Published: January 1988
Author: Unknown as of October 2020
Reading Level: 6.2
Plot: A Case of Double-Dealing Leads The Hardys Into Ten Tons of Trouble
In A Tricky Business The Bottom Line Is Danger!
A business organization calling itself Trusty Teens depends on a young sales force to peddle its products from door to door. But while there are plenty of teens to do the dirty work, trust is in short supply. When a mysterious explosion rocks the warehouse and young Jimmy Quayle is accused of attempted murder, Frank and Joe decide to set up a sting of their own.
The Hardy boys infiltrate the main offices of Trusty Teens and uncover a secret sideline. Frank and Joe must shut the business down---before the whole operation goes up in smoke!
Review: I liked this book years ago, but now, I found that it doesn't really work.
One thing off the bat, is that this was the last Original Hardy Boys book to have multiple cover artwork. The original artwork was out from 1988 to 1991, and then the book was reissued in 1992 with new artwork. Unlike the original Nancy Drew series, where a number of Minstrel books would receive the magnifying glass artwork of the later Aladdin books, the Hardy Boys never had that.
But an interesting thing with the cover for both the 1988 and 1992 versions, they use a write-up that was obviously done before the final edits were done, as there is no character of "Jimmy Quayle" in the book. The character's name is "Andy Quayle".
Also, this felt like it should've been Part 2 of a trilogy. In the book the Hardy's bust the middle guys in an explosives smuggling operation (Splode-All is the explosive in this book). However, at one point the main criminal even states that he is the middle guy and he doesn't care where he gets the explosive from or who buys it from him, as long as he gets his money. The story would've been better had it tied into a case that Fenton Hardy was investigating for the government or some company that either makes the explosive or uses it and finds it's going missing, but Fenton and Laura are on a vacation in this book (which allows the Hardy's to drive their mother's station wagon) and the boys are investigating the middle part of what should be a much larger mystery.
Suffice it to say, this was a book that didn't live up to its premise. It was almost like what would occur nearly 20 years later with the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers #6: Burned where there was a big premise for the mystery, but the author didn't write the book to that premise.
Rating: 5.5/10
I have not read this one in years and as a result, I recall very little. It is funny that Frank and Joe are driving their mom's station wagon in this and the book previous.