Det grønne spøgelse

by Robert Arthur

Hardcover, 1980

Status

Available

Call number

813.52

Library's review

USA, Californien, ca 1970
Indeholder kapitlerne "Alfred Hitchcock: Advarsel til læseren!", "1. Det grønne spøgelse skriger", "2. Bob og Pete indkaldes som vidner", "3. Det skjulte rum", "4. En uventet telefonopringning", "5. Spøgelset viser sig igen", "6. Alarmerende begivenheder", "7. Jupiter
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drager slutninger", "8. Forsvundet!", "9. En desperat flugt", "10. Fanget!", "11. En formue i et kranium", "12. Mødet med mr. Won", "13. 'Jeg skal have de perler'", "14. En skæbnesvanger beslutning", "15. Jupiter finder et spor", "16. En ulyksalig opdagelse", "17. Det mystiske 39", "18. Jupiter maner et spøgelse frem".

De tre drenge Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw og Bob Andrews holder meget til på en genbrugsplads / skrammelplads / ophugger, som ejes af Jupiters onkel og tante. De har lavet en klub eller detektivbureau, De Tre Detektiver, som med succes har opklaret nogle sager og Alfred Hitchcock har skænket dem sin bevågenhed.
De kommer forbi et forladt hus, kaldet Greenhuset, da der lyder et uhyggeligt skrig. De har en båndoptager med og støder på nogle mænd i nærheden, der går med dem ind i huset, som man samme dag er begyndt på at rive ned. For 50 år siden faldt Mathias Green ned ad trappen og knækkede halsen. Nu er de seks eller syv mænd og drengene vidne til et grønt spøgelse, der bevæger sig lidt rundt inden det forsvinder ind i en væg.
Det viser sig også senere for politiinspektør Reynolds, der derfor ikke bare kan afskrive det som syner og det sker endda ovenpå Mathias Greens gravmæle. Næste undersøges huset, der er ved at blive revet ned. Man finder et skjult rum med en kiste og skelettet af Greens kinesiske hustru. En Harold Carlson er med på familiens vegne og finder i kisten en perlekæde af såkaldte spøgelsesperler. Mathias Green var i sin tid netop flygtet fra Kina fordi han havde taget de perler. Den eneste nulevende slægtning er en miss Lydia Green, der ejer Verdant Valley Vingården ved San Francisco. Hun inviterer Bob og Pete på besøg, for spøgelset er dukket op i hendes soveværelse.
De ankommer pr fly og bliver hentet af en ung dreng Charles Green, bedre kendt som Chang. Her er Harold Carlson også til stede og Lydia går ovenpå for at hvile sig, da hun igen ser spøgelset og skriger op. Hun mener at det må være tegn på Mathias' spøgelse er sur over at huset er blevet solgt.
Harold og Chang er mere bange for at spøgelset skal skræmme arbejdere væk fra vingården, så de går konkurs. Men det viser sig at det er Harold, der står bag spøgelset. Han vil have vingården for sig selv og har fået hjælp af en lyssky hjælper Jensen, der skræmmer arbejderne væk og ødelægger ting, så vingårdens økonomi bliver trængt. Jensen prøver også at udnytte Harold og spøgelsesperlerne er efterstræbt af en hovedrig og meget gammel kineser, mr. Won. Drengene afslører ved et tilfælde at Jensen har hugget spøgelsesperlerne og de kommer i en farlig situation, da han forfølger dem og Chang. Pete gemmer perlerne i et æselkranie i en gammel mine, men da de skal hentes igen, er der faldet en sten ned og har knust både kranie og perler.
Spøgelset er manet frem med en lille miniprojektor og politiinspektør Reynolds er ret lettet over ikke at skulle jagte spøgelser mere, så han giver Jupiter, Pete og Bob hver et kort, hvor han anerkender dem som frivillig junior-politiassistent og beder om at man hjælper dem, hvis de henvender sig.

Jeg kan huske at jeg har læst den her som barn og syntes at den var sej. 50 år senere er den bare hurtigt læst, men skruet godt sammen.
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Publication

[Kbh.] Lademann [1980]

Description

The Three Investigators become entangled in the theft of a string of rare pearls and a fraudulent scheme involving family inheritance when they try to solve the mystery of a ghost's appearance in the old Green Mansion.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Neale
Certainly my favorite 3 Investigators book. its a great read, I've read it many times.
LibraryThing member Marcel1972
A great, easy to read book.
LibraryThing member burnit99
The fourth in one of my favorite childhood series, Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, in which our intrepid trio attempts to figure out why a mysterious green ghost is popping up in certain places, and to what purpose. A variety of suspenseful events ensue, including being chased by
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villains through a deserted mine, and being kidnapped by a 107-year-old Chinese rich man. Except for a sort-of-talking dog and dumb humor, the style here reminds me quite a bit of the Scooby-Doo plots, except this series is miles better.
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LibraryThing member rosalita
Two of the Three Investigators — teenage boys Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw, their ringleader Jupiter Jones busy with other duties — are scoping out a deserted mansion that is scheduled for demolition. Legend says the house is haunted by its last owner, Matthias Green, who married a princess in
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China and fled to California with her and a purloined string of priceless pearls, but ended up dead the foot of the stairs in his great mansion.

Bob is making a tape recording of their investigation when they hear a scream coming from the house. A group of neighborhood who happened to be passing by (yeah, right) also hear the scream, and convince the boys to join them in a search of the house. They don't find the source of the scream but they do spot a strange green ghost who floats about here and there and eventually disappears through a wall. The ghost, to no one's surprise, seems to resemble old man Green.

It's not so easy for the police to dismiss this as the overactive imaginations of children because the men saw and heard the same thing. And the ghost makes further appearances through the night around town, including in a graveyard where it's observed by the chief of police, who really does not want to admit he saw a ghost. That makes him more open than usual to enlisting the Three Investigators' help to find out what's really going on, especially after the body of Matthias Green's wife, who was presumed to have fled back to China after her husband's untimely death, is found walled up in a secret room of the mansion, wearing the priceless pearls.

The investigation takes Bob and Pete to San Francisco, where a descendant of Matthias Green owns a vineyard and wants the boys' help to protect the pearls. The vineyard turns out be a a satisfying setting for all sorts of adventurous capers, from roaming around in underground mine shafts to being kidnapped by Chinese gangsters, before Jupiter gallops (well, lumbers) in to solve the case and rescue his friends.

It was strange to have Jupiter, the "chunky but brainy" one, in such a secondary role, as if he were the star of a TV series taking time off to have a baby or something. But the action sequences hit all the right notes and Bob especially gets his chance to shine. I might quibble with why the book cover depicts the ghostly Green as a Chinese man when the story plainly states he is an American who married a Chinese princess, but if you're reading these books for their historical accuracy you're probably not reading these books, if you know what I mean.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1965

Physical description

155 p.; 20.4 cm

ISBN

8715035239 / 9788715035234

Local notes

Omslag: J. B. Penalva
Omslaget viser et grønt spøgelse, der ligner en kineser. I forgrunden ses tre drenge
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "The Mystery of the Green Ghost" af Mette Nissen
Lademann - Alfred Hitchcock og De tre Detektiver, bind 14

Other editions

Pages

155

Library's rating

Rating

½ (113 ratings; 3.8)

DDC/MDS

813.52
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