<DIV>Were Franklin Dixon and Carolyn Keene indeed the mysterious authors of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books? Or just made-up names? In Mystery Box Gordon McAlpine masterfully invents the world as it might have been if Frank and Carol had met among the glittering expatriates in 1920s Paris. Frank is a private detective, hunting not only for missing heiresses and stolen jewels but also for answers to his painful past. Carolyn, meanwhile, works for a fashion magazine, yearning to know both how to write for real and how to forgive a world full of betrayal and disillusionment. With the friendship, wit, and wisdom of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein, Frank and Carolyn find each other — and the truths contained in their soon-to-be-written fictions. Mystery Box guides readers through layers on layers of mystery, history, and romance. Finally teenagers can enjoy a favorite fictional world reimagined and reinvented.</div>