The Clue of the Cypress Swamp

Tom Quest #3

by Fran Striker, E. H. Kuhlhoff (illustrator)

Vacationing in Florida, Tom Quest and Gulliver, the irrepressible Texan, are drawn into a mystery almost as impenetrable as the very cypress swamps that hide its solution. Whiz Walton, crack reporter and Tom's friend, needs help in landing what promises to be the biggest news scoop of the year. Somewhere in the Florida Everglades is hidden a cache of stolen platinum. Following a lead on the criminals' hide-out, Tom, Whiz, and Gulliver set out to keep a midnight rendezvous with a "ghost" ship. But what awaits them only deepens the mystery. Who unleashed deadly fumes on the boat? Who trapped the Indian in the air lock? Who drew the crude sketch of a cypress stump? To find the answers to these questions the three friends undertake a perilous trip into the tangled swamps. The thrilling climax comes in a knockdown, drag-out fight in which treachery is avenged -- and the cypress stump finally yields its secret.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Fran Striker (born Francis Hamilton Striker) (August 19, 1903 – September 4, 1962) was an American writer for radio and comics, best known for creating The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon

Series:
* The Lone Ranger Magazine & Romantic Western
* The Lone Ranger
* Tom Quest

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Quest was the hero of a series of eight books for boys by Fran Striker, who is now best remembered as the creator of The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. Tom is the son of Hamilton Quest, accomplished anthropologist and archaeologist, who was lost in the wilds of South America for several years before Tom tracked him down and rescued him in the first two books of the series. Tom has two friends who accompany him on his adventures; Whiz Walton, a newspaperman from New York, and a huge Texan named Gulliver, whose larger-than-life antics and enthusiastic diction provide plenty of comic relief. In this one, the group is vacationing in Florida on the edge of the Everglades, because Hamilton has written several books on the area and its denizens prior to his South American misadventure. The Seminole Indians play a large part in the plot, and while they live like they did hundreds of years ago and converse like Tonto, they save the day for Tom and his friends in the end. That was a pretty good message for 1948, when the book appeared, though the story of course is firmly grounded in the social conventions of its era. The story concerns a band of criminals who are led by a former Nazi in the illegal recovery of shipments of platinum from boats that were sunk in the War. Tom and his friends are held captive for a while, but all's well that ends well... It's a fun, action-oriented tale, comparable to the Ken Holt or Biff Brewster series.

[Milley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is about a 3.5.

I was enthralled with it ...under the sleeping bag with a flashlight while the rain fell outside...and thunder rolled in...literally.

but somehow the ending dragged a bit for me...not sure why

I liked Gulliver and his language. Some of the other characters didn't add much...the detective and the journalist.

I liked how they always seemed to be one step forward and two steps back...

I think i needed more about the characters and less action somewhat. Or more about the ocean and less about the swamps...I yam what i yam

I will read the other books if I can find them. I picked this one up for ten bucks Canadian which was overpriced but in a used book store in a touristy town. that used book store used to have better buys and didnt have a specific "collectables" section. I am the sucker they know is out there...so I shall look in the less touristy towns in the vicinity...ha!