The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure

A simple, easy to read mystery.

A great story as always with a realistic problem to solve.

The fifth in the "Three Investigators" series, in which Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews (maybe twelve years of age?) solve two mysteries at once when they help an old friend of Alfred Hitchcock's (their sponsor, sort of) deal with an invasion of gnomes at her old mansion, and a

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priceless gold and jewel encrusted ancient belt is stolen from a museum. I've loved these adventures as a boy, considering them far superior to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and am really enjoying re-reading them after nearly fifty years since I happened across a cache of them at an estate sale.

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I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to find this as amusing as I did, but I'm several decades past its target demographic. I'd never read a Three Investigators book before and know a few people with fond memories of them, so I wanted to give one a try.

I'm not going to touch on the sheer fantasy of

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what is the foundational premise of the books; they were written to be adventures and mysteries for kids (I use 'kids' as a broad spectrum noun here) and why not make these kids important? Why not give them more parental freedom and the only junk yard in the world that would be fun and safe to play in.

But it was still hilarious. The gnomes, which are probably not PC by today's standards. The Japanese representation, which is definitely not, yet feels innocently done here - yes, the authors' should have been more sensitive, but the kids reading it at the time would likely have read it in total naiveté. I didn't find the Japanese speaking stereotypically funny at all, but I did have a good head shake over it.

Mostly what I found funny were the three boys, and that's just because despite my best efforts, I grew up and can't avoid seeing the playacting taking place. Still, their hideout sounds cool as hell and I loved the Alfred Hitchcock appearances. That man just couldn't stay on the sidelines of anything, could he?

I read this for the Baker Street Irregulars Square in Halloween Bingo.

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The Three Investigators — Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews — are between cases and trying to practice their deduction skills when they visit a museum exhibit of some spectacular jewels from Japan. Of course, while they are there the lights go out and when they come back on, one of

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the most distinctive and valuable works of art (an elaborate gold belt set with huge emeralds) is missing. They try to get the museum curator to hire them to investigate, but he seems unenthused by the notion of hiring three teen-age boys to investigate a multimillion dollar robbery in broad daylight. Some people, amirite?

Jupiter, Pete and Bob do eventually get to the bottom of the case, of course, but not before fulfilling a personal request from their patron, Alfred Hitchcock (yes, that one), who asks them to help an old friend who is being harassed by a gang of garden gnomes. No, really. Stop laughing! I'm serious. And if you don't believe a gang of garden gnomes harassing the friend of a world-famous movie director can't be mixed up with a daring jewel theft in downtown Los Angeles, I can only suggest you visit a mechanic to have your disbelief's suspension repaired.

These books are such goofy fun. I'm sure middle-school Julia enjoyed them at least as much as middle-aged Julia does. They are the perfect reads when I don't want to think too hard about who done it.

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I read a few of these when I was younger and always rather enjoyed them. It's always different reading such stories when you're older but I still really enjoyed this addition to the series.

Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews are three boys who have decided to start a detective agency,

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aptly named The Three Investigators. They use 3 question marks as their symbol and are willing to solve any mystery, riddle or puzzle. Jupiter is the brains of the operation, Pete the muscle and Bob the researcher. The boys have their own secret Headquarters - (a portable office that's been hidden under many piles of junk) that has secret entrances and a phone, use chalk (each boy a different colour) to leave directions, clues and messages to each other - and even a driver (Worthington) with Rolls Royce - courtesy of a competition Jupiter wins to have a chauffeur for 30 days. I'm not sure how long they actually have the car for - I don't think I ever read any without it but I haven't read all of them, so who knows.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure is action packed. There were two mysteries in this one, the theft of the Golden Belt and the gnomes that were harassing Miss Agawam. The Golden Belt is part of an exhibition of fabulous jewels of which the highlight is the Rainbow Jewels. I really enjoyed both elements of the plot. The book begins with Jupiter speculating on how one might steal the Rainbow Jewels. The boys proceed to visit the museum and imagine how they might go about robbing the place blind in order to hone their investigative skills. I didn't quite see all the revelations coming MIDGETS!!! but in hindsight I perhaps should have. The boys add mirrors to their investigating kits and it comes in handy when Bob uses it to scout ahead and sees Jupe and Pete being kidnapped.

Overall, lots of action and adventure with two solid mysteries. I'll definitely be reading (and rereading for some) the rest of the series. 4 stars.

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I read a few of these when I was younger and always rather enjoyed them. It's always different reading such stories when you're older but I still really enjoyed this addition to the series.

Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews are three boys who have decided to start a detective agency,

Show More

aptly named The Three Investigators. They use 3 question marks as their symbol and are willing to solve any mystery, riddle or puzzle. Jupiter is the brains of the operation, Pete the muscle and Bob the researcher. The boys have their own secret Headquarters - (a portable office that's been hidden under many piles of junk) that has secret entrances and a phone, use chalk (each boy a different colour) to leave directions, clues and messages to each other - and even a driver (Worthington) with Rolls Royce - courtesy of a competition Jupiter wins to have a chauffeur for 30 days. I'm not sure how long they actually have the car for - I don't think I ever read any without it but I haven't read all of them, so who knows.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure is action packed. There were two mysteries in this one, the theft of the Golden Belt and the gnomes that were harassing Miss Agawam. The Golden Belt is part of an exhibition of fabulous jewels of which the highlight is the Rainbow Jewels. I really enjoyed both elements of the plot. The book begins with Jupiter speculating on how one might steal the Rainbow Jewels. The boys proceed to visit the museum and imagine how they might go about robbing the place blind in order to hone their investigative skills. I didn't quite see all the revelations coming MIDGETS!!! but in hindsight I perhaps should have. The boys add mirrors to their investigating kits and it comes in handy when Bob uses it to scout ahead and sees Jupe and Pete being kidnapped.

Overall, lots of action and adventure with two solid mysteries. I'll definitely be reading (and rereading for some) the rest of the series. 4 stars.

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