Cutting Edge

Nancy Drew Files #70

by Carolyn Keene

When George's boyfriend, sportscaster Kevin Davis, covers the National Figure Skating Championships, George and Nancy tag along, and they are soon involved in investigating an on-ice "accident" and the theft of state-of-the-art computer chips. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Crime

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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 3 out of 5]

The whodunit was fun and exciting, like usual...but, some of the injuries mentioned made me wince!

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I would hate this one since I don't care about figure skating but it was very good. One of the culprits is hard to figure out, I was very surprised. The other culprit however is a foreigner and I thought that was a little old fashioned to make the only foreign person the bad guy.

[♥I Am Who I Am♥Bashful♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book. It is interesting so far. I would recommed it to all girls.

[Prerna · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok!the murderer was quite obvious

[Emery · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars.

I'm an avid Nancy Drew reader, but the mystery in this book was quite weak. Meh.

[Chawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the plot wasn’t exactly the same as the last book! Two very similar characters that are the obvious culprits in each book. I must admit that this “version” of the story was more elaborate and more flushed out as the first one.

[Tibbara's Den · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for a quick fun read. This is actually my first Nancy Drew book, though I am familiar with the games. As such, I had the narrator's voice from the games in my head, which really added to the reading experience. While simple, the writing is easy to get into, and the mystery was enjoyable.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy and the girls investigate sabotage at an ice skating competition

[V. Arrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there anything more 1992 than a vicious figure skater sabotaging her competitors?

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+

[Lauri]

Shockingly this was written before Tonya/Nancy

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

3 stars. Kevin was annoying and I don't see what George saw in him. Outside of that this was pretty fun.

[Prami{reader and dreamer} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't remember much but I know I liked it.