The Final Scene

Nancy Drew Files #38

by Carolyn Keene

When a handsome teen idol comes to Nancy's hometown, crime grabs the spotlight.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Thriller, Suspense, Crime

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the 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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The absolute best part of this entire book is when Nancy says that something can't be a break-in because they left the most valuable thing in the room: the VCR.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge Nancy Drew fan, I'm really surprised that the games haven't made the books (specifically the case files) more popular. I had to do an inter-library loan to get my hands on this baby. Who wouldn't want to know all the similarities and differences between the book and the games?

One thing the book did for me was clarify things I never fully understood in the game. It's nice to know that Nancy finds pizza boxes because the culprit is too scared to leave to buy groceries--it's the little things. A lot of plot points and danger are the same between the two versions, although the game has this history with Harry Houdini that the book never had.

The book had extra characters Deirdre and Bart. The game turns Simon Mueller, talent agent, into Simone. The book also had a cameo from Brenda Carlton (featured in the Alibi in Ashes game).

[Cassandra Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I enjoyed the HER Interactive video game of the same title. The video game is a very faithful adaptation of the book. The book has more characters and a couple of more "high-stakes" moments, which make it a fun romp. I would recommend it to any ND fan, but especially if you're into the video games.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a Nancy Drew book, it isn't great literature, but it is ridiculous enough to be fun.

Some highlights:
- Nancy asks a cop if a land developer is more important than her kidnapped friend and is told yes
- Nancy is sent to the hospital and immediately checks herself out and returns to the place she was injured
- Nancy laughs at a 23 year old character being described as a boy because to her that's so old
- it's obvious an overturned room wasn't from a robbery bc the VCR was left, and that's the first thing any robber would take
- Nancy stumbles upon one of her suspects in a different kidnapping and just let's them leave the trailer they've been keeping someone trapped in with basically no real response

in conclusion I love these stupid books.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my all time favorite Nancy Drew game because it was the first one I ever played. So I had to lower my expectations for the book a bit because I recognized that my love for the game was mainly due to nostalgia. The book was still very good- the main plot was the same but with some added characters and action, as per usual with these books. Can’t wait til the next one!

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. I like the cases that are really close and personal to Nancy and that’s what this was. I think cases like that really bring out the best in her character. Bess gets kidnapped and I thought that was interesting and I liked the way that it was done. It kept me intrigued and guessing the entire time. The only reason this is getting a three stars is because the ending was super rushed and felt anticlimactic.

[Samantha Bartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's the 4-1-1.

Nancy, Bess, and George go to the Century Cinema to see the premier of a movie staring Brady Armstrong, and up and coming actor from River Heights. While Nancy and George are excited to see the film, Bess is more excited about seeing Brady, hoping he will remember her from high school. When she makes the "extremely smart" decision to go in his dressing room uninvited to surprise him, she ends up missing. This missing persons case soon turned into a kidnapping when Nancy receives a threatening message telling her that if she ever wants to see Bess alive again, she will have to find a way to stop the theater from being demolished. The race is suddenly on to find Bess and keep the demolition from happening to keep her friend safe.

This book was released in 1989, and is part of the Nancy Drew Files series. Besides the Nancy Drew on Campus series, this series is probably the most "adult" Nancy Drew book series. Besides the mystery, these books focus mainly on romances subplots that never go past that current book. I'm not sure if these are just to make the story more interesting, or drag out the mystery. Honestly, I feel like if they didn't add their definition of a heart throb for Bess to fall in love with in every story, the book would be 40 pages long. But I'm not here to critique the entire series--just this book.

This is the book that HeR Interactive based their fifth game in their PC game series off of. Having played that game countless times, I wanted to read the book to see how similar the characters and plot were to the game. Just like when I read The Treasure in the Royal Tower earlier this month, I had to remind myself that the game was based off of the book, not the other way around. If anything, I should be critiquing the game for changing the story so much. But in this case, I felt like they stayed pretty close to the original.

The character of Maya from the game is actually Bess. I am glad the game changed this. Maya being a reporter makes much more sense than Bess just hoping Brady won't be weirded out by a random girl he went to school with five years earlier in his personal area. They also took George out of the game, which again, didn't hurt the plotline, although I did appreciate her crush on Nicholas. I get ya, George. I totally understand where you're coming from.

Speaking of Nick, I really liked his character in the book. I feel like he's more likable in the book than he is in the game. I'm also surprised that I liked Brady a little better in the book too. The game makes him out to be really dull and more like a puppet to his agent. This characteristic worked well in the game, but I feel like it would have been an excessive plotline in the book that would just lead to an unnecessary rabbit hole.

Simone from the game is actually Simon, Brady's annoying agent. He was just as annoying in the book as Simone was in the game. Joseph was probably the closest character to his personality in both the book and game, and I'm glad they decided to keep him the same.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I read it while listening to the game soundtrack which really made me feel like I was reliving the case for the first time all over again. It is an intense read for a Nancy Drew Files book, and I was grateful the unnecessary romance subplots were minimal in this book.

Fight the Power!

[Trips Starlake · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's honestly a pretty boring book, but all I the Nancy Drew case files seem to be. The action of Bess getting kidnapped at the beginning is all the plot really has to offer till about 100 pages in (and it's an 150 pages book). I didn't hate it, but there are better Nancy Drew books to read.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Nancy has a Very well stocked purse - lockpicks, pen light, tiny binoculars, she's got it all. The mystery stands up pretty well to a reread, although Nancy's investigative chops seemed a little weakened by the stress of Bess being kidnapped. 

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes yes I think the game is better but yes yes yes

[Fel (whatfelreads)]

i played this computer game so i knew what was going to happen, but, wow, even the game felt old back then 😂

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This case was my favorite of the Nancy Drew books because, mostly the characters. All of these characters combined made it my fav! They’re funny, smart for the most part, and Nancy is boss!

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining plot with high stakes, and a lot like the PC game. At first I was nervous because it felt a little too thematically similar to Stay Tuned for Danger (Bess has ALREADY dated a movie star, c'mon), and I noticed some familiar plot devices from the other Files books. But by the end I didn't have much to complain about. I liked that the culprit wasn't considered a suspect at first (to keep the reader in suspense) in a way that was still logical, but there were some subtle clues that the reader could pick up on to suggest who it was.

This was also the first book I've read that included Carson! He's a very likable character. Found it kind of weird that Bess's parents just happened to be in Africa, though. How convenient, right? And what about George's parents? Wouldn't they want to be involved, since it's their niece who's been kidnapped and all? I know Nancy is a detective, but it seemed odd to me that the adults just let her and George take over in such a case as kidnapping. The police were also just as unhelpful as they are in the game.

I will mention there were some dropped plot threads. Like, who left Nancy the mysterious phone call telling her to reconsider her suspect list (and why would the culprit make that call, if it was them?). And what was the real reason behind the argument between Brady and Bart? Brady in particular was really underused; the author didn't seem to know what to do with him. I'd like to point out that both he and Deirdre (the other movie star, but it's not Deirdre Shannon) are described with striking green eyes. Who does that sound like, you may ask? Oh, yeah. Mattie Jensen. Green eyes aren't exactly common, ya know. Should've known that's all it takes to make it in the TV business.

More gender-bent characters! Simone Mueller is Simon Mueller, and Louisa Falcone is Louis Falcone.

[Unitaga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nancy Drew and her two best friends (George: she’s a girl, and Bess) go to welcome the movie star Brady Armstrong to their town at the Century Cinema, where he will do a meet and greet with his fans. However, Bess gets kidnapped. They receive a note that says the kidnapper doesn’t want a ransom, he just wants for the Century Cinema not to be destroyed. (The Century Cinema was going to be demolished to make room for a new building.) While Nancy, George, Brady, and Nancy’s father try to figure out where Bess is being kept, they get another note saying she's being kept in the Cinema. After some negotiating, they delay the demolition long enough to find Bess and learn who took her. The find her, and learn that Joseph, the Janitor, kidnapped her because he didn’t want the Cinema to get demolished. They save the Cinema, and then the all get a behind-the-scenes tour of the movie set from Brady Armstrong. This was a decent book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a short read.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, this series delivers.

[V. Arrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's surprising that they cut Bess and George from the HER game, since they're so important in the plot of the book.

[Victoria Budkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the better 80s Nancy Drew books.

[Kate Kabat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great and suspenseful book for mystery readers!