The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon (Leslie McFarlane).
Title: The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure.
Author: Franklin W. Dixon (Leslie McFarlane).
Genre: Fiction, children's lit, YA, adventure, mystery, detective fiction.
Country: U.S.
Language: English
Publication Date: 1927.
Summary: A great robbery at a rich estate. A dying criminal confesses that his loot has been stored "in the old tower." Both towers of the looted mansion are searched in vain. It remains for the Hardy boys to make an astonishing discovery that clears up the mystery and clears the name of a friend’s father.
My rating: 7/10.
My review: There are two types of children's lit: One is written for the sake of being written, the other for the sake of being marketed and sold. This is a perfect example of the latter. These books are very obviously mass-manufactured and marketed to appeal to a certain audience, and not necessarily by the merits of quality (although it should be pointed out that based on vocabulary alone these books are much better than the mass-produced crap series the market is oversaturated with at the moment). You can tell by the fact that none of the characters are in any way developed - almost everyone is noble, kind, wise, beautiful, and perfect (with the exception of characters who we are supposed to suspect, who are grouchy, unfriendly, and uncooperative), as well as by the fact that it seems that a thesaurus was used almost every time the author came across the word "said". Very little attention is paid to details (e.g. time of travel, the probability of people allowing random children to partake in a criminal investigation without any supervision, etc.). But there is definitely enough merit to these books otherwise - great vocabulary and a completely unpredictable outcome being the highlights. All in all, I can understand why these books were so popular, though I can also see why today their popularity can be credited to little more than sentimental memories of those who grew up with these books.
♥ "All this trip for nothing." Joe gave a sigh.
His father laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "A good detective," he said, "never sighs with discouragement nor becomes impatient. It took years of persistence to solve some famous cases."