Curse of the Arctic Star

Carolyn Keene

May 2015 · Nancy Drew Diaries Book 1 · Oasis Audio · Narrated by Jorjeana Marie

About this audiobook

Dear Diary...

Bess, George, and I are actually in Alaska! Everywhere you look, there are massive mountains and sparkling deep-blue waters. We’re on the maiden voyage of the Arctic Star luxury cruise ship, and my old friend Becca Wright, the assistant cruise director, needs our help. She received threatening e-mails before even setting sail; then, a bloody body turned up in the swimming pool. And when a chandelier came crashing down in the dining room, we thought the Arctic Star may be cursed! There are so many passengers on board, I don’t know where to begin. But I better hurry; if I don’t act fast, this might be everyone’s final — and fatal — voyage!

Ratings and reviews

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About the author

Carolyn Keene was the pseudonym that Mildred Wirt Benson and Walter Karig used to write Nancy Drew books. The idea of Nancy Drew came from Edward Stratemeyer in 1929. He also had other series, that included the Hardy Boys, but he died in 1930 before the Nancy Drew series became famous. His daughters, Harriet and Edna, inherited his company and maintained Nancy Drew having Mildred Wirt Benson, the original Carolyn Keene, as the principal ghostwriter. During the Depression, they asked Benson to take a pay cut and she refused, which is when Karig wrote the books. Karig's Nancy Drew books were Nancy's Mysterious Letter, The Sign of the Twisted Candles, and Password to Larkspur Lane. He was fired from writing more books because of his refusal to honor the request that he keep his work as Carolyn Keene a secret. He allowed the Library of Congress to learn of his authorship and his name appeared on their catalog cards. Afterwards, they rehired Benson and she wrote until her last Nancy Drew book (#30) was written in 1953, Clue of the Velvet Mask. Harriet and Edna Stratemeyer also contributed to the Nancy Drew series. Edna wrote plot outlines for several of the early books and Harriet, who claimed to be the sole author, had actually outlined and edited nearly all the volumes written by Benson. The Stratemeyer Syndicate had begun to make its writers sign contracts that prohibited them from claiming any credit for their works, but Benson never denied her writing books for the series. After Harriet's death in 1982, Simon and Schuster became the owners of the Stratemeyer Syndicate properties and in 1994, publicly recognized Benson for her work at a Nancy Drew conference at her alma mater, the University of Iowa. Now, Nancy Drew has several ghostwriters and artists that have contributed to her more recent incarnations.