Review: Nancy Drew and the Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4) by Carolyn Keene

 

 

Nancy and her friend Helen are canoeing to see their mutual friend Emily at her soon to open Lilac Inn, when the canoe strikes something in the water, and the craft overturns.

Luckily she and Helen have their things in water proof bags which they grab and they go overboard. They're able to swim to land, then go back out and right the canoe.  They see nothing that could have caused the accident, but will try to come back later to investigate.

At the Inn, they find Emily worried about many things. Her upcoming marriage. Opening the Inn in July.  Odd goings on, perhaps even a haunting of the Inn. Her fiance isn't at the Inn yet, but his best man John is here.

While John appears sympathetic and helpful, he also seems to be holding something back and Nancy isn't sure he can be trusted.

There's an activities director who is rude and snide to everyone, and who intrudes whenever she can.

To add to Nancy's troubles, someone has apparently broken into her house, stolen her identity and used her charge plate to purchase nearly $2000 worth of goods!  The store employees identify Nancy as the one who made the purchases.

Carson Drew is once again out of town so it's up to Nancy, Helen and Emily to figure out how all of these things are connected.

I liked the scenes where Nancy and the erstwhile John are skin diving.  She thinks she sees a shark in the water!   Nancy tries to disguise herself as a ghost, only to meet up with a ghost who looks just like her.

There's never a dull moment.

From The Casefiles Of Detective OpenShut: The Lost Ghost

OpenShut returns!  Here's his latest case, solved by the great detective and his companion Rodent the Dog.  Click to enlarge.

Nancy Drew and the Burning of the Sorrows

 

 The Crew is back to trying to find out the nature of the Man in The Hat, whom Bess now calls Copperhead, because of an insignia he wears.

Bess, ever trusting of Temperance, asks for help.  She's shown a device that can be used as bait and trap for the creature.  Stealing it while Temperance is gone, she and Nancy go out into the woods and set the trap.

It catches something unexpected, an entity that feeds on sorrow.  Agent Park comes upon them just before the trap goes off, and becomes embroiled in an effort to save Temperance, who was struck with the full force of the creature's power.

Back at Temperance's manse, they try to feed the creature, now just outside, their own sorrows and Temperance's.  Temperance has by far the greatest sorrows.  Her daughter Charity was taken from her by the Women in White.  Even in death she was cheated, as Charity's husband uses the Soul Splitter he created to split Charity's soul into four parts, which become part of four soldiers on the Gettysburg battlefield. If there was an explanation of why he'd do this, I missed it.  We may get an explanation yet.

Worn by the battle for her memories, Temperance asks to be left alone. She has a lock of Charity's hair, and has a ritual that can restore her.

When she emerges, the Temperance we know is gone, replaced by a smirkingly evil version of Temperance's daughter Charity.

Apparently Temperance planned this all along.  She wanted Nancy's trust, which she now has temporarily...Nancy will see through her soon enough.

I really liked Temperance with actress Bo Martynowska.  She managed to seem sweet despite almost certainly being evil.  

The new actress, Olivia Taylor Dudley steps out, and there's no innocence to her at all.  So the character we wanted to like is now gone. I don't see how the Crew is going to take to this new incarnation,  We shall see.

Subplots were Ryan and Ace being trapped in the historical society by a ghost trying to tell them something.  Ace is atypically sarcastic with Ryan, chastising him for living in the Drew's house on their sofa.

Also, an old friend of Nick's surfaces, causing George to be a bit angry at her intrusion.  They do find Nick, who has simply been playing football.  A bit anti-climactic.

Nancy Drew and the Gambit of the Tangled Souls

 

It seems the Crew might be close to finding the Soul Splitter, a device created in the Civil War to mimic another device which can split a soul from a body. In this case, they're trying to remove the ghost of French noblewoman Odette from teen George's body. If they succeed, the shortened life of George will return to a normal long life.

The device is in a warehouse, with Carson and Ryan are charged with finding the device before police come to search the warehouse.  Somehow they get into a bottle of elixir that returns their minds and personalities to their youth.  While they grab the Soul Splitter, they're off carousing and driving a fast car, whooping it up all the way.  Somewhere along the line, they lose the device.

The "two dads" comedy has been a lot of fun this season, with both of Nancy's dads trying to contribute to her life in their own way.  They're all living together at Nancy's house, adding to the fun.

Luckily Nancy, as always, keeps a cool head, and has them retrace their steps.

Just in time for George, Bess and Nancy use the splitter, only to find it isn't meant to split two souls, but only one.  They'll need to smash Odette's crystal to save George. At this, Bess runs out with Odette's crystal, not wanting to end the ghost's long existence.  How would she even consider this when her living friend George's life is at stake?  Nancy tracks her down and just in time they use the splitter to clear George's body.

They finally decide to include Nick in the story of the souls, only to find he's disappeared.

Nancy Drew and the Testimony of the Executed Man

 

 I hoped for a bit more from Detective Con in this episode.  It didn't look like and wasn't run like any convention I've been to.

In fact, true to the episode title, the story was about an innocent man who was executed for a crime he didn't commit.  He had confessed, though, because he didn't want to admit where he really was.  His alleged crime took place in the fifties, and his ghost still wanted to protect someone.

This ties into the convention because Nancy "borrowed" old police files for Laci, host of the Premeditated Murder podcast. Laci had a personal interest in the old murder, and she told Nancy she'd give up the name of the frozen heart killer in exchange for the box of effects from the 50s.

Laci and Nancy decide to do a panel format talking about the Frozen Heart killer, as they think he's in the crowd.  They demean him and his methods hoping he will give himself away.  On a break, Nancy "heads outside to her car" to get something through a spooky basement, and of course the killer is right behind her.

I would have preferred more time spent at Detective Con and some more cat and mouse with the Frozen Hearts killer there.

A worthy separate episode would have been the unjust death and unquiet ghost whose life came to an end in the 50s.

Carolyn G. Hart begins a new series this fall

One of my favorite mystery authors is Carolyn G. Hart. Although I began reading mysteries with "The Body Farm" by Patricia Cornwell, I wanted to find more good authors to read once I had finished everything Cornwell had out at the time.

A friend recommended Carolyn Hart. No writer could be further from Cornwell in style and subject, but the main character of her Death on Demand mystery bookstore series was and remains a great source of ideas for new mystery authors to read. Annie Laurance/Darling recommends so many good books each time I like to have a notebook near to write down her suggestions. If you have a customer who is just starting out as a mystery reader of who would like tons of suggestions for new authors, suggest the Death on Demand Series.

Hart also writes the Henri O series, which I didn't appreciate until I saw Hart speak locally and she said Henri was sort of based on herself. A totally charming character, as it turns out.

Checking Hart's web site today I am excited to see she has a new series in the works. The first title will be published in October of 2008 and it will be called "Ghost at Work".

Set in Carolyn Hart's home state of Oklahoma the new character is a ghost named Bailey Ruth Raeburn. The new ghost finds that although she has to abide by certain rules, she is able to help solve some earthbound mysteries. I can't wait to read this!

While you wait, try Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity Series. Aunt Dimity is the ghost who acts as advisor to her niece Lori. These are definitely cozies, and there is something very touching about them as well. These are set in England though Lori is American. The series begins with "Aunt Dimity's Death".

Another ghostly mystery series to try is The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries by "Alice Kimberly" (pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team). A widow and her aunt run a bookstore inhabited by a ghost. The first book in this series is "The Ghost and Mrs. McClure".