Premise
There has been a robbery at Tower Mansion, and the culprits are on the run. When one of their closest friends, Chet, gets unintentionally involved in the case, siblings Joe and Frank Hardy set out to uncover the truth and eventually recover the loot. With the prime suspect being a person that they very well know of, the mystery getting deeper with every passing day, and time running out, the Hardy Boys are in for their very first major case in – The Tower Treasure.
Overview
Name – The Tower Treasure [#1 of the ‘The Hardy Boys’ series]
Author – Franklin W. Dixon
Genre – Adventure/Children/Mystery
First Published – 1 June, 1927
Cover Rating [featured image] – 9/10 (Hardcover; love the look and feel of the Hardcovers!)
This Edition Published – 1998 by Grosset & Dunlap
Chapters – 20
Pages – 180
Review
NO Spoilers
The Hardy Boys. One of the most recognized names when it comes to the genre of children’s detective fiction. Some other big names include the likes of – ‘Nancy Drew’ by Carolyn Keene, The Secret Seven and ‘The Famous Five’ by Enid Blyton, etc. These popular books are read and adorned by children globally to this day, and for many of them, are a gateway into the genre of mystery/adventure (like it was for me!).
Franklin W. Dixon has become a household name for the amazing stories put out by him in the form of the young sibling sleuths – The Hardy Boys. Let me give you a brief introduction about them (as mentioned in the book) –
“Even though one boy was dark and the other fair, there was a marked resemblance between the two brothers. Eighteen-year-old Frank was tall and dark. Joe, a year younger, was blond with blue eyes. They were the only children of Fenton and Laura Hardy. The family lived in Bayport, a small but thriving city of fifty thousand inhabitants, located on Barmet Bay, three miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.”
Now, it just seems right to start where it all began for the siblings, in their very first mystery/adventure – The Tower Treasure. My parents had gifted me this copy of the book way back when I was a kid, and I still have it on my bookshelf. The nostalgia attached to it is pretty much high, and while re-reading it, I could feel it all over.
Here’s what unfolded –
The book starts with the sibling duo being nearly run over by a speeding car, whose driver seems to be in a real hurry for whatever reason. Soon, we get to learn that a big robbery has taken place at the Tower Mansion in Bayport, and that the thieves are on the run, with one of them potentially being the same person the boys saw speeding at the start of the book. And to make matters worse, while visiting their school “chum”, Chet Morton, the boys learn that his car has been stolen! The boys ultimately decide to get involved. Here’s an excerpt from the book regarding the same –
“The same thought was running through Frank’s and Joe’s minds: maybe this mystery would turn out to be their first case!”
“Early the next morning Frank hurried to the telephone and put in one call after another to “the gang.” These included, besides Chet Morton, Allen Hooper, nicknamed Biff because of his fondness for a distant relative who was a boxer named Biff; Jerry Gilroy, Phil Cohen, and Tony Prito. All were students at Bayport High and prominent in various sports. The five boys were eager to cooperate. They agreed to assemble at the Hardy home at nine o’clock. In the meantime, Frank and Joe would lay out a plan of action.”
As the search for the stolen car goes on, the mystery keeps getting deeper and deeper, with the boys finding multiple clues, which leads them on a track that is not only unknown, but dangerous as well. And the prime suspect in the theft is revealed to be none other than Henry Robinson, caretaker at the Tower Mansion, and the father of another one of their closest “chums”, Perry Robinson.
With constant help and advice from their father, Fenton Hardy (private detective, whose name is known from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and a former member of the NYC detective force, who now runs a private practice in Bayport), the boys set out to solve the mystery before time runs out, while clearing the name of their friend’s father, and finding the loot as quickly as possible. Here’s an excerpt from the book regarding the mysterious Tower Mansion and its owners –
“Tower Mansion was one of the show places of Bayport. Few people in the city had ever been permitted to enter the place and the admiration which the palatial building excited was solely by reason of its exterior appearance. But the first thing a newcomer to Bayport usually asked was, “Who owns that house with the towers over on the hill?” It was an immense, rambling stone structure overlooking the bay, and could be seen for miles, silhouetted against the sky line like an ancient feudal castle. The resemblance to a castle was heightened by the fact that from each of the far ends of the mansion arose a high tower. Years ago there had been many parties and dances in the mansion. But the Applegate family had become scattered until at last there remained in the old home only Hurd Applegate and his sister Adelia. They lived in the vast, lonely mansion at the present time. Hurd and Adelia Applegate were reputed to be enormously wealthy, although they lived simply, kept only a few servants, and never had visitors.”
Sounds interesting, no? Along the way, we are introduced to many characters integral not only to the current story, but also to the numerous ones to come after – Callie Shaw (Frank’s classmate and his date), Iola Morton (Chet’s sister and Joe’s date), Chief Ezra Collig (head of the Bayport police force), Oscar Smuff (a short, stout man; a private detective working on the theft as well), and Rocco (owns a fruit store; a hard-working man who had come from Italy only a few years ago; a simple, genial person, and had great admiration for the Hardy boys).
Who stole the loot? Where is it now? Are the Applegates hiding something? Will the boys be able to track down the treasure and outsmart the thieves?
What was good?
- A quick, easy read.
- Multiple illustrations/drawings present throughout the book which makes for a better reading.
- The plot was pretty good, with multiple twists and turns along the way.
- The ending was good too.
What was bad?
- Honestly, no complaints from me on this one!
Some quotes/dialogues
The famous detective smiled. “Don’t be discouraged,” he said. “I can tell you that one bit of success makes up for a hundred false trails.”
Fenton Hardy to his sons
“A good detective,” he said, “never sighs with discouragement nor becomes impatient. It took years of persistence to solve some famous cases.”
Fenton Hardy to his sons (again)
Final thoughts
Overall, a brilliant first adventure. It’s a pretty solid mystery as well, and young readers would certainly enjoy being part of the whole thing as the investigation goes on. And this is just the beginning, as they say. Here’s what the very last paragraph of the book had to offer, while assuring the reader that the next adventure is not that far away at all!
…each boy had a little feeling of sadness that the case had ended. They hoped another mystery would soon come their way, and one did at THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF.
Rating: – 7.5/10 (Pretty good)
