Part of Series
AMERICA’S HOTTEST TEEN DETECTIVES TEAM UP IN A DEADLY DIG FOR CLUES NANCY DREW heads west to help archeologist Tod Langford investigate a series of thefts and threats interrupting his work. A young Native American woman, Red Sky Winsea, claims that he has disturbed the dead, desecrating a sacred Indian burial site. But the morning after Nancy’s arrival, she learns that Tod has unearthed more than a poltergeist. For the burial ground has become a killing ground—and Langford has dug his own grave. Meanwhile... FRANK AND JOE HARDY are checking out a nearby air force base. A vital shipment has been hijacked, and the materials could be used to build an atom bomb! The trail leads to the Indian burial site. But Joe is distracted by the beautiful Sky and seems to have lost sight of the danger. If the missing shipment falls into the wrong hands, true evil may rise up from the grave, with catastrophic results...
Author
Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator. Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten. Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.
