There were many things that I liked about this book. The main reason I liked this story was because of the plot. I thought that it had the perfect amount of suspense; especially for this age group. For example, when someone leaves a bat hanging from Aunt Elizabeth's door step with a letter that said, "Stop! Or you'll be hanging next!" This was enough to make the book a little scary but the fact that it was a fake bat made it less gruesome. I think that the events that take place in the book, such as this one, make the story suspenseful, exciting, and engaging but not to the point that it is over-the-top. The author also does this when Aunt Elizabeth goes missing towards the end of the book. Mr. Stryker takes her to the cave but Nancy, Bess, George and Officer Spinetti are able to rescue her and she is not hurt. Although the event of Aunt Elizabeth going missing was frightening, the author did not take it to the next level by having her end up dead or hurt. I thought that she did a great job of balancing these events. I also liked the plot of this story because I thought that it moved at a good pace, and although some parts are rather scary, the author provides some comfort and comic relief. Some places that the author does this is when describing the comfort that the girls feel in Aunt Elizabeth's warm, comfy home. One place that the author provides some comic relief is when Bess runs into the crowd alone to find out where everyone is getting ice cream at the festival. Another thing that I really liked about this book was the characters. I thought that the author did a very good job of developing the main characters, allowing the reader to develop a strong sense of each of the character's personalities. For example, there are many examples throughout the book where Nancy is portrayed as being extremely responsible and vigilant. One part that makes this apparent is when Nancy recognizes the toy bat through the window of a store as being the same one that was hanging from Aunt Elizabeth's door. Bess came across as being more goofy and I found her to be a very relatable character. One part that reveals this is when she says, "I think I'll follow that cone." Her primary concern is getting ice cream and she is not interested by the drama taking place around her. I also liked the way this book was written. There are many things in the book, such as the bat in the store window, that are mentioned early on as a clue and come up later in the book. I thought that this made the story very engaging, and encourages the reader to pay close attention to the details so that they do not overlook something that is important! I think that the big idea of this story is that you must be careful who you trust because the culprit could be the person that you least expected! ( )