The Shore Road Mystery

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The Shore Road Mystery
Hardy boys cover 06.jpg
Original edition
Author Franklin W. Dixon
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series The Hardy Boys
Genre Detective, mystery
Publisher Grosset & Dunlap
Publication date
September 1, 1928, revised edition 1964
Pagesoriginal edition 212, revised edition 178
OCLC 2531187
LC Class PZ7.D644 Sh10
Preceded by Hunting for Hidden Gold  
Followed by The Secret of the Caves  

The Shore Road Mystery is Volume 6 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap. [1] The plot centers on attempts by the Hardy Boys to catch a ring of car thieves stealing cars from the Shore Road.

Contents

This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1928. [2] Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. [3] The original version of this book was rewritten in 1964 by David Grambs [2] resulting in two different stories with the same title. The original version entered the public domain in the United States in 2024. [4]

Plot

Revised edition

The Hardy boys, Frank and Joe, were taking a casual drive down Shore Road when they heard a report about a stolen car. Frank and Joe raced towards the scene and actually saw the stolen car. Suddenly, a big red produce truck came right into the middle of the road. The boys had no choice but to slam on their brakes. They ended up crashing into a fence and were dazed but uninjured. The driver came out of the truck and apologized. Frank remarks that "Something seems fishy about that guy.". They both return home that night trying not to let their mother see their cuts and bruises.

The next morning a friend of the Hardys, Jack Dodd, calls and tells the Hardys to come quickly. The police were looking for a suspect who had stolen a car. The police thought they found their man. They found Jack Dodd's fishing rod in the trunk of one of the stolen cars. Jack insisted that he had not put it there and that he was being framed. The cops handcuffed Jack and his father and took them down to headquarters. Later that night Chief Collig came to the Hardy's home telling them that the Dodds had taken off in their station wagon. A relative of the Dodds is trying to find a solution to an old mystery an ancestor had in the Bayport area.

Original edition

While riding their motorcycles along the Shore Road the Hardy boys, along with their pal Chet Morton, meet a local fisherman who has just had his car stolen. The three boys give chase, but are delayed due to an accident with a horse-drawn hay wagon. Further down the road they find their chum, Jack Dodd, and his father being questioned by the police because a stolen car was found in their yard with Jack's fishing rod in the back seat. The Hardy boys resolve to solve the case and clear their friend's name.

While investigating the case the Hardy boys identify suspects including a band of tramps camping on the beach, a man named Gus Montrose who used to work for Mr. Dodd, and a group of fishermen sneaking around the woods at night.

The Hardy boys, with their father Fenton Hardy, the Bayport Police force, State Troopers and a number of other curious people all attempt to investigate/find the car thefts; however, everyone involved is stumped because the cars seem to disappear without a trace and are not spotted leaving either end of the Shore Road area. Because of this the Hardy boys believe that the cars are still in the area, but well hidden, so they devise a plan to trap the car thieves. After purchasing a nice looking roadster the Hardy boys park the car along the Shore Road and hide in a large locker on the back. During the first night the car does get some troubles to get started and thief leaves it but on the next night it is stolen, with the boys in the locker, and driven to the thieves’ secret hideout where the boys are discovered. After some excitement (involving guns), the Hardy boys manage to escape and alert the police who surround the area and arrest all of the thieves (including Gus Montrose) and recover the stolen vehicles.

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The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterparts. The characters were created by American writer Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of book packaging firm Stratemeyer Syndicate. The books were written by several ghostwriters, most notably Leslie McFarlane, under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

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<i>The Mystery of Cabin Island</i> Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Mystery Of Cabin Island is Volume 8 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap. This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1929. Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1966 by Anne Shultes resulting in two different stories with the same title.

<i>The Great Airport Mystery</i> 1930 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Great Airport Mystery is Volume 9 in the original The Hardy Boys series of mystery books for children and teens published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>What Happened at Midnight</i> 1931 book by Franklin W. Dixon

What Happened at Midnight is Volume 10 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>While the Clock Ticked</i> 1932 book by Franklin W. Dixon

While The Clock Ticked is Volume 11 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Sinister Signpost</i> Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Sinister Sign Post is Volume 15 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Disappearing Floor</i> Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Disappearing Floor is Volume 19 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Clue of the Broken Blade</i> 1942 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Clue of the Broken Blade is Volume 21 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Secret Panel</i> Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Secret Panel is Volume 25 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Phantom Freighter</i> 1947 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Phantom Freighter is Volume 26 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Secret of Wildcat Swamp</i> Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Secret of Wildcat Swamp is Volume 31 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Mystery of the Chinese Junk</i> 1960 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Mystery of the Chinese Junk is Volume 39 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Masked Monkey</i> 1972 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Masked Monkey is Volume 51 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>The Vanishing Thieves</i> 1981 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Vanishing Thieves is the 66th title of the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories, written by Franklin W. Dixon. Wanderer Books published this book in 1981 and Grosset & Dunlap published this book in 2005. As of 2018, this is the last Hardy Boys story to be published by Grosset & Dunlap.

<i>Mystery of the Whale Tattoo</i> 1968 book by Franklin W. Dixon

Mystery of the Whale Tattoo is Volume 47 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

References

  1. ↑ The Shore Road Mystery at WorldCat
  2. 1 2 Keeline, James D. "Who Wrote the Hardy Boys? Secrets from the Syndicate Files Revealed" (PDF).
  3. ↑ The Hardy Boys Online: Revisions
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