The Three Investigators

I just finished reading a 3-in-1 Three Investigators book containing The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints, The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon and The Mystery of the Singing Serpent (books 86-88 of 2009)

Before I even started reading Nancy Drew, I was hooked on the The Three Investigators series, because it was my older sister’s (Tattie’s) favorite series when she was in grade school and she always talked about it.

As soon as I had access to the bigger library (4th grade), I found a whole shelf of the books and I didn’t even have any competition – nobody was checking them out! Nobody my age had even heard about them – the last borrowers were a good five years or so back – and so I was able to read them in order.

I was hooked, and I ended up checking out two or three of them at a time (three was the maximum number we could check out at one time at the library, and I was one of the few girls who were pushing the limit and filling up back to back blue borrower’s cards).

In fact, I ended up reading so many them that my mom had to curtail my reading time to half an hour a night (depending on her mood) and only after I did my homework (and then eventually I was limited to reading ONLY during the weekends; I had a reading ban on weeknights while the rest of my siblings got TV ban and I couldn’t have cared less about the TV). This is, I think, the reason I learned to read fast (and read on a moving vehicle on the way to and from school), to maximize reading time.

Sadly, the library’s collection only ran to #22, and I had to scavenge for the odd volume after that. Then, finally, when I couldn’t find any more Three Investigators, I settled for Nancy Drew (bypassing the usual Bobbsey Twins pre-Nancy Drew stage).

Junior Detectives

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I guess I should explain. The Three Investigators is a mystery series originally created by Robert Arthur (although after #9 other writers wrote the stories and of course it wasn’t as good) in the 60’s. The cases originally contained an introduction by master of horror and mystery Alfred Hitchcock (the series used to be known as Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators and they were filed under Hitchcock in our library), and then somewhere along the way, the duty was taken up by (fictional) retired detective turned writer Hector Sebastian.

The series features three thirteen year-old boys from Rocky Beach, California. “The First Investigator,” aka the ringleader and the brains of the outfit is the chubby Jupiter “Jupe” Jones an ex-child actor (known as Baby Fatso), orphaned and living with his aunt Mathilda and uncle Titus at The Jones Salvage Yard. He is sort of a junior Sherlock Holmes (like Sherlock he often holds out about the case until he has the solution figured out), possessing superior logic, an extensive vocabulary, and a bit of sensitivity about his weight.

Next is the “Second Investigator” Pete Crenshaw, who is tall, muscular, and athletic. He is often the most reluctant to get into a case, and he scares easily, but is always reliable and has a great sense of humor that makes the series twice as fun.

Finally, there is “Records and Research” Bob Andrews, who is small and wiry (he grows up to be a hunk, and a ladies’ man, according to the Three Investigators Case Files). Bob works part-time at the library and has a newspaper journalist for a dad, so he often uncovers information they need for the case.

Using the three question marks (the universal symbol of the unknown, according to Jupe) as their logo and “We investigate anything” as their slogan, the Three Investigators have no trouble finding cases (or as Pete would say, they have no trouble finding Jupe), most of which are related to old Hollywood, as Rocky Beach is right outside the city of the stars, or to the oddities that turn up at The Jones Salvage Yard.

The best part about the team, I think (and I always look forward to the part describing it) is their headquarters, an old 30-foot trailer hidden among the heaps of junk in the salvage yard, that the boys have converted into an office. A cast iron grate propped up against a workbench behind an old printing press led to Tunnel Two, a corrugated iron pipe padded with bits of carpet, which in turn led to a trapdoor in the trailer, which the boys had kitted out with a printing press, a typewriter, filing cabinets, a dark room, fingerprinting equipment, a periscope that warned them of approaching people, and a telephone that they paid off by helping out at the junkyard. The boys also set up also four secret entrances to the Salvage Yard (including Green Gate One and Red Gate Rover) that the Three Investigators used to slip in and out undetected (to avoid Aunt Mathilda sending them off to polish yet another piece of junk).

I love the series because the mysteries are always interesting, the stories fast-paced and action-packed, and the solutions always logical. I also like the different personalities of the boys and the camaraderie between them, as well as the various other memorable characters: Alfred Hitchcock, Hector Sebastian, Uncle Titus and Aunt Mathilda, Sebastian’s manservant Hoang Van Don, their nemesis Skinny Norris, yard helpers Hans and Konrad, the chauffeur Worthington , police chief Reynolds, and the mynah Blackbeard.

There is also the nostalgia factor for me, as this series introduced me to the mystery genre, which is still one of my favorites to this day.

I’m currently in the process of completing the Three Investigators (the main series only, not the case files), and it hasn’t been easy because they don’t turn up a lot and I want the trade paperbacks at least (hardcovers are quite rare). At 12 (1, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, 33, 39, 41) out of over 40 books, I’m still a long way away, but I’m having a lot of fun hunting them down.

I’ve discovered this great fansite at http://threeinvestigatorsbooks.com, which helps fans like me identify their editions, and basically just get their fill of the mystery series.

And there is a 2007 German-made film (the trailer below is in German) that never got to this country, of course, but I hope I get to watch this in English soon.

***
My copy: Armada 3-in-1 Three Investigators, mass market paperback

My rating: The Flaming Footprints, 4/5 stars, The Coughing Dragon 5/5 stars, the Singing Serpent, 4/5 stars