Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene.
Title: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Hidden Staircase.
Author: Carolyn Keene (Mildred Wirt Benson) (illustrated by Russell H. Tandy).
Genre: Fiction, mystery, detective story.
Country: U.S..
Language: English.
Publication Date: 1930 (revised 1959).
Summary: After receiving a call from her friend Helen Corning, Nancy agrees to help solve a baffling mystery. Helen's Aunt Rosemary has been living with her mother at the old family mansion, and they have noticed many strange things. They have heard music, thumps, and creaking noises at night, and seen eerie shadows on the walls. Could the house be haunted? Just as soon as she hangs up the phone, a strange man visits Nancy's house to warn her and her father that they are in danger because of a case he is working on buying property for a railroad company. This warning leads Nancy and her father Carson to search for the missing Willie Wharton, a landowner, who can prove he signed away his land to the railroad and save the railroad from a lawsuit. Will Nancy be able to find the missing landowner and discover how these mysteries are related?
My rating: 7.5/10
My review:
♥ In a moment a slender, frail-looking woman with snow-white hair started to descend the steps. Her face, though older in appearance than Rosemary's, had the same gentle smile. As Miss Flora reached the foot of the stairs, she held out her hands to both girls.
At once Helen said, "I'd like to present Nancy Drew, Miss Flora."
"I'm so glad you could come, my dear," the elderly woman said. "I know that you're going to solve this mystery which has been bothering Rosemary and me. I'm sorry not to be able to entertain you more auspiciously, but a haunted house hardly lends itself to gaiety."
♥
♥
♥ "I can hear Helen very plainly!" Nancy called excitedly to Aunt Rosemary. "The listening post is as good as ever!"
When the test was over, and the cabinet manually closed by Nancy, she and Helen and Aunt Rosemary held a whispered conversation. They all decided that the ghost knew about the passageway and had overheard plans which those in the house were making. Probably this was where the ghost disappeared after Miss Flora spotted him.
"Funny that we seem to do more planning while we're in the kitchen than in any other room," Aunt Rosemary remarked.
Helen said she wondered if this listening post was unique with the owner and architect of Twin Elms mansion.
"No, indeed," Aunt Rosemary told her. "Many old homes where there were servants had such places. Don't forget that our country has been involved in several wars, during which traitors and spies found it easy to get information while posing as servants."
"Very clever," Helen remarked. "And I suppose a lot of the people who were caught never knew how they had been found out."
"No doubt," said Aunt Rosemary.
♥
