![]() ![]() Apparently the series ended in 1990 due to disagreements with Robert Arthur Jr.’s heirs, who held some rights to the original series. In the U.S., Random House revamped the series in 1989 with the 3 Investigators: Crime Busters, which now had the boys in high school (and driving). Interestingly, the series continued with new works in Germany, where the series was very popular. A 44th volume was being worked on, but it’s unclear if it was completed or just outlined. Random House would soon reissue the earlier works with Hitchcock replaced by Sebastian. Hitchcock died in 1980, and the next volume, #31 in 1981, Hitchcock was replaced by fictitious mystery writer Hector Sebastian. This lasted through #30, Secret of Shark Reef, in 1979. This introduced and then wrapped up the book, though he never wrote these (he did approve them). ![]() The idea was that the boys would come visit and tell him of their latest adventure, which became the source of the books. Originally the series had a strong connection to Alfred Hitchcock himself. Like the original Scooby-Doo mysteries, the mysteries they dealt with started out as something strange going on, such as a whispering mummy or a talking skull, only to have them work out what was really going on. There they had a private office, a lab, a dark room, and more. They had setup several secret passages and entrances to it. In it, the team had taken an old house trailer for their headquarters, where they secured it toward the back and covered it up so it was hidden and won’t be bothered. This seemed the ultimate kid’s secret club house! Jupiter’s uncle ran a salvage yard. In the first few books he was hampered by a leg brace due to multiple fractures.Ī big part of the series was their headquarters. Bob is Records & Research, the studious type. Pete is the Second Investigator, athletic so more the action man of the team. Orphaned at a young age, he lives with his aunt and uncle. Jupiter is the First Investigator, stocky and smart. (This was extended by a grateful client in an early book.) Otherwise they depended on bicycles or rides from parents to get where they needed to go. ![]() During the first few books they had the use of a chauffeur and Rolls-Royce to drive them around, thanks to a contest one of them had won. ![]() While their age was not given, they were about 13 or 14, as none were old enough to drive. So who are the Three Investigators? They are Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw and Bob Andrews, all living in California near Hollywood. Others authors of the series included Dennis Lynds, who wrote many works under a variety of names, including as Maxwell Grant for eight new paperbacks featuring The Shadow for Belmont in the 1960s. He passed on in 1969, but had recruited others to carry on. He himself wrote 10 of the first 11 books. So with that connection, Arthur probably thought a juvenile detective series that made use of Hitchcock’s name would sell. Alfred Hitchcock was probably the only movie director who I knew of as a kid, until people like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg came along. I had several of those as a kid, and they are probably still at my parents’ house. In the ’60s he edited several anthologies aimed at kids for Random House, all under Alfred Hitchcock’s name, such as Haunted Houseful, Ghostly Gallery, Monster Museum, and more. actually started as a pulp writer in the 1930s and ’40s, with stuff published in many of the major pulp magazines including Amazing Stories, Argosy, Black Mask, Detective Story Magazine, and more. Created for Random House by Robert Arthur Jr., the series ran for several years and has been kept in print until around 2003 or so. Probably the last hurrah for the classic juvenile book series was the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series launched in 1964. ![]()
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