The Highview Mystery by Lawrence A. Keating

The Highview Mystery by Lawrence A. Keating was published in 1944.  I saw this book advertised on one of the dust jackets from the Roger Baxter books.  It looked interesting.  I was fortunate to find an inexpensive copy up for sale.  This was two years ago.

As of a few weeks ago when I read this book, there were just two copies for sale online, neither inexpensive.  I believe both were available two years ago when I instead found the cheap copy.  Interestingly, those two books have now both sold.  I mentioned this book on Facebook a few weeks ago with a brief review, and I suspect that I may have helped those books sell.  Regardless, this is an extremely scarce book.

In The Highview Mystery, various items have been stolen from the hospital, including money that will ruin a fundraiser.  Foxy, Tom, and Rick work on solving the case.

The boys are sophomores in high school, although the jacket makes them look like grown men.

I was struck by some slight similarities to the Three Investigators and Brains Benton series.  The three boys have a club that they call the "Three D's," and their motto is "Daring, Dependable Doers!"  The leader is Foxy, who is overweight and intelligent. The clubhouse is in a garage near one boy's house. A sensor placed outside rings a bell when someone approaches the clubhouse.

Nowadays, the illicit use of drugs to get high is such a big problem that the subject is common knowledge.  On page 80, naive Tom asks, "Why would anybody want to steal narcotics?"  Tom is told about addicts and "dope peddlers."  Tom then asks, "Yes, but why would a person become an addict?"  Tom is then told that some do it out of "foolish curiosity" and that others use it "to keep on with their jobs," presumably because they would be more energetic.  Tom is also told that some people become addicted because of chronic pain.  This passage was probably quite enlightening to many young readers in 1944.

This is a very good book.