''The Clue of the Broken Blade'' is Volume 21 in the original

The Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterpa ...

Mystery Stories published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

. This book was written for the

Stratemeyer Syndicate The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children, including Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others. They published and ...

by John Button in 1942. Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1970 by

Richard Deming Richard Deming is the Director of Creative Writing and a Senior Lecturer in English at Yale University, where he has taught since 2002. An American poet, theorist, and art critic, he is the author of five books: three books of criticism – ''Lis ...

resulting in two different stories with the same title. Because of Dr. John Button's death in 1967, ''The Clue Of The Broken Blade'' (1942) entered the Canadian Public Domain on January 1, 2017.

Plot

Revised edition

After their fencing instructor Ettore Russo tells them about a family sword, the championship saber Adalante, the Hardy Boys go to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to search for the sword's missing half. Supposedly written on the sword is the owner's will that names the fencing instructor as a major heir of his deceased grandfather's fortune. Others also intent on finding the sword try hard to foil the Hardys from getting there first.

Original edition

Frank and Joe travel with their detective father, Fenton Hardy, to a town two hours from Bayport to break up a

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

hijacking Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''like ...

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

and recover two stolen

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s for wealthy shipping magnate Arthur Barker.

References

The Hardy Boys books 1942 American novels 1942 children's books Grosset & Dunlap books Novels set in California {{1940s-mystery-novel-stub