A Model Crime

Nancy Drew Files #51

by Carolyn Keene

An ultrachic modeling contest draws Nancy into a beauty of a mysteryA major modeling agency, a designer clothes company, and a popular teen magazine promise to make one girl's dreams come true. All are sponsors of the Face of the Year contest -- and Bess is a finalist! With Nancy at her side, she's off to Chicago to seek the fame and fortune that awaits the winner.But the competition is fierce, and deceit proves to be the hottest fashion of all. A desperate campaign of dirty tricks has brought the contest face-to-face with disaster and scandal --and the spotlight falls on Nancy as she tries to unmask the cover girl cover-up.

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

154 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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me be the first to say, my rating is very much a reflection of how much I love Nancy Drew, not so much this particular book. Growing up I've owned a couple of books in the Nancy Drew files but I've never been that big on reading them. I preferred sticking to the originals. However, yesterday I just felt compelled to pick this one up and I had such a great time! The Nancy Drew Files started in the 80s I believe with "A Model Crime" coming out in 1990. It was so fun and although I wasn't around in 1990, it just felt so nostalgic! Basically you follow Bess and Nancy when they head to Chicago for Bess to compete in a modeling contest. Of course, with Nancy around nothing is ever that simple. So obviously there's someone out to sabotage the contest and it's up to Nancy to find the culprit. Since this book follows the modeling industry in the 90s there are definitely some questionable comments about diet culture and body types. However i was totally expecting that. But if someone went into this not knowing it could be very triggering. Since the book is only 154 pages it was a very fun, light, short, read, and it does amaze me how much the writers can fit so much into such a small book! I loved every second of the book, and I think this is just the beginning. Be prepared to see A LOT more of Nancy on my goodreads over the next couple of weeks 😊

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

Excitement, fun, mystery, and an inside look at the world of modeling.

[Abeer Mashraqi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline was good. However, it was a bit difficult for me to keep track of characters. As usual, the suspense wasn't so exhilarating. The malefactor was hard to guess though.

[K.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a thing about modelling competition etc (loved the Ford Inc books) this was pretty good - loved the fact that Bess of all people got selected (how bout that extra 5 pounds now George!!!)
Someone is sabotaging the girls of the competition and Nancy needs to figure out who it is!

[Mike Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Teen Creeps podcast, so I had to give this a read before listening to the episode where it was discussed (mocked?) - check it out here:
https://twitter.com/teencreepspod/sta...

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

3 stars. The plot and set up for this one was a lot of fun and had me excited to read it but the execution fell flat for me unfortunately. Wasn’t a bad read by any means but I was a bit bored with it.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story! Only snag for me is that Bess, who is canonically plus-size, is mentioned here as being a size 4. Bah, even the Wakefield twins were at least a size 6. Still, it was fun seeing Bess enjoy the modeling world, and seeing behind the scenes on a modeling contest.

[Ambree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book I loved the twists and turns it took. I definitely recommend it 100%

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this one!

[Priyanshi Khandelwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay... So finished it in a single day. Short, fun, light read but definitely lacked a bit more twists and turns.

[V. Arrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt -- and I mean this as a compliment -- like a made-for-TV movie.

[Lee Hui]

reread for pure preteen nostalgia

[Molly]

This book is about Nancy's friend Bess who is chosen to be in The Face of The Year Contest. Nancy goes along with Bess just to be company and watch Bess in the contest, but as always, Nancy can never goes anywhere without having to solve a mystery.

There were seven girls in the contest. Something bad happened to almost everyone of them except for one, Heather. Everyone thought that she was always very suspicous. She would always make snotty remarks when something bad happened while everyone else comforted the girl who was sabatoged. The girls did not notice but, by the clues that Nancy had found, a man named Tom Fortner looked suspicous.

At the begining of the story, the clues that Nancy finds could point to many different people. Near the end of the story, all of the clues point to one person. If you want to be a detective like Nancy and figure out who is the cause of all of this sabatoge, then you will have to read the book for yourself.


This book is good for anyone and is the best for people who like mysteries. I like to read part of the book and then stop for a couple days and try to figure out the mystery myself. This was a very good book to do that with. If you like this Nancy Drew book, this is only number 51 out of many other mysteries.

[Valentina :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good, interesting. Short and easy but exciting.
While Nancy accompanies Bess to a modeling competition, she realizes its being sabotaged by someone. There are severeal red herrings in which hair is burnt, gym is destroyed and designer dresses cut to shreds. Who is the culprit?

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I like the files as much as the others.

[Nattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable but also very silly. I think this is the first book where Nancy Drew actually felt forced into the story.

[Prerna · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOve this book!!OMG!nancys all jealous......and soo cool!

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

[Belle Adler · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are not a Bess fan (like me) don't read this.