Super Sleuths!

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Super Sleuths! #1

by Carolyn Keene, Franklin W. Dixon, Paul Frame (Illustrator)

À peine Alice a-t-elle posé le pied dans l'aéroport de Bayport que ses amis les Hardy, lui proposent de résoudre une énigme. Joe ne cesse de recevoir de précieux cadeaux. Des paquets anonymes qui ressemblent à un butin d'un cambriolage... Alice est bien décidée à mettre fin à cette correspondance !

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Classics, Childrens, Mystery Thriller

189 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a group of 7 short mysteries featuring both Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. For the most part the stories were good and fun to read but... I was appalled with story #6 "The Clue in the Chimes". In it Nancy and the boys have joined an archaeology dig. They dig up part of a skeleton of a young man- a native American Indian-and the professor tells them that the remains are about 200 years old, that of a 20 year-old male. To me that seems like a travesty. It isn't an ANCIENT burial site. Not only that but Joe immediately starts to joke about the partial skeleton saying "I'm young, I'm handsome, I don't want to be half a man." Maybe it was acceptable to dig up 200 year-old grave sites in 1981 when this book was written but I think it is insensitive, to say the least.

My favorite story was the last one, "The Secret of Mountaintop Inn", which originally appeared in the December 16, 1980 Family Circle magazine.

[Eric Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable ND/HB book. Although there were a few dumb moments in some of the stories(like in The Bank Robbery Puzzle, the bank robbers use crossword puzzles in local newspapers to communicate to each other. Uh really??) and I didn't like that this was the first book where Nancy and the Hardys team up and there wasn't some kind of introduction of how they first meet up. They just happen to be friends out of the blue! Overall though, nice intriguing little mysteries(though my least favorite is The Bank Robbery Puzzle). 4 stars.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys will really like Super Sleuths!
This book contains seven short stories from 1980 and 1981 that feature a cross over of the most popular young adult detectives. Each chapter is a short open and closed case.

⚠️Parental Warning ⚠️
The story Clue in the Chimes contains some irreverent talk between the protagonists towards a found skeleton of a Native American.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book to read for short doses of ND and HB. The background to the stories is interesting to those who like the story behind the stories. The Secret of Mountaintop Inn, set at Christmas, was written by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who ran the Stratemeyer Syndicate after her father Edward who conceived of ND, HB and many other children's series died, and first appeared in a women's magazine.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hardy boys join Nancy Drew to solve 7 mysteries.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75