Frank and Joe solve a mystery on the high seas in this Hardy Brothers Secret Files adventure.
It’s finally summer vacation, and the Hardy family is headed on a cruise to the Caribbean. As they board the ship with their parents, Frank and Joe can’t believe all the fun that’s in store for them. There are three-story slides, playgrounds, ball pits, four pools, and an arcade. There are concerts and magic shows at night, while jugglers and clowns wander the deck during the day.
In addition to all of the fun, the Hardys discover that former pop idol and lead singer of the Lightening Bolts, Izzy, is now performing on the ship. That night, as the family eats dinner, they hear a commotion at the other end of the massive dining room. Someone has stolen a very valuable and sentimental pocket watch from Izzy. Can Joe and Frank solve the case before the ship docks in the first harbor? Or will time run out on this case?
Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap. Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s. The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.