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The Hardy Boys #4
Missing Chums: The Hardy Boys Book 4
Unravel a thrilling saga of camaraderie and intrigue in book four of The Hardy Boys mystery series, published in 1928. Follow Frank and Joe Hardy as they grapple with the unexplained disappearance of their closest friends, Chet and Biff, during a motorboat trip. The stakes are high, as Baldy Turk’s gang think they've kidnapped Frank and Joe and, in a letter received by the Hardy Boys’ Aunt Gertrude, are demanding ransom for their return. An investigation leads them to the mysterious Blacksnake Island, where they, too, are captured by the gang of criminals. A testament to the power of friendship in the face of adversity, The Missing Chums masterfully weaves action, adventure, and suspense, keeping readers on a razor's edge with treacherous twists at every turn.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1928
254 people are currently reading
2534 people want to read
About the author
Franklin W. Dixon
760 books994 followersFranklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews
April 4, 2017
A great Hardy Boys adventure featuring bank robbers, a kidnapping and lots of fun and adventure on the Sleuth. One of our favourites featuring Chet and Tony!
May 1, 2023
The Missing Chums was the fourth novel in The Hardy Boys series. It was written by Leslie McFarlane under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon and was published in 1928 by Grosset & Dunlap. Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams oversaw the revision of the first thirty-eight books in the series from 1959-'73, some of which were just edited and updated, and some of which were replaced completely. This is one from the latter category... a wholly new and completely different novel written by James Buechler was published with the same title, byline, and cover illustration in 1962 with many of the same characters but not much else in common except for adventure on an island involving boats and caves. I read the original and then the revision back-to-back. The original book had twenty-three chapters and was 214 pages long, while the reboot had 175 pages (including several illustrations) in twenty chapters. It was one of the most popular books in the series, with one of the largest cast of characters, including the introduction of Aunt Gertrude. The story is about criminals mistaking two of the Hardy friends for Frank and Joe and kidnapping them to blackmail their father Fenton, a great detective who's investigating the gang. The Boys carry guns in the original, though they don't use them, and are a couple of years older in the newer version, which also involves kidnapping but centers around a more complex and not as well plotted confusing story that also involves smuggling and rival gangs and the police asking the Boys to investigate a homeless squatters' settlement that never makes much sense. There is a bit in the new one with a costume party that's cute, but the involvement of the costume shop proprietor never quite gels. The characterization is watered down for 1962, especially with girlfriends Callie and Iola who become demoted to just being scared and pretty, Aunt Gertrude becoming befuddled rather than acerbic, and the crooks less competent. The action switches from Blacksnake Island to Hermit Island, so we lose the mysterious poisonous menace, but that's okay. Overall, I'd say the new one (two stars) is fitting for readers a few of years younger than the original (four stars), or perhaps a few IQ points less.
November 16, 2025
This book is part of a series where each entry can be read as a stand alone. In this one we are along once again for a Hardy Boys mystery. The brothers are trying to solve a bank robbery. Meanwhile two friends of theirs are kidnapped. Are these two crimes related? Only the Hardy Boys can figure that out.
I am reading these more of a nostalgia feeling for me as I loved the show as a kid. With that being said this book does show its age but in a good way. These books are also meant for the younger audience and that shows as well. This is my second book of this series that I have read and I enjoyed the mystery of this one more. It had many moving parts and we see the progression of the investigation as the boys hop from clue to clue. There is also the prerequisite danger that one of the brothers must fall into to even though we know there really is no danger.
Basically what I am saying is this book and I assume the others in this series are simpler books that bring me back down memory lane. That is the charm of these books. It was an innocent time that my inner kid self misses. This book allowed me to have a flashback to that time and I enjoyed it for that.
I am reading these more of a nostalgia feeling for me as I loved the show as a kid. With that being said this book does show its age but in a good way. These books are also meant for the younger audience and that shows as well. This is my second book of this series that I have read and I enjoyed the mystery of this one more. It had many moving parts and we see the progression of the investigation as the boys hop from clue to clue. There is also the prerequisite danger that one of the brothers must fall into to even though we know there really is no danger.
Basically what I am saying is this book and I assume the others in this series are simpler books that bring me back down memory lane. That is the charm of these books. It was an innocent time that my inner kid self misses. This book allowed me to have a flashback to that time and I enjoyed it for that.
September 14, 2020
100% nostalgia rating
Kris's recent read of the first Nancy Drew book left me itching to return to the world of teen sleuths that I loved so much as a kid. And while I read Nancy Drew books, my true love was (and will ever be) the Hardy Boys.
I only had book #4 on hand but I figured, why not? I expected to mock the story senseless (and I sort of have been in my status updates...) But what I didn't expect was the giant wave of nostalgia that hit me as I read.
I can't really express how many Hardy Boys books I read growing up. I devoured the original series. And every one of the Hardy Boys Classified books. And the The Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers. And every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys team up. And the graphic novels. And, well, everything in between.
I wrote Hardy Boys fan fiction. I daydreamed about joining American Teens Against Crime.
Frank Hardy was one of my first book crushes and always my favorite. (Until I turned 17 and fell hard for Shaun Cassidy who plays Joe in the TV show.)
And just...for a lonely bookworm, they were my pals and Bayport my playground.
So while I found plenty to mock in this novel, particularly with how irresponsible all the adults are and useless the womenfolk, in some ways it felt like coming home.
Home to Frank and Joe and Chet and Biff and Tony and Callie and Iola. Home to Aunt Gertrude and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy. Home to non-stop action and crazy, hair brained schemes that shouldn't work. Home to villains who monologue their entire evil plan so everything ties up nicely. Home to motorcycles and motorboats (and someday a bullet proof van which I wanted with all my 12-year-old soul. You can keep the A-Team van. Give me the gray Hardy Boys van) and all the other gadgets. Home to food. Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude's only real role is to constantly supply these boys with fried chicken dinners and picnic baskets full of descriptive food.
Wholesome, ridiculous, familiar, and fun.
And the language! So vintage! No wonder I had such a weird vocabulary growing up.
Kris's recent read of the first Nancy Drew book left me itching to return to the world of teen sleuths that I loved so much as a kid. And while I read Nancy Drew books, my true love was (and will ever be) the Hardy Boys.
I only had book #4 on hand but I figured, why not? I expected to mock the story senseless (and I sort of have been in my status updates...) But what I didn't expect was the giant wave of nostalgia that hit me as I read.
I can't really express how many Hardy Boys books I read growing up. I devoured the original series. And every one of the Hardy Boys Classified books. And the The Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers. And every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys team up. And the graphic novels. And, well, everything in between.
I wrote Hardy Boys fan fiction. I daydreamed about joining American Teens Against Crime.
Frank Hardy was one of my first book crushes and always my favorite. (Until I turned 17 and fell hard for Shaun Cassidy who plays Joe in the TV show.)
And just...for a lonely bookworm, they were my pals and Bayport my playground.
So while I found plenty to mock in this novel, particularly with how irresponsible all the adults are and useless the womenfolk, in some ways it felt like coming home.
Home to Frank and Joe and Chet and Biff and Tony and Callie and Iola. Home to Aunt Gertrude and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy. Home to non-stop action and crazy, hair brained schemes that shouldn't work. Home to villains who monologue their entire evil plan so everything ties up nicely. Home to motorcycles and motorboats (and someday a bullet proof van which I wanted with all my 12-year-old soul. You can keep the A-Team van. Give me the gray Hardy Boys van) and all the other gadgets. Home to food. Mrs. Hardy and Aunt Gertrude's only real role is to constantly supply these boys with fried chicken dinners and picnic baskets full of descriptive food.
Wholesome, ridiculous, familiar, and fun.
And the language! So vintage! No wonder I had such a weird vocabulary growing up.
July 27, 2023
4 Stars. When it comes to the young adult 'Hardy Boy' mysteries, murder and thriller aficionados will recognize the style of Franklin W. Dixon - whoever he may be. Two modern authors who I enjoy a great deal might be good comparisons - in an adult fashion of course. John Sandford with his exciting 'Lucas Davenport' series, and James Patterson and his 'Alex Cross' adventures. I don't like the word formula, but how about this? Start fast, make the first problem seem easy, add complications, throw-in a seemingly unrelated issue or two, put the heroes in danger, and resolve it all with their initiative. That's "The Missing Chums." Bayport Police Chief Collig asks Frank and Joe to reconnoitre a shantytown of shacks and tents which had recently sprung up near the beach. Violence has broken out. No one will think of them as police; can they discover what's causing it? At about the same time, Callie and Iola, their girlfriends at high school, are planning a dress-up party. Frank is going as a gorilla and Joe a magician. When Chet comes in a gorilla costume too, and then disappears leaving his yellow jalopy still parked at Callie's, we're off to the races. Lots of fun. (May 2023)
May 1, 2023
The Missing Chums was the fourth novel in The Hardy Boys series. It was written by Leslie McFarlane under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon and was published in 1928 by Grosset & Dunlap. Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Adams oversaw the revision of the first thirty-eight books in the series from 1959-'73, some of which were just edited and updated, and some of which were replaced completely. This is one from the latter category... a wholly new and completely different novel written by James Buechler was published with the same title, byline, and cover illustration in 1962 with many of the same characters but not much else in common except for adventure on an island involving boats and caves. I read the original and then the revision back-to-back. The original book had twenty-three chapters and was 214 pages long, while the reboot had 175 pages (including several illustrations) in twenty chapters. It was one of the most popular books in the series, with one of the largest cast of characters, including the introduction of Aunt Gertrude. The story is about criminals mistaking two of the Hardy friends for Frank and Joe and kidnapping them to blackmail their father Fenton, a great detective who's investigating the gang. The Boys carry guns in the original, though they don't use them, and are a couple of years older in the newer version, which also involves kidnapping but centers around a more complex and not as well plotted confusing story that also involves smuggling and rival gangs and the police asking the Boys to investigate a homeless squatters' settlement that never makes much sense. There is a bit in the new one with a costume party that's cute, but the involvement of the costume shop proprietor never quite gels. The characterization is watered down for 1962, especially with girlfriends Callie and Iola who become demoted to just being scared and pretty, Aunt Gertrude becoming befuddled rather than acerbic, and the crooks less competent. The action switches from Blacksnake Island to Hermit Island, so we lose the mysterious poisonous menace, but that's okay. Overall, I'd say the new one (two stars) is fitting for readers a few of years younger than the original (four stars), or perhaps a few IQ points less.
January 20, 2019
The only thing that could make summer vacation better for Frank and Joe Hardy is a mystery, and one is handed to them by Chief Collig when he asks them to go undercover at the homeless encampment outside of town and find out what is causing the increased fighting down there. Before the teens can begin their assignment, they witness a bank robbery, however. Then, after a costume party hosted by Callie Shaw and Iola Morton, their friends Chet and Biff vanish. Can the brothers figure out what happened to their friends? Are all these events connected?
I was a bit worried that the book had bitten off more than it could successfully resolve, but it did a good job of reigning in these plots and bringing them to a successful conclusion. I enjoyed seeing how Frank and Joe figured things out and successfully wrapped everything up. The characters are shallow as always, but it's not something I remember as a kid, so I bet today's kids will not notice either. They might notice how dated some elements are, including the word "chum" in the title. However, that kind of things never stopped me as a kid, and I bet most will get caught up in the fast-moving action of the story.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
I was a bit worried that the book had bitten off more than it could successfully resolve, but it did a good job of reigning in these plots and bringing them to a successful conclusion. I enjoyed seeing how Frank and Joe figured things out and successfully wrapped everything up. The characters are shallow as always, but it's not something I remember as a kid, so I bet today's kids will not notice either. They might notice how dated some elements are, including the word "chum" in the title. However, that kind of things never stopped me as a kid, and I bet most will get caught up in the fast-moving action of the story.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
November 5, 2022
Like an old-school serial, this book is one of many installments of action, adventure, and mystery.
August 24, 2025
3.75 stars
December 26, 2016
Yikes. Even allowing for the five-plus decades that have passed since this was published, this is just a mess. It's shocking that the Hardy Boys made it to even one more adventure, never mind hundreds and hundreds. I had some occasional ironic fun with how the times they have a-changed (sure boys, let's let you get kidnapped by the bank robbers), but there's very little to recommend here. Leave your fond memories of Frank and Joe in the past.
January 10, 2023
Joe and Frank going undercover has got to be one of the funniest things in these books.
June 25, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 158 (of 250)
It's fascinating how the worlds of the Hardy's intersect with Nancy Drew's. A Hardy Boys character owns a 'jalopy' and in Keene's " The Moonstone Castle Mystery", there is the sound of a gunshot, but it's the backfire of a nearby 'jalopy', no doubt Chet's, the Boys' friend.
HOOK=2: "Joe, how soon will you be able to roll?" Frank Hardy burst into the garage where his brother was working on a sleek, black-and-silver motorcycle. Chief Collig has called and asked the Boys for their help with a case. For me, that's a bit of a stretch, and this is a relatively tame opener for the series.
PACE=3: Solid, as usual. 20 chapters, about 10 pages each, and 20 set pieces including some sort of action. Chapter 7, entitled "Postcard Puzzle", opens with Frank advising Joe to "Keep going. If we turn around for another look [at a suspicious boat], that powerboat pilot may recognize us!" This chapter ends, 12 pages later, with "The Sleuth [the Boys' boat] was being rushed toward the deadly rocks of Jagged Reef!"
PLOT=4: There appears to be a band of thieves operating out of 'Shantytown' a nearby settlement on the edge of town consisting of shacks and populated by drifters, immigrants, seasonal workers, etc. The Hardy Boys are asked to disguise themselves in ragged clothing, etc., and visit to see if they can find information. But things heat up when friends Chet and Biff disappear (hence the title) and there are several dark references hinting that one or both may have been killled. It's seldom that this series approaches this level of darkness. And the search for Chet and Biff gives this story an extra edge, for an 4th star.
CHARACTERS=3: As in Keene/Drew stories, most of the characters are either good or bad. Here, though, we meet characters like Alf: "As the boys stepped outside they heard a lively tune from a harmonica. Following the sound of the music, they found Alf playing for a small group of rough-, looking men, seated around a fire. Sutton, an acquaintance of Alf, seems to be the bad guy, but where does Alf really stand? The owner of a costume shop comes into play: he too may be a good guy, a bad guy, or is he playing both sides? Interesting, but not exceptional, characters.
ATMOSPHERE/PLACE=4: Much of the action takes place in boats and on the open sea. There's a nice "Hermit Island" segment. But the illustrations here are very good. One is of the Boys diving off a boat into stormy waters on a moonlit night. Another illustration has Joe pulling his brother Frank up the side of a cliff. It seems to me extra efforts were put into the illustrations in this, #4, of the series. But the artwork isn't credited anywhere in the edition I read.
SUMMARY - 3.2, for nice artwork and a plot that goes darker than most in the series.
BOOK 158 (of 250)
It's fascinating how the worlds of the Hardy's intersect with Nancy Drew's. A Hardy Boys character owns a 'jalopy' and in Keene's " The Moonstone Castle Mystery", there is the sound of a gunshot, but it's the backfire of a nearby 'jalopy', no doubt Chet's, the Boys' friend.
HOOK=2: "Joe, how soon will you be able to roll?" Frank Hardy burst into the garage where his brother was working on a sleek, black-and-silver motorcycle. Chief Collig has called and asked the Boys for their help with a case. For me, that's a bit of a stretch, and this is a relatively tame opener for the series.
PACE=3: Solid, as usual. 20 chapters, about 10 pages each, and 20 set pieces including some sort of action. Chapter 7, entitled "Postcard Puzzle", opens with Frank advising Joe to "Keep going. If we turn around for another look [at a suspicious boat], that powerboat pilot may recognize us!" This chapter ends, 12 pages later, with "The Sleuth [the Boys' boat] was being rushed toward the deadly rocks of Jagged Reef!"
PLOT=4: There appears to be a band of thieves operating out of 'Shantytown' a nearby settlement on the edge of town consisting of shacks and populated by drifters, immigrants, seasonal workers, etc. The Hardy Boys are asked to disguise themselves in ragged clothing, etc., and visit to see if they can find information. But things heat up when friends Chet and Biff disappear (hence the title) and there are several dark references hinting that one or both may have been killled. It's seldom that this series approaches this level of darkness. And the search for Chet and Biff gives this story an extra edge, for an 4th star.
CHARACTERS=3: As in Keene/Drew stories, most of the characters are either good or bad. Here, though, we meet characters like Alf: "As the boys stepped outside they heard a lively tune from a harmonica. Following the sound of the music, they found Alf playing for a small group of rough-, looking men, seated around a fire. Sutton, an acquaintance of Alf, seems to be the bad guy, but where does Alf really stand? The owner of a costume shop comes into play: he too may be a good guy, a bad guy, or is he playing both sides? Interesting, but not exceptional, characters.
ATMOSPHERE/PLACE=4: Much of the action takes place in boats and on the open sea. There's a nice "Hermit Island" segment. But the illustrations here are very good. One is of the Boys diving off a boat into stormy waters on a moonlit night. Another illustration has Joe pulling his brother Frank up the side of a cliff. It seems to me extra efforts were put into the illustrations in this, #4, of the series. But the artwork isn't credited anywhere in the edition I read.
SUMMARY - 3.2, for nice artwork and a plot that goes darker than most in the series.
June 24, 2017
The Hardy boys attempt to find two missing friends who disappeared while driving down the coast. A great adventure tale from the mid-twentith century without the modern profusion od drugs, profanity, violence, and sex.
July 27, 2020
The Missing Chums
(The Hardy Boys #4)
by
Franklin W. Dixon
3 Stars
I grew up reading the Hardy Boys, and read a few of them with my son when he was younger although I don’t think he ever enjoyed them anywhere near as much as I did. Reading them again now is truly a wonderful trip down memory lane, and my ratings for the books are due entirely to their nostalgia value, not to their literary merit. However, I have to take this one down a notch to only 3 stars because it just requires too much suspension of disbelief. Two of the Hardy’s chums are kidnapped and, although the two teenagers are missing for what is apparently several days, both the local police and the Coast Guard are content with letting the Hardy brothers take the lead on trying to locate them. It makes the Hardy’s into the heroes when they’re found, which is obviously the purpose, but it’s incredibly frustrating to read through. I must be getting old!
https://mhassett23.blogspot.com/2020/...
(The Hardy Boys #4)
by
Franklin W. Dixon
3 Stars
I grew up reading the Hardy Boys, and read a few of them with my son when he was younger although I don’t think he ever enjoyed them anywhere near as much as I did. Reading them again now is truly a wonderful trip down memory lane, and my ratings for the books are due entirely to their nostalgia value, not to their literary merit. However, I have to take this one down a notch to only 3 stars because it just requires too much suspension of disbelief. Two of the Hardy’s chums are kidnapped and, although the two teenagers are missing for what is apparently several days, both the local police and the Coast Guard are content with letting the Hardy brothers take the lead on trying to locate them. It makes the Hardy’s into the heroes when they’re found, which is obviously the purpose, but it’s incredibly frustrating to read through. I must be getting old!
https://mhassett23.blogspot.com/2020/...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2023
This novel has a very interesting opening because it shows the series’ roots in the Great Depression. It is also a totally unrealistic beginning. Chief Collig, top officer in Bayport’s police force, asks 17-year-old Joe and 18-year-old Frank to investigate a place called Shantytown on the outskirts of Bayport for him. It seems there has been a lot of fights there recently and he wants these two civilian non-police officers to find out what’s going on for him because his police might be recognized. So, a totally absurd premise, but actually also an important window into the respectful relationship the 1960s Hardy Boys rewrites strove to establish between the police and the two boy detectives.
Frank and Joe get a slow start on the investigation choosing instead to go boating with their friends where they are almost in a collision with another boat This boat seemed to aim for them, and they damage their own vessel getting out of his way. After getting a temporary repair, they go to pick up costumes for a masquerade party they are attending that night only to see what appears to be the owner of the shop being strongarmed by rough-looking customers. As if that isn’t enough, they come out of the shop only to witness a bank robbery. They chase the villains through the fog, but they escape by stealing the Hardy boys’ own boat. And then as if enough strange and apparently unconnected bits of trouble haven’t happened already, two of their friends disappear leaving the party later that night.
Readers will immediately suspect that all of these problems are somehow connected, but the Hardy brothers are not yet ready to make that intuitive leap. The next day, they find their stolen boat and decide to pursue their investigation of Shantytown even though their friends are missing. The first people they encounter there are the troublemakers and shortly thereafter they see the driver of the boat that caused them so much trouble the day before. So, what exactly is going on? The boys then half-break cover by saying they are looking for two missing friends. Almost immediately they find a piece of a gorilla costume that one of the friends was wearing making me wonder what the men of Shantytown they were questioning must have thought. After all, most down on their luck individuals (such as Frank and Joe were pretending to be) don’t wear expensive gorilla costumes.
The investigation continues in this fashion with coincidence doing more to advance the boys work than sleuthing did. Then they come up with an absolutely idiotic plan that there father madly agrees to—and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work out quite the way they expected putting the two boys in great danger and setting up an adrenalin filled ending.
This is by far the most poorly thought out of the first four books, but honestly, despite the many problems it was still entertaining. Still, you have to wonder why the Hardy boys’ friends are still permitted to hang out with them after two were kidnapped because they were mistaken for the Hardys and others were put in grave danger (again) helping them on their case.
Frank and Joe get a slow start on the investigation choosing instead to go boating with their friends where they are almost in a collision with another boat This boat seemed to aim for them, and they damage their own vessel getting out of his way. After getting a temporary repair, they go to pick up costumes for a masquerade party they are attending that night only to see what appears to be the owner of the shop being strongarmed by rough-looking customers. As if that isn’t enough, they come out of the shop only to witness a bank robbery. They chase the villains through the fog, but they escape by stealing the Hardy boys’ own boat. And then as if enough strange and apparently unconnected bits of trouble haven’t happened already, two of their friends disappear leaving the party later that night.
Readers will immediately suspect that all of these problems are somehow connected, but the Hardy brothers are not yet ready to make that intuitive leap. The next day, they find their stolen boat and decide to pursue their investigation of Shantytown even though their friends are missing. The first people they encounter there are the troublemakers and shortly thereafter they see the driver of the boat that caused them so much trouble the day before. So, what exactly is going on? The boys then half-break cover by saying they are looking for two missing friends. Almost immediately they find a piece of a gorilla costume that one of the friends was wearing making me wonder what the men of Shantytown they were questioning must have thought. After all, most down on their luck individuals (such as Frank and Joe were pretending to be) don’t wear expensive gorilla costumes.
The investigation continues in this fashion with coincidence doing more to advance the boys work than sleuthing did. Then they come up with an absolutely idiotic plan that there father madly agrees to—and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work out quite the way they expected putting the two boys in great danger and setting up an adrenalin filled ending.
This is by far the most poorly thought out of the first four books, but honestly, despite the many problems it was still entertaining. Still, you have to wonder why the Hardy boys’ friends are still permitted to hang out with them after two were kidnapped because they were mistaken for the Hardys and others were put in grave danger (again) helping them on their case.
May 25, 2015
This mystery hinges upon many layers that weave its premise together well. “The Missing Chums”, 1928, connects numerous characters in constantly changing scenery. I enjoyed, albeit unseen for the duration, that Biff Hooper & Chet Morton are the focus. The Hardies walk in on aggressive strangers at a costume store and after a Morton party, their friends disappear. Only the store could have lead criminals there. Were the boys nabbed mistakenly? Why was anyone targeted? I praise this series for a colourful pace, in constant motion. We are skidding across water, clomping across sand, pushing through island vegetation, and motorcycling Bayshore streets.
Joe & Frank check in with their Mother, whom I hope becomes included better. They are phoning friends’ homes, interviewing stores on foot, consulting their Father, and are on unusually equal footing with police. It rises above the ‘cozy mystery’ cliché, that police aren’t avoided but partners pooling resources. After witnessing a robbery and obtaining clues that keep naming a regatta, miles away, they try that town too. I love how this book truly has readers travelling all over its landscape and we see for ourselves, the step-by-step groundwork that the sleuths do. Reasons for flitting to each place make sense and more than one motive is concealed, to such an extent that it takes ingenuity to sort this case out. The least desirable setting, ‘Shantytown’, is a new element. The boys cautiously look over vagrant inhabitants there too.
Feedback is knocked down by a scene exaggerated as a perilous struggle, when officers were covering them. Especially, the costume store owner could have contacted police from the start. A regular annoyance is the sleuths not erring but one companion sneezes, another trips. Lastly, are there ‘famous’ detectives in reality? It would suffice for Fenton to have that career.
Joe & Frank check in with their Mother, whom I hope becomes included better. They are phoning friends’ homes, interviewing stores on foot, consulting their Father, and are on unusually equal footing with police. It rises above the ‘cozy mystery’ cliché, that police aren’t avoided but partners pooling resources. After witnessing a robbery and obtaining clues that keep naming a regatta, miles away, they try that town too. I love how this book truly has readers travelling all over its landscape and we see for ourselves, the step-by-step groundwork that the sleuths do. Reasons for flitting to each place make sense and more than one motive is concealed, to such an extent that it takes ingenuity to sort this case out. The least desirable setting, ‘Shantytown’, is a new element. The boys cautiously look over vagrant inhabitants there too.
Feedback is knocked down by a scene exaggerated as a perilous struggle, when officers were covering them. Especially, the costume store owner could have contacted police from the start. A regular annoyance is the sleuths not erring but one companion sneezes, another trips. Lastly, are there ‘famous’ detectives in reality? It would suffice for Fenton to have that career.
August 14, 2025
#Binge Reviewing My Past Reads:
Hardy Boys (Read between 1990 and 1996 in M.P. Birla School library and punctiliously collected and read thereafter)
This was my fourth Hardy Boys outing, and by then Bayport felt like a second hometown — only more thrilling, because people there seemed to vanish just often enough to keep Frank and Joe in business.
This time, the missing persons were not shadowy smugglers or strangers, but the boys’ own friends, Chet and Biff, who disappeared after setting out on a boating trip. That personal stake raised the temperature, at least in my young reader’s mind.
The investigation moves through a familiar geography: docks, small-town streets, suspicious characters, and an undercurrent of coastal menace. What the Hardy Boys novels lacked in psychological shading, they made up for with the sheer pleasure of forward motion—chapter-ending cliffhangers that practically dared you not to turn the page.
I remember devouring this one on a rainy afternoon, the sound of water outside deepening the book’s maritime mood.
Looking back, the charm isn’t in the plot twists (which are reliably telegraphed) but in the series’ unfailing delivery of its compact world: reliable allies, neatly sketched villains, and landscapes that seemed to exist solely for the staging of pursuits.
In The Missing Chums, the sense of friendship at risk lent the usual clean adventure a little more emotional pull—enough for my schoolboy self to declare it one of the “better” Hardy Boys, before promptly lining up the next.
Hardy Boys (Read between 1990 and 1996 in M.P. Birla School library and punctiliously collected and read thereafter)
This was my fourth Hardy Boys outing, and by then Bayport felt like a second hometown — only more thrilling, because people there seemed to vanish just often enough to keep Frank and Joe in business.
This time, the missing persons were not shadowy smugglers or strangers, but the boys’ own friends, Chet and Biff, who disappeared after setting out on a boating trip. That personal stake raised the temperature, at least in my young reader’s mind.
The investigation moves through a familiar geography: docks, small-town streets, suspicious characters, and an undercurrent of coastal menace. What the Hardy Boys novels lacked in psychological shading, they made up for with the sheer pleasure of forward motion—chapter-ending cliffhangers that practically dared you not to turn the page.
I remember devouring this one on a rainy afternoon, the sound of water outside deepening the book’s maritime mood.
Looking back, the charm isn’t in the plot twists (which are reliably telegraphed) but in the series’ unfailing delivery of its compact world: reliable allies, neatly sketched villains, and landscapes that seemed to exist solely for the staging of pursuits.
In The Missing Chums, the sense of friendship at risk lent the usual clean adventure a little more emotional pull—enough for my schoolboy self to declare it one of the “better” Hardy Boys, before promptly lining up the next.
May 11, 2023
An entertaining and just insane read for the modern reader. "The Missing Chums" had me continually saying "What?!" outloud.
This some awesome stuff:
- fat shaming!
- dumb criminals (I mean, REALLY dumb criminals)
- motorcycles!
- boats!
- The Coast Guard!
- Caves!
- Tunnels!
- Multiple Gorilla Costumes!
- Hermit Island! (Featuring a literal hobo with a shotgun!)
I hate to root for the bad guys here but they should have been killing...just constantly in this book! They should have immediately killed the missing chums. Obviously the Hardy Boys. The police, the Coast Guard.
When the Hardy Boys kept asking where their friends were, I kept saying "dead and at the bottom of the ocean, if the criminals have any sense!"
Also, I know it was a simpler time, but the Hardy Boys ages and their actions make little sense. They're 18 and 17 with hot girlfriends and all they want to do is solve mysteries? Not...in...my...experience. Maybe if they were 10-12 but 17-18? No way. Those dudes would be down to clown (technical term)
Highly enjoyable just the same!
This some awesome stuff:
- fat shaming!
- dumb criminals (I mean, REALLY dumb criminals)
- motorcycles!
- boats!
- The Coast Guard!
- Caves!
- Tunnels!
- Multiple Gorilla Costumes!
- Hermit Island! (Featuring a literal hobo with a shotgun!)
I hate to root for the bad guys here but they should have been killing...just constantly in this book! They should have immediately killed the missing chums. Obviously the Hardy Boys. The police, the Coast Guard.
When the Hardy Boys kept asking where their friends were, I kept saying "dead and at the bottom of the ocean, if the criminals have any sense!"
Also, I know it was a simpler time, but the Hardy Boys ages and their actions make little sense. They're 18 and 17 with hot girlfriends and all they want to do is solve mysteries? Not...in...my...experience. Maybe if they were 10-12 but 17-18? No way. Those dudes would be down to clown (technical term)
Highly enjoyable just the same!
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June 23, 2023Whoops, forgot to update when I finished this
May 17, 2024
2024 reads, #27-29. These are the latest Hardy Boys books in the public domain to be released by the excellent nonprofit organization Standard Ebooks, which exists to take the sometimes clunkily laid out files of Project Gutenberg and instead present a clean, modern, beautiful, Kindle-style design and layout. (See my review of the first three novels to learn more about who exactly the Hardy Boys are, and why they’re so important to American popular culture.) I found these latest three to be just like the first three -- that is, fun for a lark, but not particularly great novels, and certainly not the kinds of books you would hand to a contemporary teen and expect them to get a contemporary sense of enjoyment out of them -- although I will say that book #5, Hunting for Hidden Gold, officially begins the tradition of the Hardy Boys having exotic adventures in foreign lands, even if in this case it means an abandoned gold mine in rural Montana, and that you can clearly see that ghostwriter Leslie McFarland (who notoriously hated writing these books, only doing so in order to pay his family’s bills) actually enjoyed himself this time, which is likely what led to more and more of these kinds of adventures in the series as the years and then decades wore on. (Plus, of course, as this series’ critics have pointed out, you can only have so many major crimes committed in the Hardy Boys’ small Atlantic Seaboard town of Bayport before the whole thing starts becoming ridiculous; here in just the first six books, for example, we’ve had five different rings of fugitive criminals who just happened to randomly choose Bayport as their location for hiding out from the manhunt trying to find them.)
To be honest, what’s the far most interesting detail of these books now in the 2020s is simply the reminder of how amazing and science-fiction-like the entire subject of internal combustion engines still was in the 1920s when these were originally published, with the Hardy brothers along with their various “chums” absolutely obsessed with the brand-new “motorbikes” and “motorboats” that had just started getting released to the general public in these years. (Also amazing, the fact that average teens could easily afford motorcycles and speedboats in these years, yet another aspect of popular culture we’ve entirely lost in the 21st century.) Unlike the Tom Swift books from these same years, though, the Hardy Boys largely didn’t rely on technological gadgets for actually solving the crimes they always seemed to accidentally stumble into; so apart from their constant chases by boat and motorcycle, the stories primarily revolve around good old-fashioned procedural police work, greatly helped by their father supposedly being a nationally famous private investigator who to the chagrin of his wife is always quietly egging his boys on into such a life themselves. (Also interesting -- it’s this second batch of books that first make it clear that the 1970s children’s cartoon Scooby-Doo nakedly stole its most famous line from the Hardy Boys: “And I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for these meddling kids!”)
These books are fun but inessential, and should be read this way, with the understanding that the crime solving is laughably clunky and basic, the stories themselves full of outdated slang (“Well, if that don’t beat the Dutch!”) and formerly innocuous words that have now taken on saucy meanings in modern times (“‘Thanks for saving me!’ Frank ejaculated”). They come recommended in this warm but limited spirit.
To be honest, what’s the far most interesting detail of these books now in the 2020s is simply the reminder of how amazing and science-fiction-like the entire subject of internal combustion engines still was in the 1920s when these were originally published, with the Hardy brothers along with their various “chums” absolutely obsessed with the brand-new “motorbikes” and “motorboats” that had just started getting released to the general public in these years. (Also amazing, the fact that average teens could easily afford motorcycles and speedboats in these years, yet another aspect of popular culture we’ve entirely lost in the 21st century.) Unlike the Tom Swift books from these same years, though, the Hardy Boys largely didn’t rely on technological gadgets for actually solving the crimes they always seemed to accidentally stumble into; so apart from their constant chases by boat and motorcycle, the stories primarily revolve around good old-fashioned procedural police work, greatly helped by their father supposedly being a nationally famous private investigator who to the chagrin of his wife is always quietly egging his boys on into such a life themselves. (Also interesting -- it’s this second batch of books that first make it clear that the 1970s children’s cartoon Scooby-Doo nakedly stole its most famous line from the Hardy Boys: “And I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for these meddling kids!”)
These books are fun but inessential, and should be read this way, with the understanding that the crime solving is laughably clunky and basic, the stories themselves full of outdated slang (“Well, if that don’t beat the Dutch!”) and formerly innocuous words that have now taken on saucy meanings in modern times (“‘Thanks for saving me!’ Frank ejaculated”). They come recommended in this warm but limited spirit.
March 23, 2024
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May 26, 2020I’ve never read a book with so many adverbs!
October 23, 2018
The Hardy Boys Series are very confusing and fast paced at times.
January 29, 2025
I pray I have friends like Joe and Frank hardy
September 17, 2014
The Missing Chums
Another Hardy Boys book. This time Chet and Tony are captured by smugglers. It all started after Frank's date Callie Shaw was holding a party. After, Chet and Tony decided to walk together and talk. When the Hardy Boys leave the party, they see that Chet and Tony are missing. Yes it is true that their car was still there. And since no clues to their sudden disappearance were found the two boys and Chet Morton's sister Iola worried. Where could they have gone? The plot of this book is based on the search for their chums and the obstacles that they encounter. This was a spectacular book and I recommend it to young readers who get captivated by mystery books. If you like this one be sure to ready the many more to come. I would rate this book a 6/5 because it was better than most books.
Another Hardy Boys book. This time Chet and Tony are captured by smugglers. It all started after Frank's date Callie Shaw was holding a party. After, Chet and Tony decided to walk together and talk. When the Hardy Boys leave the party, they see that Chet and Tony are missing. Yes it is true that their car was still there. And since no clues to their sudden disappearance were found the two boys and Chet Morton's sister Iola worried. Where could they have gone? The plot of this book is based on the search for their chums and the obstacles that they encounter. This was a spectacular book and I recommend it to young readers who get captivated by mystery books. If you like this one be sure to ready the many more to come. I would rate this book a 6/5 because it was better than most books.
December 15, 2020
Someone sent me the book as they know I like mysteries doesn't matter if its a kids book to me either, (means I'll read it faster) plus I don't recall ever reading a Hardy Boys book as a kid.
Joe and Frank Hardy are called in by Chief Collig for an official case. They are asked to investigate some fights down at shanty town. Their father can't as he's well known as a former police officer.
for a kids book It was a good mystery I enjoyed reading it. Honestly I found this to be better than some of my regular mystery books (you know appropriate for my age) as I didn't figure who it was or the whole (or parts) of the mystery before its revealed.
so weather you are the right age or an adult you can still enjoy these classics.
Full review (will be posted in 2021)
https://multiscreenmotivision.wordpre...
Joe and Frank Hardy are called in by Chief Collig for an official case. They are asked to investigate some fights down at shanty town. Their father can't as he's well known as a former police officer.
for a kids book It was a good mystery I enjoyed reading it. Honestly I found this to be better than some of my regular mystery books (you know appropriate for my age) as I didn't figure who it was or the whole (or parts) of the mystery before its revealed.
so weather you are the right age or an adult you can still enjoy these classics.
Full review (will be posted in 2021)
https://multiscreenmotivision.wordpre...
May 9, 2008
Joe and Frank Hardy are perhaps one of the great figures in American literature. Even in Europe. Known in French as "Les Hardy Boys" and in the U.K. as "Hardy Chaps" the boys and their father go from one strange mystery after another. And being a male how can one not identify with the boys? Adventure is something that we all want, and through the various stories here we have sort of a lost paradise.
Catch the Thomas Pynchon link chums!
Catch the Thomas Pynchon link chums!
July 5, 2015
The kids and I read this together and was a trip down memory lane for me.
February 5, 2023
another great Hardy Boys adventure!
June 13, 2022
Een volgende spannend verhaal in een reeks die nog steeds crescendo gaat wat kwaliteit betreft.
De vaste karakters krijgen stilaan hun definitieve vorm al komen de meisjes nog altijd niet goed uit de verf. De nieuw geïntroduceerde tante Gertrude is de uitzondering op de regel, maar dan als typetje, de oude bemoeizuchtige tante die alles beter weet en alles wil controleren terwijl ze zich van rede en de anderen totaal niks aantrekt. Dat is natuurlijk een voedingsbodem voor grappige conversaties en situaties.
Fenton Hardy verdwijnt, Chet en Biff worden voor de Hardy's gehouden en in hun plaats ontvoerd voor losgeld. Met meerdere boten zetten de jongen de achtervolging in om het duo te bevrijden.
De boot van de gangsters is sneller dan de Sleuth van de Hardy's wat een element van onzekerheid in het verhaal brengt, het eiland waar een groot deel van het verhaal zich afspeelt is vergeven van de dodeljke slangen, dat brengt een griezelig element met zich mee. Gek genoeg wordt niemand gebeten is weerhoudt dat ook niemand om voet aan wal op het eiland te zetten.
Spanning, doodsgevaar, humor en veel rondvaren in snelle boten vormen de essentie van dit verhaal.
De vaste karakters krijgen stilaan hun definitieve vorm al komen de meisjes nog altijd niet goed uit de verf. De nieuw geïntroduceerde tante Gertrude is de uitzondering op de regel, maar dan als typetje, de oude bemoeizuchtige tante die alles beter weet en alles wil controleren terwijl ze zich van rede en de anderen totaal niks aantrekt. Dat is natuurlijk een voedingsbodem voor grappige conversaties en situaties.
Fenton Hardy verdwijnt, Chet en Biff worden voor de Hardy's gehouden en in hun plaats ontvoerd voor losgeld. Met meerdere boten zetten de jongen de achtervolging in om het duo te bevrijden.
De boot van de gangsters is sneller dan de Sleuth van de Hardy's wat een element van onzekerheid in het verhaal brengt, het eiland waar een groot deel van het verhaal zich afspeelt is vergeven van de dodeljke slangen, dat brengt een griezelig element met zich mee. Gek genoeg wordt niemand gebeten is weerhoudt dat ook niemand om voet aan wal op het eiland te zetten.
Spanning, doodsgevaar, humor en veel rondvaren in snelle boten vormen de essentie van dit verhaal.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews