Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar (Three Investigators)

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This installment of The Three Investigators Mystery Series is the first after the death of Alfred Hitchcock, ostensibly the boys' mentor (in the original run of the series). M. V. Carey introduces the reader to the fictional Hector Sebastian, initially a suspect in a bank robbery who eventually proves above-board and famous enough as a writer and movie mogul to fill the role. The transition is sensitive and complete. It is also absolutely necessary, since it opens the series to the future; after all, in 2002, no teenager could ever visit Alfred Hitchcock in his movie studio office.

The story has strong characterizations, vivid settings, surprising twists, hard-core detective work, a touch of the supernatural, and a thrilling climax, all told with enthusiasm and imagination. This installment, along with the rest of the series, will hold any young reader's attention. I read it over and over again as a kid, and I've read it aloud with kids recently. It's definitely a keeper.

V.M. Carey has the keys to the kingdom handed to her with this book, and proceeds to run the Three Investigators into the ground. The "Hector Sebastian" invention is pointless and a poor substitute for Hitchcock as a mentor. Carey wrote some good entries in this series--Mystery of the Invisible Dog is an excellent tip of the cap to Conan Doyle--but with Beggar its like she stopped caring. Jupiter Jones, famous for his photographic memory, suddenly starts forgetting crucial bits of information whenever the plot demands ("My brain must be turning into oatmeal" is not a phrase that Jupiter should ever utter, and only shows that Carey knew her writing was getting careless). Series continuity is ignored and discarded. And worst of all, this novel simply doesn't have the wit and gravity of those wonderful entries in the series done by Robert Arthur and William Arden (Dennis Lynds). Scar-Faced Beggar does nothing for the series, other than mark the beggining of the end. Do yourself a favor and stop reading once you get to The Secret of Shark Reef. Anything after that one will just disappoint.