The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 8 - Revised Text)

Okay, if the title to this book looks familiar, it should.  Just a couple of months ago, at the urging of some friends, I read the original version of this book, which was published nearly 100 years ago in 1929.  Approximately forty years after its initial publication, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, during the course of its revisions project, revised this particular book.  Andrew Svenson, best known for his own series, The Happy Hollisters, was given the task of writing the revised version of this title, reducing the story from 25 chapters down to 20 and the page count from 214 down to 178.   In some cases, the Syndicate merely cut out dialogue or certain scenes to reduce the length; however, in this instance, instead of simply shortening the story, Svenson gives readers what I would call a "re-imagining" of the story.

 

In both the original and the revised texts of The Mystery of Cabin Island,  Frank and Joe Hardy, along with their friends, Chet and Biff, investigate some mysterious goings-on at a cabin owned by Elroy Jefferson, a wealthy man whose automobile the boys had recovered when they solved a previous mystery involving car thieves. But, other than that basic premise, the remaining adventures are changed, sometimes in rather drastic ways.  The opening of the revised edition removes a rather large chunk of story from the original text, where the boys visit Cabin Island long before they get permission from Mr. Jefferson to stay there with their friends over the Christmas holidays.  In the revised, the first page reveals the boys have received permission to stay on the island as a "reward" for recovering the older man's car, and not only that, but Mr. Jefferson also has a mystery he wishes the boys to solve.  Thus, while the original had a somewhat slow build-up, the revised jumps right into the heart of the story, letting readers know from the very first page that Frank and Joe were going to be solving a mystery at Cabin Island!

 

Chapter after chapter, page after page, more and more of the story is changed in ways that seem to emphasize action more than anything else.  In the original, the boys did not face a run-in with another ice boat until the end of the second chapter; however, in this version, the ice boat handled by Tad Carson and Ike Nash runs them down in the first chapter (with a nice, two-page spread line illustration that seems to be a redux of the frontis piece from the original text).  And for those who remember the second ice boat incident in the original, where poor Chet could not gain control of his boat, it might surprise you to discover that in this revised version, it is the vile Mr. Hanleigh and Tad Carson who purposely attack the Hardys' boat, knocking them out onto the ice along with old Mr. Jefferson!  Poor Mr. Jefferson is injured, and the Hardys end up taking him back to the cabin, where he spends the night - a scene that never took place in the original.

 

There are quite a few other differences that deviate from the original tale.  One major difference is the fact that Mr. Jefferson has a grandson in this revised text, who disappeared and is the center of the mystery that Mr. Jefferson asks the boys to solve.  And in the original story, the boys learn about Mr. Jefferson's stolen stamps from the general store owner, Amos Grice, while in this version, Mr. Jefferson himself relates the story of the stolen medals to Frank and Joe - and yes, that's another revision. Perhaps by the late 1960s, stolen stamps would not seem as valuable to stolen medals, so the Syndicate changed the object of the theft - which creates another big change, as a "ghost" that is scene on the island (mostly by Chet) turns out to be the representative of the great Shah Ali, who has come to seek out Mr. Jefferson in the hopes of buying back one of the medals in his possession (or, rather, in his former possession, since the medals are missing).

 

One incident in the original text that I am actually glad they removed was the fox hunting chapter, where the boys hunt down and kill some foxes that Mr. Grice believes stole some of his chickens.  In the original, the Hardys use the rifles given them as Christmas presents by their parents; in the revised, the boys receive much needed snowshoes instead and there is no mention of stolen chickens or fox hunting.  And speaking of Christmas, that is yet one more revision in the text - in the original story, the boys spend Christmas day together in the cabin; in the revised tale, the boys spend Christmas morning with their families, and they do not head out to Cabin Island until after Christmas.  And the climactic scene where the tree comes crashing down on the cabin in the original?  Nope, it is removed from the revised, and the boys instead merely face a fierce snow storm that breaks through the windows, sending snow and cold into the cabin.

 

There is one difference that I found made the story a bit more challenging for the boys, and that involves the cryptogram.  In the original, the code to solve the cryptic message was simply reversing the alphabet:  to wit, A = Z, B = Y, C = X, and so on.  In this revised version, however, Svenson gives Frank and Joe (and the reader) and much more challenging solution, as the code actually makes use of the thief's name - John Paul Sparewell, Houseman (i.e., A = J, B = O, C = H, D = N, and so on).  I found that to be a much more creative solution, which would explain why the boys had such difficulty in solving the puzzle.  In the original, the solution proved way too easy and basically made the Hardys look inept, in that they could not have deciphered such a simple code.

 

Something I found both books to have in common is the illustrations of the ice boats.  In the original text, the plain frontis piece (by artist Ausott) shows Frank, Joe, and Chet in their iceboat, which has very little room for anything other than the three of them.  In the revised text, the frontis piece, as well as the two-page spread on pages 8 and 9 show ice boats with barely room for the riders - the frontis has only Frank and Joe with room for no one or nothing else; and the two page spread shows all four boys in the boat (and it is supposed to be the same boat, so how did they manage that?) with no extra room.  So this begs the question - how did these four boys fit into the ice boat, along with all of their gear, clothes, and the boxes of food that Chet brought, when those illustrations make the boat appear to have very little free space, if any at all?!  Artistic license, I suppose...

 

While I cannot say that either of the Cabin Island texts were overly enjoyable (remember, I am not much of a Hardy Boys fan to begin with), I can say that the original text offers up a richer tale with stronger characterization.  The revised text seems to focus more on fast-paced action, with constant accidents, danger, scares, and such, relying on the action to move the story rather than the mystery itself.  I think I prefer Svenson's Happy Hollisters' series far more than I did this Hardy Boys tale.

 

RATING:  5 handsome, gleaming medals out of 10 for the attempt at re-imagining a 1920s mystery for the 1960s (leaving one to wonder what a re-imagining of this tale for the 2000s would look like?)

Exploring Series Books in Florida, Part 1 - the Space Coast

After our fun-filled exploration of Cooperstown, New York (The Secret of Mirror Bay), my friend, Pam, and I decided it would be fun to take a look at some books set in my home state of Florida and, if we found any real locations referenced in the books, to take some time out and explore those places!  Well, we quickly discovered that there are quite a number of books set in Florida - from Betty Gordon to the Bobbsey Twins; from Connie Blair to the Happy Hollisters; from the Moving Picture Girls to Nan Sherwood; from the Outdoor Girls to Vicki Barr; from the Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew; and quite a few others.  We were astounded by how many young sleuths made their way to the Sunshine State for adventure and mystery, and we could not wait to delve into these books and see just what actual places we would find in our reading!

 

Once we started reading the various books, we quickly realized the best way to do this was to group the books by location, so that we could explore one location at a time.  Pam made plans to come down last autumn for our first excursion, planned for Tampa; but our plans got rather sidetracked by that pesky Hurricane Milton! However, we were not waylaid; rather, we simply altered our objective(which, as we learned later, turned out for the best!) and started with a different location - in this instance, we headed over to the East Coast instead of the West Coast and visited some locations that the Hardy Boys, the Happy Hollisters, and Nancy Drew visited in some of their mysteries.

 

The Happy Hollisters and the Missile Town Mystery, first published in 1961, was the first of our books to feature the Space Coast, as it is referred to here in Florida.  In this book, the Hollister family visits their friends, the Davis family, who reside in the town of Cocoa (p. 28), and they make visits to Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach, where Cape Kennedy a/k/a Cape Canaveral is located on one end of the beach (p. 34).  The book even discusses Banana River, which runs between the Cape and the town of Merritt Island (p. 94).  We drove through these towns and along the river as we made out way down the coast.  We visited Cape Canaveral, just like the Hollisters, who learned that "Canaveral" meant "canebrake" in Spanish, referring to the sugar cane that was raised in the area (p. 53).  It is likely the Cape looked considerably different back in the early 1960s compared to today, but the location of the Space Center remains the same.

 

The Hollisters also visited Patrick Air Force Base, located at the other end of the beach (p. 35).  Pam and I drove down the causeway, hoping to have an opportunity to visit the base, and we had a bit of difficulty getting in, as the entrance is some bit before the actual base itself.  Also, something that threw us off a bit is the fact that the air force based has since been rename - it is now called U.S. Space Force: Patrick Space Force Base!  Which just goes to show just how far we have come since the 1960s!  Unfortunately, due to security concerns these days, casual visitors are not allowed onto the base, so we were not able to get beyond the welcome center (although I think the servicemen at the desk were taken aback by the idea that the base actually appeared in children's mystery books!).

 

Following the trail of the Hollisters, our next stop was Cocoa Beach itself.  In the book, the Hollister children comb the beach, hoping to find some part of the missile that exploded just after take-off (pp. 35-37, etc).  Pam and I did not necessarily search for parts of a missile, but we did search for shells and enjoyed the cool breeze coming in off the Atlantic Ocean!

 

 

It is easy to see why the Hollisters had so much fun while in Florida - they got to enjoy the sunny beach, they got to experience the excitement of a missile launch at Cape Kennedy a/k/a Cape Canaveral, and they were able to experience what life is like for those who live here.  While Jerry West (Andrew Svenson) did embellish the story, including some fictional locations and events, he did include enough real locations that we were able to follow in the family's footsteps.  Sadly, time did not permit us the opportunity to go to the port and see about fishing for shrimp (p. 113) or snapper (p. 147) - perhaps another time!

 

Moving right along, we look at the next book on our list, which is Nancy Drew's eighteenth mystery,

Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion (revised text), which was published in 1971, just ten years after the Happy Hollisters book. In the revised text of this book, the story for which was completely different from the original, Kennedy Space Center plays a central part of the mystery.  Therefore, since Pam and I were already there, we decided to make the most of it!

 

 

 

Nancy and her friends start off at the Visitor's Information Center Op. 30), and so Pam and I began our adventure there, taking note of the mock-ups of missile and rockets (p. 30). Inside the Information Center, there were plenty of toy rockets, mock space candy, and books about the Center and the history of man's reaching for the stars.

 

The next stop was the Vehicle Assembly Building, which George called "a real skyscraper" (p. 32).  There can be no doubt she was correct in her description, as Pam and I had to look way up to see the top of that building, which is a whopping 52 stories high! We would have loved to have gone inside and explored a bit, but unfortunately, time simply did not permit that day (remember, we were doing all of this right before a hurricane was going to cross the state, so there was not a lot that was open!).

 

At the end of Moss-Covered Mansion, Nancy and her friend were fortunate enough to countdown to the launch of a rocket (pp. 175-76); while we did get to see a huge countdown clock, unfortunately it was not connected to any actual launch that day (I can't begin to imagine them trying to launch a rocket right before a hurricane!). 

For the next book on our journey, we had to jump ahead twelve years to 1983, with the publication of The Hardy Boys No. 79, Sky Sabotage.  In this book, Frank and Joe do quite a bit of traveling around Central Florida, from Orlando over to the Space Coast, then back inland, then down to south Orlando, and back to the Space Coast.  While the timing of all that travel is quite a bit off (trust me I've driven those distances, and there is no way those Hardy Boys could have made it in the times they did!).

 

This book only contained a few real references, the first being the boys' arrival into Florida at the Orlando International Airport.  This is the same airport into which Pam flew down from Canada, and I can promise you that the OIA (as it is referred to here in Central Florida) is quite a bit different and much, MUCH larger than it was back in 1983.  It is doubtful the boys would have had as much difficulty as travelers today have in navigating the terminals.

 

In their travels throughout the book, the brothers make a stop at the police headquarters in Melbourne (p. 76), a city that is south of Cape Canaveral and Patrick Space Force Base (but still located in the same county).  In our own travels, we learned that the City of Melbourne has built a new headquarters since then, so the police station there now would not have been the one the Hardy Boys visited during their trip.

 

Probably the biggest nod to a real location in the book is when the boys pay a visit to "Fantasieworld" theme park (pp. 104, 107, and 108), in which they see rides such as "Outer Space Planet," "Deep Sea Submarine Ride," "Bear Dance," Island Pirates," and "Haunted House" - all of which are obvious takes on Walt Disney World and its famous rides, Space Mountain, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.  We did not go inside of Disney (do you have any idea the cost of tickets these days?  egads!), but we did find it amusing how conspicuous the ghostwriter made the names of those rides.

 

Now, for the last book on this jaunt, we only had to jump ahead two years, to 1985, when the Hardy Boys once again visited Florida in The Skyfire Puzzle (which was originally going to be titled The Mystery of the Space Shuttle).  This book finds the brothers experiencing way more of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral than we ever could, since they were not only able to explore a lot of secure areas, but they actually get to go up into space in a shuttle!  I do not think either Pam or I was ready for that!

 

 

 

Since the boys were invited to parts of Cape Canaveral that is only open to employees, Pam and I thought we would try and sneak a peak at one of those "crew member" only areas.  We got to take a peak through the fence before a very nice employee led us away and to the actual guest entrance.  

 

In the book, the Hardys were able to tour " detailed mock-up of the shuttle" (p. 84), as well as visit the Vehicle Assembly Building (p. 86).  As indicated above, we did not get to see the inside of the Vehicle Assembly Building, but we did get to see a number of missiles on display at the Space Center.

 

And last, but not least, we did pass by the same Mosquito Lagoon that Frank and Joe saw in the book (p. 26) as they were making their way to Kennedy Space Center.  We learned that this lagoon is one of the least developed regions along the East Coast of Florida and it actually has a population of bottlenose dolphins that take up residence there.  We were not lucky enough to see any of those dolphins as we passed by the lagoon.  Kennedy Space Center, along with the cities of New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, adjoin the lagoon.

 

Pam and I had a grand time exploring the Space Coast region, searching out the locations that the Hollisters, Nancy, Frank, and Joe visited in their books.  We know that Andrew Svenson actually visited the area prior to his writing of the Happy Hollisters story, which is why that book has the most accurate depictions of the area (at the time). Harriet Stratemeyer Adams is credited for writing the revised Nancy Drew book, and Neal Barrett, Jr. is said to have written The Skyfire Puzzle for the Hardy Boys.  Both of those books have at least some semblance of real locations within the stories.  The other Hardy Boys mystery, however, has very few real locations referenced, and I was unable to find the identity of the ghostwriter - leading one to believe that the writer may not have had a much knowledge of Central Florida and the Space Coast as the others did.

 

Having now toured the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, and its surrounding areas for these four books, we wondered where our next adventure (after the hurricane passed through!) would take us...

 

COMING SOON:  Exploring Series Books in Florida - Part 2 (St. Augustine)!

The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 8 - Original Text)

Yes, believe it or not, I can now say I have actually read a vintage Hardy Boys book.  Growing up, I did not like the Hardy Boys, because to me, they were more adventure stories than they were mystery stories.  I was more interested in haunted houses, spooky staircases, dark attics, hidden rooms, and the like.  These were the type of mysteries I could find in the Nancy Drew books.  In recent years, yes, I've been reading the recently published Hardy Boys Adventures series, and they have not been half-bad.  Yet, I just have not been able to bring myself to go back and read those original adventures of Frank and Joe Hardy, as I simply did not have the interest.  But with the Christmas holidays, I have been urged (I would say "bullied," but in today's climate, people would jump on that and take it completely the wrong way!) to read one particular Hardy Boys book that is set during that time, and I had no other choice ... so I did!

The Mystery of Cabin Island is the eighth book in the Hardy Boys series, published back in 1929 (the year before Nancy Drew made her debut).  It was written by Leslie McFarlane based on an outline provided by Edward Stratemeyer, and it could have been more aptly subtitled, "The Hardy Boys and their Ice Boat Adventures."  The boys spend an inordinate amount of time in this book traveling in their ice boats, nearly getting run down twice by other ice boats (one from some rivals, one from their friends), and it seems the ice boats are their only means of travel between "Cabin Island" and the mainland of Bayport.  The frontis piece of the edition I have of this book is even an illustration (by someone named "Auscott") of their rivals' ice boat "booming down on the smaller craft at terrific speed" (p. 16).  It is interesting to note that this scene takes place so early in the book - normally the frontis piece of series books depicts a scene from much later in the story.  I also have to wonder at McFarlane's choice of words, since just a few paragraphs before on the previous page, he describes the boat as "hurtling forward at terrific speed" (p. 15), then reiterates the same phrase when ending the chapter with "booming down ... at terrific speed" (p. 16).  Perhaps he forgot his thesaurus when he was writing that day (sorry Pam!).

 

The story centers around the isolated cabin that stands on Cabin Island, owned by one Elroy Jefferson.  The boys visit the island with their friend Chet Morton, only to be warned away by a man they later learn is Mr. Hanleigh - a rather pushy man intent on buying the island from Mr. Jefferson.  The boys befriend Mr. Jefferson, who it turns out was one of the people that they helped save his valuable car in a previous book (The Shore Road Mystery), and he graciously allows the boys and their friends to camp out at the cabin over the Christmas break from school.  Something odd about the planning of his trip is that Chet first mentions the idea of camping out over the Christmas holidays at the beginning of the story (p 3); yet, a few chapters later, Biff Hooper makes the suggestion of a camping trip over the holidays, and the Hardys say they will think about it and discuss it with Chet (pp. 30-31) - why would they need to discuss something with Chet who already approached them with the idea?  Had they already forgotten Chet's suggestion?  Or had McFarlane forgotten already that he wrote that earlier scene?

The mystery, such as it is, comes into play after Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff take up residence in the cabin and all of their food supply is stolen!  They do eventually locate the food hidden behind some rocks on the shore beneath the cabin, along with a small notebook that contains a message written in code.  Personally, I found the code rather simple to crack, but the boys spend a number of chapters trying to figure it out (I suppose if they solved it too early, it would not make for an exciting story).  It is obvious the notebook belonged to Mr. Hanleigh, who keeps returning to the island, looking for something in the cabin.  The cover even depicts one of those instances when the boys spy the man sneaking into the cabin (pp. 113-14).  It ultimately turns out that a valuable stamp collection stolen from Mr. Jefferson many years ago was hidden in the cabin by the thief, and Mr. Hanleigh is determined to get his hands on it.  As the coded message reveals, the box containing the stamps is located somewhere near or in the chimney (which seems to be a common thing in children's series books - check out The Wooden Shoe Mystery and The Missing Formula to see what I mean).  McFarlane does provide a rather dramatic climax to the story, when a tree collapses on the cabin during a horrific snow storm, destroying the chimney and revealing the hidden location of the box (pp. 195-99).

While the mystery itself was not overly thrilling and seemed to be a smaller portion of the story, I do have to say the book contains quite a few dated references in it (and considering it was published in 1929, one would have to expect it to!).  The most obvious one was when the Hardys discover the notebook, and Frank find written on one of the pages "October, 1917") - to which he exclaims, "Why, that's eleven years ago" (p. 101).  This is the first actual date reference I've seen in any of these series books, where a character specifically sets the date (since that eleven years would place the story in 1928, the year prior to the publication date).  It was my understanding that the Syndicate specifically avoided these type of references, so as to not fully date the books; but, perhaps, since this was still while Edward Stratemeyer was in charge, he was not as stringent about these type of things as his daughters became.  There is also the reference to Frank and Joe receiving "two small caliber rifles, each with a box of ammunition" for Christmas presents from their father (p. 46).  You would DEFINITELY not see rifles given to teenagers as gifts in today's books, that's for sure!

There's also the overuse of the word "queer" in the book (which, back in the time when this book was written, would have meant "strange" or "odd" - it did not have the same connotation that it does today).  In just a few paragraphs, one of the characters refers to Elroy Jefferson as "very queer" and "a queer old chap," even saying he had "a heart of gold, specially where boys is concerned.  But queer - mighty queer in some ways..." (p. 86).  People reading those lines today would probably have an entirely different take on what was meant!  And speaking of word use, McFarlane used a rather interesting term to describe poor Biff - he was described as "pugilistically inclined" (p. 79), which refers to someone fighting with his fists, specifically used when talking about boxers.  I have to wonder how many young people would have known what that word meant - heck, I did not even know what it meant until I looked it up!  Then there's the reference to the two foxes killed by Frank and Biff in the story - McFarlane writes that "the boys cut the brushes from the two foxes ... and placed the prizes in a place of honor above the fireplace" (p. 132).  I honestly cannot figure out exactly what the author is referring to here.  I was unable to find a definition for the phrase "cut the brushes" in this context (most of what I found referred to cutting paint brushes); speaking with my friend Pam, who is a McFarlane expert, it seems "cut the brushes" refers to the fact that the boys cut off the fox tails and kept them as trophies of their catch.  I had never heard this before, so perhaps it is a Canadian turn of phrase.

McFarlane also makes reference in the story to Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "The Gold-Bug" (p. 105).  That particular story involves the deciphering of a secret message (written as a cryptogram) that is supposed to lead the characters to a buried treasure. He clearly used this as a comparison to the Hardys attempting to figure out the cryptogram written in the notebook they discovered.  Frank even tries to follow the character's suggestion in the story of looking for the most frequently appearing letter in the message and substituting it with the letter "e," which is said to be the most frequently used letter in the English language (p. 105) - sadly, though, that substitution method did not work for the Hardys.  At least McFarlane did not make it too easy on them (although, in reality, the solution to the code is fairly simple - reversing the alphabet, i.e. A=Z, B=Y, C=X, and so on).

The only other thing I thought was note-worthy was the fact that Chapter XX in the book has an entire change in the point of view.  That particular chapter is told completely through the eyes of Mr. Hanleigh, as he faces difficulties with his henchmen, Carson and Nash, who have been ferrying him back and forth to Cabin Island aboard their own ice boat.  It is rather fun to read part of the story from the villain's point of view, as you see how easily he gets riled up and how he intends to double-cross his own men!

While I understand that a number of Hardy Boys fans like this particular volume, I have to admit that I did not find it all that great.  Sure, it has plenty of adventure in it, but I like mystery, and the book fell rather short on that (in my opinion).  I tried to go into it with an open mind, and not let my distaste for the Hardy Boys series to color my reading of the story; but, I suppose, I'm just not a Hardy Boys fan, and for me, this story is a reminder why I prefer Nancy Drew and the other female sleuths to boys' series such as this.

RATING:  6 precious rosewood boxes out of 10 for giving me a cryptogram to solve (I love those type of puzzles!) and showing how dangerous ice boating can be!

The Hardy Boys: The Skyfire Puzzle (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 85)

I figured it was about time to change things up a bit with the vintage children's series books that I read, and I thought I might take a look at some books set in Florida - starting with one of the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have never really been a fan of the Hardy Boys.  Growing up, I preferred Nancy Drew because I felt her books were more mystery and the Hardy Boys' books were more adventure - and I loved the mystery.  Yes, I have read and fairly enjoyed the most recent iteration of the Hardy Boys (Hardy Boys Adventures); but they are a far cry from the original books.  However, if I was going to choose a Hardy Boys to read, I guess one set in my own home state would be a good one to choose - at least, so I thought.

The Skyfire Puzzle was published in 1985 by Simon & Schuster, and was the last Hardy Boys book published before the series was put on hiatus for two-and-a-half years so that S&S could start up the new Hardy Boys Case Files aimed at an older audience.  Written by Neal Barrett, Jr. (who apparently also wrote book 83, The Swamp Monster), the book is definitely a precursor to that Case Files series, as it features some much more adult themes and violence.  The Hardys are bit more intense in this story, they have a lot more high-tech equipment, and there is a level of romance, similar to what I saw in the wo Nancy Drew books that were published at the same time.  

The story actually opens similar to the first reboot series, The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers - the boys are smack-dab in the middle of an adventure, and the reader is thrown into the middle of it.  In this instance, Frank and Joe are with their father and Chet in the Georgia swamps, trying to capture some corporate criminals; but these criminals mean business, and they turn the tables on the young detectives, going after them with machine guns and trying to run them down with their cruiser.  It is not until they get back to their hotel that the boys (and the readers!) are introduced to the real mystery.  Harry Stone, head of NASA security at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (p. 21) has tracked them down, as he needs the Hardys' help.  The upcoming launch of the shuttle, Skyfire, is being plagued with trouble, and Stone's capabilities as head of security is being questioned.  The shuttle is set to launch the very expensive Longeye telescope satellite into space, and if the launch doesn't go off, or worse, if something truly disastrous happens, it could result in a huge financial loss to the company financing it all. Enter: Nat Cramer and Pete McConnel - Cramer is the project specialist for the company that developed the telescope, and McConnel is his own personal security agent.  They are supposed to be working hand-in-hand with Stone, but at every turn, it seems all evidence is pointing to Stone's inability to prevent the sabotage, and McConnel is only too happy to point that out.

The mystery itself is not really that difficult to figure out, even though the author does try to mislead the reader by having Stone, as well as Stone's assistant Lew Gorman, framed for a lot of the problems that are plaguing the shuttle launch.  There is even the red herring of an international agent who is spotted on the scene.  Ultimately, Frank and Joe are invited to go up in the shuttle when a few of the civilians intended to go back out at the last minute (how fortunate for the Hardys, eh?).  It is rather unrealistic how quickly they are "trained" in how to adapt to a space mission like this, although there is a somewhat suspenseful scene when Joe is trapped in a centrifugal force module that is accelerating beyond what a normal body can take (p. 58).  In the big finale, Frank actually has to take a spacewalk in order to confront the villain and get him to confess to what is really going on here.  The last chapter is basically nine pages of dialogue as Frank and Joe give an overly detailed explanation of the villains' plans, how they pulled off what they did, and their ultimate goals in their criminal activity.  

I was hoping there would be more details of Florida and Kennedy Space Center in the book than what there was.  There is a quick mention of Mosquito Lagoon as they drive past it (p. 26) - the lagoon is a part of the Canaveral National Seashore.  As far as the Space Center itself, the boys visit the NASA centrifuge lab (p. 50), tour a detailed mock-up of the shuttle (p. 84), and see the Vehicle Assembly Building (p. 86); but otherwise, there are no accurate descriptions or details about the facility itself, raising questions as to whether the author had actually ever been there or was simply writing the story based on general information gleaned about the Center from research.  The boys do visit a restaurant called "Champs Elysees," named after a famous boulevard in Paris, but there is no real restaurant by that name in Florida; the only French restaurant in the area is Cafe Margaux, which does not match the description of the restaurant in the book.

There are a few interesting tidbits I picked up on while reading the book.  Early in the story, Joe is using a remote controlled airplane to try and spy, and the plane is called Blackhawk.  I smiled at this reference, as the Blackhawks are a team of World War II pilots from Quality Comics, and later DC Comics.  I also thought it odd they indicate Joe's weight as 155 pounds (p. 54).  I'm not sure if I've ever read a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book where any of the characters' weight is specifically given.  Finally, one of the astronauts on the plane is named Brett Hilton (p. 133).  The second I saw that name, my mind immediately went to Bret King and Chip Hilton, two series books characters, and I wondered if the author was merely giving a quick nod to the two mostly forgotten names.

 

The book was originally published by Simon & Schuster under the Wanderer imprint, with cover art by Richard Williams.  This book, and the previous one, were the first two to feature the "checkerboard" cover format that lasted for a number of volumes.  This particular cover shows Frank and Joe in the shuttle, apparently when they were using the shuttle's computer to try and gain information about the criminals.  When Simon & Schuster moved away from the Wanderer imprint, the book was re-published with later printings under the Minstrel imprint with new cover art by Paul Bachem.  This second cover art features Joe working the controls, while Frank is outside in space, taken somewhat from the climactic scenes when Frank goes out to confront the villain.  I was fortunate enough a few years back to purchase the original cover art by Bachem, and it's interesting to note the original art has the artist's signature, but when Simon & Schuster used the art, they removed the signature on the actual cover of the book.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the character of Harry Stone.  When he first appears in the story, the author is quick to point out that the Hardys had already met Mr. Stone previously when they assisted him in a previous mystery, Sky Sabotage.  That was only six books previous to this one, being published just two years prior in 1983.  I did not even realize there was another Hardy Boys book set at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and particularly one so close to this one.  I will admit I took a quick run through of that book, and the Florida references are not only more vague than this book, but they are also erroneous in their distance from one place to the other.  In that book, the boys follow a suspect from Kennedy Space Center to Gainesville and then on to "Fantasieworld" (an obvious pseudonym for Disney World) with a chase that only takes them a few hours round trip.  This is wholly unrealistic, as it would take more than two hours from KSC to Gainesville, and then another hour and a half from Gainesville to Disney - and that same amount of time to get back!  I did chuckle, though, at there references to a number of things within the amusement park:  the Outer Space Planet (a/k/a Space Mountain); the Deep Sea Submarine Ride (a/k/a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea); the Bear Dance (a/k/a the Country Bear Jamboree); the Island Pirates boat ride (a/k/a the Pirates of the Caribbean); and the Haunted House (a/k/a the Haunted Mansion) (p. 107-08).  There is even discussion of the "network of underground tunnels" that the staff use (p. 108), although Disney employees I have known have confirmed it is not really under ground; rather, it is the first story, with the actual park built above it on the second story.  In any event, the book has the boys travel to Lake Okeechobee (p 158), with a brief reference to Stuart, Florida (p. 159), which is on the East Coast of Florida, just east of Lake Okeechobee.  As I only skimmed this book, I can't really say with any certainty whether I would have enjoyed it.

I suppose the fact that I am not a big Hardy Boys fan, my opinion of the book was probably tainted from the beginning.  Did I hate the story?  No, not at all.  Did I enjoy it?  There were moments that I thought were enjoyable.  But did I find it to be a good mystery with a lot of suspense?  I would have to say no.  As I said above, the villains are easy to spot from the moment they first appear, and all of the intense scenes of gunfire and sabotage are sort of dulled by the fact you know the Hardys and their friends are not going to be seriously hurt.  And, of course, I was really hoping for more details about Florida and Kennedy Space Center than what I got.  I guess this just reminds me why I'm not a big fan of the Hardy Boys.

RATING:  5 shiny disks filled with hallucinogenic crystals out of 10 for at least putting Florida and Kennedy Space Center somewhat in the spotlight for the world to read!

Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 25 - The Smuggler's Legacy

As with Nancy Drew, so with the Hardy Boys - the twenty-fifth book in the Hardy Boys Adventures series is going to be the only one published this year.  Fans will have to wait until 2024 for the next adventure in this series to be published.  It still wouldn't surprise me at this point if Simon & Schuster wasn't planning to reboot both of these series yet again.  While I have no problem with once a year publications if the books were considerably longer and better written; but it still feels like S&S is simply phoning it in with these series, expecting them to sell on the familiarity of the name without any advertising, publicity, or the such to promote the books.  And while both series have had some actually pretty good plots, and while the Hardy Boys' series is honestly better written than the Nancy Drew series, neither of them have the quality that made so many children fans of the series back in the day.  There is definitely something to be said about the Stratemeyers' care for their series books back when they had the rights to them.

The Smuggler's Legacy is a fairly interesting read.  Frank and Joe are heading off to New York City with their fellow classmates in the Bayport High History Club to explore the museums and historical sites of the city, particularly those relating to the Jazz Age and Prohibition.  Of particular excitement for the kids is the visit to the Gilded Top Hat, a prohibition bar located behind a small grocery store that has been restored to its original glory.  The curator, Jennifer Hawking, is thrilled to show the group the museum, as it has been her life's work to discover as much as she can about the era and, in particular, about the Gilded Top Hat and its believed owners - Gino and Sal Facchini.  Their descendants still run the store that provides a "front" to the speakeasy.  As she leads the group through an underground tunnel, though, Frank has an accidental fall that reveals a hidden space in the wall that contains an old metal lockbox.  This, of course, turns out to be a huge find, as the weathered and yellowed documents inside reveals some long hidden secrets regarding the speakeasy and its owners!  The only problem is - someone is determined to keep those secrets from coming to light.

The boys, along with Charlene Vale (the classmate on which Frank is currently crushing), quickly find themselves digging into the mystery of who wants to silence Ms. Hawkings and destroy those documents.  First come the warnings, then come the vandalism, and ultimately, Ms. Hawkings is kidnapped.  The brothers find that a candidate for Mayor of New York City, one Trent Kensington, happens to be a descendant of the man who is now discovered to have owned the speakeasy back in the Prohibition era, and they believe he could be behind everything.  But how can they prove it?  Especially when the police who are investigating the case have made it absolutely clear that they do not want Frank and Joe anywhere near the case.  Plus, who are the men in black that seem to be following Frank and Joe everywhere they go?

Along with the mystery, which is actually really good, the ghostwriter for this book provides plenty of historical information about the Prohibition era and those who lived at that time (including some of the Jazz greats of the era).  Whether it be in the tours taken by the students, or in the research performed by Frank, Joe, and Charlene, the author provides quite a bit of history in this book (which, surprisingly, is 162 pages in length, which is one of the longer books in this series!).  It reminds me a bit of the books from the '70s, which seemed to always be filled with plenty of educational facts alongside the mysteries.

One thing that did bug me about this mystery is how much more Charlene did to investigate the crimes than Frank or Joe.  Quite honestly, had they replaced Charlene with Nancy Drew, it would have made more sense (and would have made a great Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys cross-over mystery!).  While I like the idea of Frank having a girlfriend (whatever happened to Callie), I feel that since this is a Hardy Boys book, the boys should actually be the ones doing the most detective work and figuring out the clues.  On the other side, a good thing about this book is the appearance of Chet Morton, who has not really appeared in too many of thee books since the reboot.  Plus, while they don't necessarily mention the title, they do make reference to the mystery they solved on the Mayhem Express (which was just two books prior).

The climax to this story is actually quite exciting, almost like something you would see on a television show, with timed bombs, huge explosions, tunnel cave-ins, and a daring escape.  The  amount of destruction is sizeable to say the least, and the fact that it occurs in an actual city (New York City) rather than a fictional city (such as Bayport or River Heights) is surprising.  But it does make for a great read, that's for sure.

Of the twenty-five books in this series, I would judge this one to be the best in terms of actual mystery and writing.  While it might not measure up exactly to the original series, it does rate much higher than the Nancy Drew Diaries series and higher than many of the books in this series.  Now, it's time to just sit back and wait a year for the next book to come out and see what it holds in store.

RATING:  8 bricks with warning messages attached out of 10 for providing readers with a mystery that is engaging, educational, and somewhat suspenseful.

The Mystery of the Mysteriously Missing Brother (The Hearty Bros # 1) - a Hardy Boys parody

I'm always up for a good parody, especially when it pokes fun of everyone's favorite teen detectives, Nancy Drew and/or the Hardy Boys!  In this latest find, Frank and Joe Hardy - oops!  I mean, Frank and Joe HEARTY (after all, in order to constitute a parody, the names have to be changed!) are all grown up, and Frank's two sons are now set to carry on the family tradition.  But these are the Hardys ... er, I mean the Heartys ... that you may remember from your youth!  Joe is troubled, Frank is a has-been detective trying to follow in his father's footsteps, Callie is now Frank's wife and nothing like that spirited young girl of her youth, and Frank and Callie's two sons - Fenton II and James - are nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like their father and uncle!  Well, they may have more in common with their uncle...

The Mystery of the Mysteriously Missing Brother opens with Frank Hearty starting a search for his brother, Joe, who has been incommunicado for way too long.  Frank is used to Joe dropping off the grid for a while - usually when he is hiding out from the police or people he has swindled or dealers to whom he owes money - but this time, his silence has lasted way too long.  Frank is beginning to worry.  Sheriff Colic is none to eager to help, because with Joe gone, that's less crime he has to deal with.  His wife is too large and too lazy to be concerned with her brother-in-law's whereabouts.  And his sons?  Well, they are either too high or too wrapped up in their own lives to be bothered.  So it falls upon Frank to begin the search for his mysteriously missing brother, even if that means going undercover in the absolute worst part of Bayporch to find him!

But don't count Fenton II and James out of the picture.  They may seem unconcerned, but in reality, they are just as determined to find Scoops (their affectionate name for their Uncle Joe).  But they have their own ways of searching for clues - so after smoking a few bowls, Fenton II manages to remember a few details from the last time he hung out with his uncle, and so beings the Hearty Bros. search for their mysteriously missing uncle.

The book definitely takes the Hardys ... er, the Heartys ... down a dark and twisted path.  The criminal element of Bayporch is considerably worse than that of Bayport, and the amount of drugs and other crimes going on in Frank's own family is something the Stratemeyer Syndicate would have never ever allowed in their series!  But there are some humorous elements to the story and the characters, and the obliviousness of Frank to the things his family is involved with (Fenton II's "herbal" garden, Callie's special brownies, etc.) gives him a slight air of innocence in a dark underworld type of tale.  There are pointed references to the actual books, with the house on the cliff, Shore Road, the secret of the caves, the hidden harbor, and others, so fans of the Hardy Boys will enjoy those Easter eggs.  And while the author did not fill the book with explicit sex (as many authors of parodies seem wont to to do), there is a considerable amount of vulgarities, including the "f---" word, that many times feels forced for no particular reason.

I will say there is one supporting character introduced into the story that, when he is killed off near the end of the book, I was rather disappointed.  I hadn't even realized how much I liked the character until the climactic battle in the drug dealer's sanctuary that resulted in this death.  I won't spoil it by telling you who the character is, but let's just say that no one is very safe in this book.  

Now, about that cover art ... I am surprised that they can get away with using the actual cover art from The Flickering Torch Mystery by Rudy Nappi.  Sure, someone took a marker and drew things all over the art, but it's still without a doubt the same art that Nappi painted for the revised 22nd volume of the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories.  Perhaps they can claim it is a "parody" of the original cover by the addition of the sharpee-drawn bong, smoke, and God-knows what else on the cover.

And, although this is touted as book 1 in a series,and there is a reference to the Hearty Bros' next mystery at the end of the final chapter ("They didn't know it yet, but they would in The Case of the Muff Diver's Muff Cave), there does not appear to be any second book in the series, at least not on Amazon or anywhere else that I can find.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing, since, although I did get a chuckle or two out of this book, I don't know if I could sit through another one.

RATING:  5 fresh glasses of water with lemon wedges out of 10 for giving fans a parody that is NOT focused solely on sexual situations.

Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 24 - As the Falcon Flies

We are now twenty-four books into this latest incarnation of the Hardy Boys, and while the stories, for the most part, have been a vast improvement over the disaster that was the "Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers" series, not every book is exceptional.  The writers of this new series have offered some interesting mysteries, pretty much staying away from the sabotage trope that was overused in the HBUB books.  And this latest book does provide something different - a stolen falcon.  But, as with the latest Nancy Drew book, the execution of the story is somewhat lacking.

 

First, let's talk about the title.  As the Falcon Flies.   I'm sorry, I cannot be the only person who reads that title and automatically thinks, "Soap Opera!"  Let's face it - the title really isn't far off from As the World Turns, a soap that ran on CBS for God-knows how many decades.  Carol Burnett even did her own parody of that in her variety show, with the skit titled "As the Stomach Turns."  And while the mystery itself does center around a fast-flying falcon who is stolen, the title just feels weird.  It certainly doesn't scream "mystery," and anyone just glancing at the title alone would never even connect it to a mystery.  So, I'm not exactly sure whose bright idea it was to use this title, but it seems the series is starting to veer away from the "Mystery of..." "Secret of...." or "Clue in..." titles that paid homage to the original books.  I hope that's not a sign of what direction S&S is planning to take the series.

But, title aside, the plot is fairly good.  The Hardy family has arrived in Anchorage, Alaska to visit old friends - the Adenshaws - and Frank and Joe quickly rekindle their friendship with the Adenshaws' teenage daughter, Kate.  She had captured and trained a peregrine falcon and is proud to show it off to the Hardy brothers.  But the day after the Hardys arrive, the falcon ("Steve") goes missing!  Kate is certain the bird was kidnapped (birdnapped?), but everyone, including Frank and Joe, tell her that she has to consider all possibilities before she accuses anyone of taking the bird.  Joe, who has become infatuated with Kate, decides he is going to find Steve and reunite the bird with its owner before the family returns to Bayport at the end of the week.  The only question is - who had the means, motive, and opportunity?

Now, with such a great plot, one would think the mystery would be really good.  Unfortunately, the author does not truly provide many suspects.  The story focuses on one particular suspect - Leo Blackwell - a wealthy man who has been trying to convince Kate to sell him her falcon so that he can race it for cash prizes.  Frank, Joe and Kate never really stray too far from suspecting Leo, and the story even seems to point to him with all the clues they find.  For me, this does not make for a good read.  There are several other characters in the book who could have been built up as suspects - Kate's mentor and fellow falconer; the taxidermist in town; the carpenter who has known Kate's family for a long time and is familiar with her love of the falcon; the oil company representatives, who are unhappy about the protests Kate and her family are holding to try and stop the pipeline from going through local land; and Leo's assistant, who is quiet and stays pretty much in the background.  But none of these characters are utilized to any extent to confuse the issue and give the Hardys a multitude of suspects, and to me, that makes for a much less interesting read.

And something that may be a minor thing to most people, but for me, it kept taking me out of the story.  Multiple times, the Hardys refer to their parents and Kate's parents as "the" parents.  Any time the author refers to their dad or their mom it was always "my" Dad or "our" Mom.  Yet, whenever the term parents was used, it was almost always "the" parents.  And I realize this may be a northern phrase, as my best friend (who comes from Fall River, Massachusetts) always says that:  "the" parents.  Never "my" parents.  So, perhaps the author hails from the New England area, or perhaps the author felt that since Frank and Joe are from that area, that would be a proper way for them to refer to their parents.  But since that has never been the case in the nearly 100 years of Hardy Boys history, it felt awkward and very out of place, and so each time I came across that term, I felt like I was hitting a road bump that should not have been there.

Something not so minor that lessened the impact of the book is the complete lack of descriptions for the boys' adventures in Alaska.  The family takes a trip out to see the glacier, but instead of any breath-taking descriptions of the glacier and its surrounding area, we get treated to the remark that climate change is melting the glacier, and the boys wonder how long it will be there for future generations to see.  The boys go whale-watching with their parents; but, instead of descriptions of the magnificent creatures and the awe they inspire when watching them in the ocean, the author glosses over the trip and focuses on Kate's whining about how her bird was taken and she knows Leo took it.  The only thing we do get when it comes to descriptive narrative is the Northern Lights, which the author showcases twice in the book - once when Frank sees them, and again when Joe sees them.  Since this was not River Heights, and is a locale that most people in the States do not get to visit and see, it would have been nice had the author provided more description about the area and what the boys got to experience (and again, this may simply be missing the old days when the books did provide such descriptions, making the reader feel as if he or she was actually there and could see what the boys saw).

Overall, it's not a horrible book, but it's certainly not one of the best one in the Hardy Boys Adventures series.  We'll see what the next book has to offer.

RATING:  6 cups of "midnight black" cocoa out of 10 for taking the Hardy Boys out of Bayport and providing them for a different kind of mystery to solve.

The Pardy Boys and Nancy Screw Adventure Series - Adult Parodies of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mystery Stories

I'm always up for a good parody - especially if the books parody some of my favorite childhood series books.  Over the years, there have been plenty of parodies of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books - from books, to magazines, to comics, to stage plays, to burleque - you name it, and there is pretty much a sure bet that someone somewhere has created a parody of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys for that market.  From Nancy Clue to Susan Slutt to Nancy Keene, to "Confessions of a Teen Sleuth," to the Hardly Boys to the Hearty Boys, and so many more.  Some of them are funny, some of them are mildly amusing, and some of them are just okay.  But of all the ones I've read to date, I don't think any of them are as outright raunchy as the Pardy Boys and Nancy Screw books by "Whit Slorp" (an obvious pseudonym if I've ever seen one!) - and, sadly, not funny at all.

Peenocchio and the Wooden Circus Plot is "The Pardy Boys Gay Adventure Series" parody.  Obviously, from the title, it's pretty apparent the story is going to be sexual in nature.  I knew that going in (no pun intended!).  However, I had half-hoped there would be some kind of funny mystery or at least some great jokes that made fun of the clean-cut Frank and Joe Hardy.  Instead, the author basically provides a gay Pinocchio tale with tons of explicit sex scenes and very little of Brian and Joah Pardy (i.e. "Frank" and "Joe" Hardy).  The two step-brothers are more or less side-characters in their own story.  Sure, they are trying to help free Peenocchio from the grasp of the Vincenzo, the owner of a gay dance club who wants Peen to be his wooden dancer for the patrons, but the gist of the story is that Peen is wanting to become a real man so that he can better please his boyfriend, Gepetto, who created him out of his fetish with wooden dolls (don't ask!).  And the story is so focused on getting from one sex scene to the next, that the author can't even get his characters straight when writing non-sex scenes - for example, on page 27, Joah is trying various keys to unlock Peen's cage, but in the next paragraph, it is Brian who is trying to unlock the cage, then in the next, we're back to Joah.  Very sloppy writing and editing (although, let's face it, what can we expect from a basic porn story???).  Very, VERY disappointed with this one.  

 

Oh, and lest I forget, this book has some internal illustrations (I'm guessing as an homage to the internals of the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books back in the day), and they are not horribly drawn - certainly better than those "stick figure" drawings in the later years of the Nancy Drew books.  But as the story devolves into pure debauchery, the author (who also provides the drawings) ends up drawing a scene from one of the most depraved and grotesque parts of the story, and all I could do was shake my head when I saw it...

The Hidden Valley Ranch of Studs Mystery, which is "The Nancy Screw Adult Adventure Series" parody, is a few steps above the Pardy Boys - but not much.  At least in this short story, there is an actual mystery for Nancy to solve - and Nancy actually plays a role in the story, she is not simply a side character.  Nancy visits a tarot reader and receives a strange prediction that she can't seem to shake.  When she stumbles upon a woman wandering around the dark woods that everyone is warned to stay away from, she begins to suspect something is up.  Following her instincts, she follows the woman and discovers a burned down farm and a silo from which a young woman is being held prisoner!  SPOILER ALERT!!!!  It turns out the young woman is an orphan, her father having died in a crazy sexual incident at a male whorehouse called "The Hidden Valley Ranch of Studs," and the owner of the ranch took the baby from the mother (who she deemed to be out-of-her-mind) and hid her away to protect her.  Of course, it turns out the young woman is actually a man who wants to be a woman.  In any event, it is Nancy Screw who follows up on the clues she finds in the burned down farm, interrogating the owner of the Ranch, and taking the tarot reading seriously in order to free the kidnapped girl and uncover exactly what happened all those years ago when the girl's parents - the very pregnant mother dressed as Tinkerbell and her father dressed as Wendy - filmed an unbelievable encounter with a hired male escort they had dressed up as Peter Pan that ended tragically for Wendy and Peter....  And, oddly enough, that is exactly where the author chooses to end the book - with Nancy watching the end of the video ...

As with the Pardy Boys book, the Nancy Screw book seems to lack any real editing.  On page 12, when Nancy comes out from having her fortune told, her friends Hannah, Adam, and Derek are waiting for her.  But when Adam talks to her about the reading, suddenly an "Erica" pops in with comments about alleged psychic readings.  Who the heck is Erica and where did she come from?  At least the author tones down on the whole sex thing with this parody and focuses more on an actual story - which, honestly, if you take away the sex and the horrible names, the underlying plot itself would have made for a somewhat interesting Nancy Drew mystery - young child is taken away from her parents after a tragic accident; the captor keeps the child hidden away deep in the woods to keep her safe from the outside world; the woods in which the child is hidden are alleged to be haunted, so everyone stays away from them; Nancy happens upon someone going into the woods, and after a strange tarot reading, she decides to investigate.  

 

Oddly, the Nancy Screw story had no internal illustrations like the Pardy Boys did.  The Nancy Screw story is also 30 pages shorter than the Pardy Boys book.  Not sure if these were written at the same time, or if one was written before the other and that prompted the differences.  

Would I recommend these to anyone?  To read, definitely not.  They are not worth the read at all.  However, for collectors who want anything and everything Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, then these might be something to buy and simply stick on the shelf next to any other parodies you might have and then let them collect dust, because honestly - that's about all they are good for!

RATING:  2 marshmallows speared on long thin sticks out of 10 simply for being a parody of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys - because, really, there's not much else that I could say to support these books.

Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 23 - Mystery on the Mayhem Express

Move over Agatha Christie, the Hardy Boys now have their own "mystery on a train."  In the grand tradition of all those locked room mysteries comes the latest of the Hardy Boys Adventures series, featuring a mystery that would stump even Hercule Poirot!  I must say, this latest Hardy Boys series by Simon & Schuster has far surpassed the previous "Undercover Brothers" series and has provided some well-plotted mysteries (although I still wish the publisher would allow the mysteries to be longer, so as to allow the authors to truly flesh out the characters, settings, and mysteries just a bit more...) that, as a non-fan of the Hardy Boys, I have come to really enjoy.

Mystery on the Mayhem Express finds Frank and Joe joining a group of guests on board the Mayhem Express, a train being refurbished by the Bayport train museum.  A local "murder mystery" group is putting on a show for the train in hopes of raising money to support the train museum's preservation of the old trains.  Unfortunately, Frank, Joe, and the rest of the guests (including Chet Morton!) soon discover that the cast of the show are not exactly top notch actors (even if one of them is the Hardys' friend, Biff Hooper).  The murder mystery is rather lackluster until Biff comes to the Hardys with a problem - the member of the cast who is supposed to be kidnapped during the show has gone missing, and it appears he may very well have been kidnapped for real!  But the question is - how does a person disappear from a moving train?

The ghostwriter for this book provides a fast-paced mystery filled with suspects and red herrings, and plenty of secrets that must be dragged out of each of the suspects.  As Frank and Joe investigate, they discover that not only does the missing Trent Couture have a very big secret (that provides motive for a number of people), but a couple of the cast members, as well as a few passengers, have secrets of their own, including some surprising connections to Trent himself.  Throw in the fact that the train was built during the bootlegging years, and the Mayhem family built secret tunnels and hidden compartments throughout the train, and you've got all the makings of a great mystery.

I do enjoy the fact that Chet and Biff are back for this story, but it makes me wonder if their appearance has more to do with the fact that both of those characters appeared in the recent Hulu television show, The Hardy Boys.  Regardless of the incarnation, Nancy has always had Bess and George at her side, so I have wondered why the Undercover Brothers series, as well as this Adventures series, do not feature the Hardys best friends more often.  In fact, Chet's whole "apprentice detective" in this mystery is rather enjoyable, and his popping in at just the right moment is almost TV-worthy in its timing.  And the climactic chase scene on top of the train, with the express train heading towards a bridge that was never completed is definitely suspense-filled writing at its best!

One thing I did notice is more pop culture references popping up.  Chet mentions watching Snowpiercer, and Joe mentions watching Marvel movies on Disney+, and it surprises me that name-dropping like this is allowed, since it will certainly date the book years from now.  Then again, perhaps S&S isn't expecting the book to still be in print years from now, which is rather disheartening.  The classic series was written in such a way that (for the most part), it holds up against the test of time and can still be read and enjoyed today without too many references to date it.  But mentioning specific movies or streaming platforms will definitely date this book is someone 20 years from now picks it up to read it.

Two things that did surprise me in the story: (1) the reference to Chet enjoying food so much.  While there is only one real reference to Chet's weight when he has to try and squeeze into a hidden tunnel, there are a number of instances where either Chet or one of the Hardys make reference to Chet coming on the trip simply to enjoy all of the desserts - in today's climate of political correctness, you'd think someone would balk at writing that pokes a bit of fun at someone who enjoys eating so much; and (2) the casual reference in the book to a gay couple (as well as one of the male suspects having a boyfriend).  While I obviously have no negative feelings towards gay people (well, duh!), I do not find it necessary to see it in books aimed at children.  I will say, though, at least these references were merely in passing and not anywhere as near as overt as the ones in Nancy Drew's The Vanishing Statue, which went way overboard with the references.  

Overall, this was a great book, and I enjoyed it immensely.  Now, I am wondering about the next book, "As the Falcon Flies," as the title can only remind me of a soap opera ("As the World Turns"), and I can't begin to imagine what the story will be!

RATING:  9 months of dirty soapsuds out of 10 for giving the boys a Christie-like mystery to solve that allows their detective skills to really shine!