The secret backstory behind 'The Hardy Boys' and 'Nancy Drew' is much darker than you ever imagined. These two beloved classic children's mystery novel series written by Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene that have entertained children and adults alike since the 1930s. Or are they? What if we told you that Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene never existed? And that Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and a slew of other children's mystery books from your childhood were all created by one man -- the shady, mustache-twirling, nefarious businessman, Edward Stratemeyer, who built an empire off of cranking out ideas for mystery books starring pre-teen sleuths, paying a secret syndicate of starving ghostwriters pennies on the dollar to write them, publishing them under false names, and keeping all of the profits for himself? On episode 1 of Deep Cuts, we delve deep into one of the best kept secrets in pop culture history, the enigmatic figure behind it all, and the unprecedented lawsuit in the 1970s that blew the lid off of everything. 01001000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01001101 01100101  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices