The Hardy Girls

The Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson Series

Old Bones (2019)
Scorpion’s Tail (2021)
Diablo Mesa (2022)
Dead Mountain (2023)

By Preston and Child
Grand Central Publishing

My larking about in the high plains of New Mexico tied in perfectly with this series of thrillers from the prolific writing duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. With 34+ titles to their joint credit (and more for each author separately) they are in the league of successful authors whose outputs can be measure in board-feet of shelving in any large library or bookstore. These books, each set in the Southwest, feature Nora Kelly, an experienced archaeologist working out of Santa Fe, and Corrie Swanson, a rookie FBI special agent specializing in forensics based in Albuquerque. I’ve read the first three, devouring them like popcorn, and I am awaiting the fourth title coming in August.

This is formula writing of the highest order. Old Bones starts with Nora getting an opportunity for an interesting project financed by a wealthy history buff interested in the Donner Party. Once at the site they learn that it is only part of a modern plot that is far more shocking and bizarre than mere cannibalism. And when present-day violence related to the Donner story escalates, rookie FBI agent Agent Swanson is assigned the case and the two women form an uneasy partnership. Scorpion’s Tail concerns treasure hunters and Diablo Mesa finds them exploring mysteries surrounding the Roswell UFO crash in 1947.

The books biggest assets are great descriptions of the landscape and setting, exceptional integration of historical events into the plot-line, and a mostly accurate portrayal of the work environments that the two women find themselves in. A downside is that while the books are entertaining, the are really just updated Hardy Boys stories and usually have a cartoon-ish corrupt rich white guy as the villain, often abetted by government ‘black ops’. Another drawback is the romantic liaisons that the female protagonists find themselves attracted to, especially awkward in that Nora and Corrie are each highly competent (and otherwise professional) in their jobs. The Hardy Boys (or Nancy Drew, for that matter) had love interests in their cliff-hangers but somehow managed to refrain from copulation. This pair could be considered the ‘Hardy Girls’ for a new generation.

A marginal recommendation.