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It looks like Evaline Waters, a River Heights resident, is knee-deep in trouble. A huge corporation is suing her for her land; they want to tear down her house and put up a warehouse. And documentation of the zoning law that would protect Evaline's right to keep her land is missing. Figures! I've got to find that document, but it's hard to focus on the land when I'm cruising at ten thousand feet. See, Ned and I are taking flying lessons, him with Colonel Lang, a friend of his family, and me with Frank Beltrano, an instructor at our local airport. It's a good thing I'm good at juggling more than two balls at once. Too bad I'm not the only one.

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

15 people are currently reading
587 people want to read

About the author

Carolyn Keene

1,000 books3,866 followers
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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.

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5 stars
211 (27%)
4 stars
258 (33%)
3 stars
245 (31%)
2 stars
54 (6%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library).
4,899 reviews89 followers
August 12, 2023
A Quickie Review

Not sure what I can say about this franchise that I haven't already said; it's a fun, cutesy, kid-friendly mystery...but, you already knew that, right?

Score: 4/5
Profile Image for Aanya Sachdeva.
Author 3 books57 followers
February 26, 2021
This was awesome!!!!
Though I seriously can't believe people would steal documents, and
Like seriously, I wanna fly one too
This is offically the second or third best book in the series :D
Profile Image for kavkav_10 s.s.
24 reviews24 followers
January 11, 2022
Heyyy mi fellow goodread readersss.
I really hope you had an AMAAAAAAAAZING new year!!!!
I know I kind of just forgot about GR for some time but no I gotta buckle up cuz im back on track.
Yeah peeps so lets get started with my first review of the year lets gooooooo 2022!!!!!!!!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (i literally do this in every review)- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
THIS BOOK WAS GREATTTT.
Like its mi first time reading Nancy Drew and it kinda impressed me, a very picky reader.
Anyway, I was maybe a lil' bit surprised at the end but I think that I might have read some better mystery books.
This was actually a book assigned to me but i finished it in 4 days ( lol i know i need 2 improove!)
I would actually totally recommend this book to u if you want a medium-spiced, normal, mystery book to read.
I cannot wait to read the other Nancy Drew books!!!
Pls do recommend me Nancy Drew type books cuz i think Im in mystery, crime era lol. I guess everyone has their own era.

Anyways, comment your new year resolutions and your weird ones😂 everyone's got 1 atleast!
Good luck for this new year and I hope your year REALLYYYY goes AMAZINGLY!!!!!
HAPPY 2022 PEEPS!!!!!!



: )
Profile Image for Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu.
872 reviews62 followers
March 19, 2022
In this Nancy Drew mystery, Nancy is trying to help a neighbor in River Heights who may lose her home and property to a large corporation. Nancy follows the clues with her friends, Bess & George, to find a way to save Evaline Waters' home. In this spin off of the classic Drew series, we learn more about Neds' family background and one of his father's friends, Colonel Lang is pivotal to helping Nancy solve the mystery. I loved that Nancy learned to fly a small Cessna in this book and she really does well with it (but Nancy does do everything top notch). This is definitely an entertaining mystery, not a lot of red herrings, that I'd recommend to fellow Nancy Drew fans.
Profile Image for Tori.
439 reviews17 followers
July 21, 2025
⭐⭐⭐

HIGH RISK by Carolyn Keene

When one of River Heights residents is taken to court over a land deed, Nancy jumps in to help. When she discovers a historic document could be the answer, she goes on the look for it---only to find it missing. As she works to unearth what happened, Nancy uncovers more than she bargained for.
HIGH RISK was boring---honestly. Mainly just the case---missing document---it just didn't hook me the way I wanted. I still managed to fly through it, but the predictability of this one left little room for shock at the discovery. My younger self would have loved this though, which is why I rated it a neutral 3 stars.
Profile Image for Olga.
103 reviews6 followers
October 13, 2021
Наконец добралась до знакомства с известной серией книг о девочке-сыщице Нэнси Дрю. И, надо сказать, что с этим знакомством я опоздала лет так на двадцать, а то и больше. Ничего плохого не хочу сказать про эту книгу, просто я уже вышла из возрастной категории, на которую этот детектив рассчитан. К сожалению это не одна из тех книг, что приятно читать и взрослым и детям. Вряд ли сюжет покажется увлекательным и непредсказуемым кому-то старше 10-12 лет.
Profile Image for Alex.
6,650 reviews1 follower
October 6, 2019
This is another cute addition to the modern day Nancy Drew series. (Although considering how in awe they are of things like George being able to “find information on the Internet”, calling it modern is a bit of a stretch now. Still, compared to the original series it’s downright futuristic.)

In any case, these really are just fun to read!
Profile Image for C..
261 reviews
October 28, 2017
Took me a while to finish but it was a light, fun read. I don't know if it was just my copy but some words and names were misspelled.
Profile Image for Christy .
920 reviews1 follower
May 25, 2019
I love Nancy Drew novels. The newer ones are just as good as the older ones, but set in a more modern atmosphere. I loved this book!
Profile Image for Colin.
29 reviews62 followers
August 22, 2021
Just finished with my daughter and we both enjoyed this one much more than others in this series! Some real mystery and drama!
Profile Image for Jordyneiguess.
15 reviews
May 4, 2023
Idc what this book implies, nothing will ever be worse than my experience with American Airlines

(Fly ‘Southwest’ kids)
Profile Image for Gabs.
220 reviews5 followers
March 15, 2018
Nancy defeats high flying smugglers in this thriller.

this is the first I'd read of nancy's more recent escapades. I love the updated version, cell phones and computers but i miss the romance of the 80's.

An old friend of Ned's family comes to visit after neds father begins getting weird calls about a delivery. A Neighborhood staple maybe losing her house because of a housing development and there's angry people at the airport.
i loved all the twists in this one but i felt that this was perhaps for a younger crowd. Nancy was smart but she didn't seem as witty as her earlier works. i love when a mystery has layers and this one definitely didn't disappoint.
I highly recommend.
Profile Image for Kaavia.
22 reviews
October 4, 2016
The story goes on thrilling us. Nancy tries to help her neighbour's house from being taken away from her, and while searching for an ancient law associated with her case, but in the meanwhile, Nancy finds another case! all of these with high flying lessons!

The book interweaves two cases and the story comes out well planned.
Profile Image for Cindy.
13 reviews
November 13, 2010
I think about this book as a good way to see people clearly and to know more about a detective work is done.
Profile Image for Ami.
635 reviews
February 14, 2011
I liked this book a lot more. It had more of the Nancy Drew elements that I really enjoy. She was not seeking a mystery but found one. She figures things out just in time. I really enjoyed this one.
174 reviews
April 3, 2011
Mind blowing!! Frank Beltrano, though criminal, was a good teacher, for Nancy did a fantastic landing. The last part was really humorous, Evaline Waters got her property back by a race to the court.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
105 reviews1 follower
May 20, 2013
This book is really nice and fun-filled because it has a new twist in every step that Nancy takes and it shows many new characters too.
Profile Image for Sydney.
1,115 reviews14 followers
July 17, 2015
this was a really good book,and there is a shock in the book
27 reviews2 followers
Read
December 15, 2017
it was interesting and it surprised me who took the papers but it wasn't that big of a mystery but it was a big adventure
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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