I spent a few hours rereading the OT of The Short-Wave Mystery. This is one of the few Hardy Boys stories where I actually remembered some of the details from when I first read it as a kid in the 1960s - I remembered that Chet's hobby in this one was taxidermy and also that the mystery had something to do with Hudson's Bay.
Well I would rate this one as just average based on my reread. The plot had to do with the theft of radio parts by a gang led by Spike Hudson. There were several warehouses in and around Bayport that were robbed by the gang. The gang would then assemble the parts into radios for sale. This whole premise seemed a little preposterous to me -- why steal radio parts instead of already assembled radios or electronic equipment? These crooks must have had degrees in electrical engineering to be able to assemble radios from parts! Then there was the usual coincidences - the crooks were also stealing stuffed animals -- some to conceal radios inside, others to scare off intruders from Hudson's hideout -- and of course since Chet was doing taxidermy some of the stuffed animals were stolen from him. Also, a subplot was about a group of missing scientists who crashed their plane in Canada. Of course they crashed just over a hill from where Spike Hudson had his hideout on Hudson's Bay so the Hardys were able to rescue them and nab the crook at the same time!
Well I would rate this one as just average based on my reread. The plot had to do with the theft of radio parts by a gang led by Spike Hudson. There were several warehouses in and around Bayport that were robbed by the gang. The gang would then assemble the parts into radios for sale. This whole premise seemed a little preposterous to me -- why steal radio parts instead of already assembled radios or electronic equipment? These crooks must have had degrees in electrical engineering to be able to assemble radios from parts! Then there was the usual coincidences - the crooks were also stealing stuffed animals -- some to conceal radios inside, others to scare off intruders from Hudson's hideout -- and of course since Chet was doing taxidermy some of the stuffed animals were stolen from him. Also, a subplot was about a group of missing scientists who crashed their plane in Canada. Of course they crashed just over a hill from where Spike Hudson had his hideout on Hudson's Bay so the Hardys were able to rescue them and nab the crook at the same time!
