Mystery Box: A Novel about the Creators of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys

I have been a fan of the Hardy Boys since 1949 and eagerly read this book. I was Not disappointed. The author did a wonderful job weaving his story with Franklin and Carolyn among the literati of 1920's Paris. I hope that Mr. McAlpine sees it in his future to continue this interesting story as Joe's leaving his brother gives an opportunity to develop this adventure in another book.

This novel presents many of the regular characters from the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series (Chet, Tony, Fenton, Laura, Bess and George among others) as friends of the fictional Frank Dixon and Carolyn Keene. The tale begins with two threads: Joe Dixon, Frank's brother, goes off to become a World War One aviator and is killed (or is he?) and Frank, already an amateur detective, goes to Europe to investigate. Meanwhile, Carson Keene, Carolyn's father, is about to marry a woman young enough to be Carolyn's sister and Carolyn, thinking only of Carson's happiness, flees to Paris. In the course of their European adventures, both Frank and Carolyn meet up with and befriend some of the famous literati of the "Lost Generation", such as Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Frank discovers that Joe had married a French woman while overseas and sets about tracking her down, while Carolyn discovers that her step-mother had a somewhat shady past. Eventually Frank and Carolyn meet and, gasp, fall in love! Unfortunately, the course of true love never runs smooth and that, along with Carson's death, break the loving couple up, as Carolyn leaves Paris to return to River Heights. Never one to mope, Frank puts his time to good use in tracking down clues about his brother's long-lost wife - a trail which leads him to England. I don't want to give away the story here, I'm sure you'd rather find out for yourselves how this all turns out in the end. I enjoyed Mystery Box despite the somewhat improbable nature of the plot. I just find the premise of both Frank and Carolyn hobnobbing with some of the most famous writers of the 20th century a bit hard to swallow but if one suspends disbelief, it shouldn't bother you too much! The dialog rings fairly true, despite some lapses into sappy romanticism. Some of the action would not out of place in any one of your favorite series books. All in all, this is an enjoyable read for lovers of Nancy or the brothers Hardy.