The Secret of the Old Mill

The Secret of the Old Mill is the third book in The Hardy Boys original series. It was written by Charles Leslie McFarlane, who was a Canadian journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is most famous for ghostwriting many of the early books in Hardy Boys series, using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon. In 1959 this book was revised by Harriet S. Adams, as a result its plot was significantly rewritten.

A lot of stories about the young detectives of the Hardy brothers were written by the same authors who invented the famous detective Nancy Drew. TV series and computer games were made based on the Hardy Brothers books.

The book ranks 86th on the Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List in the United States.

Frank and Joe help prevent 14-year-old cyclist Ken Blake from getting killed in an accident. As they help the boy up they see he is delivering an envelope to Victor Peters, a name that means something to the Hardys later on in the book.

The Hardys learn that their friend Chet Morton has been tricked when asked to make change for what turned out to be a counterfeit twenty dollar bill, something that the police later confirm is becoming more common in their town of Bayport...