Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Singing Serpent (Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, Bk 17)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been over twenty years since I last read a book of this series. My youngest son handed it to me to read, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. It was great to be reunited with the brilliant Jupiter Jones, the resilient Peter Crenshaw, and the tough Bob Andrews (the 3 Investigators).

For all of my enjoyment why did I give it only 4 stars? Well, I've progressed to Agatha Christie, Leslie Charteris, Rex Stout, et al, in my adult years and, even though thoroughly enjoying reminiscing with this book, it still remains geared for pre-teen sensibilities and is slightly childish.

But healthy adulthood requires a nice dose of the childish from time to time. Read it, or one of the others in the series, and give your sanity time to recharge.

M.V. Carey has another strong outing. The story is well written and suspenseful although there is really not much of a mystery here. Still, the guys have to do a lot of impressive legwork and take considerable risks. There is even a rare (for juvenile mysteries) case of a gun being fired at our heroes. The story relies heavily on supernatural elements and themes, although like Scooby Doo everything is explained in naturalistic terms by the end. Author Carey really seems to enjoy using this approach.

But the real topper is the boys' client, Allie Jamison. Of an age with the boys, she brings in much tension, humor, and is well characterized. Carey would bring her back in a future story.

All in all, one of the better Three Investigator books which is saying quite a lot.