The Caribbean Cruise Caper

The Hardy Boys #154

by Franklin W. Dixon

All Aboard for a Major Mystery
Frank and Joe have the ultimate case on their to judge the sleuthing skills of five teen dtectives in a contest sponsored by Teenway magazine. Even more cool -- the contest takes place on a caribbean cruise ship! But it's not long before suspicious pranks threaten to ruin the one of the Teenway interns nearly falls overboard, the "mystery scene" the contestants studied gets tampered with, and someone may have poisened the food!
How can the Hardys solve this titanic mystery? With the help of five teen detectives, of course -- along with their own expert investigating skills. But they's better move fast, because a culprit lurks beneath the caribbean sun -- and it's sink or swim for Frank and Joe.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Thriller, Young Adult, Classics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay for omnibuses...and library sales...and quick reads!

[Ethan Hulbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another one of the dumbest Hardy Boys digests. Almost nothing in this book made sense, there were no stakes, no suspense whatsoever, no danger, a boring environment, and boring characters. No thank you.

[PenNPaper52 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book brought back a nostalgic experience. Were there really mystery teen cruises back in the day. What fun to enter one and learn from real detectives like Frank and Joe. As a teenager I would have totally entered and then prayed to win. The book was fun, the mystery was interesting with no violence. Loved the fake spiders. The mystery was a mystery to me till the end... But I did have a nagging feeling about the group conversations. In spite of not being to the US my sixth sense sensed (pun definitely intented here) something amiss. But I never guessed the cassette mystery.. I was like whoa... If you want some light fun reading... Why not join the boys on the mystery Teenway cruise.

[John Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book was updated to reflect current technology it is still a great example of writing for the teen audience. I read this book back in the early 60s. Cell phones in the current book were replaced by pay phones along with other changes to keep the story current for today's readers.

The story, like all of Dixon's Hardy Boys books, has well developed plot with the core built around Frank and Joe's sleuthing skills. The other characters are the story. Fun reading.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I would read this while on a cruise, but I finished it day one. Lots of tern age hi-jinx. The best part is it caused me to research Franklin W Dixon and I discovered that the first 20 or so Hardy Boys books were. Penned by Leslie Macfarland?? A Canadian writer from Haileybury, who answered an ad for a writer. That’s why so many of the stories make reference to Canada.

[Dana Schnitzel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen. I understand that I was reading a children's detective novel. I expected it to be cheesey, but I hoped it would hold up. I didn't read as many Hardy Boys books as Nancy Drew, but I loved these as a kid. I anticipated heavy use of cliched tropes, but I didn't anticipate feeling bored by generic writing. I might give another one a shot, but I just did not buy into this story.

[Shaambhavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew or Goosebumps or Famous Five is always a joy. Takes me back to my childhood. Always enjoy an occasional bout of light reading.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an intense read! The Hardy boys are invited to go on a cruise to be judges in a competition that a teen mystery magazine is hosting. The company has hand-picked a few of their brightest readers to see who can solve the planned mysteries that are to take place on the cruise. However, disaster strikes when unplanned circumstances take place! Find out how it goes down in this exciting book!

[Taz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I brought this book to a guy at my job so he could read it, but he hasn't been so I decided to help my reading challenge number and read something quick and easy xD

I used to love the Hardy Boys, and though this wasn't as good as I remembered, it was still enjoyable.

There's two more paired with this one (it's the Collectors Edition), so I'll probably read those next!

[Mourya Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

boring, but still good

[Jebin]

Loved it.

[Keabetswe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to check the cover to confirm if it really was a Hardy Boys book. Poor take of a whodunnit on ship. And what's with the fifteen chapters?