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"When they stepped out downstairs, they turned in the
opposite direction, away from the locker room. Nancy
switched on her penlight so they could find their way
down the pitch-dark corridor." (pg. 73)
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The Treasure in the Royal Tower
First published: December 1995
Ghostwriter: Unknown
Cover A: Aleta Jenkins
Publisher: Minstrel (Simon & Schuster)
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For this case, Nancy, Bess, and George are on vacation at a newly-opened Wisconsin ski resort. But sabotage and rumors of a lost treasure send Nancy and gang into another mystery.
This book is popular, because it was the basis for Her Interactive's fourth video game in their series of Nancy Drew computer games. That was released in June 2001, and remains fairly faithful to the book, with the usual minor changes. For more information on the game, go to Her Interactive's page for the game here.
***~~~***
Characters:
- Nancy, Bess, and George
- Mark and Christi Lane — the new owners of Wickford Castle.
- Dexter Egan — local baddie-turned-hotel concierge.
- Jacques Brunais — the resort's handsome French ski instructor, who is a disgraced Olympian. **Bess's man of the week.
- Lisa Ostrum — a young journalist for a ski-related magazine.
- Prof. Hotchkiss — a male French professor from Massachusetts.
- Dr. Maria Alvarez — a heart surgeon from Chicago.
- Meg Alvarez — Dr. Alvarez's teenage daughter, who competes with Bess (in a friendly way) for Jacques' attention.
- Gus — Mark and Christie's sweet dog.
The Book:
As the book begins, Nancy is driving her blue Mustang through a blizzard with her BFFs, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, in the backseat. They are driving up to Wickford Castle, a Wisconsin ski resort owned by Mark and Christi Lane, who greet the girls with their dog, Gus, and the cold concierge, Dexter Egan. They also meet some other guests: Lisa Ostrum, a young journalist for Ski World magazine; and Prof. Hotchkiss, a male French professor from Massachusetts. Also mentioned is Jacques Brunais, a hunky ex-Olympian who is the new ski instructor. Bess and George joke that Nancy is a detective, and Mark shows them to their room. Bess decides to take a bath, while Nancy and George explore the castle.
Nancy and George come to an unrenovated hallway, and stumble upon a hidden elevator. Just as they hear some footsteps, they decide to go in the elevator. Of course, the elevator gets stuck between floors, and the emergency button does not work. Not that that matters, because they instead decide to go into the shaft, and jump to the next floor. And yes, the girls come from it unscathed, and do not feel the need to report it right away. Instead, they decide to get ready for dinner.
Well, of course everyone is there for dinner, where some more people are introduced: Dr. Maria Alvarez, a Chicago heart surgeon, and her high school daughter Meg. Jacques walks in, and sways Bess and Meg with his French accent. For dinner, Mark tells the group about the castle's history. Namely, the eccentric Ezra Wickford bought an entire French tower (visited by Marie Antoinette) to import to Wisconsin, and built dead-end tunnels and fake staircases to avoid robbers. Sounds like the Winchester Mansion meets Buckingham Palace.
After dinner, the Lanes bring the guests to the library, only to find bookcases turned over, furniture all over the place, and a big hole in the wall. Yes, the library has been vandalized! *Gasp* This convinces Nancy that she needs to solve this case, and help Mark and Christie. After all, the fiend who wrecked the Nancy Drew books needs to pay!!
Mark and Christie are happy to have Nancy help, and tell her about the creepy noises made at night. They all agree its best if no one knows Nancy's a detective. At this point, Nancy tells them about the elevator incident, and finds out the power box was turned off by someone. The girls decide to use the stairs this time (not that I blame them), and walk up with Meg. She tells them of a fight she saw between Jacques and Dexter in the middle of the night. Lisa runs into everyone, wearing nothing but a robe 😐... the conversation doesn't last long before everyone goes back to their rooms.
The girls are waken up by the noises, and find it comes from nowhere. Nancy knocks on the walls near the noises, and finds that the walls sound different - one part is an exterior wall, but the other part is not. The girls retire for the night, since tomorrow is the first day of ski lessons with Jacques.
The next morning, the girls (and Meg) go with Jacques for their skiing lesson. During their lesson, Nancy and Bess see Dexter going to a shed. But since it's not time for Dexter to be suspicious yet, they blow it off, and race each other to the ski lift. After the day of skiing, Nancy checks in with Mark and Christi, who tell her the police have no clues, and everyone has an alibi. Christi gives Nancy the key to the library, and Nancy becomes suspicious of Dexter when she learns he watched the castle for over 30 years.
Nancy, Bess, and George go to investigate the library, and find a book the vandal was looking at. She decides to take the book and read it later, just as they see some closed drapes move. They attempt to fool the intruder by having an obviously-scripted conversation, but they look in the hole, and run off. A chase reveals the figure is... Dexter!
Instead, Nancy and the girls go to look at the wall. Mark comes in to see who is in the library, and the girls tattle on Dexter to him. After dinner, Nancy tries to read the book she picked up in the library, but instead begins voicing her suspicions about Prof. Hotchkiss. Her thoughts are interrupted by a woman screaming down the hallway! Don't worry, though. It's Lisa, who got stuck in one of the staircases going to nowhere. ugghh...
The next afternoon, the girls quit skiing early, and head back to the castle. Nancy points out a person in a black snowmobile suit, and the girls think it would be a good idea to do that instead. After putting away their gear, they see the person doing something outside the Queen's Tower. When George yells, the figure attacks Nancy, and makes a dash for the snowmobiles. As the figure gets away, Nancy falls, and her leg is run over by the snowmobile. Thanks, George. I hope Nancy sues you for the medical bill.
Since the snowmobile guy dropped a key, Nancy and Bess look at it and realize it's the same key Dexter used to unlock Lisa out of the staircase. Bess notices a secret door, but since Nancy's leg is starting to hurt, they decide to go inside. While going inside, they see Prof. Hotchkiss coming inside... with a black suit! However, he denies being behind the incident.
Dr. Alvarez diagnoses Nancy's leg as only having a bruise. She recommends staying off it for the rest of the night, and not participating in any sports activities the next day. The girls decide to take the elevator, but do you really think Nancy will take the doctor's advice?
On the ride up, the trio discuss the case. Or more accurately, they discuss if Professor Hotchkiss is guilty. Bess tells the girls the key they found outside fits the lock of the room Lisa was trapped in, putting him in the top range of the suspect list. This time, the elevator does not stop, and the girls get prepared for dinner.
After dinner, they review the layout of the castle. Looking at where they heard the thumping sounds, the girls find that it runs against the sealed up tower, and that the elevator on the first floor hallway runs against the same wall. After hearing the thumping sounds again, Nancy wants to investigate, but Bess and George (shockingly) force her to stay in bed while they go. But that is why Bess and George are the best friends around! They come back reporting they not only heard the sounds, but footsteps as well. The three girls go down to the basement to investigate (I told you Nancy wouldn't listen to rest her foot), and find a locked door - It's Locked! Nancy solves a puzzle to open the door, and the girls find themselves inside the sealed tower. Since the stairs are bad, and Nancy's already disobeyed doctor's orders, the girls decide to explore. Getting closer to the source of the noises, the girls find out the perpetrator is... Jacques!
After some sassy commentary, Jacques gives his whole sob story. When Ezra Wickford bought the castle to import it from France to Wisconsin, Jacques' great-grandfather was put in charge as the master carpenter. One day, when no one was around, he came across some old letters in a secret panel, written by Marie Antoinette. However, since he couldn't read or write, he did not know what they said. He hid them and planned to come back for them the next day, but the secret panel was gone. He told Jacques the story on his deathbed, and begged him to find it. Jacques says no one could have found it, and when questioned by Nancy, also denies vandalizing the library. Jacques asks them to keep their secret, and although Bess wants to, she is overruled. Nancy offers to go with him to see Mark and Christi the next morning, and he leaves. He warns them to be careful on the old stairs, but while they leave, George falls through one of the steps. 🙄
Luckily, the fall isn't that far, and another passageway is discovered, this one to the locker room. Dexter Egan shows up and begins to interrogate them, but Jacques comes back and explains that they are friends of his. Good friends.
The next morning, Nancy and the girls go with Jacques as they said they would, and he explains everything. The good news is that Mark and Christi are okay with Jacques vandalizing their property, and are surprised the story is true. They just ask him to keep the noise down. The bad news is that Nancy caught someone eavesdropping. And right afterwards, Nancy catches Professor Hotchkiss and Lisa talking about a Marie Antoinette book. She can't hear them, and they stop talking once they realize she is eavesdropping.
Nancy, Bess, and Meg make plans to ditch their ski lesson and shop in town. George goes too, because I guess she is easily susceptible to peer pressure. After some shopping, the girls eat at an old-fashioned soda shop, where the owner tells the girls about Dexter's past. Not surprisingly, he was a juvenile delinquent who did some time. And more surprisingly, he only started working at Wickford Castle six months ago.
That night, Mark and Christi decide to throw a party on the ice rink. Meg and Bess try to get Jacques' attention. Jacques ends up being into Meg, and gives her his pink cap. But while racing Jacques across the rink, she goes missing - and is found knocked unconscious by Nancy and George. Unfortunately for them, she couldn't see who her assailant was since it was dark. Nancy deduces that, since Meg was wearing Jacques' cap, the intended victim was Jacques.
The next day, everyone is back on the slopes, and Jacques feels bad Meg got hurt because of him. After the lesson, and as the sun sets, Nancy rides on the lift alone. And, as you expect, the predictable happens - Nancy is stranded on the lift, with no one in sight. Nancy decides the only option is to jump twenty feet to the ground, and walk back to the lodge. However, the fall brings back the ache in her leg, and a ski patrol woman helps bring Nancy back to the lodge. Mark and Christi plan to investigate the accident, but Nancy knows it was not an accident. Which seems confirmed, as she chases away a mysterious figure snooping in her room during the excitement.
Mark's investigation into the ski lift incident isn't helpful, but does help Nancy remember what her intruder was looking for. Remember the book Nancy took from the library earlier? It's okay if you don't, because Nancy just remembered about it too. The book is gone from Nancy's room, but with Bess and George in tow, she races back to the tower and discovers the niche - the empty niche.
With the permission and assistance of the Lanes, the girls search the guest rooms - with Prof. Hotchkiss as the top suspect. Although they don't find anything in there, the next room has the red book in plain sight, and the letters in a drawer. That room belongs to (highlight for spoiler) [Lisa Ostrum].
Reading the old letters, the girls find out that the treasure is a diamond, hidden in a crystal chandelier in the tower. And now knowing the sabotage culprit, Nancy, Bess, and George race to the tower to find [Lisa] on a ladder, holding the diamond. Upon their discovery, [Lisa] jumps off the ladder, and lunges at Nancy.
Nancy and [Lisa] fight, with exposition laced in between. Gus - who wanted to play with the girls as they ran to the tower - storms in, and attacks [Lisa]. I don't know where Bess and George went, but they come back in, and help Nancy go get Mark and Christi - and the police.
In the last chapter, Nancy relates the story to the other guests, after [Lisa] has admitted to most of the incidents ([Dexter, who has suddenly changed into being a nice person,] admitted to sawing the step in the tower to scare the girls off). Mark and Christie give the diamond back to the French government, and Jacques decides to send the letters with it as well, in memory of his great-grandfather. A happy ending, and another case solved!
Some Good Things:
- The cliffhanger sequences seemed different - in a very good way. The ghostwriter makes them seem as if they were actual struggles, and not a cheap, fake-out gimmick to end a chapter.
- In Chapter 5, Nancy decides they need to work the case from a different angle - establish motive, before establishing the culprit. I thought this was particularly smart, and very different.
- Also in Chapter 5, I may have made fun of Nancy trying to fool the culprit, but it was actually quite well-done.
- In chapter 8, both the figure and Professor Hotchkiss are mentioned as having a "hunky build". I'm shocked I just noticed that this time around.
- I remember when reading this book for the first time (many years ago), I was surprised to find out Dexter had not worked at the castle for a long time. The way it was brought up casually made it seem like a nice twist.
Some Problems/Errors:
- Multiple times, Bess's crush on Jacques clouds her judgement. In chapter 4, Bess wants to write Jacques off the suspect list. Similarly in chapter 9, Bess quickly says they should keep Jacques' secret from Mark and Christi.
- In Chapter 5, Nancy asked Mark for permission to read the book she picked up, but doesn't read it until Chapter 14. That seemed a bit out of character to me - since when did Nancy start ignoring clues?
- The section with the snowmobile figure (chapter 6/7) is not written well. I had to re-read it multiple times, and I had some problems visualizing where/how it happened.
- Bess and George don't let Nancy get up to investigate the noises, but they let her go to the basement, climb up into the Queen's Tower, and explore.
- The party in chapter 11 comes out of nowhere, and it seems like a filler segment.
Some Other Observations:
- Don't know if it's just me, but I imagine Bess being emotionally exhausted from being in the car with Nancy & George from River Heights to Wisconsin.
- Two other couples staying at the castle are Ken & Laura Hill, and Jon & Chelsea Morton, all from Milwaukee. They're supposed to be suspects, but they are introduced in the first chapter, and avoid the girls at any cost after that.
- The castle has no official blueprints (why??), so Mark and Christie are making their own as they renovate the castle.
- Bess and Meg's puppy-dog crushes on Jacques are okay in the beginning. But then Jacques - a former Olympic skier turned teacher (about 30) - becomes interested in Meg - an underage high school student on vacation with her mother. I just noticed that reading the book for this review, and it immediately made me lose any sympathy for Jacques.
- Speaking of dogs, Gus apparently has full access to the castle whenever he wants. Mark and Christie just better hope there aren't any surprise health inspectors.
Award Time:
To make my blog a bit more fun and unique, I like to include some awards at the end of my posts. If you can come up with a creative award, send the title and award description to me in either a comment or e-mail.
- Best Friend Line: "A milkshake will definitely not help you look good in stretch pants." -George to Bess (pg. 101)
- Guest Hunk: Jacques or Prof. Hotchkiss
- Monster of the Week: Dexter Egan
- Most Gameable Moment: Nancy finding the tower entrance in chapter 8, and saying "It's locked".
In conclusion:
I thought the book was good. I can certainly see why it's memorable — video game adaption aside. The writing is excellent, with the story and (most of the) events well-plotted, and an interesting location. The investigation ran smoothly, with interesting characters and a satisfying culprit reveal. I was hooked the entire book, and happy to read it.
4/5
🔎🔎🔎🔎
I thought the book was good. I can certainly see why it's memorable — video game adaption aside. The writing is excellent, with the story and (most of the) events well-plotted, and an interesting location. The investigation ran smoothly, with interesting characters and a satisfying culprit reveal. I was hooked the entire book, and happy to read it.
4/5
🔎🔎🔎🔎
4/5
🔎🔎🔎🔎
