I loved Danny Dunn too, but I wonder if the reason they’re out of print is because they were based on science and might be too dated for today’s kids? It’s been a long time since I read them so I could be wrong about that, but it’s a thought. One of my favorite was “Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy,” where they used the tiny controllable dragonfly robot to simulate “invisibility.” I think that one would still hold up today.
Another mystery series I loved was Trixie Belden. Like I did with the Three Investigators and their Headquarters, I longed to be part of a close-knit group of friends who solved mysteries, had fun riding horses, swimming in the lake, and just generally being “normal” kids (albeit some with a lot of money), and were good kids without being goody two-shoes.
I enjoyed Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, but never identified with either of them or wanted their situations. Maybe it was because they were older, or too removed from being normal kids.
I read those for a while and liked them but they were part of the two most disappointing Christmas situations of my childhood.
We were relatively poor, large family, small house and Dad would take us to a Christmas Eve church service and Santa would visit while we were out. One year I got two TTI books and before going to sleep I had read both. I woke up on Christmas Day with nothing new except some clothing items. The other disappointment was a few years later when Santa didn’t realize I’d outgrown those books and brought me a couple more.
Of course, if those are the two most disappointing, I guess others had much worse childhoods.
I just went thru some of my old childhood books and found 11 different “The Three Investigators” paperbacks, all in pretty good condition (I am surprised that I didn’t have more, because I sure read a lot more than 11 of them as a kid) and as it looks like children will probably not be in the cards anytime soon, (I havent even had a date for a while ;)) if any Doper parents want to introduce their kids to Jupiter, Pete and Bob you are welcome to them, on me…
I don’t know what postage would be, but if someone is interested, I will be happy to pass along some books I really loved when I was a youngster.
PS—If anyone cares about specific titles, PM me and I will tell you what I have.
Another “Three Investigators” fan, also the Hardy Boys, Danny Dunn, The Marvelous Inventions Of Alvin Fernald, The Mad Scientist’s Club and a rare one, “The Thinking Machine” (IIRC there was only one book of three short stories).
Not to hijack the thread, but wasn’t there another similar mystery series with a group of 5? It wasn’t by Hitch and I remember reading them in the late 70’s/early 80s.
The Fantastic Five?
Anyway, I was never a huge Three Investigators fan. I read them, but preferred the Hardy Boys. In fact, a few years ago, I reread most of the Hardy Boys. I grew up with the blue binder ones. I finally read a few of the non-politically correct ones when they were released again.
No it wasn’t the theif. It was Bob. I also remember that this was the one where I was introduced to the Iron Maiden.
I loved these books…these and Trixie Belden rocked. Hated Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys.
I also liked Danny Dunn, Encyclopedia Brown, and quite a few of the Enid Blyton titles, but I never could get into the Hardy Boys. I think they were too old, didn’t act like kids and the prose was rather dry.
One of my favorite lines in literature occurs in a Three Investigators book. I forget the title – it might have been “The Mystery of the Green Ghost.” At any rate, Jupiter has been captured by the bad guy, and is tied to a chair. Pete and Bob are outside the room, but they can’t get in; the door is locked, or something.
Jupiter begins rocking back and forth in the chair, trying to get loose. Pete and Bob hear the noise, and ask Jupiter what’s going on.
He says, “I am fighting an enraged chair, and the chair is winning.”
I only read the first one, but just the mention of tTI brings it all flooding back. Something about a haunted house, with a retired silent movie actor with a machete and a squeaky voice, and a subsonic scare machine or organ or something.
They supposedly blackmailed Alfred Hitchcock into writing the intro somehow or other, that I have forgotten - anyone remember?
I read all the Three Investigators I could get my hands on. I checked most out from the school library, but I have a copy of “The Secret of the Haunted Mirror.” The cover freaked me out a bit as a kid.
I didn’t like The Hardy Boys as well, they seemed like rich jocks and so many of the books were basically the same (I guess the same could be said for The Three Investigators.)
Everything I ever knew about Cockney rhyming slang I learned in “The Mystery of the Dead Man’s Riddle.” That and the urban myth about the origin of “posh.”
I devoured every Three Investigators book I could get my hands on. I started with The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot only because none of the libraries had a copy of The Secret of Terror Castle. After reading plenty of them, I realized I’d never actually read the one where they won use of the limo. I ended up having to buy The Mystery of the Fiery Eye and I think I still have it.
I was so inspired by the series that I decided I could write one. I decided my plot would revolve around Jupiter running into his doppelgänger. A couple chapters in, the library finally purchased a copy of The Mystery of the Deadly Double. So much for that manuscript I did buy the book and can see it on my bookcase from here.
I enjoyed a lot of them, but one really really bothers me, to this day even. The Mystery of the Invisible Dog dealt with the disappearance of a crystal dog statue. It turned out it was…
… at the bottom of the pool, since no one could see the crystal in the water.
They figured this out from information from a guy who was doing transcendental meditation to induce an out-of-body experience, and ended up remote viewing it. So, the Investigators asked, what was his trick? No trick, they decided: It was real parapsychology at work. Very disappointing.
After “growing up”, my favorite mystery series became Nero Wolfe. Looking at it now, I see a few similarities: The overweight super-smart detective, the athletic wise-cracking sidekick, the research and records guy (somewhat done by Lon Cohen), and servant-like character. Coincidence?
And now, everytime I go to Disneyland, I always remember how Bob and Pete convinced Jupiter to “just wing it”, instead of going by his very efficient plan. And how I wish I had his plan.
And I’m wrong, there were a whole bunch of “The Thinking Machine” stories which are available online (the author, Jacques Futrelle, died on the Titanic).
I believe this is in The Mystery of the Fiery Eye, and I believe that **JJ **states that he is winning, not the chair. The Mystery of the Fiery Eye is also the one, mentioned several times in this thread, where Jupiter tries the “thirty days of twenty-four hours each” scam, and it is August August, the owner of the ruby (the Fiery Eye), who uses the proceeds from its sale to secure use of the limousine (and driver!) for some time to come. (August is your name, August is your fame, and in August is your fortune!) The Fiery Eye was probably my favorite one, followed by Dead Man’s Riddle.
I loved these books. I also read some Nancy Drew but never really got into it.
I did buy the book and can see it on my bookcase from here.