The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries "The Mystery of the Ghostwriters' Cruise" #1.12 (1977)

Nancy takes a cruise -, 7 June 2017

Nancy and George take a cruise with their friend Cathy and Cathy's uncle, John Addams. Mr Addams is a renowned mystery writer who has just announced his retirement. Weird things immediately start happening and it becomes apparent to Nancy that someone is trying to harm Mr Addams. The would-be killer is using one of the writer's first books as a guide for murder. Can Nancy uncover the truth in time?

While I do have some serious issues with The Mystery of the Ghostwriters' Cruise, it's still one of the better Nancy Drew episodes. It's packed with excitement and mystery. My favorite bits have to be the spooky tape recording, the deadly lamp, and the threat written in the scrapbook. What's not to like? The episode also has atmosphere to spare. The ship is downright creepy. I even enjoyed the George/George relationship schtick. What could have been super-annoying was anything but. To me, it was actually very funny. Another plus for The Mystery of the Ghostwriters' Cruise is David Wayne as John Addams. Wayne was a very competent actor who I always seem to enjoy. Finally, the ending is nicely handled. There seems to be some real danger present. Nancy is in a literal race to save the day. Good stuff.

My biggest issue with the episode concerns the killer's overly elaborate plan. Take the fake tidal wave sequence as an example. How in God's name could anyone have pulled that off without being discovered? What kind of training in electronics and ship design would this have taken? And how was the trained and experienced crew so easily tricked? It just doesn't make sense. There's no logic behind any of it. But then again, who really cares when you're having this much fun.

7/10