The Sign Of The Twisted Candles

With this, we reach the end of the books ghostwritten by Walter Karig (for those of you who don't remember this ghostwriter, along with The Sign Of The Twisted Candles first written in 1933 and Nancy's 9th mystery, he penned Nancy's Mysterious Letter and The Password To Larkspur Lane.  As stated in the review for those books, I'm not sure why he didn't like Nancy's team ups with Bess and George, so confusion for everyone!

Characters: Nancy and Carson Drew, attorney Raymond Hill. Guest spots by Bess Marvin and George Fayne with a cameo by Ned Nickerson.

Premise: Nancy investigates an old family feud when a new acquaintance is gifted an inheritance.

Due Nancy's car stalling during a storm, Nancy, Bess, and George are forced to stop at a tearoom known as The Sign Of The Twisted Candles, where they learn the owner---Asa Sidney----is celebrating his hundredth birthday and it turns that he is George and Bess' great uncle (this is the book where it's revealed that Bess and George's mothers are sisters, which....they couldn't have explained that from the beginning?  Like in their introduction in The Secret At Shadow Ranch? Geez!) and they meet a young woman named Sadie Whipple, whom they ended up liking, though they're not fond of her foster parents, Frank and Emma Semitt.  Shortly after this celebration, Asa passes away, and that's when all the trouble starts, because of course things would pop off after the guy's death.

As it turns out, Asa isn't too popular with his relatives because his daughter Lily was killed in an explosion in his workshop and his wife Jenny left him, causing a rift in the family with the Sidney side blaming Jenny for leaving him-------which, grief is a funny thing, people handle it in differently, and I'm honestly not sure how I would've reacted in this situation---while the Booton side blamed Asa for Lily's death---which, again, I know grief can be tricky, but seriously, people!  Anyway, after Sadie is given Asa's inheritance, two of Bess and George's relatives---Jacob Sidney and Peter Booton---hire a lawyer to challenge the will and Bess and George end up siding with their parents and snub Nancy because they think that she convinced Carson to help Sadie cheat them, resulting in Nancy working with Asa's lawyer, Raymond Hill as she sets out to prove that Sadie deserves the inheritance, being visited once by Ned who comments on George's coolness when it comes to her, though she eventually makes up with Bess and George.  Honestly though, I don't think I would've forgiven them so easily because honestly, they were horrible to Nancy over something that she had absolutely no control over and this is the only time I got annoyed with both Bess and George for their treatment of Nancy.   

During the course of the investigation, it's revealed that a member of the Booton and Sidney family---John and Helen respectively---fell in love and ran away together when they were both disowned and had a child together, only to perish in an accident and the child ended up in an orphanage, and Nancy also discovers that Frank and Emma have been stealing from Asa who had started to suspect them.  The couple then try to get Sadie's inheritance for themselves, first by sweet-talking her and then by kidnapping and threatening her, which of course doesn't work, because, yeah, no.

At the end, it's revealed that Sadie is John and Helen's child and her birth name is Sarah Booton, which Asa knew but kept a secret because he was afraid that the family would mistreat her, which, I mean, with the way these adults were acting, I really don't blame him.  Geez, they were acting like kids.  Of course, with a little pep talk from Nancy, the Booton's and Sidney's decide to bury the hatchet and Peter claims Sadie as his granddaughter, which is great, but like, it was all wrapped up too neatly for me.

The Sign Of The Twisted Candles was revised in 1968 by Edna Stratemeyer Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams----Edward's wife and daughter, I believe.  I know for sure Harriet is his daughter----and is pretty much the same with Ned having a bigger role, the term "shopping orgy" changed to "shopping spree" (orgy also means revelry, get your minds outta the gutter 😂), Chief McGinnis is thrown into the plot though his role isn't very big. Sadie's name is changed to Carol, though it's revealed that it was her name originally. The Semitts are now the Jemitts, and Jacob Sidney gets assaulted and tied up.  

Another change is that while Sadie seemed to be an adult who was cowed by Semitts, Carol is said to be a minor, which honestly, I think works better.  Yes, I get how Sadie was fearful of her foster parents even as an adult, but for some reason, her being underage just made sense.  I also liked that the twisted candles design was used as a way to identify where Asa had secreted his valuables instead of just having to do with one of his inventions.  And of course, Jacob Sidney is revealed to be Carol's grandfather while Peter Booton is her great-uncle.  All in all, I enjoyed the book.  Be kind, determined, and strong.  Do the Drew.