New This Month

9: Who Let The Frogs Out? – 04/19
For Sale: Paperback – Hardcover
Illustrated by Santy Gutierrez
Detective brothers Frank and Joe must solve a muddy mystery in the ninth book in the interactive Hardy Boys Clue Book series.
Bayport Elementary is hosting a Mud Run to celebrate spring! A particularly muddy part of the town’s park will be set aside for the race and Coach Lambert has even managed to make more mud by using the park’s hoses and shovels. Frank and Joe can’t wait to splash through the muck.
But on the day of the race, the runners are stopped in their tracks by croaking, blurping bullfrogs! Lots of people in the town had been annoyed that the park was being taken over by a bunch of muddy kids. Could someone have sabotaged the race with buckets of frogs?

coming soon

10: The Great Pumpkin Smash – 09/19
For Sale: Paperback – Hardcover
Illustrated by Santy Gutierrez
Detective brothers Frank and Joe investigate a crime of smashin’ in the tenth book in the interactive Hardy Boys Clue Book series.
Frank, Joe, and their best friend Chet are attending Bayport Zoo’s annual Halloween carnival. Frank and Joe have a routine planned for Scaryoke, and Chet has entered the pumpkin pie-eating contest-he even brought his own whipped cream!
After their performance, Frank and Joe go to check out the painted pumpkins on display. But when the brothers enter the tent, they see their Scaryoke song wasn’t the only smash hit at the carnival. The floor is littered with bits of pulverized pumpkins! What’s worse, the organizer says that unless the culprits are caught by the end of the day, this will be the last Boo at the Zoo.forever!
Can Frank and Joe find out what happened before it’s too late? Or is this pumpkin crime unpatchable?

19: Dungeons & Detectives – 10/19
For Sale: Paperback – Hardcover
Brother detectives Frank and Joe search a hidden castle for clues to help them find a missing comic book in the nineteenth book in the thrilling Hardy Boys Adventures series.
Frank and Joe have been hanging out at Sir Robert’s Comic Kingdom, the local comic and gaming shop, and got the exclusive invite to this year’s Halloween costume ball at Bayport’s one and only castle. Sir Robert plans to use the big event to unveil his most prized possession, a super rare comic that is rumored to contain a map to buried treasure.
Sir Robert agrees to show his store regulars-who now include Frank and Joe-a sneak preview of the comic before the party. But when he goes to unlock the fireproof casing, he finds the book is gone.
It will take all of Frank and Joe’s recently acquired LARPing skills to solve this case. Anything can happen in a castle full of dungeons and deception. Can the Hardy boys keep up?

Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Missing Adults
Hardcover Graphic Novel – August 6, 2019
by Scott Bryan Wilson (Author), Bob Solanovicz (Artist)

Eating candy nonstop and watching TV all day sounds great . . . until you actually do it, as the kids of Bayport High find out when all the adults vanish, and the world’s greatest (high school) detectives–the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew!–have to team up to solve the mystery! Whether it’s going under cover, sneaking out at night, chasing weird buses, or following a strange smell, they know it’ll take all their wits and smarts to get their parents and teachers back . . . that is, if Joe and Frank don’t kill each other first. Oh, and there’s also the matter of the skeleton that can walk. And a major feud with a rival high school. And a koala-in-a-diaper costume. And lawlessness in the hallways. And an unrequited crush . . .

Written by Scott Bryan Wilson (Batman Annual, Star Trek: Waypoint) and drawn by Bob Solanovicz (Mister Meow), NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING ADULTS! is a high-octane, nonstop comedic romp full of action, excitement, mystery, and friendship. And mayhem. Lots of mayhem.

Hardy Boys Titles That Never Were

While researching the Hardy Boys in the Stratemeyer Syndicate archives of the NY Public Library, I came across some interesting documents which illustrated the process by which Hardy Boys titles (and presumably plots) were selected.
After the initial list of titles proposed by Edward Stratemeyer, every year several titles were proposed. I suppose that Ed and the staff at the Syndicate sat around and hashed them over before selecting the title(s) for the coming year. I assume that until his death in May 1930, the titles were approved by Edward Stratemeyer himself.
Many of these titles never saw the light of day and it’s interesting to speculate on just what kind of stories may have been created. 1929/30’s Who was Tom Kettle/Tatters sounds pretty bad – perhaps he was a relative of Harry Tanwick! Thankfully, the now archaic Missing Liberty Bonds title was never used. While the title, Missing Chums, is a bit antiquated, it is at least understandable. I doubt there are many kids (and perhaps adults!) today who could tell you what a liberty bond is. (For you kids: it was a bond issued by the USA during World War One to help finance the war. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of these were sold and, to date, millions of dollars worth of them have not yet been redeemed. Would-be Hardy Boys are urged to look in Grandma’s attic and perhaps solve the mystery of The Missing Liberty Bonds!)
Many of the other titles are mundane but some are tantalizing. What could we have expected of 1930’s The Disappearance Of Fenton Hardy – another House On The Cliff perhaps? Of course, steady readers know that a disappearing Fenton Hardy is not exactly unusual in the series. From the original 1927 House On The Cliff to Spiral Bridge in 1966, Fenton had the knack of disappearing at the drop of a hat! In fact, one would be hard-pressed to name a book in which Fenton isn’t missing at least part of the time. 1932’s The Mystery Of The Bayport Lights sounds intriguing, especially with all the current reports of mysterious lights over the NJ Turnpike and other places! In fact, all the 1932 title proposals are rather unusual.
Several titles were proposed in multiple years. Additionally, some titles had handwritten corrections/suggestions added to them or words crossed out. All such permutations are listed separately.

Initial Title Proposals
The Shore Road Mystery
The Hardy Boys And The Secret of The Cave
The Hardy Boys At The House On The Cliff
The Hardy Boys And The Missing Gold Nuggets
The Hardy Boys And The Hokar Diamonds
The Hardy Boys And The Ship Of Mystery
The Hardy Boys And The Lost Pearls
The Hardy Boys And The Box Of Diamonds
The Hardy Boys And The Missing Strongbox
The Hardy Boys And The Missing Liberty Bonds
The Hardy Boys And The Kidnapped Twins
A Chase For A Fortune

1927
The Tower Treasure
The House On The Cliff
The Secret Of The Old Mill
The Missing Gold Nuggets
The Ship Of Mystery
The Stolen Hokar Diamonds
The Missing Liberty Bonds
Note: This list of titles was noted “Please OK 5 titles”

1928
The Missing Chums
Hunting For Stolen Gold
NOTE: This went on to become “Hunting For Hidden Gold”
The Ship Of Mystery
The Stolen Prize Cup

1929
The Hermit Of The Caves
The Secret Of The Old Man
The Secret of The Old Mine
NOTE: These three evolved into “The Secret of The Caves”
The Treasure Box Of Cabin Island
The Mystery Of Cabin Island
NOTE: Another tentative title for this story was “The Stolen Rosewood Treasure Box”
The Shore Road Mystery
The Haunted Waterfall
A Chase For A Fortune
The Box Of Missing Diamonds
The Ship Of Mystery
The Stolen Prize Cup
The Box Of Missing Diamonds
Who Was Tom Kettle
Who Was Tom Tatters

1930
The Great Airport Mystery
The Disappearance Of Fenton Hardy
The Lunch Box Clue
The Box Of Missing Diamonds
Who Was Tom Tatters
The Secret of the Old Clock
NOTE: This went on to become the first title in the new Nancy Drew series

1931
What Happened At Midnight
The Disappearence Of Fenton Hardy
The Bay Of Mystery
The County Fair Mystery
The Treasure On The Limited
On The Trail Of A Fortune

1932
While The Clock Ticked
If The Rain Falls
The Ringing Ball Room
As The Mountain Burned
As The Lights Grew Dim
The Mystery Of The Bayport Lights
When The Waters Surged

1933
Footprints Under The Window
The Break In The Silence
The Untraced Echo
Strange Red Signals
The Beam In The Fog
The Note In The Bottle
The Secret Account
The Jester’s Mistake

This article originally appeared in The Bayport Times #31 September 2001

book of the month: The Clue Of The Broken Blade

21: The Clue Of The Broken Blade – Collectible Editions For Sale
Cover Art & Edition Information
Original: 1942 John Button (218 pages)
Outline: Edna Squier (nee Stratemeyer)
Revised: 1970 Richard Deming (178 pages) – For Sale
Outline: Andrew Svenson
Revision: Drastically Altered
Art: 1942 Paul Laune
Art: 1962 John Leone
Art: 1967 Rudy Nappi
Art: 1970 Rudy Nappi
Notes: Pre-1987 PC editions with blank endpapers are scarce.
The Hardy Boys break up a truck hijacking ring and solve the mystery of the theft of Arthur Barker’s swords.
Description of current edition: Frank and Joe Hardy become involved in an intriguing mystery which revolves around their fencing master, Ettore Russo. Proof that Russo is the rightful heir to his grandfather’s estate hinges on retrieving the guard end of a broken saber lost many years ago in California. The young investigators’ quest is complicated by a bank robbery during which some of their father’s important records are stolen. A chase ensues in the grape-growing region of California as the boys engage in a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with the bank robbery gang.