The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV Series) The Mystery of the Ghostwriters' Cruise (1977) User Reviews

Nancy takes a cruise -

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 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.

Great fun

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 6 June 2023]

Taking a luxurious ocean cruise, Nancy and her friends go into action when a famous mystery writer on board receives death threats that follow one of his own plots. There is a scrap book with a threat inside it waiting in his room, however. Then a lamp in his room sparks when Nancy turns it on, the result of faulty wiring. Mr. Addams just wants to discount these things as pranks and accidents, but even he is convinced when bad things keep happening to him. Seems someone wants him to relive one of his books

Love mystery on cruise ships, a confined area in a middle of a sea and a killer in the midst. Just like this rather exciting and involving episode that has plenty of fog, dodgy suspects and a busy plot. The ship is creepy and the way the camera focused on the suspects' faces, briefly looking menacing was good. Only thing though - the tidal wave bit was a neat trick but it's a little farfetched on how a seasoned ship crew could be hoodwinked by that. Then again who cares? This is great fun.

Spooky Cruise Mystery

[wfw-93416 · 7/10 · 26 July 2022]

I agree with much of bensonmum2's review. This is a good episode with an exciting climax. (Yes, the electronic device mimicking a tidal wave was unrealistic, but for some reason it annoyed me even more that there was a grammatical error in the threatening note and NOBODY mentioned it.) This episode also had a lot of possible suspects, which kept you guessing. Pamela Sue Martin was a spunky, confident Nancy Drew. The series wasn't the same after she left.

There Has To Be A Morning After

[cutterccbaxter · 6 January 2024]

Shortly before this episode aired I took 2nd place on a Carnival Cruise ship shuffle board tournament. I should have won but I couldn't handle the pressure.

I'm glad I wasn't forced to sing like George had to in this episode. I really would have folded under pressure. I probably would've sang "Rock The Boat" by The Hues Corporation.

George is my favorite Nancy Drew character. She usually has the best lines in each episode. In this one it's: "Nothing to worry about!?! Look at your face, you've got Titanic written all over it!" Given that the threat to the ship was a tidal wave, and that she was standing next to Pamela Sue Martin it would have been really funny if George said: "Look at your face, you've got Poseidon Adventure written all over it!"

I like how they had Ellery Queen's dad playing Earl Stanley Gardner.

Until I saw this episode I was unaware that the cassette tape in a portable tape player could be erased remotely.

The fog filter didn't work for me. It looked like the camera lens was dirty. And there sure were a lot of aerial shots of the ship for scene transitions. I don't think The Love Boat ever used that many.