The Three Investigators

The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first published as "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators". It was created by Robert Arthur, Jr., who believed using a famous person such as movie director Hitchcock would attract attention. Random House, which is owned by Bertelsmann, is the U.S. publisher and still has some of the rights to the books. Other rights are possessed by the heirs of Robert Arthur, Jr. and the German publisher Kosmos. The characters known as the "three investigators" are three boys named Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. Robert Arthur, Jr. died in 1969 and later books in the series were written by several different authors: William Arden, Nick West, M. V. Carey, and Marc Brandel. In 1989, a spin-off series was launched featuring older versions of the boys targeted at a slightly older reading audience: The Three Investigators: Crimebusters. After the original series was discontinued in the United States, the German publisher Kosmos began publishing new written books by German authors. For these books, refer to Die drei Fragezeichen. • The Secret of Terror Castle (1964, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot (1964, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy (1965, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Green Ghost (1965, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure (1966, by Robert Arthur) • The Secret of Skeleton Island (1966, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Fiery Eye (1967, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Silver Spider (1967, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Screaming Clock (1968, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Moaning Cave (1968, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Talking Skull (1969, by Robert Arthur) • The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow (1969, by William Arden) • The Secret of the Crooked Cat (1970, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon (1970, by Nick West) • The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints (1971, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Nervous Lion (1971, by Nick West) • The Mystery of the Singing Serpent (1972, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Shrinking House (1972, by William Arden) • The Secret of Phantom Lake (1973, by William Arden) • The Mystery of Monster Mountain (1973, by M. V. Carey) • The Secret of the Haunted Mirror (1974, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle (1974, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Invisible Dog (1975, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of Death Trap Mine (1976, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Dancing Devil (1976, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Headless Horse (1977, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Magic Circle (1978, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Deadly Double (1978, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Sinister Scarecrow (1979, by M. V. Carey) • The Secret of Shark Reef (1979, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Scar-Faced Beggar (1981, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs (1981, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Purple Pirate (1982, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Wandering Cave Man (1982, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Kidnapped Whale (1983, by Marc Brandel) • The Mystery of the Missing Mermaid (1983, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Two-Toed Pigeon (1984, by Marc Brandel) • The Mystery of the Smashing Glass (1984, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Trail of Terror (1984, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of the Rogues' Reunion (1985, by Marc Brandel) • The Mystery of the Creep-Show Crooks (1985, by M. V. Carey) • The Mystery of Wreckers' Rock (1986, by William Arden) • The Mystery of the Cranky Collector (1987, by M. V. Carey)