dnf for now, I just can't get into this at the moment. I will try again later.

It would appear that a year has passed since Nancy's previous adventure and though she has gained some fame does not feel in any hurry to have another mystery yet. A chance stop at a pleasant lakeside inn brings Nancy together with an old school mate, Emily Crandall. Happily, Emily is about to come into an unexpected nheritance - the Crandall Jewels were willed to her by her grandmother and with her birthday around the corner she will be of age and able to have them.

 

While many of these Nancy Drew mysteries are not known for intricate plots or mysteries that are actually puzzles, this book was skimpy even for this company. She is still our beloved, brash Nancy, but her classism isn't so funny this time around and the clues Nancy discovers mostly have to do with disbelief that people of a certain type would have money and shop in the nicer department stores of River Heights.

 

Obviously, the jewels are stolen, and the police will arrest Emily's dotty guardian Mrs. Willoughby and cause a scandal unless Nancy can discover the real thief. Nancy is distracted at the beginning of the novel by housekeeper Hannah Gruen having to take immediate leave to take care of her sister. This inconvenience is made worse because father is having someone important to dinner in a week!

 

Nancy is up to the task of finding a new housekeeper but despairs when the hiring agencies send her unsuitable candidates who are black, Irish and Scots. We are given the impression that she wouldn't even have interviewed them if she hadn't been so desperate. She despairs to her father about having a "negro" housekeeper! Of course, these people are found unacceptable on inspection, but Nancy tried to help the dears not be black, Irish or Scots.

 

Another bad candidate is a young woman, Mary Mason, who is sullen and disrespectful in her answers to Nancy and is also dismissed despite good references. She becomes Important later, of course.

 

Thankfully, Nancy finds an older white lady of suitable Anglo-protestant extraction to take care of the house.

 

The racism this time around is more abhorrent because it is so casual and because it is directly from Nancy's own, natural perspective. She isn't observing someone who could do her harm as in 'The Hidden Staircase', nor is she trying to correct behavior as in the 'Secret of the Old Clock'. Other considerations like their slatternly dress and shuffling feat are on top of who they are. It's disgusting to read.

 

For that, let's move this down a few notches, despite their being some genuine daring behavior and adventure at the end of the book.

 

The 1961 revision, for what it's worth, changed the plot to something about evil twin shenanigans instead of opportunistic jewel thieves. It's likely better than the complaining about the lack of good help that Nancy and several other characters engage in.

 

Nancy Drew Mysteries

 

Next: 'The Secret of Shadow Ranch'

 

Previous: 'The Bungalow Mystery'

We should all be a little bit more like Nancy Drew

Spring in Lilac Glen - Angie Ellington Before discovering Lilac Glen, I was not aware of Angie Ellington. That however is about to change. Spring in Lilac Glen is a refreshing look at days gone by and life yet lived. Julianne and Tucker have lessons to learn, hopes to fulfill and a happily ever after to discover. This story of faith and promise is delivered with sweet words of wisdom. The little nuggets that we know to be true, but neglect to acknowledge. The best words of wisdom are there if you read between the lines. My take way: In order to appreciate the little things, let go of the big things. Important words in a lighthearted package.

Lilac Skully and the Carriage of Lost So... Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.

Lilac Skully and the Carriage of Lost Souls is a great follow-up to the first Lilac Skully book. The cover is equally beautiful as well. Amy Cesari has created something special in Lilac Skully, a nine (and three-quarters!) year old girl who is pushed outside her comfort zone by circumstances outside her control. In the first book she was dealing with her fears of her own house when her father disappears. Things quickly go from bad to worse, and soon Lilac finds herself in a vaguely Home Alone-esque situation, albeit with a bit more feeling of danger involved. One of the things that I appreciated was that Lilac isn’t some spunky go-getter that’s all motivation and no brains. She’s scared, she has doubts, and she’s not at all sure about what she’s doing. However, she recognizes that there’s no one else but her to do it, and so she gets it done.

Well, she could simply tell an adult, but that would kind of ruin the whole plot behind the books. So we’ll ignore that in favor of the story that Amy Cesari tells instead.

The plot of The Carriage of Lost Souls sees Lilac interacting with ghosts outside the ones she just got used to being around. Hatching a daring rescue plan. And finding out that sometimes people change for the better. I liked that the author worked that in there, with hearkening back to something that was talked about in the first book. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t bad guys in this book, because there definitely was! There was a lot of action in this book, and I laughed at some of the imagery provided by this even while I was eagerly turning the pages to see what happened next. The pacing, and the dialogue were lovely as well.

Now, I will say that one thing about the Lilac Skully books is that they do feel like chunks of one story instead of proper mini stories within a larger story. You DO get a mini story arc, so don’t think she pulls those cliffhangers some indie authors do where it just stops halfway through the book to get you to buy the next one. Her cliffhangers are much more mild in comparison. However, I still left this one feeling vaguely unfulfilled because it felt like she didn’t bring this story arc quite to it’s natural conclusion.

Overall, though, Lilac Skully and the Carriage of Lost Souls was an entertaining read, and I can’t wait to read the third entry into the series. Amy Cesari is doing good.(And, I have to say it, especially with the “Nine and three-quarters” age, Lilac still reminds me of Luna from Harry Potter!)