Alright, so it's possible that references to poorly received comedies from the 1990's are not relevant. But seriously. It's "Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?" starring Nancy Drew.
This one starts out with Nancy, Bess and George traveling to visit an Inn called "Sign of the Twisted Candles," owned by an elderly relative of the Marvin and Fayne family but operated by two other douchebags. Ooops. Gave that one away. But, spoiler alerts aside, it's pretty obvious from the get-go that the married couple operating the inn, Mr. and Mrs. Jemmit, are total d-bags. While lunching at the inn, Nancy, Bess and George overhear a young waitress named Carol all in a tizzy because she has been forbidden from bringing lunch to Asa Sidney. Being that Bess and George are relatives of the elderly Mr. Sidney, Nancy insists on taking the tray of food for her.
As it turns out, old man Sidney is turning 100 that very day, and doesn't feel like he has a friend in the world other than Carol Whipple, the teen-aged waitress who works at the inn under the almost Disney-esque foster parent villainy of the Jemmits. Apparently, his actual family members have never really visited until now that he's over a hundred and will probably die soon. Yikes. Bess and George's great uncle and grandfather are apparently the worst offenders in this circling-vultures scenario.
Old Man Sidney's Dyin'! Who's Got the Will?
Of course, Asa Sidney ends up hastily changing his will with the aid of Carson Drew, and dies the very next day. This leads into the "family feud" plot, wherein Bess and George stop talking to Nancy because their parents have clearly told them that Nancy and her father underhandedly convinced Asa Sidney to change his will and disinherit them.
Unfortunately, this is the part where the book loses me for a while. The plot itself is great--with twists and turns and villains hiding around every corner. But the behavior of Bess and George just didn't make sense to me. Yes, friends fight, and Bess, George and Nancy often do, but this is different and wildly out of character. For one, if George thought that Nancy was doing something wrong, she would flat-out confront her about it, whereas in Book #9 she hides in her house and refuses to speak to Nancy. Yeah, that's not the George Fayne I know and love. Bess, similarly, coldly snubs Nancy. That's SO not Bess. She might burst into tears and storm out, but the stone-cold bitch thing just isn't Bess. Later in the book, they make up and admit that they had been convinced by their great-uncle that the Drews were up to no good, but I can't help but think that they could have handled the "friendship crisis" a lot better in this book.
The last chunk of the book is non-stop excitement. Nancy and Ned have a date...with danger! Nancy get's her fourth head injury (awwwwww). Nancy is drugged, finds a snake in a box, and ends up being dangled from a windowpane like a guy that owes money to the mob. Whoosh!
In the end, the Jemmits are arrested and it is discovered that Carol Whipple, Asa Sidney's only friend, is also his biological great-grandniece--a fact that he was too ashamed to tell her, as he felt he had not given his own wife and children the love they needed. Soon, both sides of the family calm down about the will...but then start a fight about who will foster Carol. Awwww. Just like "Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?" Blood is thicker than water...
This is a very good one, but I can't help but be left with a sour taste in my mouth due to the out-of-character behavior of Bess and George. This one might have been a 4 1/2 or 5, but I'm landing on 4/5 mags.
Head Injury Count: 1 (4 total)
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