What do you think?
Rate this book
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #153
Whispers in the Fog
Katie Firestone, champion kayaker and owner of a whale-watching tour boat, has invited George, along with Nancy, Ned, and Bess, to vacation north of San Francisco in Seabreak. But when Katie’s boat is vandalized, suspicion falls on fisherman Holt Scotto, who may be trying to run Katie out of business. The menace doesn’t stop a bike accident, a stalker, danger at an abandoned lighthouse, and a terrifying kayak trip lead Nancy to a hidden sea cave. Inside, Nancy discovers a dangerous secret. Soon her fearless instincts plunge her deeper into trouble—and it will take all her courage, daring, and wits to get herself and her friends out of it alive!
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2000
12 people are currently reading
838 people want to read
About the author
Carolyn Keene
1,013 books3,867 followersCarolyn 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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 4, 2023
i’m trying to read through all of the nancy books that the games were based off, and this was one of the worst yet. the game is great; the book is weak. & the culprit is different!
August 11, 2019
A pretty good mystery, although on this reread there were a few things that seemed a little under-researched.
March 12, 2023
A fun and exciting mystery for Nancy and friends. Liked this one!
June 25, 2017
Not the most interesting ND book I've read. And the culprit reveal was a little disjointed, but otherwise a good book.
This is also the book that the 9th ND computer game, Danger on Deception Island, is based on.
This is also the book that the 9th ND computer game, Danger on Deception Island, is based on.
March 2, 2021
Someone is trying to ruin Katie’s whale watching business. When Nancy Drew and her friends visit they are soon drawn into a web of dangerous secrets. Suspicious characters and stalkers lead Nancy’s investigations to an abandoned lighthouse, a hidden sea cave and more terrifying locations in her quest to solve the mystery.
July 5, 2021
The first book to have an entirely different culprit than the PC game! I've been waiting for this to happen. And, in hindsight, I can see why they changed it.
The mystery in this book starts out okay, then gets boring and repetitive, then extremely wacky, and then a surprise ending comes out of left field. It gets points for throwing me for a loop, but by the end you could tell the author had no idea what he/she was going for. I feel like I have to fully summarize this one to get across how weird it turned out to be.
So. Nancy and the gang visit George's world-class kayaker friend, Katie Firestone. Katie has just moved out to the west coast and is trying to fulfill a dream of hosting whale-watching tours. However, someone vandalizes Katie's boat and we find out that the local fishermen are most likely trying to run her out of town. They are a bit touchy and distrustful of outsiders (this is actually explained a bit better in the game, as the fishermen are afraid a whale-watching business will ruin their livelihoods) and the meanest, most outspoken of them is a hothead named Holt Scotto.
Numerous accidents/strange occurrences continue throughout the book. Katie's bike is deliberately tampered with which causes Bess to crash, Nancy feels like someone is following her in the woods, Nancy and Bess are locked up in a lighthouse, etc. Her prime suspect is Scotto because he somewhat threatened Nancy at her hotel room, but she has nothing definitive against him. Andy Jason, who also offers whale-watching tours and has been pressuring Katie to join forces with him, also seems shady.
Seems fine so far, right? Well, then the book gets a bit...lost.
2/3 of the way through, Nancy, Bess and George stumble onto a town meeting in a diner, hosted by an entirely new character named Joan Kim. She is giving a speech on how they need to figure out a way to get rid of Katie. In fact, the cook orders Nancy and her friends to leave because they consort with the likes of Katie.
Later, the gang is kayaking with Katie and her friend Jenna, who is also a champion kayaker and is apparently super competitive with Katie. Nancy and her friends decide to split from the tension and come across a sea cave, where they find an orphaned baby whale in a holding pool. The fog is too thick to make out the buildings nearby, so they are unsure whom the property belongs to and why the whale is being kept there. Nancy happens to find an antique belt buckle with a horse on it and feels strongly that it is a clue, because it appears to have been left there recently.
The next day, Nancy is shopping and finds the same belt buckle at the store. The shopkeeper is all, "That is an extremely rare piece! There were only three ever made! I'm wearing one, there's the one in the shop, and the other was recently sold to this lady, but I don't know who she is!" He then shows Nancy a photograph of Joan Kim. I totally forget the explanation for why he has a photograph of who bought an antique belt buckle, but. Okay.
Nancy and her friends (minus Katie and Jenna) return to the sea caves to see what's up with the whale (Internet searches and sleuthing have revealed that the property is owned by a company whose director is, you guessed it, Joan Kim). They come across a gigantic freighter and take their boat a little closer to investigate, but they're promptly all knocked out before they can get too close. This seemed like a really dumb move on the culprit's part, but more on that later. Next thing she knows, Nancy is in a dark room all tied up, and she and her friends all have to scoot their chairs near each other to untie each other's bonds. (Again. Dumb culprit here.) They decide they'll split up in the hopes that at least one of them can make it off the freighter and alert the police.
Nancy finds the whale tied up inside the freighter and figures something weird is going on. She hears some villains discussing how they are either going to dump their prisoners in a foreign hostile country, or just kill them now. (Why didn't they just scare their boat off somehow? Wouldn't that have been less risky/illegal?) Of course, Nancy then ends up face to face with an armed Joan Kim. Joan reveals that she is an evil mastermind who kidnaps baby whales and sells them to random buyers, some of whom probably eat them (I know this detail was supposed to be horrific, but it made me lol). Nancy confronts her about all the suspicious accidents that took place throughout the book, but Joan seems legitimately confused by some of them and Nancy realizes there is probably another culprit. She also mentions that she found Joan's belt buckle, and Joan is momentarily distracted and demands that Nancy return her precious belt buckle to her. There happens to be salt and pepper shakers in the room, and Nancy somehow blinds Joan Kim with pepper and sends her gun flying across the room so she can escape. She finds her friends surrounded by bad guys, but manages to send a message with a flare gun and take everyone down. The coast guard shows up and they are saved.
But wait! The book still isn't over. Nancy goes to sleep thinking about how something just doesn't feel right. Then she realizes...only one person would have been present during all of the sabotages and accidents. Somehow, the random plotline of a missing kayaking helmet leads Nancy to figure out that Jenna was the one who vandalized Katie's boat and bike. She fills in her friends, and they all go chasing after Katie and Jenna, who are out jogging. They are just in time, because apparently Jenna has decided this is the moment she is going to kill Katie. Katie has taken a break from jogging and Jenna is fast approaching with a tree branch, ready to knock her dead. When she sees Nancy, she bolts, but the gang catches up with her and she falls to the ground, breaking down in hysterical sobbing. She admits that she wanted revenge on Katie because Katie took her place on the kayaking team and ruined her life, or something.
The book ends with a cheery dinner. Katie tells Nancy that Jenna needs a therapist, not jail, and so she has decided not to press charges. They all celebrate (for some reason?) over grilled tuna and homemade fries (what? no jellyfish sandwiches?) and laugh about how mysteries seem to find Nancy wherever she goes. I guess Katie is no longer concerned about the locals hating her, or disappointed that her character had no arc.
Reading this back, I don't know why I'm giving this book 2 stars. It deserves 1. I really did enjoy the setting, and the writing could actually be quite beautiful at times, but the plot was all over the place. I always thought the mystery part of the PC game was a bit off, but now I see that it is much, much improved over the book.
...But at least there was a baby whale.
The mystery in this book starts out okay, then gets boring and repetitive, then extremely wacky, and then a surprise ending comes out of left field. It gets points for throwing me for a loop, but by the end you could tell the author had no idea what he/she was going for. I feel like I have to fully summarize this one to get across how weird it turned out to be.
So. Nancy and the gang visit George's world-class kayaker friend, Katie Firestone. Katie has just moved out to the west coast and is trying to fulfill a dream of hosting whale-watching tours. However, someone vandalizes Katie's boat and we find out that the local fishermen are most likely trying to run her out of town. They are a bit touchy and distrustful of outsiders (this is actually explained a bit better in the game, as the fishermen are afraid a whale-watching business will ruin their livelihoods) and the meanest, most outspoken of them is a hothead named Holt Scotto.
Numerous accidents/strange occurrences continue throughout the book. Katie's bike is deliberately tampered with which causes Bess to crash, Nancy feels like someone is following her in the woods, Nancy and Bess are locked up in a lighthouse, etc. Her prime suspect is Scotto because he somewhat threatened Nancy at her hotel room, but she has nothing definitive against him. Andy Jason, who also offers whale-watching tours and has been pressuring Katie to join forces with him, also seems shady.
Seems fine so far, right? Well, then the book gets a bit...lost.
2/3 of the way through, Nancy, Bess and George stumble onto a town meeting in a diner, hosted by an entirely new character named Joan Kim. She is giving a speech on how they need to figure out a way to get rid of Katie. In fact, the cook orders Nancy and her friends to leave because they consort with the likes of Katie.
Later, the gang is kayaking with Katie and her friend Jenna, who is also a champion kayaker and is apparently super competitive with Katie. Nancy and her friends decide to split from the tension and come across a sea cave, where they find an orphaned baby whale in a holding pool. The fog is too thick to make out the buildings nearby, so they are unsure whom the property belongs to and why the whale is being kept there. Nancy happens to find an antique belt buckle with a horse on it and feels strongly that it is a clue, because it appears to have been left there recently.
The next day, Nancy is shopping and finds the same belt buckle at the store. The shopkeeper is all, "That is an extremely rare piece! There were only three ever made! I'm wearing one, there's the one in the shop, and the other was recently sold to this lady, but I don't know who she is!" He then shows Nancy a photograph of Joan Kim. I totally forget the explanation for why he has a photograph of who bought an antique belt buckle, but. Okay.
Nancy and her friends (minus Katie and Jenna) return to the sea caves to see what's up with the whale (Internet searches and sleuthing have revealed that the property is owned by a company whose director is, you guessed it, Joan Kim). They come across a gigantic freighter and take their boat a little closer to investigate, but they're promptly all knocked out before they can get too close. This seemed like a really dumb move on the culprit's part, but more on that later. Next thing she knows, Nancy is in a dark room all tied up, and she and her friends all have to scoot their chairs near each other to untie each other's bonds. (Again. Dumb culprit here.) They decide they'll split up in the hopes that at least one of them can make it off the freighter and alert the police.
Nancy finds the whale tied up inside the freighter and figures something weird is going on. She hears some villains discussing how they are either going to dump their prisoners in a foreign hostile country, or just kill them now. (Why didn't they just scare their boat off somehow? Wouldn't that have been less risky/illegal?) Of course, Nancy then ends up face to face with an armed Joan Kim. Joan reveals that she is an evil mastermind who kidnaps baby whales and sells them to random buyers, some of whom probably eat them (I know this detail was supposed to be horrific, but it made me lol). Nancy confronts her about all the suspicious accidents that took place throughout the book, but Joan seems legitimately confused by some of them and Nancy realizes there is probably another culprit. She also mentions that she found Joan's belt buckle, and Joan is momentarily distracted and demands that Nancy return her precious belt buckle to her. There happens to be salt and pepper shakers in the room, and Nancy somehow blinds Joan Kim with pepper and sends her gun flying across the room so she can escape. She finds her friends surrounded by bad guys, but manages to send a message with a flare gun and take everyone down. The coast guard shows up and they are saved.
But wait! The book still isn't over. Nancy goes to sleep thinking about how something just doesn't feel right. Then she realizes...only one person would have been present during all of the sabotages and accidents. Somehow, the random plotline of a missing kayaking helmet leads Nancy to figure out that Jenna was the one who vandalized Katie's boat and bike. She fills in her friends, and they all go chasing after Katie and Jenna, who are out jogging. They are just in time, because apparently Jenna has decided this is the moment she is going to kill Katie. Katie has taken a break from jogging and Jenna is fast approaching with a tree branch, ready to knock her dead. When she sees Nancy, she bolts, but the gang catches up with her and she falls to the ground, breaking down in hysterical sobbing. She admits that she wanted revenge on Katie because Katie took her place on the kayaking team and ruined her life, or something.
The book ends with a cheery dinner. Katie tells Nancy that Jenna needs a therapist, not jail, and so she has decided not to press charges. They all celebrate (for some reason?) over grilled tuna and homemade fries (what? no jellyfish sandwiches?) and laugh about how mysteries seem to find Nancy wherever she goes. I guess Katie is no longer concerned about the locals hating her, or disappointed that her character had no arc.
Reading this back, I don't know why I'm giving this book 2 stars. It deserves 1. I really did enjoy the setting, and the writing could actually be quite beautiful at times, but the plot was all over the place. I always thought the mystery part of the PC game was a bit off, but now I see that it is much, much improved over the book.
...But at least there was a baby whale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2021
This one was pretty good! The mystery was a little all over the place it seemed. It was hard to figure out what the main mystery was. While I liked the characters, I felt that there were too many storylines going on. I also felt some of the storylines that were started (Holt’s and Andy’s specifically) were never resolved and kind of just dropped off about halfway though the book. I didn’t really like that. Still, I enjoyed the atmosphere and aesthetic of this book. Now all I want to do is travel to the Northern Pacific and go kayaking and biking and whale watching and (hopefully) not get clobbered over the head and kidnapped in the process.
June 16, 2023
I recently played the PC game "Danger on Deception Island" so I wanted to read the book it was loosely based off. I am glad that the game and book are different, but both have very similar settings and characters. I enjoyed this book, especially the twist ending. I was not a fan of Ned though, for some reason he came off very rude in this story.
November 29, 2019
I like the name because it’s not the usual Mystery of or Clue of, etc. This mystery feels more serious because the incidents are more threatening and damaging than usual. The resolution is also different than the norm.
April 15, 2024
This book was really good about kayaking and a solving a case Nancy Drew has done it again I think this book has been really good and I love the author and author did a good job right in his book I recommend these book to anyone who reads it and loves reading Nancy Drew books
July 25, 2024
My nine month old gave this book three claps, but I’m upping it to four. Danger on Deception Island: The Book was great, and I loved that the culprit(s) were different from the game. I really enjoyed this one!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2017
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
January 17, 2018
The entire story was boring and slow-going, though I did like the author's imagery of the California coast.
May 20, 2021
Danger on deception island is one of my fave games and this was also very good. The way Jenna was different was so interesting
January 31, 2022
Plot is super slow until the very end, I laughed out loud though when both Bess and Ned have a bike accident but Nancy doesn't care about Ned at all, and only asks Bess how she is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2022
Nancy drew books are just delightful.
December 23, 2025
The game was better
February 25, 2016
My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.
http://spreadthewordnevada.org/
Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.
I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.
April 27, 2014
Nancy Drew, Bess and George are visiting Katie Firestone, champion kayaker and owner of a whale watching tour company, as soon as they arrive though, they find Katie with a boat load of trouble, threats and vandalism follow her. Who would try to run Katie out of business and why, and what do Katie's troubles have to do with a little orca calf?
September 24, 2016
great book
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews