Tag Archives: New England

47: MYSTERY OF THE WHALE TATTOO

47

 

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Jerrold Mundis in 1968.  This is the only Hardy Boys book that Mr. Mundis wrote, so this is all we have to judge him by.

Was It Revised?: No.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  Very muted colors (and isn’t it amazing how Mr. Nappi can do all these different styles?), though Frank and Joe get the yellow and red into the cover in a subtle way.  Frank and Joe are being threatened by a tattooed man.  Well, it’s sort of in the book that way.  This is more symbolic than realistic.

Setting: Bayport, New York City, and Mystic, Connecticut.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: He is working on a separate case, but hey, waddya wanna bet it’s actually the same case the boys are working on?  He shows up halfway through, works with his sons for a bit, then goes off on his own again.  But he shows up at the end.

Which Chums Show Up?: Biff, Tony, Chet, Callie and Iola.  Biff and Tony run their own business that intersects with what the Hardys are working on.  Chet, of course, is the key chum and does a lot.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Scrimshaw.  You know the drill by now – never did this before, will never mention it again.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Apple pie, and fresh baked cookies.  Now we’re talkin’.

Plot: Traveling circus comes to Bayport, pickpockets are working the crowds, so the circus owner hires Frank, Joe and Chet to work undercover on the fairgrounds.  Meanwhile, Fenton is trying to track down a jeweled idol sculpture, and the crooks are trying to find it too, and soon so are Frank and Joe.  What’s with the whale tattoo?  The gang are identified by having a whale tattoo on their fingers.  Not so smart, guys.

Review:  Not bad.  The mystery of who is in the gang is a good one with several red herrings.  The discovery of the stuffed whale is fun, and what Biff and Tony do with it is interesting.  So the story moves along well.

There is a great scene where Chet discovers the best soda jerk in the business and draws a crowd by drinking ice cream soda after ice cream soda in ways that presage today’s competitive eaters.  I love it when a Hardy Boys book takes the time for just fun.  Chet is very much Chet in this book.

There is another scene where Chet fills in as the clown in the circus.  He is a renaissance man, our Chet.

Mr. Mundis created a typical Hardy Boys book, and for a one-off author in the series, that’s all we can ask.

Score: 8 (7 for the book, plus a point for the ice cream scene)

46: THE SECRET AGENT ON FLIGHT 101

 

46

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Tom Mulvey in 1967.  That same year he also revised 10: WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT, as well as 13: THE MARK ON THE DOOR.  Two years earlier, in 1965, he revised 9: THE GREAT AIRPORT MYSTERY.  Then in 1968 he would revise 15: THE SINISTER SIGNPOST, and in 1969 he revised 18: THE TWISTED CLAW.  This Secret Agent on Flight 101 book is his only original.

His previous five books, coincidentally, got scores (not in order) of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.  Can he get a 10?  A 4?

Was It Revised?: No.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  Blue and green action scene, Frank and Joe chasing a bad guy.  Good look, nice action, a bit monochromatic, but not bad.

Setting: Bayport, off the coast of New England, London England and finally Scotland.  Yes, that does describe a journey and a direction, doesn’t it?  This is Frank and Joe do the UK.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: They found a unique way to get Fenton off the stage: put him on a stage in a magic show, make him disappear, then make sure he stays disappeared.  Ah, but who is the secret agent on Flight 101?  Heh heh.

Which Chums Show Up?: Biff and Chet.  Mostly Chet.  When even higher ups in major spy organizations are suggesting the boys bring Chet along, you know you are in Chet Morton fantasy land.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Magic.  Does it apply to the bad guy?  Of course.  Does Chet’s hobby save their lives at the end?  Of course.  Will Chet ever use this hobby ever again?  Of course not.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: “Dessert.”  Just “dessert.”  Bad form, Mr. Mulvey.  You described her pies and cakes before, you know.

Plot: Magician offers to make Fenton disappear.  He does.  Now the boys have to find him.  Then they get involved with a spy organization (SKOOL) to fight the bad guys who are involved in a bad guy organization (UGLI).  The chase takes them to Scotland.

Review:  SKOOL and UGLI?  Really?  I realize it’s 1967, and James Bond and SPECTRE are a very big deal in the world, but this is just dated and bad.  I realize the Hardy Boys books are written for kids, and so as adults we see the holes in the plot or the simplistic writing.  But I’m telling you that some of these books stand up to adult scrutiny to some extent.  But when you do juvenile writing about spy organizations called SKOOL and UGLI, it’s embarrassing.

And really, the professional spies suggest they go to Scotland, and then they wait around for the Hardys to suggest the next plan of action, and then say, ‘good idea!’  I’m sorry, that’s just not realistic.  The professionals would be calling the shots, would not suggest they bring their chum, Chet, along.

No, they never refer to those spy organizations after this book, and that’s good.  Frank and Joe are supposed to be amateurs doing independent work.  I realize some of the later Hardy Boys books do involve Frank and Joe in a spy organization, but I’m talking about the original 58 books only.

And I must point this out from the fourth paragraph of the book:

“It was Friday evening.  Bayport High had closed for summer vacation the day before.”

Got that?  The boys have been solving mystery after mystery, this being #46 in the sequence, almost all of which take place during the summer between their junior and senior years of high school.  Yet #46 takes place the day after school ended for the summer.  I guess most of the other 45 adventures took place the day before…

Now if this sounds as if I don’t like this book, don’t get that impression.  I’m picking on aspects of it, but the mystery is good, the bad guys are rotten, the scenery is fun.  Frank actually climbs outside of a moving airplane to get something, so we truly are in James Bond territory, but I enjoyed it.  But it’s not the best of the bunch.

Score: 7

44: THE HAUNTED FORT

 

44

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: David Grambs in 1965.  The year before he revised 6: THE SHORE ROAD MYSTERY, then in the same 1965 he revised 12: FOOTPRINTS UNDER THE WINDOW, the next year he revised 27: THE SECRET OF SKULL MOUNTAIN, and finally in 1968 he revised 29: THE SECRET OF THE LOST TUNNEL.  So with this, his only original, we say good bye to Mr. Grambs.  Up until now his revisions have scored either a 6 or a 9.  Let’s see how an original does.

Was It Revised?: No.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  A lot of blue with only Joe bringing the usual red.  A very nice nighttime scene with Frank and Joe typically staring at something scary.  Is that really a ghost?  Is the fort really haunted?  Remember your Scooby Doo, boys and girls, and you meddling kids will solve the mystery in no time at all.

Setting: Bayport and then New England.     

Where’s Fenton This Time?: He does not appear at all in this one.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet.  Cameos by Callie and Iola.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: He’s an artist. Good thing they are headed to an art school.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: She also does not appear in the book, evidently on a retreat to learn new pie techniques.

Plot: Chet’s uncle is an instructor at a summer art school in New England, and he asks Chet and his friends to solve a mystery.  Art work is being stolen, there is a mysterious Revolutionary War fort nearby, and there is gold treasure to be found.

Review:  Other than the silly Scooby Doo ghost, this is a decent mystery.  The bad guys play rough, and in chapter XIX the bad guys sure talk a mile a minute about who did what through the book.  It’s in a bucolic setting, with lots of red herring characters, and there are clues in paintings.  But it’s not a great one either.  Just OK.

Score: 7