Part of Series
Louise and Jean help Captain Dana find Katherine Blore, a woman who disappeared mysteriously from his ship before it docked. The Danas trace Miss Blore to her current residence, but she refuses to see them. The Danas try once again to see Miss Blore but find her home empty except for the landlord, who is locked in a closet. The landlord, Mr. Wharton, has suffered a heart attack, so Louise and Jean help him get the house rented by showing it to prospective tenants. While in the house, Louise falls strangely unconscious and remains asleep for 12 hours. Later, the same fate befalls Mr. Wharton and one of the new tenants. Louise begins researching herbs, thinking that a poisonous herb may be the culprit for the sleeping illness. The girls divide their time between searching for the mysterious herb and searching for Miss Blore, who has left the state. The girls must travel to a distant ranch and back home again before they can solve the mystery.
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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.
