A
series of
juvenile mystery novels that started back in
1964 and continued into the
1980s. The Three Investigators were
Jupiter Jones,
Pete Crenshaw, and
Bob Andrews. They operated out of a
seceret hideout located in
Jupiter's
uncle's
junkyard in
Rocky Beach, California.
Jupe was the
chubby smart kid of the group (and a former
child star, incidentally), Pete was the
athletic kid, and Bob was in charge of
records and
research. They were sponsored by
film director Alfred Hitchcock, who paid them for their
stories and
published them in books. After Hitchcock's death, the series changed the references to Hitch to a
generic movie director to avoid dating the books too much. Last time I checked, the series was using the name "
Hector Sebastian" for the boys'
benefactor.
One of the
coolest elements of the
stories was the kids'
hideout, which was an old
trailer completely hidden by piles of
junk. It had a
telephone, miniature
crime lab, and numerous
secret exits. It was a kid's
dream come true (or at least
this kid's
dream come
true).
In fact, it's my
theory that "The Three Investigators" was the ultimate
geek-friendly mystery series. In addition to that gorgeous, high-tech
secret hideout, Jupe was a
chubby,
arrogant smart kid, Bob was a
crippled,
bespectacled researcher, and Pete was an
athletic popular kid who still thought Jupe and Bob were
fun to hang around with. In addition, Jupe had won the services of a
limousine and
chauffeur, and they all got to meet with a hotshot film
director on a regular basis. What did
the Hardy Boys have to compete with? Absolutely nothing.
Encyclopedia Brown could've competed, 'cause he had a cool
nickname and hung out with
a real live girl who could beat up
bullies, but all of his
adventures were local, while the Three Investigators took on more wide-ranging cases.
The Three Investigators got involved in all kinds of different
mysteries, often with
elements that appeared
supernatural until disproved by, usually, Jupiter (Bob and Pete were usually just
along for the ride). Their
books included such
lurid titles as "
The Secret Of Terror Castle", "
The Mystery Of The Green Ghost", "
The Mystery Of The Screaming Clock", and "
The Mystery Of The Shrinking House".
The
authors of the series included
Robert Arthur,
William Arden, and
M. V. Carey.
More info and lots of cool stuff is available at http://www.threeinvestigators.net/