Book Review: The Mystery at Lilac Inn

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

Of all the mysteries that Nancy has come across, this one causes her to land into ‘Lilac Inn’, a remotely-situated colonial-style resort. Abundant greens and dense sprinkles of lilac trees paint the portrait of this inn’s generous property. The picturesque space is revealed to be dotted with a number of elegant cottage huts, one dining hall and also, a public restaurant. Some itsy-bitsy renovations are in process.

The inn is owned by Nancy’s friend Emily, who has purchased it very recently, and also, who is going to host her wedding cermony in the inn before opening its cottages for the tourists. Nancy and their common friend Helen, are going to be Emily’s bridesmaids. And so, the two of them, Nancy and Helen, pack up their suitcases to have a wondersome stay in the beautiful inn; totally unaware of what awaits them there!

To everyone’s utter bewilderment, the inn seems to be shadowed by some bizarre occurrences. Also living alongside Emily, her elderly aunt Hazel is becoming low-spirited and heart-sick day after day, agonized over what horror is going to unfold next and engulf them.

A waitress reports seeing a ghostly phantom, and flees away from the inn without notice. Tools go missing from the garden toolbox. Electric power spookily fluctuates on and off, while the cause for it remains unidentified.

But most of all, what scares them all, is the theft of Emily’s diamonds. These were the diamonds that Emily’s late mother had bequested to her before her death. The gems were to be handed over to Emily on her eighteenth birthday by her aunt.

Withal, the very moment when her aunt is presenting this pouch of diamonds to her on her birthday dinner, the lights shut off abruptly and by the time it is back, the diamonds are gone!

Before Nancy can dig deeper into the mystery, she is shoved off with yet another riddle to solve. Apparently, as she takes back-to-back sleuthing trips from the inn to her house, riding in her boat, Nancy comes across a shocking discovery that a girl is impersonating her.

While she’s home, the people at the inn report seeing her, complaining of her weird behaviour, and while she’s away from her home, at the inn, the people in her hometown blame her for causing troubles to them.

Nancy is puzzled, but more than that, she is determined to catch the culprit and bring her into light. But guess what, the unfolding events only pull her deeper and deeper into the spiralling well of questions.

Determined that she is, but at the same time, she feels disheartened to be unable to distinguish real from unreal. Anyone and everyone appears to be the suspect to her binocular eyes. Sometimes, her attention shifts towards a gardener named Gill, while sometimes to Maud Potter, the social director of the inn. But, still and all, she doesn’t seem to arrive at any conclusion.

On top of that, the inn itself seems to her as a never-ending piece of puzzle. Despite having monitored every nook and corner of the inn, she is unsure whether she has seen it all. While she is tiptoeing through the inn following the diamond theft, she discovers a panel hidden behind one of the walls of the room from where the diamonds were stolen. The panel further reveals several other panels leading the way to the outside of inn’s quarters. She also discovers, in the garden, some mysterious typewritten notes, each one containing an unusual code-word.

Meanwhile, Helen too reports seeing a ghost during the night, as Nancy finds her unconscious under a tree. The cottages, where Nancy and Helen are staying are burned to ashes while they are taking a walk in the garden. The culprits don’t leave them even while they are relaxing by skin-diving in the river. While they’re swimming, they are hit and struck by something what resembles a shark-like object.

Before Nancy herself could connect the dots, a phone call arrives, informing her that a theft has taken place in her home. Her identity card has been stolen and is being misused by the girl who is posing as her impersonator.

Nancy is clueless as her mind is racing in a thousand different directions, all at the same time.

Albeit, she rides back to her hometown, informs Chief McGinnis, the head of police, a dear friend of her father, and makes several visits to the list of suspicions she has – the old waitress’ house, the house of the former employer of this waitress, and the jewelry showroom where her identity card was misused…

Gathering several clues, Nancy locks herself in her room, and concentrates all her nerves to connect the pieces of mystery. At last, her mind causes her to craft a secret plan which, though, could risk her life, but would enable her to catch the mischief-making culprit. Nancy rides back to the inn without telling anyone about it, and secretly hides inside an empty cottage to avoid any attention that might alarm the suspects.

Successful at last, she comes across the girl who is not only revealed to be her mirroring impersonator, but also the ghost of the inn!

But wait, Nancy’s troubles aren’t over yet…

Before she can catch this girl, she is hit on her head from behind, only to faint and find herself rope-tied inside an underwater boat’s cabin.

Further events reveal shocking bits and pieces. The girl is nobody but a Broadway actress who, is switching her roles between becoming a waitress and an actress. Emily’s stolen diamonds too, are found to be hidden inside the girl’s lipstick case. There are other suspects in her gang too, some of whom, Nancy had suspected, quite early in the mystery.

As Nancy tries to absorb it all, the boat suddenly catches fire. The gang of culprits leave her all alone, gagged and locked in the burning, sinking boat. Nancy’s only hope is God. And the help does appear, in the form of his father who seems to be riding in a boat alongside Chief McGinnis. Spotting the smoky fumes rising from an underwater boat, they rescue Nancy just before the boat explodes and spurts into shattered metallic chunks.

Like other novels of this mystery series, The Mystery of Lilac Inn, too, is a stupendous and immersive plot to read through. The storyline mentioned is just a speck of the many interesting tiny details patched into the mystery. So, yes, a Nancy Drew fan if you are, you’re going to read the book, and totally love it too!

Neha
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