THE THREE QUESTION MARKS...

The very first Three Investigators adventure I ever read

I first encountered ALFRED HITCHCOCK & The THREE INVESTIGATORS in 1969 or '70, in a book called The MYSTERY Of The GREEN GHOST which I'd borrowed from my neighbourhood library.  Read it, enjoyed it, then forgot all about it.  Until, that is, a friend told me around a year or so later about a series of books he was reading starring the same three teenage amateur detectives, enthusing wildly about JUPITER JONES, PETE CRENSHAW and BOB ANDREWS and the adventures they became involved in.

The atmospheric endpapers in the hardback editions

I don't quite remember whether I was aware, from my first encounter, that there was a series of books about the three lads, but I soon started reading the other ones and very much enjoyed them.  I have a vague recollection of beginning one book in one house and finishing it in another (after flitting in '72), as my memory seems to jump between each house whenever I think of the book.  It may have been The MYSTERY Of The FLAMING FOOTPRINTS, or The NERVOUS LION, but I'm no longer certain.

Around 15 years later, I re-read the Green Ghost adventure, and it was almost as if I was back in the house I'd lived in when I first read it, so strong were the images in my memory that were revived upon that second reading.  It's now been twice that span again (30 years) and I really must revisit my past by reading it once more sometime soon.  ROBERT ARTHUR Jr. created the characters in the early '60s and wrote quite a few of the early stories, then oversaw and edited the tales (some of which he suggested) of other contributing writers.

The first Three Investigators adventure

The kids were aged around 13 in the first series of 43 books (1964- '87), but a couple of years later, in 1989, a new series started, in which the three males were 'matured' to around 17 or 18, and mystery writer HECTOR SEBASTIAN was now their new mentor, who usually opened and closed each tale.  (Alfred Hitchcock last appeared in book 30.)  Robert Arthur's heirs objected to the new stories, and legal disagreements between them and the publishers put them on hold in 1990, after only 13 new exploits.

I haven't read all of the books in either series, and although they fall under the category of 'juvenile fiction', they also qualify as 'adult friendly' for grown-ups looking for diverting mysteries, free from sex, swearing or sadism.  If you've never read one before, why not give them a try?  If you've previously read one in your youth, you shouldn't need much persuading in getting re-acquainted.

Ah, happy memories.  I think I can see what I'm going to start collecting next.

As mentioned, I re-read The Green Ghost in 1985, in a paperback edition, below.