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  There were 43 books in the series (with an unpublished 44th book), along with two off-shoot series:  four "Find Your Fate" books (similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure books) and eleven "Crimebuster" books (with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!

Birthstone Gothic #12 - The Turquoise Talisman

You might notice that this is book 12 of a series of gothic novels in the "Birthstone Gothic" series published back in the mid-1970s by Ballantine books, and you may be wondering what happened to books 1 through 11.  Normally, I would never read a series of books out of order, particularly when they are specifically numbered.  However, in this instance, even though I do not have all twelve books in the series, I decided to go ahead and read this last book for two specific reasons:  (1) the books are not connected in any other way than the fact that each book centers around one of the twelve birthstones, and (2) the author is Sharon Wagner.  What's so important about Sharon Wagner, you may ask?  Well, it just so happens that not only did Ms. Wagner write gothic novels during their heyday in the '60s and '70s, but she also write four of the Nancy Drew books published by Simon & Schuster under the Wanderer imprint in the early 1980s (62 - The Kachina Doll Mystery, 68 - The Elusive Heiress, 70 - The Broken Anchor, and 76 - The Eskimo's Secret).  Thus, having enjoyed those four Nancy Drew books back in the day, I definitely had high expectations for this book.

The Turquoise Talisman was published in December 1975 and is based upon the traditional December birthstone, turquoise.  The story centers around nineteen-year old Juliann Fairchild, whose mother and stepfather have died in an unexpected accident, leaving the young woman with nowhere to turn.  Her half-brothers and half-sister are being taken in by her stepfather's family who want nothing to do with her and her half-Indian heritage.  Juliann's world is turned even more upside-down when the family attorney reveals her biological father is still alive and wants her to move to Arizona to live with him!  Juliann has no knowledge of her father, as her mother has never spoke about him and has never answered any questions about him, so she is surprised to learn he is alive and wants to meet her.  With no money to continue her college education, she decides to go out to Arizona and meet this man she has never known.  And, as we all know in any good gothic story, there's going to be some dark drama to come...

Wagner introduces the mystery elements to the story from the moment Juliann arrives in Arizona.  She is met by two ranch hands, Bentley "Ben" Welsh and Anson Verner, who inform her that her father has left on an undisclosed errand and he asked them to pick her up.  At the ranch, she meets Mrs. Peters, the cook, and her husband, Dean Peters, who has been assisting Juliann's father, Steen Deerman, with the horses and other ranch matters.  Before long, she is also introduced to Rex Hodges and Chuck Meecham, two more ranch hands.  And once we meet the cast, Wagner throws more mysteries our way - first, a silver box with a turquoise designed like a deer on the lid disappears from Juliann's room (a box that she was given by her aunt just before she left for Arizona), and second, her father's most prize stallion has disappeared, and no one knows what could have happened.  Which is made more odd by the fact that no one but Juliann's father was able to handle War Blanket (the horse), so if someone had made off with him, they would have had a very difficult time!

As the story progresses, the reader realizes right along with Juliann that not everyone in the household can be trusted.  While several of the young men seem to be vying for Juliann's attention, it's clear that someone in the house is not who they appear to be.  Before too long, Chuck meets with an untimely accident and taken to the hospital, unconscious and unable to tell anyone what happened.  Then Mr. Peters is run off the road, nearly injuring him.  And Juliann begins to have visions, seeing a strange Kachina doll that seems to be calling to her ... leading her ... and when a ransom note is received, demanding more money than anyone has the ability to pull together, that's when Mrs. Peters reveals the secret that Juliann's father has a special stash of turquoise and silver jewelry and other items he has made that would be worth a small fortune - but she doesn't know where he hid them.  As the Kachina spirits lead Juliann closer and closer to the truth, she finds her life in more and more danger - until the true evil reveals itself, and Juliann must trust her instincts if she wants to find her father, save her own life, and restore her father's treasure!

While I would not necessarily label this a gothic, per se, I would definitely say it is a great read and a fantastic mystery.  I can see why the Stratemeyer Syndicate had no issues with Wagner writing some of the Nancy Drew mystery stories.  The one drawback on this book was the fact it was written in first person, a point-of-view that I'm not really fond of when reading books.  That being said, I quickly got used to it, and after the first couple of chapters, I was not longer paying attention to that because I was so caught up in the story.

After finishing this book, I immediately picked up the first Nancy Drew that Wagner wrote - no. 62, The Kachina Doll Mystery.  Obviously, I was curious, since both books are set in Arizona, and both books feature Kachina dolls as a part of the story.  Thus, I wondered if Wagner took any elements of her gothic tale (published in 1975) and used them in her Nancy Drew mystery (published six years later in 1981).  While the basic plot was different, there were definitely similarities in the books:

Turquoise Talisman (TT):  Juliann's parents die, and she moves to Arizona to live with her father

Kachina Doll (KD): Heather McGuire's parents die, and she moves to Arizona with her brother to take over their ranch (p. 8)

TT:  the ranch owned by Juliann's father is near the Superstition Mountains

KD: the ranch owned by Heather's parents is near the Superstition Mountains (p. 23)

TT:  Mr. Peters is run off the road by a speeding car

KD: Nancy and her friends are run off the road by a speeding car (p. 25)

TT:  a pool is built in the middle of a lovely garden placed directly behind the main house

KD: a pool is built in the middle of a lovely garden placed directly behind the main house (p. 31)

TT:  an Appaloosa filly is missing from the stables

KD: an Appaloosa filly is believed to have been stolen by the cook's young nephew (p. 33)

TT:  the living room has furniture "arranged in several groups, making it clear that one corner could be used for private conversations while another was for watching TV or different conversations" (p. 25)

KD:  the living room  was "filled with sofas and chairs grouped for conversation or, in one corner, around a television set" (p. 36)

TT:  Juliann sees a Kachina spirit and follows it

KD: Nancy sees a Kachina spirit and follows it (p. 48)

TT:  Juliann rides a horse named "Dainty Dancer"

KD: Nancy rides a "bright chestnut mare Dancer" (p. 66)

TT:  Juliann has to help a young horse who gets tangled in barbed wire and injures its legs

KD: the horse Nancy is riding injures its legs sliding down into awash (p. 74)

TT:  a box is discovered behind some bricks around the fireplace

KD: a box is discovered behind a loose brick in the hallway wall (p. 80)

TT:  in Juliann's dream, the Kachinas formed a circle and seemed to call out to her

KD: in Nancy's dream, the Kachinas "circled and reached out to her in pleading ways" (p. 87)

TT:  Juliann's silver and turquoise box is stolen from the bedside table in her room

KD: the journal Nancy found is stolen from the bedside table in her room (p. 97)

TT: the box that Julianna finds behind the fireplace stone contains Kachina dolls

KD: the box Nancy and her friends find buried outside contains Kachina dolls (p. 182)

As you can see, there are way too many similarities for it to be a simple coincidence; clearly, Wagner used a lot of story elements from her earlier gothic tale to weave this mystery for Nancy Drew to solve.  And this does not even take into account the amount of silver and turquoise jewelry that play an important part in both stories.  That is not to say The Kachina Doll Mystery was not a good read, as it was.  But it is evident that Wagner simply retooled The Turquoise Talisman into a new story to write the Nancy Drew mystery.  It is even one of the few, if not only, Nancy Drew book to ever have a real ghost that is not explained away by the end!

Now that I've finished this last novel in the series, I'm more curious that before to track down the rest of the Birthstone Gothic novels and see what kind of tales other authors turn out for the series.

RATING:  9 chains of carved turquoise and worked silver beads out of 10 for a fantastically crafted mystery, with just a hint of gothic elements to make it more suspenseful!