Tall, Dark and Deadly

Nancy Drew Files #66

by Carolyn Keene

Posing as college students, Nancy and Bess investigate Campus Connections, an on-campus dating service that caused the disappearance of one of its clients

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

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

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

Standard fare for this series...which isn't a bad thing.

[Lyara Lobo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first things that probably come to mind when you think of "The Nancy Drew files" are: corny, detectives, and the 1980's. "Tall Dark and Handsome Case #66" is just one of many books that Carolyn Keene has written. She has many series of these mystery books written about and for teens. This particular case is about a missing college student named Ava Woods who went missing after going on a mysterious blind date. Nancy and her detective partner/bff were called to solve the mystery and find out what happened to Ava!

I chose this particular book for many reasons. I have always been a fan of the mystery genre, witch is one of the main reasons i chose this book. This isnt the first book I've read of the Nancy Drew Files, so i was already familiar with Carolyn Keene's work. When i read the summary of the story on the back of the book, i was really interested in finding out what happened to Ava. What teenage girl wouldnt want to read a story about a blind date gone seriously wrong?

Case 66 of the Nancy Drew Files was a really good book. I loved how Carolyn Keene would throw in surprising twists and turns that always left me on edge. I love reading mystery books because you never know what can happen, and they always leave you guessing. Another reason i liked this book is because i can kind of relate to Nancy and Bess in some ways because they too are both teenagers. Carolyn Keene is a very good writer.

I would certainly recommend this to my classmates! Maybe not too many boys, but certainly the girls. Its a fun read thats easy to understand and relate too. It always keeps you guessing and on edge and i garuntee you will always be hooked while reading this book. For people who love crime solving, and predicting ahead of time, and solving mysteries The Nancy Drew files are for them! Especially Case #66

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apologies Bess I was unfamiliar with your game

[Nattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This entry into the series had a decent mystery, but I felt it moved too slow.

I didn't understand why Nancy wanted to get a separate dorm room from Bess. Supposedly she didn't want anyone to be able to connect that they were working the case together. It probably would have been a good idea if Bess didn't spend most of her time in Nancy's dorm room, or right out in public talking to Nancy every time you turned around. Geez!

[K the Vampire Slayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been so long since I found a decent Nancy Drew book, but anytime I see another one nice and shiny and free (well, not shiny, they’re usually pretty dusty, old and beat up), I feel the urge to take it home and read it in the hopes it’ll be just as good as the ones I remember reading when I was younger. They’re never as good, of course they’re not. I’m older now, and they’re older just the same, but nostalgia is a fine enemy to have. I mean, I used to devour these books, I was obsessed. I would buy any I could get my hands on and when I couldn’t buy them I’d check them and the Hardy Boys books out of the library 4 or 5 at a time. It makes me wonder if the ones I read when I was a kid all through elementary and right into the first few years of high-school would actually meet any of my expectations if I tried to read them now. Were they only good because I was a kid? Because my expectations and level of critical thinking or analysis or whatever you want to call it were lower than now and I hadn’t had the experience of reading much else yet? Maybe. I’d say I’m probably definitely too old for Nancy Drew books now, but the Hardy Boys are in the same wheelhouse and I did enjoy reading a trilogy of mysteries from one of their series recently, so it still all depends on the writer and I still find myself hopelessly searching for the Nancy Drew book that can bring back that same feeling of excitement that they used to bring. Tall, Dark and Deadly was unfortunately not that book. While the concept was intriguing, it fell incredibly flat, the characters flimsy, the potential of the dating program left unused, the mystery ultimately uninteresting, lazy and a little confusing. I mean, I’m not expecting an amazing, intricate, grand story—I know how these books are written—but I’m still expecting... something. A hint of life and spark. A decent quip here or there. Something to show these are characters, not cardboard. A lot of the 90s Nancy Drew books I’ve read, though, even way back, were never the strongest run of the series and never my favourite. Sure, there are highs and lows, but that’s the problem when pretty much each book is written by a different ghost-writer who’s only been given about $100 to scribble out the whole mystery in a week or so. Perhaps I should leave the rosy coloured memories I have of these books untouched and leave well enough alone, but I just know the urge to pick up another will come back again and I just know that one won’t result in anything either, but one can dream.

[Roxi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second Nancy Drew book in a month, check me out!
To be completely honest, I really do love reading Nancy Drew books, but I'm recovering from covid, and reading a book more than 150 pages gives me a migraine just thinking about it. I just needed a nice, small comfort read.
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I know Carolyn Keene is a pen name, and the series has been written by many authors over the years, which is why I love some stories, and others not as much.
Unfortunately, this was one of the ones that doesn't hold up to the standards of Nancy.
It felt like there was random connections between characters and locations. Aside from Ned, there's usually some love interest, as Nancy is obviously a babe, but there wasn't really anything in this book.
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I'm not sad that I read this book, but it's not one I would recommend to people new to the world of River Heights.
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[V. Arrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another ND Files book with some race issues that made me cringe as a reader in 2024. (Files!Nancy usually can't wait to flirt back with literally any male person who flirts with her during a case. But the one time the flirty investigative reporter is Black, it's suspicious? Nancy...)

Also, I am basically realizing that none of the synopses/loglines for this series are all that accurate to what the book is ACTUALLY about. Like, yes, do Nancy and Bess investigate Campus Connections after a student goes missing? Technically. But for like, three pages. The whole Crime had nothing to do with it. And I was kinda bummed about that because I chose to read this based on what the synopsis said, you know?

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy and Bess go undercover at a college to find out why a student disappeared. Everything leads to a campus dating service, but is everything what it seems? Quite enjoyable

[Lesley Stanbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this one!

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

3 stars. Wasn’t bad! The beginning was a little bit too slow for me but I did like the mystery here and the conclusion was a lot of fun as well.

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was... different. Right from the beginning, it wasn't like typical Nancy Drew stories. Nancy and Bess are on their way to college to investigate the disappearance of the daughter of some friends of her father, and while they're supposed to be posing as students and working undercover, Nancy uses her real name right off the bat. She and Bess get different dorms so people won't associate the two of them, but they meet up and talk in public all over campus, including the hall, the lounge, their dorm rooms, etc. Then there's the girl who's missing, Ava. Nancy constantly spends time with the girl's roommate, Betsy, in their room, with the door open. It's pretty much Nancy Drew at her dumbest.

It's a Files book, so there's some quick violence, and this is one of the books where someone doesn't make it. Nobody from the cast of characters is very likable, but Bess seems a bit more fun and on top of things in this story. There's some stop and go, and pointless planning that could've just been skipped--the girls are going to sit in on classes, then they just decide it's not necessary, Ava's parents won't involve the police and only want Nancy investigating, then they talk to the police and want Nancy to drop it, blah blah. Just kind of a weird story.

The book picks up quite a bit in the second half, so there's that. It's just a weird book. I read it in one night. It's Nancy Drew. I mean, there's really not much to say.

[Ashima · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I've always loved to read mystery and other books which contain an element of intrigue. I vaguely remember starting off with Famous Five then went onto Nancy Drew and then Agatha Christie.

So when I stumbled upon Nancy Drew and an Agatha Christie at the library book sale I picked them up and read them back to back.

I'm not going to review this because I read it more out of a feeling of nostalgia than anything else :)

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

ended up being a bit more predictable than the usual Case File mystery