The Tower Treasure, by Franklin W. Dixon, is the first book in his popular Hardy Boys series. The main characters are Frank and Joe Hardy, the teenage sons of a detective named Fenton Hardy.  Frank and Joe are amateur detectives, following in the footsteps of their father. Throughout the series, the Hardy boys solve mysteries and help bring criminals to justice.

In this book, Frank and Joe are riding their motorcycles when a speeding car suddenly approaches them from behind and narrowly misses them. The car is traveling too fast for them to read the license plate number. However, they are able to notice that the driver had a “shock of red hair.” A little while later, the Hardy boys find out that their friend’s car has been stolen, and they suspect that the thief is the same person who nearly hit them on their motorcycles. Soon afterward, they learn that forty thousand dollars has been stolen from a place called the Tower Mansion. The Tower’s owner strongly believes that its caretaker, Henry Robinson, committed the crime. Henry Robinson’s son is a friend of the Hardy boys, and they believe that Henry Robinson is innocent. The Hardy boys believe that the man who stole their friend’s car must have also stolen the forty thousand dollars. They need to prove their theory to clear Henry Robinson’s good name.

I have not read all of the books in the Hardy Boys series, but so far this is one of my favorites. Like the other books in the series, The Tower Treasure is relatively short, especially for a mystery novel. Despite this, it is full of suspense and action. It has cliffhangers at the end of almost every chapter, which makes the whole book very exciting. I have read more than ten of the books in this series so far, and I have enjoyed them for the most part. My only complaint is that the books tend to follow a certain formula that seems repetitive after a while. As a result, I found the books to be less suspenseful as I went along. These books are not as complex and well-written as some other mystery novels, such as Agatha Christie’s books. However, I would recommend the Hardy Boys to anyone who enjoys a good mystery, and especially to young readers.

The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.