oh the memories!

this book is a true mystery story, it is about a rich man and his sister that have their valuables stolen by a railroad man named John Jacky, and the rich man blamed a guy that would never steal anything. but first, the Hardy boys friend, Chet Morton, has his car stolen! and the Hardy Boys, frank and joe, find it a few days later, later on in the book, john gets crushed under a railroad handcar, before his death, frank and joe's farther visits the hospital that he is in and he confessed everything... but not where the loot is hidden! So Joe and frank search the rich people's house, with no luck. they visit John's old work, and they find the loot in a... can't tell! you will have to read the book to find out! this is a pretty good book for mystery novel fans.

It's a little hard to believe, but at one time I was a reluctant reader. In my younger years I really didn't care to read and while my parents brought me a barrage of books from the local library, nothing seemed interesting to me. This is likely why I have never read a Hardy Boys novel until now.
Dover Publications has reissued this first book in the Hardy Boys series, The Tower Treasure, and because it's Dover, we know that they won't re-edit or cut anything to try to be more P.C. This is the book just as it was in the 1927 original edition (in part this is because the 1927 edition has just entered the public domain [in the U.S.] in 1923).

The home of one of the town's wealthier citizen's is robbed and their caretaker, Henry Robinson, is accused of committing the crime - all circumstantial evidence points to him. But brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, sons of the well-known detective Fenton Hardy, don't believe Henry would do such a thing. They are friends with Henry's son, Perry, and they feel they have a pretty good knowledge of the family.

The local police don't seem to need much evidence and won't even bother to look beyond Henry, given all the circumstantial evidence, so Frank, Joe, and Fenton look to prove Henry's innocence (and that the local police are wrong). They're given a boost when John "Red" Jackley, a known criminal now on his death-bed due to an accident, admits to the crime and where he's stashed the loot (in the old tower, hence the title).

A death-bed confession isn't enough for the police to let Henry off the hook, so the boys go to seek the treasure to prove that Jackley was telling the truth. Except ... they can't find it! It will take a little more work for the Hardy boys to prove Robinson's innocence!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I was definitely expecting it to be much more dated feeling than it was. There are some "gosh, gee, swell" moments that remind us that these boys are from a different era, and the willingness to have a 180 degree turn in attitude on the part of some of the characters is not something you'd see today. Still, I can see why these books are still published and marketed to young readers. The mystery is solid enough to be believable and the young protagonists rely on their brains to solve the problems - good attributes to encourage in young readers.

Looking for a good book? There's a reason the Hardy Boys books are still being printed and marketed ... because they stand the test of time as a reading of The Tower Treasure, by Franklin W. Dixon shows.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Dove Publication for the free ebook copy in exchange for a review. The Hardy Boys was a trend when I was young along with Nancy Drew. Being a girl, my mom buys me Nancy Drew so this is my first dabble into the Hardy Boys. It feels like a Nancy Drew mystery. It is perfect for middle grade students but not exactly for adults. Spoilers ahead! I have some questions about the theft that was left unanswered. The ending was also a let down, no confrontations or whatever. It was okay but lacks excitement.

The Tower Treasure by Fraklin Dixon will be enjoyable for all the families who've previously liked the Hardy Boy stories.

*I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Frank is 16 years old and Joe is 15 years old. This doesn’t stop them from wanting to be detectives like their father, Fenton Hardy who is famous for solving difficult cases. Frank and Joe are riding their motorcycles on a seldom driven road to Willowville to deliver some papers for their father. They are stopped on the narrow road when they hear a very fast driven car coming up behind them. The driver seems out of control if his car as he zigzags his car nearly hitting the boys. After they deliver the papers, they decide to go home to Bayport but will stop to see a chum, Chet Morton. When they arrive at Chet’s, the see him in the driveway upset. Why? Upon arriving home, they let their father know the papers were delivered and that someone tried to steal the money at the steamboat ticket office. Due to the different eye witnesses, the police got two different descriptions of the theif. One witness say he had brown hair while the other says he has red hair. Mr. Hardy suggests the the thief might had been wearing a wig. The Hardy brothers find out about a house robbery. Jewels and securities were taken from the safe in the library in the Applegate’s Tower Mansion. Mr. Robinson, the caretaker is considered guilty as he just paid off a debt with a large amount of money. When asked where he got the money, he tells Mr. Applegate that he can’t tell making him appear guilty. Is he guilty? Due to the clues that Frank and Joe find, their father goes to New York. The boys wait for their father’s return. Will his father be able to find the answers for Mr. Applegate. Will he find where the jewels and securities are?

Believe it or not there is much more of the story I didn’t tell as I don’t want you (the reader)not to have the fun of of the adventures and more. I had wanted to read this book as when I wanted to read it, my parents said “no, it wasn’t good enough” for me to read. My parents were teachers so they were picky about what I read. Now, I need to read a Nancy Drew story. This series of the Hardy Boys would give readers an introduction in detectives or becoming a detectives. It is suspenseful and it included several incidents to happen that made a mystery even more mysterious.

It was lovely to revisit this childhood classic, the very first instalment in the Hardy Boys series. Young readers will enjoy following brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, the teen-aged sons of a professional detective, as they investigate the theft of their friend Chet's car, soon followed by the theft of forty thousand dollars from Tower Mansion! Could these two incidents be connected? Will the Hardy boys' ingenuity enable them to piece the clues together and recover the stolen loot when all hope seems lost? This is a great book to get children hooked onto good old-fashioned mysteries featuring sheer hard work and cleverness, without modern technology and ubiquitous access to the internet.

The Tower Treasure introduces the intrepid brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. Over the course of more than fifty children’s books, they worked with their father, Fenton to solve cases in and around Bayport.

Kids have eaten these stories up from the beginning and have continued to in their various updates. I know that I did as a child. While I was the possessor of many Nancy Drew mysteries, I also read every Hardy Boys mystery that my parents bought for my brother. Yes, there was a sameness to each of the books in these series but that was part of what I loved about them.

Readers may (or may not) know that there was no Mr. Dixon. Rather the Stratemeyer Syndicate farmed out the authorial duties. This syndicate was effective in gettting new titles out on a regular basis. There is a novel, Escaping Dreamland, by Charlie Lovett that references this time in publishing.

This title is a reissue of the original and was first published in 1927. For that reason, the publisher notes that “…the text contains racial and cultural references of the era in which it was written and may be deemed offensive by today’s standards.” This raises some issues about the book’s publication now. Clearly adults might want to have a conversation with a young reader before handing them this edition. Adults, for their part, may be surprised at how much certain things that may have passed them by as children, now stand out. So, as with all books, a decision about reading this book belongs to the potential reader.

That having been said, what this series did so well was to make readers out of many children. The repetition of characters, places and more was reassuring. There was always lots of adventure as is true here with an exciting opening chapter featuring a speeding car chasing Joe and Frank. All chapters end with cliffhangers that encourage kids to keep going.

I was eager to meet up with the Hardy Boys again and turned the pages while watching them try to find the treasure of the title. I wanted to see if I would still feel the magic as I raced through. In many ways I did.

So, dear readers, post on my blog to let me know what you think. Did you read the original or later versions? What do you think about this reissue. I do say many thanks to NetGalley and Dover Publications for this title. All opinions are my own.