Connie Watson was struggling to get enough money for college tuition, so she decided to use her Judo expertise to compete secretly in a men's tournament (the prize money was significantly better than the women's tournament), which Connie easily won. Jake caught her removing her mask on camera, and subsequently forced her to date him.
Hulk Sanchez was badly injured while playing football, so in order to continue playing and impress the college scouts, he decided to break into the local pharmaceutical plant to steal some steroids. After filming Hulk leaving the plant, Jake forced him to be his lackey.
Daryl Gray's father was former U.S. senator Eugene Gray, who went bankrupt after some poor business deals. Daryl got involved in a drug smuggling deal with Mitch Dillon. Jake caught video footage of the transaction and thus demanded a cut of the profits that Daryl was receiving.
Mitch Dillon was running a drug transport ring from the local pharmaceutical plant. When Jake caught video footage of a transaction between him and Daryl Gray, he attempted to blackmail Mitch.
Development
Characters
Nancy Drew - Nancy is an eighteen-year-old amateur detective from the fictional town of River Heights in the United States. She is the only playable character in the game, which means the player must solve the mystery from her perspective.
Daryl Gray – Daryl is the one who found the victim's body. He works part-time as a short-order cook at Maxine's Diner, and he is the school's student council president (taking the position after his father who was a Florida state senator). He is known as a rich, popular, pretty boy who drives a Porsche. He tends to be a bit of a flirt, but is he as wholesome as he seems?
Connie Watson – Connie is a strong girl with an attitude and a dark secret. The player can always find her in the Student Lounge. She seems like a nice normal, if not tough, teenage girl... or is she?
Hal Tanaka – Hal is a foreign exchange student from Japan. He's very focused on getting a scholarship so that he can go to college and become a doctor. He is always in the study dome at the school. He seems intelligent, but is he smart enough to plan the death of the devious blackmailer known as Jake Rogers?
Hector "Hulk" Sanchez – Hulk Sanchez is a stereotypical jock who hopes to play college football, and the go on to play for the Miami Dolphins. However, Hulk needs an athletic scholarship to reach that dream. Are his future plans as stable as he says?
Mitch Dillon – Mitch is the school's boiler serviceman and is not seen much in the game. He's as shady as they come.... did Jake get mixed up with him?
Cast
Nancy Drew - Lani Minella
Hal Tanaka - John Truong
Hector 'Hulk' Sanchez - Rick Calvert
Daryl Gray - Bill Corkery
Mitch Dillon - Kenton Leach
Connie Watson - Donna Rowry
Remake
Secrets Can Kill was officially discontinued on August 1, 2010 due to compatibility issues with sound cards in newer computers. On August 24, 2010, Her Interactive released a remastered version of Secrets Can Kill with a brand-new ending and three-dimensional characters.
Reception
During the year 2001, Secrets Can Kill sold 28,050 units in North America, according to PC Data. Its jewel case re-release sold 41,455 copies in the region during 2003. In the United States alone, the game's computer version sold between 100,000 and 300,000 units by August 2006. Combined sales of the Nancy Drew adventure game series reached 500,000 copies in North America by early 2003, and the computer entries reached 2.1 million sales in the United States alone by August 2006. Remarking upon this success, Edge called Nancy Drew a "powerful franchise".
Critical reception for Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill has been mixed. The Washington Post panned Secrets Can Kill, criticizing it for not giving the player a good sense of the character of Nancy Drew and stating "This sanitized game could get old pretty quick; I'd stick with the books". Adventure Gamers gave the game two stars. The New York Times has dubbed the game the "Un-Barbie of computer games". The Sun Sentinel has praised the game, writing "Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill is a wonderful game for readers of Nancy Drew mysteries and even past readers. It helps bring the characters alive, while injecting a bit of the player into the role."
Commonsensemedia reviewed the remastered game and gave it a favorable review, rating it at five stars.
