Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in The Mystery of the… (udgave 1966)

I was a big fan of the Three Investigators as a kid, and now my own kids have enjoyed reading them as well. I tried reading a couple of Hardy Boy mysteries when I was young, but found them uninteresting in comparison. Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews always had much more interesting cases to solve and they seemed more like real kids than the Hardy Boys.

While visiting a local museum the lights go out and a jewel-encrusted belt is discovered missing. Jupiter forwardly offers the assistance of the Three Investigators, but of course is turned away. But Alfred Hitchcock calls with another case - an elderly friend who is seeing gnomes (she had written and illustrated books with gnomes before she retired). It's not the high-profile case the boys would like but it sounds interesting. But when the boys start seeing the gnomes too, they stumble into an even bigger mystery and wind up tangled in a situation more dangerous than they could have imagined.

The connections between the two mysteries might feel a bit contrived to an adult but the plot is very clever. Jupiter makes a few mistakes in this fifth book in the series but he always manages to figure everything out in the end. And the stories are never condescending toward the adults in them, even though Jupiter usually outwits them in the end. This is a great series for kids who aren't the most eager readers. ( )

The fifth in the "Three Investigators" series, in which Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews (maybe twelve years of age?) solve two mysteries at once when they help an old friend of Alfred Hitchcock's (their sponsor, sort of) deal with an invasion of gnomes at her old mansion, and a priceless gold and jewel encrusted ancient belt is stolen from a museum. I've loved these adventures as a boy, considering them far superior to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and am really enjoying re-reading them after nearly fifty years since I happened across a cache of them at an estate sale. ( )

A great story as always with a realistic problem to solve. ( )

A simple, easy to read mystery. ( )

Alfred Hitchcock dedica su atención a los jóvenes, ofreciendoles una serie de novelas de acción. Los adolescentes, al leer las aventuras de Alfred Hitchcock y los tres investigadores se sienten incorporados al formidable equipo de Júpiter Jones, pete Crenshaw y Bod Andrews. Junto a ellos practican métodos deductivos que agilizan sus mentes, vencen el miedo a lo desconocido, luchan por causas justas y gozan el placer de ser útiles a sus semejantes. ( )