When a close friend of the Drew family is accused of murder in a rural community, Nancy, aided by boyfriend Ted, helps her lawyer father expose the real killers.

Nancy Drew clears her Uncle Matt of murder charges when she exposes the real murderers. She and Ted find themselves in many dangerous positions such as trying to fly an airplane after the pilot parachuted out and being face-to-face with the murderer.—SM <[email protected]>

When "Uncle" Matt, an old friend of the Drew family, is accused of murdering a neighbor by the sheriff of a rural community, Carter Drew vainly tries to prevent his inquisitive daughter from learning about the real circumstances of their country "vacation." With no corpus delecti to prove that a crime has been committed, the lawyer frees his friend on a writ of habeas corpus. Problems arise when Nancy experiences jealousy over her dad's romantic attraction to Uncle Matt's pretty neighbor. Things really begin to fall apart when a rare tropical flower incongruously growing on Matt's property is spotted by the ever-observant Nancy. When Uncle Matt's servant Apollo digs it up, the missing corpse is discovered. Nancy realizes the source of the source of the rare flower may hold the key to uncovering the truth, and with boyfriend Ted she is soon hot on the trail of the real culprits.—Gabe Taverney ([email protected])

The entire Drew household heads up to Sylvan Lake for a vacation. In reality, Carson Drew is going there to defend his old friend, Matt Brandon, who is accused of murdering his neighbor, Henry Clark, with who Matt had had a long standing land border feud. Matt was overheard threatening Henry just before he went missing. However, Henry's body has not yet been found. When the Drews arrive at Sylvan Lake, Carson does attend to Matt's needs but there are two other preoccupations for the Drew family. First, Ted Nickerson is also vacationing at the lake. And second, Carson meets Edna Gregory, with who he has an instant attraction. Nancy Drew doesn't much like this new woman in her father's life, a woman who she sees as competing for her father's attention. But Nancy's first order of business is to help her "Uncle Matt". Nancy's intimate knowledge of botany first causes Matt some problems as it leads to Henry's dead body being found. However, it is that same knowledge of botany that helps Nancy and Ted down the path to discover who actually killed Henry Clark.—Huggo