The first book in the Nancy Drew Files series is Secrets Can Kill. Released in August of 1986, this story (and series) modernizes Nancy in the 1980s, describing the fashion and preferred teen foods and cars of choice for the era. This book is available as an eBook for Amazon Kindle (affiliate link). The story is also a part of the Nancy Drew Files Volume 1 book on Amazon (affiliate link) in paperback.
Story Synopsis:
Nancy Drew goes back to high school — but this time, the curriculum is murder.
No one has been able to catch the elusive thief who is stalking the nighttime halls at Bedford High. So Nancy goes undercover as a transfer student. When she meets her contact, Daryl Gray, a gorgeous senior with blueberry eyes, Nancy thinks this new case would turn out to be a lot of fun. But she is dead wrong.
Dangerous secrets run deep at Bedford, and Nancy learns the hard way when she takes Daryl for a ride in her Mustang–and the car ends up exploding in a ball of fire. Though her suspect list is long, Nancy is almost certain who the thief is–until her top candidate is found sprawled outside the video lab, very dead.
Suddenly it’s a whole new game, a game called murder. And Nancy is the killer’s next target.
Review:
Nancy is called by the principal of Bedford high (15 miles from River Heights), on a recommendation from her father, Carson. Mr. Patron is missing files from a filing cabinet that was broken into, the video lab is missing equipment, and four lockers are broken into, as reported by the maintenance crew. Principal Patron puts Nancy in contact with class president Daryl Gray, who is let in on Nancy’s undercover work, and can help introduce her to key people in Bedford High. Nancy and Daryl have instant sparks between them, and find themselves in a few kissing scenes. The suspects are Jake Webb, Walt “Hunk” Hogan, Connie Watson, and Hal Morgan. Each suspect has something to hide, and Nancy finds out everything through her questioning, snooping, and breaking into lockers.
The ending climaxes in a sting operation to get get the real culprit’s confession on tape, but when the plans change and someone interrupts the trap, a gun is fired, a chase ensues, and someone gets hurt. The culprits are confronted and the murderer is caught by Ned Nickerson and Bess’s new love interest, Alan.
The story is a quick read, without any moments stretching out or becoming too boring. Classic Nancy Drew snooping, spying, lock-picking, and questioning makes Nancy feel like a real Nancy Drew. The tone is set towards teen girls, describing fashion, food, and romance throughout. It mirrors the game by the same name well, with some differences.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy is described as having reddish-blonde hair (and also strawberry-blonde), eighteen years old, is slender with long, slim legs, and is one of the brightest, hottest young detectives around. She lost her mom when she was a baby, and that’s when Hannah Gruen became like a mother to her, caring for her and the house. Nancy starts off in the book as driving a red Mustang, but when it explodes from a sabotaged wreck, her dad buys her the new Mustang GT
Carson Drew is spoken of in the book, but Nancy has a conversation with him, nor is he in any scenes.
Bess Marvin and George Fayne are cousins, but that is all they had in common.
Bess is blonde-haired, bubbly and easy-going. She is always on the lookout for two things: a good diet and a great date. Constantly trying to lose five pounds, she fell in and out of love every other month. She even wears a gold heart locket, and whenever she has a special man, his picture can be found inside it.
George has curly dark hair and a shy smile. She’s quiet, with a dry sense of humor and a beautifully toned body of an athlete. She likes boys, but she’s more serious about love.
Ned Nickerson has a special relationship with Nancy. They had known each other since they were kids, and were each other’s first loves. Neither of them were ready for a “forever” relationship, and it is stated that they occasionally drifted apart, dating other people. Yet somehow, Nancy always found herself always coming back to Ned. They know each other so well, they are always in tune with the other. Ned is described as having light brown hair, soft dark eyes, and has a gentle curving mouth. He is at University. The Nickerson family has a cabin in the mountains.
Brenda Carlton is in the book. She is described as tall, with black hair, vivid red lips, wearing a trendy trench coat, holding a notebook and pen, and is determined to become an investigative reporter for her dad’s award-wining newspaper, Today’s Times. She appears at the scene of the crime, notices Nancy and threatens to expose her undercover work if she doesn’t give her the scoop on the case.
Extra Notes (Original Printing):
An Archway paperback
Published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster
Cover art by Joe Cellini
HeR Interactive, Inc. created their first game by the same name, based on this book.
Extra Notes (Nancy Drew Files Vol. 1 Printing):
A paperback Bind-Up edition
Published by Simon Pulse (released September 24, 2019)
