Betrayed by Love

Nancy Drew Files #118

by Carolyn Keene

NANCY'S JOINED A WEDDING PARTY IN WHICH SOMEONE HAS TAKEN A DEADLY VOW. Nancy's old friend Angela Chamberlain is getting married, and Nancy's come to her family's opulent Long Island estate to be a bridesmaid. But love and money can be a very volatile mix. It becomes clear, before the ink is dry on the invitations, that the date is set for danger and that Nancy will have to stand up for Angela in more ways than one. The romance between Angela and her fiance has suddenly taken an ugly turn. Sinister rumors, hints of scandal, and whispers of betrayal have begun to surface. With them come a series of near fatal "accidents" culminating in attempted murder. If Nancy doesn't uncover the culprit soon, Angela's dream wedding could end in a nightmare!

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Childrens, Crime

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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]

It's been a while since I've read any others in this series, but, from what I remember, this one was true to form: exciting and fun. I need to find the remaining entries!

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

The villain was obvious from the start.

[Eric Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was ok, but below average. The mystery is pretty weak for the most part, due to the stupid drama between the bride and groom in this book. Nancy is also very dense in this book, not as bright as she usually is! The culprit and motive was so extremely obvious, but yet Nancy has no idea who it could be! The culprit shows many signs of them being guilty, but Nancy doesn't notice them till the end. When Nancy does find out who the culprit is, she still doesn't know their motive till they explain it. It's so obvious Nancy, really? Nancy also does barely any investigating and when she does, it's completely pointless. Like when a saddle girth is tampered with in the beginning, Nancy looks for the stable groom near the end to question them, but doesn't find them. You should have done that as soon as you discovered the girth was tampered with Nancy! And when Nancy looks for a suspect for a whole chapter, she ends up not finding them, resulting in a pointless, filler chapter! Also, we never know what happens to one of the characters in this book, they get attacked and are in a coma. We never know if they gain consciousness or not. Overall, this book would be much better if the culprit wasn't so obvious, Nancy being a lot more smarter and productive, and less stupid romance drama. 2 stars.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy and Ned are set to attend their friends wedding but strange accidents are happening. The bride's mother is seriously ill, and the bride seems to be getting cold feet. Nancy must figure out what is going on before the wedding is cancelled! Not bad

[Ashley Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle school Ashley is thrilled to have found this series again. 40 something Ashley cannot believe how dumb Nancy was in this one.

[V. Arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was avoiding this book because I assumed it would be another Nancy/Ned Jealousy Fest, but oh man! I was wrong! This is pure, uncut melodrama soap opera mystery juice, and I drank it UP.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why but I already figured out the perpetrator halfway through the story, albeit my assumption was wrong. I'm not sure if I'm getting sharper, or this one was just pretty obvious!

Still, I love Nancy Drew ;)

[Prerna · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice book!

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

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

[Alyssa Boni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book ! It turned out to be the step father and I already knew that he was poisoning the mother and that he was the one that hit Shannon over the head and thought he killed Angela. I so would be a good detective.