The Curse of the Black Cat

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #158

by Carolyn Keene

"THE BLACK CAT CURSES YOU UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE!"

Exclusive Waverly Academy looks like a medieval castle, but the horrors there are up-to-date. The lead in the school play awakens with her long golden hair cut off, and the captain of the basketball team finds her lucky sneakers covered with tar. Each incident is accompanied by a curse note from the Black Cat, and soon everyone is spooked--even the teachers.

At the headmistress's request, Nancy and George go undercover as teaching interns. But it isn't long before Nancy herself gets one of the menacing notes. Who's behind the pranks--an unhappy student? Or is a more sinister force at work? Lured to a scary cemetery in the middle of a blizzard, Nancy must stop the Black Cat from pouncing again!


Cover art by Franco Accornero

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Childrens, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Middle Grade, Thriller

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Gauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

These newer Nancy Drew books really aren't as engaging as the originals. Some of the writing in here, ranging from bad character dialogue to painfully one-dimensional motives, makes me roll my eyes.

[Deanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star can either mean I hated it or it can mean the actual goodreads rating of "I did not like it" and I'm using the goodreads rating on this one. I just didn't care for it. The video game was amazing, so I expected something decent, but it was slow and out of so many characters none stood out or were memorable. I couldn't place who was who and it was just kind of a miss.

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoever ghostwrites these books must have the time of their lives. They get to put whatever they want on paper and will never be held accountable for it, no matter how ridiculous it is.

In this one, Nancy is called to a girl's boarding school to investigate mysterious threats from someone called "The Black Cat." Bess and George help a lot in this one too. Multiple students have been targeted, plus one teacher, and there is a variety of suspects. One girl's hair was cut off in the middle of the night, another had tar on her lucky athletic shoes, an essay is wiped from a top student's computer, a social outcast is humiliated in front of the "cool girls" etc. etc. Nancy herself is nearly killed at least twice.

(This is one of those mysteries where I get frustrated with how little progress Nancy makes. She follows her suspects around, but never when it's the most important, and she never reports half the stuff she learns to people who could actually do something with the information (i.e. the headmistress or the police.) Like, Nancy, don't you want to tell someone you were locked in a refrigerator?!)

The stakes are raised when the teacher, Ms. Friedlander, is kidnapped for ransom money, and a student named Lila and eventually Bess mysteriously vanish. I'd like to point out this is the third ND book I've read where Bess has been kidnapped. While snooping in Lila's room, Nancy catches a glimpse of the culprit: "A black-cloaked figure in a huge cat mask with red eyes and vampire teeth loomed before her."

So yeah. Not only is the culprit using a black cat as a mascot, they are also dressing up as one as a disguise. Now that's what I call commitment.

The ending, as it turns out, actually surprised me for once: the culprit is Ms. Friedlander herself! After snooping in her house, Nancy finds a file on her computer titled "Scooter's Revenge," which somehow leads her to discover that Scooter was her black cat who tragically passed away, along with her parents, in a car accident. It is later revealed that Lila's father was a stockbroker who gave Ms. Friedlander's father some bad investment advice, which then caused him to develop some disorder where he fainted all the time, which led to the fatal car crash. That...is pretty convoluted. So Ms. Friendlander, in the depths of despair, became a teacher at the boarding school where Lila was a student so that she could kidnap her, get ransom money from her rich family and complete her revenge. Pretty convenient she had teaching credentials, eh?

Friendlander is caught when she picks up the ransom money in the graveyard. Nancy gives chase, but Friedlander menaces Nancy with a knife and almost runs her off a cliff. Luckily, she is able to swing herself up into a tree and Friendlander almost tumbles into the chasm below, nearly dragging Nancy with her, until George, Bess, and Lila all show up to save the day. Turns out Bess and Lila were locked in the mausoleum, where George found them. Bess is extremely chill that she was just saved from abduction, even joking about Friendlander's choice of desserts (soggy graham crackers.) She's been around the block a few times with this kidnapping thing.

Friendlander is rather unrepentant as she confesses her evil plot. "Yes, but I had fun," Ms. Friedlander said gleefully. "I liked upsetting people, because my life had been ruined. I wanted to make people miserable like me." Are we sure she is also not a teenager in disguise?

Other than the ridiculousness, I liked that this one had a coherent plot, that there were several developments in the mystery, the suspects were clear and the ending legitimately surprised me. The PC game had a lot of material to work with (even the Edgar Allan Poe subplot is in there!) and I can see how this made it easier for them to create a story with one of the stronger plots of all the games.

P.S. This is the third book I've read where Nancy mentions she is ready to bust to out some karate moves. Can somebody please direct me to the book where Nancy first becomes a karate master? It sounds like it's the most important book of the series.

[Kelly Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um…that was a book. Why do I remember Nancy Drew books being much better than that? I read this book because I played and loved the PC game it was based on. I was surprised that basically nothing was the same - the characters were all different (and their names were bizarre), the endless cliffhangers were stupid, and the decision making of the characters was bananas. The police should have been involved in this case much sooner. The culprit literally tried to murder Nancy by sawing the elevator cable, which is something I personally wrote in Nancy Drew fanfiction when I was eleven years old so I know it’s a stupid plot point. And WHY was there a literal cliff in ILLINOIS?!? Somehow surprise twins sharing a scholarship made more sense than the plot of this book. I was disappointed. Still love me some Nancy though.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked everything up until the ending which felt weak and rushed. I wish there had been a more sinister reason behind the notes because after trying to literally kill people, it seemed kinda lame. I didn't mind that the characters weren't fleshed out that much as Nancy Drew stories are usually fairly short, and I honestly thought the main suspects had enough info shared for a 94 page story. So I thought the plot and characters were okay, however, it failed majorly at having a twisty ending that would have brought it together better.

[Trips Starlake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not the most exciting, but does have a reasonably paced plot with the ante upping every time the "curse" strikes. I was entertained enough by Nancy's investigation up until about 60% through the book, where things start to get very rushed. I think this could have been better if it was written as a YA novel, not a Nancy Drew mystery?
Nancy calling the culprits previous neighbor and him just immediately spilling all of her life details no questions asked was a pretty big let down and made the ultimate reveal lackluster.

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nancy Drew and her friends head to a girls' school to reveal the mystery of the notorious black cat while posing undercover as intern teachers. I hoped to enjoy this story as much as I like the other Nancy Drew books but I frequently found myself bored with the inquests of the mean girl students and the mystery itself. ⭐⭐1/2

[elireads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow-paced but it is very good, I liked this one better than the first few books that I've read last year with Carolyn Keene. This is the last Nancy Drew Physical copy that I have and my goal this year is to read more of this thru ebook. I like how every Nancy Drew books makes me feel like a 12 year old.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, the ending was silly. The culprit chasing Nancy through a graveyard during a snowstorm with a butcher knife raised about her head only for them both to fall off a cliff all two feet onto convenient tree branches. Locking the culprit in a closet cause the cops can't make it in the snowstorm was something else

[Always Booked Up · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun to read in a way that made me feel like I was back in elementary school. It's definitely not high quality writing but the story was interesting enough that I finished it. Not as good as the video game but still a decent read.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable late NDMS. We've seen the private school setting before, but the plot is original with a good twist and nice to have a winter setting for a change. Light mystery stories like this are a good temporary escape from the current chaos in the world.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nancy Drew reread continues! The mystery here stood up pretty well to a reread, though the reasoning for committing the crimes was rather weak. I also agree with my wife that this is baby's first dark academia. 

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Melmo2610 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Nancy Drew story was super good! I liked the case she is tasked with solving. Interesting and unique, the story moved really well and the resolution was quite enjoyable. I enjoyed this read!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery set in a boarding school. I found it to be an enjoyable book.

[Taylor Rose Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fast pacing a lots of characters but I liked it! It’s used as inspiration for my favorite Nancy Drew computer game - Nancy Drew: warnings at Waverly academy

[ReeseeeWheezee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mehh..the game's better

[El · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most memorable Nancy Drew book that I’ve read. Great read for a teenager.

[Lisa Shower · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible!

Absolutely the worst Nancy Drew book I have ever read! Whoever the ghost writer was, they had zero skill and no clue what the series was like.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's trouble at a girl's school and Nancy and George pose as teaching interns to investigate what is a series of notes from someone identifying themselves as the Black Cat. A teacher gets attacked by a real black cat, one student seems to be very defiant to her teacher, a would-be killer cuts on an elevator cable, people go missing and there's a demand for $5 million ransom.

A number of students have gotten the Black Cat message and Nancy and George are kept busy checking their rooms, trailing people and, in Nancy's case, fending off an attacker in a black cat mask. There's even trouble at the school play.

The suspects all seem to be likely to be the culprit so it's difficult for the girls to find the actual Black Cat. Motives are plentiful but there's still room for surprise.

A good story.

[Samantha Bartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in about four hours. I was expecting it to be like the game it was based off of, (Warnings at Waverly Academy,) but besides the school's name, and mystery about the black cat notes, the book was completely different. When trying to figure out who the culprit was, I was overthinking the whole thing. The person I thought it was turned out to just be a victim in one chapter. The real culprit was someone I would have never guessed, because it was so obvious. But besides that, I did enjoy the book. Not my favorite Nancy Drew book ever, but it was still pretty good

[Miri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy and George are undercover at Waverly Academy as Student teachers, nasty tricks are being played on the students, and Nancy is hired to solve the mystery, but when a student goes missing and a ransom is demanded, things take a jump from teenage tricks to malicious crimes. Who is the Black Cat and why does she have it out for the students of Waverly Academy?

[Kavya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is awesome and I would like to have this book.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book despite it being for 8 year olds.

[Erica Warren]

I loved reading this, it took me back to my childhood where I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on.

[dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

dumb & boring

[Hillarie (Hillareads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite Nancy Drew PC games is Warnings at Waverly Academy, which is loosely based on this book. Basically, the only common elements are the school (Waverly Academy, a boarding school for girls), the basic plot ("curse" notes and pranks/attacks, courtesy of the Black Cat), and the fact that Nancy goes undercover (though in the game she is a student and in the book she is a student teacher.)

I think the best cringe moment happens at the end when everybody is celebrating Nancy's victory and THEY CASUALLY LOCK THE CULPRIT IN A CLOSET while they eat brownies and play games.