#13 The Borgia Dagger

[tomswift2002]

Published: March 1988
Author: Peter Lerangis

Plot: Frank and Callie are out for a picnic when they hear a man screaming the opening lines to Shakespeare's famous soliloquy, found in Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1: To be or Not to be.  Racing toward's the man, they see that he is about to commit suicide, which Frank prevents.

Later, as Frank and Callie are taking the man home, they are nearly run off the road by a driver driving on the wrong-side of the road.  However, the driver of the other car, Tessa Carpenter, blames Callie for not being in the correct lane.  Tessa was on her way to the Bayport Museum, and once there a major brawl breaks-out between Tessa's movers and the curator.  Sixty-percent of the museum's displays were loaned to the museum 30 years before by Tessa's grandfather, and now she wants the collection back.

Review:  I'm just starting this one.  I remember reading the book years ago, but I don't really remember the details, except for one scene where Callie and Frank plow into the middle of a movie shoot. 

Some interesting things in the early chapters:

-Joe doesn't show up till the end of Chapter 2.  Frank and Callie are the main characters for the first 2 Chapters.
-Callie says that it is June, which would mean that The Borgia Dagger takes place 6 months after Perfect Getaway.
-6 months later and Frank is still "jumpy" from chasing the guerrillas in Central America.

[tomswift2002]

Page 112 gives us an interesting look at just how advanced the Hardy's van was for the 1980's.  It is mentioned that the van has a digital speedometer, which was higher end for vehicles back in the 80's.  Most vehicles just had analog speedometers and dashboards in the 80's. 

Also, I'm finding it interesting just how many people in this book are walking around with "mobile phones".  If this book was reprinted nowadays Simon & Schuster would just need to replace "mobile phone" with "cell phone" and the book would fit right in.  "Mobile phones" is a very 80's term, although Tessa Carpenter has one (not unexpected, as she's described as having been born with a silver spoon in her mouth) and the Hardy's apparently have 2 in this book---one for both Frank and Joe. 

[tomswift2002]

Just finished the book.  This was definitely a Frank and Callie book.  Sure Joe was in it, but he didn't get a lot of the attention, since there was a plotline involving Frank and Callie's romance. 

As I was reading the book I was remembering my previous reads and the main bad guy really stuck out during this re-read, and I was disappointed that this was one of those stories where the bad guy was known from early on and the Hardy's were interacting with them. 

Also the book should've had an Epilogue, as Chapter 18 has two different moments in time.  Chapter 18a takes place in June during the rest of the book, while Chapter 18B takes place 4 months later in late-October when the boys are at the Bayport Mall shopping for Halloween candy.

Rating: 7.0 out 10

(Looking back at the "Top Ten Casefiles" topic, I see that I listed this book as #45 on my list, just behind #44 Perfect Getaway).