many of whom are still unknown). The ghostwriters who are known are ones who have either been discovered through other resources or have publicly revealed themselves as a ghostwriter for the series.
The series also gained Anne Greenberg as the new editor; Greenberg would oversee the series for the next 16 years and become one of the most influential Nancy Drew editors that helped the books continue until the 21st century.
Due to the cancellation of The Nancy Drew Files in 1997, Simon & Schuster rewrote several unpublished manuscripts into books for the original series. These include The Wild Cat Crime (#141), The E-mail Mystery (#144), and The Case of the Captured Queen (#148).
The writing style of these books took a different direction than the books of the Syndicate; modern technology is mentioned (making the books seem somewhat dated very quickly), continuity errors are common, and the books become shorter (reducing the books from a 20-chapter/180-page format to a 16-chapter/150-page format). In the late 1990s, continuity errors and text errors became more common.