Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1928

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1963 by Alistair Hunter

Cover: Rudy Nappi, yellow and red yet again.  Is the guy behind them friend or foe?  Good cover, but my that treasure is stacked too neatly for Joe to be still using the shovel.

Setting: Lucky Lode, Montana.  No doubt Bayport suffered from a horrific crime wave during this time.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Montana with cracked ribs.  Frank and Joe to the rescue.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Tony, Biff, but only at the beginning.  This is a story outside Bayport, and so it’s Frank and Joe doing it by themselves.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Hiding it from his friends, or something.  Not specified.  So I’ll guess, uh, basket weaving.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Nothing specified, so once again Frank and Joe starved.

Plot: Fenton is in Montana on a case when he cracks his ribs and calls for his sons to fly out and take over the case.  A vast treasure was discovered 25 years previously, and would you believe every major character from back then shows up at the same time so that the mystery can be solved?

Review: This is Frank and Joe Go West, and so it has some of the stereotypes of the Old West from the 1950s and 1960s show up.  That’s a weakness.  But one of the strengths is that this could be a nice introduction to kids of cowboy motifs.  Plus Frank and Joe show real bravery and strength with no help from anyone else — it’s truly impressive.  But I prefer Bayport stories with all of the chums, and Gertrude making pie.

Score: 5