The Hardy Boys return.

Just out from Dover Publications: books 4 and 5 in the Hardy Boys series—The Missing Chums (orig publ 1928; Frank and Joe pursue  robbers and kidnappers) and Hunting for Hidden Gold (orig publ. 1928; Frank and Joe go in aid of their injured father and locate an abandoned mine). They join The Tower Treasure (book 1, 1927), The House on the Cliff (book 2, 1927), and The Secret of the Old Mill (book 3, 1927). Canadian journalist Leslie McFarlane wrote these books as well as a memoir, Ghost of the Hardy Boys.

New mystery audiobooks from Librivox.

Librivox, which marshals volunteer readers to produce free audiobooks of works in the public domain, has some new mystery-related offerings:

• A Modern Mephistopheles by Louisa May Alcott
  (an Alcott "blood and thunder" tale)
• The Tower Treasure by Frankin W. Dixon (the Hardy Boys debut)
  
• The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Moon Rock by Arthur J. Rees (man with an aristocratic title claim is murdered)
  
• The Unholy Three by Tod Robbins (carnival performers become criminals)
  
• Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter's brother is accused of murder)
  
• Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter looks into a potential murder)
  
• The Fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace (cop and prosecutor chase a dastardly secret society)

Want to volunteer as a reader? Visit this webpage. 

Forever chums.

The Hardy Boys
Detective Handbook (1959)

Edward Stratemeyer. NYPL

The Penn Books Center blog focuses on the Hardy Boys series, including the original series from the Stratemeyer Syndicate and follow-up series such as the Hardy Boys Casefiles, Hardy Boys Adventures, and Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers. You also can find out about the Hardy Boys book that is the most rare.

The career of Edward Stratemeyer.

Edward Stratemeyer.
NYPL

The New Antiquarian blog of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America looks at the career of Edward Stratemeyer (1862–1930), who launched the Stratemeyer Syndicate that published the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and countless other children's series.

Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys exhibition.

On view until June 8 at the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, MA, is "Mysteries Revealed Book Illustration: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys," an exhibition of original cover art and first editions of both children's series.

Clues' Brooks Hefner on S. S. Van Dine, With Good Reason radio.

On the February 15 episode of the radio program With Good Reason, James Madison University's Brooks Hefner discusses the heretofore unknown pseudonym he uncovered of Philo Vance creator S. S. Van Dine (featured in his Clues article), Van Dine's alter ego of Willard Huntington Wright, and Wright's work in the context of highbrow/lowbrow debates of his time. The same program features Longwood University's Christopher McGee talking about the Hardy Boys series.

Hardy Boys author Leslie McFarlane recalled.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. remembers the death on September 6, 1977, of highly successful Canadian author Leslie McFarlane with this 1972 interview; he wrote some of the Hardy Boys and the Dana Girls mysteries, among other works.

Below: Target Berlin (1944), with a script by Leslie McFarlane.

A different bestseller list.

Applewood Books offers a change of pace from the typical bestseller list. At no. 5: the first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock, first published in 1930. At no. 6: The Tower Treasure, the first in the Hardy Boys series, first published in 1927.

Fond of Freddy and friends.

The Overlook Press blog notes that Nick Kristof, a New York Times Op-Ed columnist, has selected the Best Kids Books Ever, including Freddy the Detective (1932) by Walter R. Brooks, the Hardy Boys by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, and the Alex Rider series by Foyle's War creator Anthony Horowitz ("things keep exploding in a very satisfying way").

Judy Bolton returns.

Following up its reprints of the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys titles, Applewood Books has reissued several novels in the Judy Bolton series by Margaret Sutton (aka Rachel Irene Beebe, 1903–2001). These include The Vanishing Shadow (orig. publ. 1932), The Haunted Attic (orig. publ. 1932), The Invisible Chimes (orig. publ. 1932), Seven Strange Clues (orig. publ. 1932), The Ghost Parade (orig. publ. 1933), and Clue of the Stone Lantern (orig. publ. 1950).