The Hobbit Is a Mystery if You Squint Real Hard, or How a Teenager Learned to Like Wizards as Much as the Hardy Boys

Abstract: “ The Hobbit Is a Mystery if You Squint Real Hard, or How a Teenager Learned to Like Wizards as much as The Hardy Boys ” is a short reflection on a what Tolkien’s book meant to a reader who grew up mostly on mysteries. McGee read the book for the first time in college and recalls an instance when he spoke about the book in a freshman writing course. McGee considers how The Hobbit employs a few mystery conventions—secrets hidden in caves, a wise Holmes-adjacent wizard—that transcend the fantasy genre. And he writes on how the heist narrative appealed to him on subsequent readings.