Hardy Boys #80 Roaring River, #81 Demon's Den, and #82 Blackwing Puzzle

In Hardy Boys #80, The Roaring River Mystery, Frank and Joe work on solving a bank robbery in which a large amount of money and a valuable diamond ring were stolen.  The boys also assist their new friend, Ollie Fernandez, as he hopes to lead the first expedition through the rapids of Roaring River.  Ollie believes someone is trying to stop him.  Almost all of Ollie's life jackets have been stolen, and Ollie has had several other acts of sabotage.

It should be noted that the stolen life jackets were purchased from a store very close to the bank and that the bank robbers had been in the store.  By page 40, I had already guessed the significance of the stolen life jackets and was annoyed that the Hardys have no idea.

On page 77, the boys realize that someone is after the life jacket that Ollie still has, a life jacket that had already been noted to have a mended tear.  Hmm.  Clueless Frank and Joe don't inspect the life jacket.

So there's a missing diamond ring.  Hmm.  I wonder where the diamond ring could possibly be?  On page 117, Frank remarks, referring to the life jackets, "I still can't figure out what the crooks want with them."  Well, gosh, I wonder.

On page 140, the numbskulls finally open the mended tear in the life jacket to find what I knew was there all along.  Idiots!

While I enjoyed this book, it has no suspense.  The solution is obvious all along, and the only reason the story has a mystery is because Frank and Joe act like fools.

In Hardy Boys #81, The Demon's Den, Frank and Joe vacation in Vermont with Chet and Biff.  A boy goes missing from a nearby camp, and Frank and Joe look for him.  Meanwhile, Fenton Hardy is looking for a missing scientist who may be working for a foreign power.  The scientist is believed to be in Vermont, and the boys look for him as well.

This book captured my interest quickly.  I did lose interest at times, since I found the story of the missing boy to be more interesting than the story of the missing scientist.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Hardy Boys #82, The Blackwing Puzzle, an old house is said to be haunted by the ghost of a slave trader.  A strange black shadow hovers in the sky over the house.  Frank and Joe suspect some kind of aircraft holds the solution, but they cannot figure out why no motor can be heard. 

The story has slightly too many characters, which always decreases my enjoyment.  I had trouble keeping all of them straight. 

The book also has too many subplots.  One subplot, which has to do with a jeweled butterfly found by the boys, is not necessary to the case.   Focusing more on the old house would have been better.  The boys spend very little time in the house.

While I enjoyed this story, it could have been better.