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ls decided that dressing up like a scarecrow would work as polished as ever this seems very slight in comparison to its immediate predecessors and a lot of the detection is left to chance including one rescue of the boys which is almost an with one bound he was free moment this isn t bad and the quick pace helps to paper over some of the cracks but this certainly isn t a strong entry in the series posted by mark west at 23 45 3 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the sinister scarecrow thursday 11 november 2010 the mystery of the deadly double when jupiter is kidnapped by mistake in an attempt by political extremists to unseat the liberal prime minister of nanda an african nation the boys are thrust into a tale of international intrigue aiding two agents from the nandan trade mission it appears that the prime minister s son ian has gone missing he and jupiter are exact doubles apart from one cleverly revealed thing and the kidnappers need him to force his father to stand down this rockets along with some thrilling set pieces the escape by jupiter from his kidnappers being one great characters and a nice nod to the anti apartheid movement and has bob and pete coming out on top in the detection stakes well written gripping stuff highly recommended i love the hardback cover art for this which makes the jones house for me reminiscent of norman bates and they obviously realised they couldn t compete with it for the paperback and so went in a completely different direction see left posted by mark west at 00 04 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the deadly double the mystery of the magic circle the boys are working part time at amigos press run by the smart but clumsy beefy tremayne he s just taken receipt of the potentially explosive memoirs of madeline bainbridge an actress from hollywood s golden era who might or might not have been a witch when the amigos offices are burned down the memoirs stolen and bainbridge s films snatched from a tv studio next door it s up to the boys to get to the bottom of things starting with a bang this has a terrific pace and is a real page turner with some great supporting characters and a nostalgic appreciation for old hollywood the boys interplay was excellent the plot was watertight and some of the set pieces were inspired this is great fun and a terrific read very highly recommended the format b version which is the one i have the same story a completely different selling point i like both to be honest but my trusty paperback was the first time i got a chance to read the book and so it remains my favourite posted by mark west at 00 03 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the magic circle wednesday 10 november 2010 the mystery of the headless horse the boys help out a school friend diego alvaro and stumble across a centuries old mystery involving a missing jewel encrusted sword encountering bush fire sinister cowboys and savage dogs along the way briskly told and very well constructed as with all arden stories this suffered for me in that the location which was key had to be explained at length and it felt dry and uninvolving it also hinges on the fact that the mystery is solved essentially by the weather with mudslides showing the way there was a lot to like especially that the boys are helped out by prof marcus moriarty a nice link back to the sherlock holmes connections of the earlier arthur written books and the atmosphere is good especially the rain and chill in the air but i found myself distracted and unable to picture the scene properly for a lot of the outdoor stuff recommended nonetheless but not prime arden posted by mark west at 23 58 9 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the headless horse the mystery of the dancing devil one of my all time favourites this has one of the best opening sequences in the series excepting perhaps green ghost as the boys discover a series of thefts on pete s block after a nicely done stake out very atmospheric with the fog that enshrouds everything they re on the trail of the dancing devil a fabulous statue that seems to be guarded by a spirit a cracking and not a little frightening central image some very nicely done set pieces and a good pace the only issue i had was that a section in the middle reminded me of phantom lake a curio shop and getting trapped on a boat having said that this is terrific fun and well worth a read posted by mark west at 23 57 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the dancing devil the mystery of death trap mine teaming up again with allie from singing serpent the boys travel to her uncle s christmas tree farm in new mexico which is close to an abandoned mine the death trap of the title local boy made good thurgood has re opened the mine then allie and the boys find a dead body in there and clues start to pop up that indicate the corpse might have been involved in an armoured car robbery this is really good fun with a smart mystery at the centre of it a good pace and excellent use of some wonderfully realised locations the characters are strong and work well together and allie as always fits in nicely really enjoyable and very highly recommended out of sequence because i m saving the invisible dog to read during christmas week 2010 posted by mark west at 23 55 8 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of death trap mine the mystery of the dead man s riddle dingo towne a local character has died and instead of a regular will he s set a series of riddles with the winner taking his fortune hired by dingo s daughter in law to try and solve the riddles the boys have to compete with nasty english relatives skinny norris and treasure hunters a very sturdy mystery well constructed with clever clues this is a cracking adventure with good action nifty set pieces the river boat and climax especially and a lot of different locations in and around rocky beach it also has a very winning character in billy towne dingo s 8 year old nephew who is well written and good fun one of the series highlights very much recommended posted by mark west at 23 53 12 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the dead man s riddle the secret of the haunted mirror quite by chance the three investigators encounter mrs darnley and her house filled with mirrors including the goblin glass which appears to be cursed by an embittered sorcerer filled with some genuinely spooky moments a cracking mystery and great and often larger than life characters this is a storming entry into the series and has everything you want from a three investigator book all of the lads get a chance to shine the writing is top notch and the ending highlights jupe s deductive powers to a tee well worth a read this is one of the best of the series posted by mark west at 23 51 3 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the secret of the haunted mirror the mystery of monster mountain hans konrad travel up to sky village to stay with their cousin anna and the boys tag along for a camping trip however it s soon obvious that everything isn t as it should be never one of my favourites with this re read i ve revised that opinion slightly it s well written fast paced and has some nice interplay between the boys however the main mystery not the title one has such a preposterous explanation that it does feel very contrived whilst the monster obviously the big draw title and artwork has only the most minor part to play not as bad as i remembered it this is far from the worst tti book and is worth a read posted by mark west at 23 39 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of monster mountain the secret of phantom lake well i started my reading year with a cracker here the boys are on a buying trip with aunt mathilda when they run into java jim who desperately wants an old chest belonging to angus gunn he had a house on phantom lake and it was rumoured he d buried treasure on the property but no one has ever found it taking in a ghost town a trip to real locations i discovered in santa barbara and several cases of mistaken identity this is a cracking adventure told with flair and originality from start to finish there s good interplay between the boys including a couple of comedy moments it s a good mystery there s a great atmosphere the use of christmas lights plus the weather and there s a nicely spooky sequence amongst the cypress trees on cabrillo island very much recommended posted by mark west at 23 36 3 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the secret of phantom lake the mystery of the shrinking house the boys are in the right place at the right time when accompanying uncle titus on a buying trip they chase an intruder seen racing away from a house in a canyon the house was occupied by an artist and following his death three people suddenly appear in rocky beach who are very keen on him and his paintings which might or might not lead to a long lost masterpiece as tightly plotted and well written as all arden s books are this is quite dry but still entertaining with all three lads having a clear role to play the supporting characters are well rounded and all serve a purpose and there s some nice interaction with uncle titus the hitchcock intro is odd though with the master director suddenly having an attitude similar to the one he had on terror castle the cover art for the hardback clearly represents the title which is misleading in itself there isn t actually a house that shrinks at all and so for the paperbacks other aspects were played up as seen here in the 1983 edition posted by mark west at 21 26 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the shrinking house the mystery of the singing serpent this is great fun and a cleverly plotted mystery allie jameson is a neighbour of the jones her parents are in europe and her aunt is in charge but she s a member of a cult that includes new house guest ariel the boys are drawn in when they witness one of the ritual meetings where the cult invokes the power of belial which appears in smoke as a snake and makes a sound that is singing but not filled with some great set pieces infiltrating the cult s mansion breaking and entering the butlers flat and the bombing of a deli and nice observations the reasons why people are in the cult and what they want out of it this is sharply written with great characterisation and a pace that never flags highly recommended posted by mark west at 21 25 6 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the singing serpent the mystery of the nervous lion the boys are despatched by alfred hitchcock to jungle land where the owner hitchcock s friend jim hall is having trouble with a nervous lion and not just that escaped jungle animals mysterious intruders and a film crew who keep getting in the way also make an appearance i ve always considered this a weak story certainly the weak link in the series and whilst this read disproves that i can see why it was long held viewpoint the central maguffin doesn t stand up to much scrutiny and is quickly and easily explained away and the tale feels padded whilst on the plus side the characterisations are good and we get plenty of uncle titus and aunt mathilda nowhere near the best of the series this is still pretty good fun all the same posted by mark west at 21 23 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the nervous lion the mystery of the flaming footprints during my last read a thon 1993 1995 this book fared worst of all but reading it again 14 years later i think i was a little harsh back then certainly the plot and it s been so long since i read it i d completely forgotten what happens is thin the flaming footprints aren t really explained until much later and there s a lot of coincidence but that s more than made up for in the characterisation the repartee between the investigators though pete gets short changed and the general atmosphere that carey conjures up especially the way she expands rocky beach for the reader essentially the boys are hired to try to find the potter who s run away just as his never seen daughter and grandson appear a happenstance that coincides with new people in town all of whom have an interest in the potter s house i thought this was well written it had some nice little set pieces and it kept my attention so well worth the re appraisal in my opinion posted by mark west at 21 21 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the flaming footprints the mystery of the coughing dragon the boys are hired to find a missing dog but then discover the dogs owner has spotted a coughing dragon coming up the beach in front of his house investigating that the boys discover hidden caves and a long abandoned underground railway before coming face to face with the dragon itself this is preposterous but such good fun that you can forgive the plot holes you d use a dragon for that purpose and the humorous interplay between the boys is superb the dialogue here in fact is probably some of the best in the series with a limited cast and well realised and used locations this is real treat highly recommended posted by mark west at 21 15 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels the mystery of the coughing dragon the secret of the crooked cat a superb entry in the series this has a deceptively simple plot but works in some really good set pieces detection and intrigue along the way the lads are in the right place at the right time to witness a dispute at a local carnival and things quickly escalate from there bad luck a human fly a robbery this has it all there s an underlying pathos to it similar to the freeways in talking skull about the waning carnival life and people wanting something for nothing and coupled with some great imagery the human fly the rotting fairground elevates this into something quite special this also marks the introduction of the tracking devices and features several characters saying the jones salvage yard has everything which i thought was cool highly recommended in addition to being one of my favourites this also has the distinction that each piece of artwork is completely different focussing on a fresh set piece each time the 1973 edition is on the left the 1983 version on the right i love the 1983 editions d...