The Missing Chums

Reviewed on 4th October 2014

I was surprised when I looked through the list of Hardy Boys books I'd not read to find one with what seemed such a ridiculous title. Further research showed that the original UK edition had even had the title 'translated' into British English as The Missing Friends. Despite this, the fourth book of the original series is better than the three that precede it.

My copy is a modern printing of the 1962 version of this title with the US English text. Once again the Hardys get involved in a local crime investigation, and two of their chums disappear.

This book is action packed and has a lot going on all the way through, keeping the reader engrossed - there's a good mystery to pick through, working out the motives and joining up the dots. Most of the regular elements seem to now be in place, and this makes good use of the established characters to add some peril that previous books in the series lacked.