Alfred Hitchcock and the 3 Investigators by Robert Arthur

A Word from Alfred Hitchcock WARNING! Proceed with Caution! THE ABOVE WARNING is meant for you if you are of a nervous nature, inclined to bite your fingernails when meeting adventure, danger, and suspense. However, if you relish such ingredients in a story, with a dash of mystery and detection thrown in for good measure, then keep right on going.

I had read some good things about this series so I thought I would try one. This one title was on kindle for $3.99 so I thought I’d give it a whirl. The books are really rather expensive, so unless they put quite a few more on kindle, this will probably be my last of this series as well as the first. It was a good little mystery aimed for 9 or 10-year-old boys. Definitely a younger audience than my favorite juvenile series, Judy Bolton. In addition to the decent mystery as well as the boys hunting and finding gold doubloons (always a welcome ingredient), there was some good humor and cute banter between the boys.
Also, it had some good messages about prejudice against immigrants.

“Chris didn’t seem like a thief to us, Dad,” Pete put in. “He seemed like an all-right kid. He has a sick father to help, and he sails round looking for washed-up treasure, but that’s nothing against him.” “The boy’s right,” Chief Nostigon agreed. “I know Chris has a bad reputation, but he’s a foreigner and most folks in this town are pretty clannish. They’re ready to believe anything bad of a foreigner.” “Just the same, I have my suspicions of him,” Mr. Crenshaw declared. “Now that I think of it, it could easily be a boy stealing our equipment. Maybe he’s hoping to sell it to help his father.”

And this is from the father of one of the investigators and supposedly a “good guy.”

“Gosh, I was hoping we could persuade them Chris didn’t do anything,” Pete said. “But they won’t even listen.” “Adults don’t like to listen to kids when their minds are made up,” Bob observed.

So true, Bob. Except people don’t like to listen to anyone when their minds are made up. As true then as it is now. **3 out of 5 stars**

April 20,2021