The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy - the First (new) Three Investigators Mystery

As a kid, my mother introduced me to Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, knowing how much I loved mysteries (I was already well into reading Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and other series at that point).  She loved Alfred Hitchcock films, and she and I watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents... every Saturday afternoon; so, when she saw the series books with his name on them, she thought I would enjoy them.  And I did!  Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrew solved some creepy mysteries involving Terror Castle, a Whispering Mummy, a Fiery Eye, a Moaning Cave, and many others.  There were 43 books in the series (with an unpublished 44th book), along with two off-shoot series:  four "Find Your Fate" books (similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure books) and eleven "Crimebuster" books (with two additional books published only in German).  Only 10 of the first 11 books were written by the original creator of the series, Robert Arthur; he died in 1969, after which, the series continued publication with various other authors.  The series ended (here in America) in 1987, with the publication of the 43rd book, and it seemed that we would never see any more adventures of Jupiter, Pete, and Bob ... until now!

 

The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy marks the return of The Three Investigators in book form here in the States (as the series has continued over in Germany, but that is a whole 'nother story that is too complicated to go into here).  Written by Elizabeth Arthur (the daughter of the original author and creator of the series!) and Steven Bauer (Elizabeth's husband), this first book in the new series gives readers new adventures of Jupiter, Pete, and Bob for the first time in decades, and based on the references to former mysteries in this book, it would seem that it is set fairly early in the original series (the mysteries referenced are those written by Elizabeth's father, Robert Arthur).  Since they do not have the rights to use Alfred Hitchcock's name and likeness (Hitchcock was dropped from the series in 1980, following the famed director's death), Arthur/Bauer used Hector Sebastian, who took Hitchcock's place in the original series (and who was retconned into the early books when they were later revised by Random House to remove references to Hitchcock), as the investigators' benefactor.

 

The mystery begins rather benign - a friend of Sebastian's asks the boys to look into her family's history to learn more about one of her ancestors who is rumored to have discovered gold and hidden it away.  Most believe any gold found is long gone - including the client's distant cousin who lives in the Gold Country area - but Isabella Chang simply wants historical information on her ancestor and the one room school house where he attended as a youth.  Jupiter, Pete, and Bob, along with their trusted friend and chauffeur, Worthington, head north to see what they can dig up about Li Chang.  The boys quickly learn there is more to the story when they arrive to learn the one room school house, which has stood for over a hundred years, was recently torn down - and the one who gave the order was none other than Isabella's cousin!  There's also the coincidence of the Chinese talisman used to ward off demons that Jupiter's dad happened to come across back in Rocky Beach, which has a twin talisman right there in Auburn!  Some missing letters, a secret code, and some deep research at the local library ultimately reveal the truth about the death of Li Chang's father, an Irish curse, the history behind the Changs' family secrets, and the location of the hidden gold!

 

The plot is actually rather interesting, and the fact that Arthur tries to steer the boys away from depending on technology to do all their work for them is refreshing.  What I have to admit I was not particularly thrilled with was the sudden change in ethnicities of some of the characters.  Now, admittedly, it has been several decades since I read any of the original Three Investigator books; but I do not recall Pete Crenshaw's parents both coming from Hispanic backgrounds, and that his family originally had a Spanish name that was Americanized when they migrated here. I also do not recall Bob Andrews' mother being Chinese, and Bob having eyes that give others the instant impression that he is part Chinese.  Then we get introduced to Mallory MacLeod, who turns out to not only be Skinny Norris' cousin, but she is from Scotland and talks quite a bit about her heritage.  Yes, the subject of family history plays an important part of the mystery - but it is Isabella Chang's family history that is important to the case.  The fact that Arthurs spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on Pete's, Bob's, and Mallory's heritages feels out-of-place and unnecessary, and quite frankly, it bogs down a large amount of the opening chapters.  Perhaps Arthur and Bauer simply wanted to give some backstory to these characters for first time readers of the series and provide something new for longtime fans; but, whatever the reason, I wish it had been spread out over the series and not force-fed to the reader in such large amounts in this first book.

 

Those family changes aside, it was fun to follow along with the boys again on their adventures.  I do believe Arthur and Bauer worked hard to remain true to her father's original characterization of the trio.  Jupiter is the boy genius who is always one step ahead; Pete is the action guy, always looking for physical activities; and Bob is the organized one, the team secretary and recorder of all things.  Their individual strengths complement one another well, and they work together nicely to get to the bottom of things.  It is pretty clear that Mallory is going to be sticking around, most likely joining the boys as an honorary fourth investigator (although that will not happen if Jupiter has anything to say about it!).   

I do like the alliteration of the series' titles, going through the letters of the alphabet. It reminds me of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone series, which started with A is for Alibi and sadly ended with Y is for Yesterday (since the author died before she wrote the "Z" novel). This is even integrated into the story, as Bob tries to come up with a catchy way to make the documenting of the Three Investigators' cases more interesting.  He ultimately settles on the alphabet names, starting with "A."  And for those wondering, the word "Abecedarian" (pronounced "a-b-c darian") means arranged alphabetically, although it has an older meaning, of one who is learning the rudiments of something.  The name does play a part in the mystery, but I will not spoil that by revealing it here.  

The cover design for this book (and the next two, which all came together as a breeder set of three) is creative and eye-catching.  The credited artist for the cover is "Pashur House," which, when I looked this name up online, is the name of a rather famous body painter - one who has traveled the world to participate and show off his work at various events for nearly two decades.  I hope Arthur/Bauer and the publisher retain this artist for all 26 books of the series, because I would love to have a complete set of this series in a uniform style and art!

 

I am hoping that book two (the "B" book) will ease up on the boys' family histories and focus more on the mystery itself!

 

RATING:  8 Scottish music camps filled with fiddlers out of 10 for reviving these lovable investigators with a unique and interesting new series of mysteries to enjoy!