City News

The book I am reviewing is called, The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure, by Franklin W. Dixon.

This book, the first in the series, is a 1st edition written in 1927. While the Hardy Boys series books are mostly for elementary school kids and are not stunning literature by any means, they are a lot of fun to read. In fact, they are full of cliffhangers and are hard to put down. 

In the Tower Treasure, brothers Frank and Joe, sixteen and fifteen respectively, are riding their motorcycles down a narrow road to deliver important papers for their father.  As they are going down the road, a speeding car almost runs them off the road. They get a good look at the driver, a guy who will play an important part in this mystery. Soon after, they find the car wrecked and the driver has apparently stolen a yellow roadster belonging to one of their friends, Chet Morton. 

The Hardy boys are the sons of the famous detective, Fenton Hardy, who agrees to look into the case. Unfortunately, he is unable to come up with a solution to the mystery.  It then appears that only his sons may be able to solve the crime and save the family of their friend.

The stolen car is the first mystery in the book. Soon after, another more serious crime is committed when the house of one of the town's wealthy families is robbed. The caretaker, who is the father of one of Frank and Joe's friends, is the prime suspect. He is fired and later arrested, with devastating consequences for his family. 

This book is easy to read and can be finished in almost a day.  The stories usually have multiple mysteries in them. I enjoy reading how the brothers are able to reason through the circumstances that happened and figure out the mystery. The author’s detailed descriptions of the situations the Hardy boys are in is easy to picture in your imagination. It is no wonder that a TV series was made from the books.

Maybe the only downside to the Hardy Boys books is that they can get a little formulaic. Many of the same elements are used in all the books. For example, all of the Hardy Boys books seem to have at least these components in common:

- The father detective

- The low stakes mystery

- The rival detective

- Teamwork as far as the eye can see

Noteworthy to this novel, the Tower Treasure is:

- More use of the words "chum" and “lad” than in any other Hardy Boys book

- Hobo Johnny!

- Multiple Trap doors!

Since the book is so captivating to read, I can see it making voracious readers out of elementary school kids. This book is probably best for 5th grade and up. However, even adults may enjoy reading the series for a lot of old-fashioned fun. Or they may enjoy reading them to their kids. I would give this book a big 10 out of 10. It is not outstanding literature, but the story is thrilling, and is a great read for all ages. Watch the TV series as well, after reading the books, of course!

Checkout The Hardy Boys: The Tower of Treasure from the Newport Beach Public Library.