

However, G&D retained the right to continue publishing the canonical stories. G&D sued but lost and since that time the stories have been issued under various imprints of Simon & Schuster.

Initially published by Grosset & Dunlap from 1930 to 1979 (the "canon"), the rights to publish were sold by Harriet Stratemeyer to Simon & Schuster. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams wrote many of the later canonical tales.

Walter Karig authored several of the popular early tales. Wirt authored dozens of girls series books including Penny Parker, of whom Wirt stated "I always thought Penny Parker was a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is." Mildred Wirt Benson was the author of many early titles and brought Nancy to life. The pseudonym Carolyn Keene was also used for the Dana Girls Mystery series and for the River Heights spin-off series. The Nancy Drew books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew is the intrepid mystery solving heroine in this juvenile fiction series created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1930.
