The Determined Detective in The Case of the Golden Boy: A Book Review

With my more mature eyes, I am delving into a much earlier book of Eric Wilson's Tom and Liz Mystery series. Funnily enough Book #3: The Case of the Golden Boy references Book 19: The Lost Treasure of Casa Loma, which I reviewed a few months back. Uncle Henry briefly mentions a friend of his who owns a castle and keeps his diamonds hidden in the building. 

This story takes place in Winnipeg. The Golden Boy statue mentioned in the book is located on top of the Legislative building in Manitoba and was erected in 1919. It is based on the god Mercury to symbolize eternal youth and the spirit of enterprise. The Golden Boy faces North because this was the "future of Manitoba" at the time. The statue is depicted in a running stance while holding a sheaf of wheat and a torch, which represent the fruits of labor and a call for youth to come together and make the future a prosperous one.

Photo by Mahesh Gupta on Unsplash; Right: Legislature Building

You Should Read The Case of the Golden Boy if...

• You love whodunnits.
• You enjoy Canadian settings.
• You crave mystery and adventure in your life.
• You're not in the mood for a long read.

Want a short, spoiler-free review? Check out my review on Reedsy Discovery.

-- SPOILERS AHEAD--

Photo by Alec Favale on Unsplash

Summary 

Tom is still new to the mystery-solving business, so he has a reputation for being a prankster and meddler in police affairs, such as investigating a supposedly haunted house in the neighborhood. While in the house, he overhears a conversation between two men, a masked man and a bad driver he encountered earlier named Red. Tom learns of a rendezvous later that week. The next day, Tom is an unknowing witness to Dianne Dorchester's kidnapping. She is the daughter of a wealthy family, so the kidnappers hold her for ransom. 

Once at the rendezvous point, Tom finds out the details of the ransom drop and foils the plan with the help of a taxi driver. The next day, a reporter shows up at Tom's school to interview him about what he witnessed when Dianne was kidnapped. Discovering that the supposed reporter is part of the kidnapping gang, Tom follows him to one of the bases of operation. Tom overhears Red and the fake reporter's plans to go into hiding in Ontario, so he follows Red to the railway station, but fails miserably by being kidnapped himself. For several days, Tom is their hostage at their Ontario hideout located on an island until Tom sets the island on fire, attracting attention from a nearby cabin cruiser. The two kidnappers are caught, but that's only half of the gang and Dianne is still missing. 

In a random coincidence some time later, Tom sees his teacher enter a building, followed by Officer Larson, one of Tom's father's underlings. The building is in the evacuated area of Winnipeg, which could be flooded at any moment by the city's two rivers due to heavy rain and run-off water. Tom eavesdrops and learns that they're the other half of the kidnapping gang. Dianne's father shows up to deliver the ransom money, Tom makes an attempt to stop Officer Larson who escapes down the stairs of the building, but the area is flooded, trapping him in the building where he is later arrested. Dianne recuperates in the hospital and gets a party when she returns to school, Tom's picture is in the newspaper and Liz accepts Tom's challenge, vowing to start solving her own mysteries.      

Characters

Tom Austen:  He has red hair and is 11 years old. Tom loves the Hardy Boys (like the author) and has a reputation for investigating suspicious circumstances despite the police telling him to not do so. His father is an inspector on the local police force. At school, Tom has the reputation for pulling pranks and he is on the school patrol. He can think fast on his feet and in this book, we see how easily he is able to lie, although his lies aren't always thought out before he says them. Tom attends Queenston School and has a crush on Dianne.

Liz Austen: She is Tom's sister and while she isn't the focus of the story, this is when Liz decides to get into the mystery-solving business because Tom challenges her.

Dianne Dorchester:  Dianne has blonde hair and blue eyes. Her family is wealthy and she has travelled to Scotland for a holiday. She attends Queenston School. Her favorite food is pizza. She's nice to Tom. 

Mr. Stones: He is Tom and Dianne's teacher. Mr. Stones was a champion basketball player before pursuing teaching. It is said he is liked by all of the students, but no specifics are given.

Red: He has red hair, which is probably why he's called "Red." We never find out his real name. He lives next door to an abandoned house rumored to be haunted. He is the organizer of the kidnapping, so he is in charge of B.X., Mr. Stones and had to incorporate Officer Larson in his scheme to avoid being arrested. He's a criminal for the excitement and killed a Mountie when he held up a bank in Moose Jaw. 

Byron Xavier "B.X." Lewis: He is the typical dumb henchman who calls Red "boss," much like one of the sharks in the Freddie Fish computer games. He has a strong hatred for Tom and wants to kill him, but won't do so unless Red gives the orders. B.X. pretends to be a reporter and shows up Tom's school to interview him about Dianne's kidnapping, but Tom sees through his deception.

Officer Larson: He works under Tom's father, who is also a police officer, and wants to retire from the force since he's tired of serving others whom he thinks are conceited.

Photo by Victor Li on Unsplash

What I Liked 

I always love the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. It's a nice tribute to the classic Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books. 

I enjoy the action. Tom did quite a bit of hardcore sleuthing. He:

• Investigates a "haunted" house (and unintentionally eavesdrops on kidnappers without getting caught)
• Goes to their rendez-vous point in a (bad) disguise, eavesdrops and heads to a bus terminal to get help from security (unsuccessfully because of he could pass as Red's son), escapes, goes to the railway station and gets help from a taxi driver where they both manage to retrieve the ransom money
• Confirms that B.X. is not a reporter, trails him to his base of operation (badly), 
• Daringly distracts Officer Larson

Tom really gave it his all, even though he was not always being safe. 

A Hero's Struggle

I enjoyed the drama that fluctuates through the novel and how Tom has to repeatedly prove himself as an ace detective. It makes the reader feel bad for him when he fails and cheer him on during the scenes of intense action. 

An Emotional Response

Tom is held against his will on a island and he knows that Red is responsible for kidnapping Dianne, yet it is only after hearing Red say that he killed someone that Tom declares: "I don't like you anymore." So, Tom liked Red despite being kidnapped by him and despite his having kidnapped Dianne. Red talks about having taught Tom how to fish and playing checkers with him in the past few days. Even after Tom says he doens't like Red anymore, Red says he still likes Tom.

It isn't called out, but Tom experiences Stockholm Syndrome. According to WedMD, "it happens to some abuse and hostage victims when they have positive feelings toward an abuser or captor." Additionally, "a bond can grow between the victim and the captor. This can lead to kind treatment and less harm from the abuser as they might also create a positive bond with their victims."

It made for a nice change for this series because it's always been more black and white in these stories where Tom or his sister are 100% against the bad guys. However, this instance of Stockholm Syndrome is limited to this conversation. Beforehand, Tom was still bent on escaping and the narration says that he was passing time by fishing with Red's pole. Nothing is mentioned about Tom liking Red or that Red spent time with him.

Photo by Josh Hild from Pexels

What I Didn't Like

The Title

I have an issue with the title of the book. The only time The Golden Boy is relevant to the story is when Tom goes to the rendezvous point, The Golden Boy Café. However, this particular setting isn't the highlight of the story, I find, because the characters don't remain in the café for very long. The action happens outside. On top of which, the title doesn't contain the word "Café," so I feel as if the author named the book because he wanted to keep with the theme of his series. The Golden Boy statue is not relevant to the story and I don't think it's ever described in the book. 

On the other hand, maybe the Golden Boy is to represent Tom and Dianne, who are the youths in this story (and a few other of their classmates, but they don't show up for very long). However, I'm not sure how Tom and Dianne's adventure fits in with the theme of making the future prosperous. 

My conclusion is that the title needs to be changed for something relevant to the kidnapping, such as The Case of the Golden GIRL since Dianne is the one who is kidnapped.

Unrealistic Teacher

For this point, I am thinking on my own experience in elementary school. The scene in question is when Mr. Stones plans on having a "Kids' Day" to celebrate his students. In my experience, this kind of thing happens close to Winter Break or at the end of the year in the final days of school. Since it's winter, perhaps it close to winter break, although the holidays are not mentioned at any time and the rivers are said to be flooding, indicating warmer weather, like March or April, so this Kids' Day being in the middle of the school year seems a bit unrealistic. 

Another thing is the dialogue between Mr. Stones and Dianne. Dianne asks if the class can have pizza on Kids' Day. Mr. Stones says that it gives him heartburn, "but [he'll] get some for [Dianne]." This is not how any of my elementary school teachers spoke to their students. It's favoritism, and Mr. Stones would end up spending a lot of money on pizza and whatever else he decides to get for the rest of the class. Teachers normally call for a vote, and there are food allergies to take into consideration. This line of dialogue just struck me as odd. Yes, it's relevant later, but his response doesn't seem realistic to me.

Voices

When Tom hides in the supposedly haunted house and overhears Red and the masked man discussing plans, the narration indicates that Tom strains to the masked man's voice and that it sounded "familiar." Later when Tom is eavesdropping on them again beside their car in front of The Golden Boy Café, nothing is said about whether or not Tom can hear them and if he recognizes the masked man's voice, yet the author allows readers to know what the masked man is saying. So, I want to know if Tom does know who the masked man is at this point. He should be able to recognize it because he speaks with and hears the masked man five days a week. Tom should be able to figure out his identity pretty quickly. The author should have added more detail regarding this aspect of the story. 

In a similar scene when Tom is held hostage on the island with Red and B.X., he eavesdrops on their conversations by crouching outside below and open window. He records what they say in his notebook in the hopes that they may reveal Dianne's location or anything useful. Tom overhears Red say that Dianne will die if the ransom demand isn't met and he gasps. I was confused by this because neither one of the men hear Tom's gasp, which I find unlikely since he's at an open window. Conveniently, Red does not given away the identity of the other two members of their group, but instead refers to them by initials and description, i.e. "man in the ski mask." It's unknown whether or not B.X. knows the other two members. Since Red is the organizer of their group, it makes sense that he knows who everyone is.

Dejà-Vu

I found that the scene where Tom is held hostage on an island by his kidnappers is a lot like Book 19 because in that story (spoilers), Tom is held at a cabin and sneaks away, only to end up back at the cabin because he tried to escape at night and got confused. While the scene is dressed up differently and one of the kidnappers likes Tom and is decent towards him, it just struck me as an old idea recycled; it was different, but not enough for me. (Maybe there's a formula to this series?)

A Death Wish

Tom is back home from being with kidnappers on an island for days and he decides to be in an evacuated area where a flood from the Assiniboine could flood at any moment. He's there because he "doesn't want to miss the excitement." He knowingly puts himself in harm's way AND it has nothing to do with a case. Additionally, Tom walks for a few blocks and conveniently comes across Mr. Stones entering a building.  

Photo by Michael Pfister on Unsplash

Conclusion

This series is much like the classic Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series: there were great as a kid, but now, I see many issues, from unrealistic scenarios to strange behavior to inconsistencies. However, I will continue to find and read the rest of the series because it is enjoyable and Wilson's books are short reads. In comparison to the 19th book I read and reviewed, the quality is about the same since Tom's character didn't evolve across the books.

Check out my other book reviews in the library 

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