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Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #167
Mystery by Moonlight
A MOUNTAIN LAKE HARBORS A HIDDEN PAST!
A charming lakeside cottage should be the perfect vacation spot for Nancy and her friends -- until Bess becomes convinced that they're sharing the place with ghosts. Strange thumps in the attic put them all on edge -- except there is no attic. Even worse, their living neighbors are giving them grief.
A pair of bird-watching photographers sets dangerous traps in the woods, a summer camp director chases Nancy and Ned off his property, and the assistant curator of a nearby Native American museum warns them to stay away from an ancient burial ground. Then a surprising discovery reveals a long-lost mystery -- and a family secret as black as night.
A charming lakeside cottage should be the perfect vacation spot for Nancy and her friends -- until Bess becomes convinced that they're sharing the place with ghosts. Strange thumps in the attic put them all on edge -- except there is no attic. Even worse, their living neighbors are giving them grief.
A pair of bird-watching photographers sets dangerous traps in the woods, a summer camp director chases Nancy and Ned off his property, and the assistant curator of a nearby Native American museum warns them to stay away from an ancient burial ground. Then a surprising discovery reveals a long-lost mystery -- and a family secret as black as night.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2002
About the author
Carolyn Keene
1,161 books4,015 followersCarolyn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 15, 2014
To think that after 167 books, Nancy would learn to stop going off in the woods by herself.
February 25, 2019
This book is perfect for a literary drinking game! Every time Nancy gets whacked on the head, take a drink.
Read
September 13, 2024This run of Nancy Drew books has some of my favorite cover art, I remember owning a few of these as a kid and checking a bunch of them out from the library.
This book came out in 2002 and is one of the main inspirations for the game Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, which came out that year as well.
Nancy Drew and Rupert Giles have so much in common with getting bonked on the head and knocked out constantly. It's a standard middle-grade mystery book: detailed descriptions of the characters, short and rhythmic sentences, page turner cliffhangers before most new chapters. It's annoying that Nancy keeps assuming Jim is out to get her while not suspecting others enough to NOT divulge important information to them, so perhaps she needs to confront some subconscious bias there.
Other than that I enjoy the portrayal of the characters here. First off, there aren't any weird disses about Bess's figure. Bess and George are fairly similar to their common depictions, just a bit more contemporary. Nancy is astute and clever but stubborn and sometimes rash. Ned has a sense of humor and in general is more interesting than the character tends to be in other depictions. The mystery is easy to figure out even without having played the game before, but the clues are laid out well to point to the conclusion for the most part.
This book came out in 2002 and is one of the main inspirations for the game Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, which came out that year as well.
Nancy Drew and Rupert Giles have so much in common with getting bonked on the head and knocked out constantly. It's a standard middle-grade mystery book: detailed descriptions of the characters, short and rhythmic sentences, page turner cliffhangers before most new chapters. It's annoying that Nancy keeps assuming Jim is out to get her while not suspecting others enough to NOT divulge important information to them, so perhaps she needs to confront some subconscious bias there.
Other than that I enjoy the portrayal of the characters here. First off, there aren't any weird disses about Bess's figure. Bess and George are fairly similar to their common depictions, just a bit more contemporary. Nancy is astute and clever but stubborn and sometimes rash. Ned has a sense of humor and in general is more interesting than the character tends to be in other depictions. The mystery is easy to figure out even without having played the game before, but the clues are laid out well to point to the conclusion for the most part.
April 21, 2020
Very nice book........❤️
October 11, 2021
A really interesting mystery for Nancy and her friends. I liked the setting for the story and enjoyed this read.
April 27, 2025
Love Nancy Drew books but best suited for tweens and teenagers. Was nice to read it as nostalgia 🫶🏼
August 16, 2018
Yet another great Nancy Drew mystery. 5/5 stars! I bought this book a while back and finally got around to reading it! This book is unique because it inspired the Nancy Drew PC game "Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake." Of course there are differences between the two, but there are some similarities.
I enjoyed the modern take on Nancy Drew. She now drives a Mustang, and wears tank tops and sweatshirts. The scenery seems beautiful (in the Pocono Mountains). The cottage is quaint and creepy! The characters are great. Ned saves the day. Bess and George are always loyal to Nancy. These are just some of the things I loved about the book!
The only thing I thought was strange was some characters introduced were absent for most of the book, only appearing in the first and last chapter. I wish we could have seen more of Steve or the Lawrence-Jones'!
I enjoyed the modern take on Nancy Drew. She now drives a Mustang, and wears tank tops and sweatshirts. The scenery seems beautiful (in the Pocono Mountains). The cottage is quaint and creepy! The characters are great. Ned saves the day. Bess and George are always loyal to Nancy. These are just some of the things I loved about the book!
The only thing I thought was strange was some characters introduced were absent for most of the book, only appearing in the first and last chapter. I wish we could have seen more of Steve or the Lawrence-Jones'!
September 22, 2024
This was supposed to have partially inspired “Ghost Dogs of Moonlake” but it wasn’t all that similar. The villain was the same but there were no ghost dogs in this book. Also Nancy was beat up so many times throughout the story I’m surprised she was doing fine at by the end. Not my favorite so far, sadly.
July 27, 2017
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
May 27, 2020
I like the Pocono mountain setting and the Native American, 1920s gangster and flooded-community-to-create-lake aspects. I enjoyed reading the story which was the basis for the HER Interactive Nancy Drew Game, Ghosts Dogs of Moon Lake, I've played. There's a pattern in these books lately regarding suspect behavior that is getting tiring and too predictable. If Nancy ever aged, she'd have terrible brain damage from her numerous untreated bonks on the head!
Read
March 15, 2017Ok type hardly any mystery
June 15, 2024
'Mystery by Moonlight' (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #167) by Carolyn Keene.
Rating: 3.0/5.
Review:
Nancy had her friends have found a perfect vacation spot – a charming cottage just beside the scenic Moonlight Lake. But soon, their vacation turns out to be a living nightmare, as mysterious sounds from the surroundings and strange thumps in the attic trouble the young sleuths. Even worse, their neighbours can't stand the sight of the young kids, and thus, end up giving them grief whenever possible.
Mystery by Moonlight might serve as an ultimate drinking game for the Nancy Drew fanatics. You can take a shot every time Nancy goes out on her own without informing her friends, every time she suspects a Native American character instead of the obvious culprit who has been behaving strangely, and every time she gets knocked on the head. Beware, it happens far too often that you might end up getting the worst hangover of your life!
It is a predictable mystery, often frustrating considering the naivety of the main characters. Mystery by Moonlight is one of the books in the last run of the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories before it was eventually cancelledq, and you can seriously notice the drop in quality. Nancy seems to have lost all of her sleuthing skills considering how wrong most of her deductions are despite the obvious culprit lurking in front of her. It feels as if the Nancy Drew we have read and known about is completely different from the Nancy we get in this story. Nancy simply turns a blind eye to the most obvious clues in this story.
The only Native American character in the book gets suspected repeatedly, and although I found it annoying at first, it just became a joke considering how dumb our "sleuths" were. Of course, Jim appears to be standoffish at first, but more often than not, it is a reaction to how the others around him are treating him. It was also disappointing to see how misinformed Nancy and her friends were regarding Jim's traditions, motives, and way of life. I'm not even American, and my knowledge of the history of providence is from whatever little I have read so far, but it was surprising to see Nancy and her friends, who being Americans would have been taught about the indigenous culture and history in their schools, be so ignorant about it. Creating small caves with animal sacrifices to scare the new owners – who even thinks of that? Even I, as someone not well-versed in American history, could guess that it was some sort of landmark or place of worship. Anyway... reading this book made me curious about the history of the indigenous peoples of America, and I might end up doing some research to learn more about this particular topic.
It was quite easy to guess who the main culprit was right from the beginning, considering how awkward they were acting in reaction to certain instances and conversations. The main culprit turned out to be poorly developed - her two stooges appeared to be clever and more threatening than her.
In conclusion, I found Mystery by Moonlight to be lacking in multiple aspects. But still, the story was good enough to make me want to finish it. It isn't a story I would usually recommend unless you are a Nancy Drew completionist.
What did those arrows mean?
The thought had barely formed in her mind when suddenly a strong, calloused hand gripped her wrist hard and shoved her to the ground. As her head struck the corner of the table, Nancy blacked out.
Rating: 3.0/5.
Review:
Nancy had her friends have found a perfect vacation spot – a charming cottage just beside the scenic Moonlight Lake. But soon, their vacation turns out to be a living nightmare, as mysterious sounds from the surroundings and strange thumps in the attic trouble the young sleuths. Even worse, their neighbours can't stand the sight of the young kids, and thus, end up giving them grief whenever possible.
Mystery by Moonlight might serve as an ultimate drinking game for the Nancy Drew fanatics. You can take a shot every time Nancy goes out on her own without informing her friends, every time she suspects a Native American character instead of the obvious culprit who has been behaving strangely, and every time she gets knocked on the head. Beware, it happens far too often that you might end up getting the worst hangover of your life!
It is a predictable mystery, often frustrating considering the naivety of the main characters. Mystery by Moonlight is one of the books in the last run of the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories before it was eventually cancelledq, and you can seriously notice the drop in quality. Nancy seems to have lost all of her sleuthing skills considering how wrong most of her deductions are despite the obvious culprit lurking in front of her. It feels as if the Nancy Drew we have read and known about is completely different from the Nancy we get in this story. Nancy simply turns a blind eye to the most obvious clues in this story.
The only Native American character in the book gets suspected repeatedly, and although I found it annoying at first, it just became a joke considering how dumb our "sleuths" were. Of course, Jim appears to be standoffish at first, but more often than not, it is a reaction to how the others around him are treating him. It was also disappointing to see how misinformed Nancy and her friends were regarding Jim's traditions, motives, and way of life. I'm not even American, and my knowledge of the history of providence is from whatever little I have read so far, but it was surprising to see Nancy and her friends, who being Americans would have been taught about the indigenous culture and history in their schools, be so ignorant about it. Creating small caves with animal sacrifices to scare the new owners – who even thinks of that? Even I, as someone not well-versed in American history, could guess that it was some sort of landmark or place of worship. Anyway... reading this book made me curious about the history of the indigenous peoples of America, and I might end up doing some research to learn more about this particular topic.
It was quite easy to guess who the main culprit was right from the beginning, considering how awkward they were acting in reaction to certain instances and conversations. The main culprit turned out to be poorly developed - her two stooges appeared to be clever and more threatening than her.
In conclusion, I found Mystery by Moonlight to be lacking in multiple aspects. But still, the story was good enough to make me want to finish it. It isn't a story I would usually recommend unless you are a Nancy Drew completionist.
February 8, 2026
Felt a wave of nostalgia last night and ended up spending money on Amazon Prime to get this. I’d completely forgotten how tiny these books are! Middle-school me used to rush home after math class just to read them, so 155 pages feels criminal now.
Still, the story is just as good as I remember. And wow, the cover by Patrick Whelan is absolutely beautiful. This came out the year I was born, and seeing Nancy and Ned on the cover makes it feel even more special. Definitely a cherished addition to my bookshelf.
for nosey people like me, read below:
One of the posts on r/NancyDrew gave me such a shock. Frank Hardy and Nancy share a kiss?! And Nancy turns down Ned to get engaged to someone else? I might be revisiting this universe after a handful of years but nothing prepared me for this reveal. BTW, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans seem to be written out after the yellow-spine classics since the ghostwriters wanted Bess & George to be unattached to travel with Nancy on her adventures.
Do what you will with that info.
Still, the story is just as good as I remember. And wow, the cover by Patrick Whelan is absolutely beautiful. This came out the year I was born, and seeing Nancy and Ned on the cover makes it feel even more special. Definitely a cherished addition to my bookshelf.
for nosey people like me, read below:
One of the posts on r/NancyDrew gave me such a shock. Frank Hardy and Nancy share a kiss?! And Nancy turns down Ned to get engaged to someone else? I might be revisiting this universe after a handful of years but nothing prepared me for this reveal. BTW, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans seem to be written out after the yellow-spine classics since the ghostwriters wanted Bess & George to be unattached to travel with Nancy on her adventures.
Do what you will with that info.
January 22, 2022
This book unfortunately suffers from everyone suspecting and thus being very hostile towards the indigenous person (of course he was naturally hostile back), and an overall very slow mystery plot leads to it being just...less fun than other Nancy Drew books.
August 21, 2023
A good job done on Prohibition History
From a family perspective events like a jewel heist, or the building of a dam and flooding of a lake, can be much more complex than one would imagine- right down to recent generations.
From a family perspective events like a jewel heist, or the building of a dam and flooding of a lake, can be much more complex than one would imagine- right down to recent generations.
April 6, 2020
Nice, simple mystery. Very predictable. But fun to read .
September 1, 2021
the game was better but that was fun!
January 26, 2025
Meh. A rare swing and a miss for me with the Nancy Drew series. I just found it boring and slow-moving.
December 14, 2025
Fun
Good fast paced and full.of mystery. I adore the older, original books best but this one had much of the dame charm.
Good fast paced and full.of mystery. I adore the older, original books best but this one had much of the dame charm.
February 9, 2026
A bit helter-skelter (the mob angle came out of nowhere) but not bad.
July 5, 2021
The best part of this book was the vibe. It really made me want to go vacation in a cottage by the lake. I get exactly the same feeling from the PC game, which is why it's one of my favorites in the series. But aside from that, everything else in this book was pretty subpar.
The characters and their motivations needed some serious work. Most of them are rude to Nancy throughout the story, and even for those who turn out to be the "good" guys, we don't get much of an explanation for their behavior. I was torn on whether to sympathize with the culprit at the end, and was even sort of muddled on what exactly she was guilty of. Nancy comes up with a lot of possible conclusions throughout the book, but we never see them through.
Speaking of which, I have never read such an underwhelming culprit reveal before. Nancy doesn't have any suspicions about Emily just a few pages prior, and then after a brief conversation with her friends, she suddenly says, "I think Emily might be our prowler." It comes out of nowhere, and her calm delivery is especially weird considering Emily had been so friendly and nice. You'd think it would feel like more of a betrayal.
Though the historical aspect is pretty interesting, the plot is also in need of revision. The book is marketed as a ghost story, but there are next to no ghostly encounters, and the hauntings that do occur are explained away pretty quickly (I'd like to mention that the cover, with a picture of a screech owl, is somewhat a spoiler). It kind of reminded me of Treasure in the Royal Tower, where the plot is a sequence of random events that Nancy struggles to piece together.
The writing itself is also not very good. The author doesn't seem to understand how to use commas, which is one of my major pet peeves even in unpublished writing.
Here are the parts of the book that were included in the PC game:
-Mickey Malone (here Mike Malone) the prohibition gangster, although we never find the speakeasy :(
-Emily Griffen (still the culprit, but much more sympathetic, and it's she who is related to Malone instead of Jeff Akers)
-An elderly bird-watching couple, neither of them named Red Knott
-Sort of Jeff Akers? He seems to be a conflation of two characters: a summer camp owner who wanted to purchase the Malone place to get more land, and a Native American activist named Jim who thinks the Malone place should be dedicated to sacred burial grounds
-A historical center with information about the lake (lots of sorting through files), plus an old lady who knows a lot about the oral history - though she isn't Malone's girlfriend, and his wife is a different character
-Moon Lake, here named Moonlight Lake (although Moon Lake is mentioned in Secret of the Old Clock, if I remember correctly)
P.S. Finally! Ned! Although Nancy introduces him as her friend and they don't go beyond a kiss on the cheek...
The characters and their motivations needed some serious work. Most of them are rude to Nancy throughout the story, and even for those who turn out to be the "good" guys, we don't get much of an explanation for their behavior. I was torn on whether to sympathize with the culprit at the end, and was even sort of muddled on what exactly she was guilty of. Nancy comes up with a lot of possible conclusions throughout the book, but we never see them through.
Speaking of which, I have never read such an underwhelming culprit reveal before. Nancy doesn't have any suspicions about Emily just a few pages prior, and then after a brief conversation with her friends, she suddenly says, "I think Emily might be our prowler." It comes out of nowhere, and her calm delivery is especially weird considering Emily had been so friendly and nice. You'd think it would feel like more of a betrayal.
Though the historical aspect is pretty interesting, the plot is also in need of revision. The book is marketed as a ghost story, but there are next to no ghostly encounters, and the hauntings that do occur are explained away pretty quickly (I'd like to mention that the cover, with a picture of a screech owl, is somewhat a spoiler). It kind of reminded me of Treasure in the Royal Tower, where the plot is a sequence of random events that Nancy struggles to piece together.
The writing itself is also not very good. The author doesn't seem to understand how to use commas, which is one of my major pet peeves even in unpublished writing.
Here are the parts of the book that were included in the PC game:
-Mickey Malone (here Mike Malone) the prohibition gangster, although we never find the speakeasy :(
-Emily Griffen (still the culprit, but much more sympathetic, and it's she who is related to Malone instead of Jeff Akers)
-An elderly bird-watching couple, neither of them named Red Knott
-Sort of Jeff Akers? He seems to be a conflation of two characters: a summer camp owner who wanted to purchase the Malone place to get more land, and a Native American activist named Jim who thinks the Malone place should be dedicated to sacred burial grounds
-A historical center with information about the lake (lots of sorting through files), plus an old lady who knows a lot about the oral history - though she isn't Malone's girlfriend, and his wife is a different character
-Moon Lake, here named Moonlight Lake (although Moon Lake is mentioned in Secret of the Old Clock, if I remember correctly)
P.S. Finally! Ned! Although Nancy introduces him as her friend and they don't go beyond a kiss on the cheek...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2012
Picked up this book ..during a bus journey .. a apt book to finish in 4 hrs.
Had read many Nancy Drew books in my school days . Somehow wanted to again know whats happening in her life :). Story is about a place "Pocono" which is near to mountains and lake ,Bess relatives used to live there, when Nancy and Ned reaches there , they find very strange and scary noises coming from the forest,Bess insists that ghosts are there and someone trying to steal something from the place they are living.
As Nancy investigation continues and her night adventures , she finds that this place was once lived by a gangster "Malone" and also some letters are missing from the boxes in her house attic.
Meanwhile Nancy and her friends be-friends with Emily who is living opposite to their guest house and planning to build a boathouse with few helpers.
During one of her Forest adventures Nancy finds that the sounds are coming from the owl which was mistaken for a women screaming and also that the Malone has left some treasure hidden in this land.
As story continues , you will get to know , who is after the treasure and all.
Its not a best mystery and page turning book..just one of Nancy adventures.
Had read many Nancy Drew books in my school days . Somehow wanted to again know whats happening in her life :). Story is about a place "Pocono" which is near to mountains and lake ,Bess relatives used to live there, when Nancy and Ned reaches there , they find very strange and scary noises coming from the forest,Bess insists that ghosts are there and someone trying to steal something from the place they are living.
As Nancy investigation continues and her night adventures , she finds that this place was once lived by a gangster "Malone" and also some letters are missing from the boxes in her house attic.
Meanwhile Nancy and her friends be-friends with Emily who is living opposite to their guest house and planning to build a boathouse with few helpers.
During one of her Forest adventures Nancy finds that the sounds are coming from the owl which was mistaken for a women screaming and also that the Malone has left some treasure hidden in this land.
As story continues , you will get to know , who is after the treasure and all.
Its not a best mystery and page turning book..just one of Nancy adventures.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2016
I like it was unlike most of the mystery books I read but still good.Its about when nancy and her friend s visit her other friend in (I din't know where)when they get they notice completes about break in on cabin's and they started to notice a black object more like a person scavenging through cabin's they notice the didn't steal anything but there looking for something nancy and her are looking for what,who and what there looking for.
January 6, 2015
What an adorable little story about some animals waiting for the snow to come. I love snow, so I know the feeling of waiting for that first snow flake. I normally like pencil art but it seems overly sketched. If you read it, you'll see what I mean. But despite that, I loved the story. So sweet and Juicy.
March 13, 2011
nice book
January 15, 2012
is soo cool
May 4, 2013
Don't remember much but I liked Nancy and the mysteries.
Read
September 16, 2016great book
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews