Tag Archives: Iola Morton

4: THE MISSING CHUMS

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Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

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

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1962 by James Beuchler

Cover: Rudy Nappi, a rough night on the bay, Frank and Joe providing classic bright red and yellow contrasts to the dark sky and water.

Setting: Bayport again!  My, still lots of crooks in this town.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Bayport again, but busy working on his case (would you believe it intersects with the boys’ case?) so he is mostly out of the picture.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie, Iola, Tony, Biff, Jerry — Hey, they’re in the title, so they might as well show up.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Getting kidnapped…

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Nothing!  They eat, but Gertrude doesn’t make them anything.  What was she thinking?

Plot: Bank robbers, costume parties, mistaken identities, hermits, shantytown dwellers. Chet and Biff get kidnapped, and thus the title.

Review: Pretty good.  A serious situation with their best friends getting kidnapped, and this leads to some very good detective work.  A more realistic tale.  This story moves nicely.

Score: 7

3: THE SECRET OF THE OLD MILL

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Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

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

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1962 by Alistair Hunter

Cover: Rudy Nappi, a classic look again with Frank and Joe investigating in a dark place, but some nice color placement gives it punch.  Love the bright yellow light through the crack in the floor.

Setting: Bayport again!  My, lots of crooks in this town.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Bayport again, but working on a case he can’t talk about and he comes and goes each day, so the boys are mostly on their own.  Hey, wanna bet they are all working on the same case again?

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie, Iola, Tony

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Microscopes

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Generous portions of deep-dish apple pie.

Plot: Someone is passing out counterfeit twenties, and meanwhile outside of town is this old mill that is being used by a company involved in top-secret missile research, and Fenton is trying to stop sabotage at said company.

Review: Mixed.  It seems to be a lot of show-up-at-mill, something happens.  Rinse, repeat.  And boy do the crooks blab a lot at the end, worse than a classic Bond villain!  But there is nice detective work by the boys, Gertrude shows up, it’s exciting.  Decent early Hardy Boys.

Score: 6

2: THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF

2Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

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

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1959 by Harriet S. Adams

Cover: Rudy Nappi, a bit too much brown and yellow for my taste, but nice action scene that accurately pictures not only the plot but the title too.

Setting: Bayport again.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Still at home, the slacker, though he does have the good taste to get himself kidnapped for a good long stretch.  This is truly the boy’s show now.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Biff, Tony, Phil, Callie, Iola, Jerry

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: I told you, she ain’t showing up until book three, but Chet did get a nice slice of lemon meringue pie from a farmer and his wife.  Frank and Joe are getting hungry.

Plot: Smugglers, an abandoned house overlooking the water, and hey, bet there’s a connection between the two!

Review: This is where the Hardy Boys really get going.  Fenton gets kidnapped and is out of the picture for half of the book, so it’s Frank and Joe’s time to shine, and shine they do.  They use clues to figure out where the hiding place is, and where their father is prisoner, and then they show great courage to rescue him.  Chet and Biff get to help by going for the Coast Guard, and this division of labor is a standard part of Hardy Boys plots.

The bad guy seems awfully contrite at the end, but it is interesting to get the criminal’s perspective for once.  McFarlane wrote a good story that, though aimed at kids, is fairly sophisticated about crime and law enforcement.

The franchise is now set up and we are ready to roll.

Score: 6

1: THE TOWER TREASURE

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Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1927

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1959 by Harriet S. Adams

Cover: Pretty classic, really.  Frank and Joe looking at a threatening situation, nice use of color, but otherwise generic.

Setting: Bayport

Where’s Fenton This Time?: At home, of all places!

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie, Iola, Jerry, Biff, Tony, Phil — pretty much the whole gang right at the start.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: She doesn’t appear until book three, so I’m afraid the boys went hungry.

Plot: Hurd Applegate and his sister Adelia live in a old mansion on the outskirts of Bayport.  They suffer a burglary and suspect their caretaker.  The Hardy Boys take on their first case by trying to find who really stole the jewels and securities.

Review: In some ways this is primitive proto-Hardy Boys, in other ways Mr. McFarlane set in motion the complete package right from the start (or maybe Ms. Adams did the trick in 1959, I’m not sure).  Either way, this is basic Hardy Boys, but the foundation is laid.

The classic suspenseful moment to end each chapter is not quite in place yet – some of the chapter endings are hardly enough to raise an eyebrow in concern – but that approach is being attempted.

Chet is in place already, and Callie and Iola get tentative steps toward their personalities, but the other chums are there by name only.

The mystery is four-part:

  1. Who stole Chet’s jalopy?
  2. Oh, solved that, but who stole the jewels?
  3. Oh, solved that, but where are the jewels?
  4. Oh, so THAT’S the old tower being referred to

The end.

So as a start, it’s a good foundation.  As a standalone entry in the canon, it’s lesser Hardy.

Score: 5