She wrote the plot outlines for many books in the Nancy Drew series, using characters invented by her father, Edward Stratemeyer.

[1] Adams is credited with keeping the Syndicate afloat through the Great Depression, and with revising the two most popular series, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, in the 1950s and 1960s, removing stereotypes and streamlining plots and characters.

The best-known books were written primarily by Mildred Wirt Benson,[2] all published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.

[1] In 1915, she married Russell Vroom Adams, and raised four children, becoming involved in the family business only after her father's death.

[5] She lived in Pottersville at her estate, Bird Haven New Jersey and died of a heart attack while watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time.