The Short-Wave Mystery

Book by Franklin W. Dixon

The Short-Wave Mystery

Original edition

Author| Franklin W. Dixon
Language| English
Series| The Hardy Boys
Genre| Detective, mystery
Publisher| Grosset & Dunlap

Publication date

| March 1, 1945
Publication place| United States
Media type| Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages| 192 pp
Preceded by| The Melted Coins
Followed by| The Secret Panel

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The Short-Wave Mystery is Volume 24 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.

This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1945.[1] 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.[2] The original version of this book was rewritten in 1966 by David Grambs[1] resulting in two different stories with the same title.

## Plot

[edit]

### Revised edition

[edit]

The Hardy boys are drawn into a mystery when a group of thieves steals a collection of stuffed animals from an estate sale. Later, the Hardy boys notice a station wagon carrying stuffed animals, but when they try to give chase, the car gets away, leaving only a broken ham radio antenna behind. While they are discussing the case that their father Fenton Hardy is working on, they learn that he is after a group involved in industrial espionage and that this group uses code words very similar to what the boys have been hearing transmitted over the ham radio bands.

When the Hardy boys visit the estate to investigate the remaining stuffed animals, they are knocked unconscious and someone steals the remaining animals. They manage to get their hands on two of them and convince their friend Chet Morton, who has recently taken up taxidermy as a hobby, to open them up looking for whatever may be hidden inside. After the Lectrex plant is raided, the boys go with their father to investigate, and they notice a stuffed fox that had been on a ledge in the conference room has mysteriously disappeared.

The Hardy Boys travel to Canada (somewhere near Moosonee and Moose Factory) to solve the theft of the stuffed animals and to break up an industrial spy ring, which was the source of the leak of info coming from the Lectrex factory in their hometown of Bayport. As the boys piece together parts of this mystery, they solve the industrial spying case their father was working on, they solve the mystery of the coded transmissions on the ham radio bands, and they find out why a group was stealing the stuffed animals.

### Original edition

[edit]

The Hardy Boys hear a mysterious call for help on their shortwave radio set: "Help -- Hudson". Meanwhile, Fenton Hardy is investigating nation-wide thefts of radio equipment by a group of criminals called "The Hudson Gang". But of more immediate concern is the theft of several auction items, at an auction attended by Chet Morton and the Hardy Boys. The stolen items are mostly animal skins and carcasses intended for use in taxidermy, Chet's latest hobby.

Investigating all the seemingly unrelated mysteries leads to some connections. Spike Hudson, leader of the Hudson Gang, uses a house near Bayport as a hideout—a house which has vicious-looking stuffed animals hidden around it at strategic points to discourage unwanted snooping. At the house, Frank is caught by one of Spike's henchmen when he tries to bring the police. The man overpowers Frank and brings him into the house where he is questioned by Hudson. Hudson has the henchman imprison Frank in the basement, bound and gagged, while the criminals make their getaway. He is later freed by Joe. And the "Help -- Hudson" message, though initially thought to be from or about Spike Hudson, seems to instead be from a group of stranded researchers trapped somewhere on the isolated coast of Hudson's Bay...near to where Spike Hudson has another hideout. Soon, the Hardy Boys are travelling by plane to the fictional White Bear River in remote Northern Ontario, Canada (references in the book place it most likely somewhere near Moosonee and Moose Factory) to try to solve the thefts, rescue the researchers, and break up The Hudson Gang.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Keeline, James D. "Who Wrote the Hardy Boys? Secrets from the Syndicate Files Revealed" (PDF).
2. ^ The Hardy Boys Online: Revisions

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The Hardy Boys

* Stratemeyer Syndicate
* Franklin W. Dixon
* Edward Stratemeyer

Characters|

* List of characters

Writers|

* Leslie McFarlane
* Andrew E. Svenson
* Harriet Adams
* Neal Barrett Jr.
* Susan Wittig Albert
* Steven Grant
* George Edward Stanley
* James D. Lawrence

See also|

* Nancy Drew
* Tom Swift
* The Dana Girls

Books

Original|

* The Tower Treasure (1927)
* The House on the Cliff (1927)
* The Secret of the Old Mill (1927)
* The Missing Chums (1928)
* Hunting for Hidden Gold (1928)
* The Shore Road Mystery (1928)
* The Secret of the Caves (1929)
* The Mystery of Cabin Island (1929)
* The Great Airport Mystery (1930)
* What Happened at Midnight (1931)
* While the Clock Ticked (1932)
* Footprints Under the Window (1933)
* The Mark on the Door (1934)
* The Hidden Harbor Mystery (1935)
* The Sinister Signpost (1936)
* A Figure in Hiding (1937)
* The Secret Warning (1938)
* The Twisted Claw (1939)
* The Disappearing Floor (1940)
* The Mystery of the Flying Express (1941)
* The Clue of the Broken Blade (1942)
* The Flickering Torch Mystery (1943)
* The Melted Coins (1944)
* The Short-Wave Mystery (1945)
* The Secret Panel (1946)
* The Phantom Freighter (1947)
* The Secret of Skull Mountain (1948)
* The Sign of the Crooked Arrow (1949)
* The Secret of the Lost Tunnel (1950)
* The Wailing Siren Mystery (1951)
* The Secret of Wildcat Swamp (1952)
* The Crisscross Shadow (1953)
* The Yellow Feather Mystery (1954)
* The Hooded Hawk Mystery (1954)
* The Clue in the Embers (1956)
* The Secret of Pirates' Hill (1956)
* The Ghost at Skeleton Rock (1957)
* The Mystery at Devil's Paw (1959)
* The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1960)
* Mystery of the Desert Giant (1961)
* The Clue of the Screeching Owl (1962)
* The Viking Symbol Mystery (1963)
* The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior (1964)
* The Haunted Fort (1965)
* The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge (1966)
* The Secret Agent on Flight 101 (1967)
* Mystery of the Whale Tattoo (1968)
* The Arctic Patrol Mystery (1969)
* The Bombay Boomerang (1970)
* Danger on Vampire Trail (1971)
* The Masked Monkey (1972)
* The Shattered Helmet (1973)
* The Clue of the Hissing Serpent (1974)
* The Mysterious Caravan (1975)
* The Witchmaster's Key (1976)
* The Jungle Pyramid (1977)
* The Firebird Rocket (1978)
* The Sting of the Scorpion (1979)
* Night of the Werewolf (1979)
* Mystery of the Samurai Sword (1979)
* The Pentagon Spy (1980)
* The Apeman's Secret (1980)
* The Mummy Case (1980)
* Mystery of Smugglers Cove (1980)
* The Stone Idol (1981)
* The Vanishing Thieves (1981)
* The Outlaw's Silver (1981)
* The Submarine Caper/Deadly Chase (1981, retitled in 1987)
* The Four-Headed Dragon (1981)
* The Infinity Clue (1981)
* Track of the Zombie (1982)
* The Voodoo Plot (1982)
* The Billion Dollar Ransom (1982)
* Tic-Tac-Terror (1982)
* Trapped at Sea (1982)
* Game Plan for Disaster (1982)
* The Crimson Flame (1983)
* The Skyfire Puzzle (1985)
* Cast of Criminals (1989)
* Fear on Wheels (1991)
* Day of the Dinosaur (1994)
* Crime in the Kennel (1995)
* Cross-Country Crime (1995)
* The Search for the Snow Leopard (1996)
* Eye on Crime (1998)
* The Caribbean Cruise Caper (1999)
* The Hunt for the Four Brothers (1999)
* A Will to Survive (1999)
* Daredevils (1999)
* A Game Called Chaos (2000)
* Training for Trouble (2000)
* The End of the Trail (2000)
* Skin & Bones (2000)
* Crime in the Cards (2001)
* Past and Present Danger (2001)
* Trouble Times Two (2001)
* The Castle Conundrum (2001)
* Passport to Danger (2003)
* Warehouse Rumble (2004)
* The Dangerous Transmission (2004)

Casefiles|

* Dead on Target (1987)
* Evil, Inc. (1987)
* Cult of Crime (1987)
* See No Evil (1987)
* Street Spies (1988)
* Countdown to Terror (1989)
* Running on Empty (1990)
* The Last Laugh (1990)
* River Rats (1997)

Other series and titles|

* The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook (1959)
* The Clues Brothers (1997-2000)
* Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers (2005-12)
* The Hardy Boys Secret Files (2010-15)
* The Hardy Boys Adventures (2013-present)
* The Hardy Boys Clue Book (2016-present)

Crossovers|

* Be a Detective Mystery Stories (1984-85, with Nancy Drew)
* Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Supermystery (1988-98, with Nancy Drew)
* Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thriller (1992-93, with Tom Swift)
* Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery Series (2007-12, with Nancy Drew)

Other media

Television|

* The Hardy Boys (The Mickey Mouse Club)
* Hardy Boys (animated)
* The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Mysteries
* The Hardy Boys (1995)
* The Hardy Boys (2020)

Video games|

* Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon
* The Creature of Kapu Cave
* Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys: Super Mystery (cancelled)
* The Tower Treasure
* Treasure on the Tracks

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