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Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators #26

by William Arden, Ondrej Laurinc (translator), Marián Oravec (illustrator)

When three junior detectives search for a valuable old Spanish sword lost since the Mexican War, the headless statue of a horse yields a clue.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Audiobook, Crime

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Real name: Dennis Lynds.
Beginning in 1968 with The Mystery of the Moaning Cave and ending in 1989 with Hot Wheels, Dennis Lynds wrote fourteen novels under the pen name William Arden for the juvenile detective series The Three Investigators, which was originated by Robert Arthur, Jr.. Under this same name, he also wrote five novels featuring private eye Kane Jackson, a former military policeman who has become an industrial security specialist after leaving the military. The first Jackson novel, A Dark Power, appeared in 1968. As Arden, Lynds also wrote the highly-regarded espionage short story, "Success of a Mission," which was a finalist for the 1968 Edgar Award for best short fiction.

Reviews

[Nadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine der alten Hörspiel-Folgen, welche ich irgendwie immer verwechsle. Halt so eine typische Mexikaner-in-Not Folge. Skinny und die ganze Familie Norris ist hier arg böse, passt jedoch leider wieder sehr in die heutige Zeit.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

original 2010 review - The boys help out 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 early, Arthur 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.
2016 update - For this read-through I had the benefit of a map my friend Ian Regan had drawn of the area, which helped a great deal in terms of visualisation. Otherwise I’d stand by my original review except to add that I liked the school locations (I don’t think it’s ever been called Rocky Beach Central School before), the use of the Historical Society and the cave and also the quick mention of bird cages (Blackbeard) and plaster busts (Fiery Eye) in Headquarters. Good fun and an enjoyable read.
2022 update - Very enjoyable re-read, though I still found the location confusing to picture (even with Ian’s image). I’d agree with everything mentioned so far except it was great to see Rocky Beach jail too!

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich habe gerade ein ganz schlechtes Gewissen diesem Buch nur zwei Sterne zu geben, aber ich habe mich wirklich durchgequält und kann es nicht mehr richtig erklären, wieso es mich so genervt und gelangweilt hat.

Ich habe die Vermutung, dass ich das Hörspiel als Kind einfach viel zu oft angehört habe und den Fall daher in und auswendig kannte. Aber wieso mich das Buch gar so gelangweilt hat erklärt das trotzdem nicht. Irgendwie mäanderte das Buch nur so vor sich her, während sie nach dem Schwert suchen. Da kommt nie irgendwie Spannung auf.

Und irgendwie, ja, ist mir Skinny auch zu böse in diesem Buch. Seine ganzen Anti-Mexikaner Aussagen waren mir ein bisschen zu viel.

Skurril fand ich, dass die Bezeichnung "der schlanke Junge" etwa 50 mal in diesem Buch vorkommt, fast schon als Eigenname. Als wär das so eine eindeutige Beschreibung für jemanden, besonders da es nicht immer für die gleiche Person verwendet wurde.

Überraschenderweise fand ich die letzten 50 Seiten dann doch noch mal etwas besser und unterhaltsamer.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but I'm going to have to agree with Mark and say that I neither cared for the dry descriptions of the landscape (which I couldn't really follow, tbh) nor for the deus ex machina of the weather conveniently reshaping the place into an exact replica of 1846 right when it needed to. The book'd be a solid 4 otherwise.

[Martina V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Začiatok trochu ťažkopádny, ale s troma kovbojmi na scéne sa to zrazu rozbehlo. Akurát sme mali so synom problém predstaviť si, kde sa čo nachádza - hacienda, socha, hrad, potok, koryto ... V tomto dieli by sa zišla mapa.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Three Investigators. I like the ones (like this one) that go back to a lot of the original roots, where the boys call each other "First," "Second," and "Records" and spend time in their headquarters, etc. And in general I prefer the ones (like this one) that don't have any supernatural suspicions in them. I enjoyed that the boys did a lot of research, searching through old newspapers, journals, historical accounts, and maps to get the information they needed. Some of the info conflicted, and they had to discern which account was correct. Skinny Norris makes another appearance in this book.

[sonofabook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nach einer Prügelei mit Skinny Norris auf dem Schulhof lernen die drei Detektive die Álvaro Brüder kennen.
Da diese gerade in finanzieller Not sind, möchte Justus mit Onkel Titus ihnen helfen und sich wertvolle Gegenstände in deren Scheune anschauen.
Doch plötzlich bricht ein Feuer aus und brennt das ganze Gut, welches anliegend an dem Gut von Skinny Norris liegt, nieder.
Jetzt kann der Familie Álvaro nur noch das legendäre Aztekenschwert, welches mkt Edelsteinen und Gold besetzt ist helfen.
Doch dieses Schwert ist zusammen mit dem damaligen Besitzer und Vorfahren der Brüder, Hernán Cortés, verschwunden.
So machen sich Peter, Justus und Bob auf die Suche nach dem Schwert und nach dem geschichtlichen Hintergrund um das Verschwinden von Cortés.
Dabei müssen sie sich nicht nur in die Tiefen der Museen begeben, sondern werden auch gejagt und verfolgt.
Zu alledem kommt noch die Frage hinzu: Ist das Feuer wirklich einfach so entstanden?

Ja ihr seht es richtig. Fünf Sterne. Hat noch keine Folge vorher erhalten, aber bei dieser hat auch wirklich alles gepasst.
Der Handlungsstrang war super erzählt und spannend zu jeder Zeit. Allein mit dem Feuer am Anfang, hochdramatisch.
Die Art und Weise wie sie zur Lösung kommen ist absolut plausibel.
Auch die Charaktere sind allesamt passen und vor allem ist es dieses Mal eine super Teamleistung.
Beste Folge bisher! Mehr als klare Empfehlung!

[Kevin Findley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable entry in the Three Investigators series. The Cortes Sword is found of course and the ranch saved from foreclosure.

Jupiter, Bob, and Pete all had some decent page time, but Pete a little less than the other two when it came to moving the story forward. After the Green Ghost mystery, I guess that is only fair though.


Best of all, Skinny Norris got busted for his part in the mystery and was sent off to military school!

Find it! Buy It! Read it!

[Arsling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ľahko sa čítala aj napriek zjavným dieram v deji

[JBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh man o.o das Buch hat sich sehr gezogen >____<

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die beiden mexikanisch-stämmigen Brüder Diego und Pico Alvaro stecken in Schwierigkeiten und sehen ihre Existenz bedroht: ein Großgrundbesitzer kauft immer mehr Land auf und will sich auch die Ranch der Alvaros unter den Nagel reißen. Aufgrund von Steuerschulden fehlen den Brüdern jedoch die Mittel, um ihr Anwesen behalten zu können, doch ein Verkauf kommt für die stolze Familie nicht in Frage. In der Hoffnung auf Rettung wenden sich die beiden daher an die drei Detektive Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw und Bob Andrews und Onkel Titus, um mit dem Verkauf einiger Antiquitäten genug Geld zu verdienen und die Ranch weiter finanzieren zu können. Doch als kurz darauf auf dem Grundstück der Alvaros ein Feuer ausbricht, sieht ihre Lage plötzlich schlimmer als als je zuvor – ihre letzte Hoffnung ist nun ein legendärer Schatz, der allerdings erst einmal gefunden werden muss...

Folge 23 der Hörspielreihe um die drei Detektive besteht aus vielen bekannten Zutaten, so unter anderem dem ewigen Wettstreit mit ihrem Erzfeind Skinny Norris und der Jagd nach einem mysteriösen Schatz. Allerdings schwingen diesmal auch ein paar ernstere Töne und etwas Gesellschaftskritik mit, da ein bestimmendes Thema dieser Episode der Alltagsrassismus gegenüber südamerikanischen Einwanderern ist – hier vor allem verkörpert von Skinny Norris, der die Alvaros zurück in die mexikanische Heimat vertreiben will. Natürlich darf man bei einer 42-minütigen Folge keine differenzierte Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Problem erwarten, es ist aber erfreulich, dass solche Aspekte auch mal thematisiert werden. Der Fall selbst ist diesmal recht Recherche-lastig und durch die Hintergründe um den Eroberer Hernán Cortés auch durchaus interessant, auf Action muss jedoch auch nicht verzichtet werden. Insgesamt keine spektakuläre, aber sehr runde und unterhaltsame Folge.

[Paul Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was first published just as I was growing out of the series as a teenager. I probably didn't give it the attention it deserved. Coming back to the story and reading it again recently as an adult, I was astonished by how good the book is. Arden (Dennis Lynds) weaves an intricate plot involving the search for a valuable heirloom from the Mexican-US war and the current day fight to avoid foreclosure of a Californian ranch. Arden is able to educate the reader about a fascinating time in US-Mexican history while also keeping the plot moving at a quick pace.
I thought California was supposed to be sunny but not in this book!
The constant rain brings to mind the following song lyrics:
'Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours'.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hardy Boys can eff off, Three Investigators rule and if you don't know why, may I suggest ???

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Job Amigos! Great job! My first Three Investigators book! A cool gang with a cool office! A good read! :)

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mystery of the Headless Horse by Michael Collins. The Mystery of the Headless Horse
An Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators Mystery. Book 26 in the series.
If you've never read any of these, they are, in my opinion, the *best* of the young adult mysteries. Beginning in 1964 and the last in 1987. Regular stories, find-your-fate went to 1990.
These stories really incorporated all that we love from from cartoons like Scooby-Doo and movies like The Goonies and detective work inspired from the Hardy Boys.
Stories of haunted castles, treasure maps, hidden treasures galore, mummies, ghosts and more.

In The Mystery of the Headless Horse, the boys make friends with a Mexican American boy, Diego Alvaro, and his older brother Pico, at their school. Their ancestors were the first land holders in California and their history goes back to Cortés.
Over the years, their many thousands of acres of land has been whittled down to one last ranch.
But now their greedy neighbor, and father of the Three Investigators' arch nemesis "Skinny" Norris, is set on getting their last piece of land - by any means necessary!
The Alvaro's only hope is to find a priceless family heirloom, a Jewel encrusted sword, a present from the King of Spain to Cortés and then from Cortez to the Alvaro ancestors.
This relic would bring enough money to save their land. But it's been lost since 1846! Can the Three Investigators find it?
Adventures in historical societies and libraries pouring over old dusty maps, diaries, and documents, discovering intriguing stories and finding more questions than answers. But always finding more clues!
An excellent mystery, one quite deserving of the Three Investigators!

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure I never read this one before! The part where the Three Investigators and their friend Diego are trapped in a cave seemed a bit familiar, but then again they are always getting trapped in a cave. The plot has peak SoCal content with a lighthearted romp through the history of colonialism in Mexico & California, a wildfire, a mudslide, and a melodramatic possible foreclosure. Plus some things that aren't part of real life, like a jewel-encrusted sword. There is very little either faux or real supernatural element. The boys do a lot of research in the library which I enjoyed but I'm not sure ten-year-old me would have. I don't think I've ever seen the boys' school before. I thought they were perpetually on summer vacation, and it totally stinks to have to stop solving crimes to do your homework and go to school. The villain is the boys' old enemy Skinny Norris (and his greedy dad.) I knew from other books like Stuttering Parrot that Skinny is basically a psychopath who has repeatedly tried to murder the Three Investigators, but I never knew he was a racist before. However Skinny gets his comeuppance at the end of the book when he is sent to military school, and perhaps will never be seen again in this series.

[Jan Peregrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I run out of library books to read, I pick out a novel from my personal childhood library, from this series. It's the last one i own and the first where I noticed editing errors. Of any of my books. The word were was supposed to be where. The word they should've been the. Things like that. It was published in 1977 and I only vaguely remember the story about Mexican friends of The Three Investigators who are fighting to keep their ranch from being taken over after greedy white, racist neighbors set them up for failure. Enjoyable story that kept me intrigued. I don't consider Hernando Cortez a hero to admire as the characters do and the ending had the feeling of a Scooby Doo mystery, but the research into the Mexican-US war brought that time to life.

Great for preteens and adults reliving their childhood.....

[Rajeev Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an emotional attachment with this series, dating back to 1997-1998 when I first got acquainted with and then almost devoured these books. I don't know if other parallel series of the 1960s-80s like Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew sold better or at par with The Three Investigators but I'm sure that few juvenile books, new or old, would be able to match their denouement, the clever climactic deductions of Jupiter Jones, the comic relief and teenage relatability of Pete Crenshaw and the sense of completion that the studious Bob Andrews brings to the group.
Headless Horse can't stand comparison with other William Arden classics like Moaning Cave and Crooked Cat but the romance of these tales is never lost.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good adventure book as the three investigators save the day by allowing a mexican family to keep their ranch by finding the legendary Cortes sword.

Skinny Norris and his family are the archetypal badies looking to acquire the Avarado's ranch as they own the neighbouring one.

Without spoiling the plot it all comes right in the end. This particular adventure has no supernatural element, the headless horse is a statue that has its head accidentally knocked off, providing an initially clue that eventually solves the mystery.

Now read two off this list. Like as a child, still like now, although getting a biit dated and slightly american cliched at times.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is one Three Investigators story that would have benefited from being much longer, as the plot could have used more building up. Still it's a nice hidden treasure mystery with its share of good moments. It's interesting to note that this story actually touches briefly on the serious subjects of racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. This is unusual for the series, and does add a bit more dimension to the story's conflict.

The Mystery of the Headless Horse isn't among the series' most complex stories, but it's still a nice rainy day read if you want something that isn't a huge time commitment.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the better Three Investigator books imo. This one was fairly straightforward as it dealt with crooked cowboys, some dirty land deals, and a rare lost sword as the key to solving it all.

Nothing really groundbreaking here, and it was a much more reality based story than many of the three investigators novels. Normally I prefer the spooky monster/ghost type tales, but this one was the exception.

Another great entry in a great series!

[Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty typical adventure for the Three Investigators, however, I'm not convinced that this case was terribly plausible. This is not to say that many of their cases have been such. But the desperate timing along with the odd coincidences that occur are fairly stretching things. On the positive side, I think it's safe to assume that we've seen the end of Skinny Norris after these proceedings.

[R.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every bit as fun and as exciting as you remember. I grew up with these books. They taught me to love reading and had a strong influence on me as a writer. Revisiting them as an adult has been like meeting up with friends you haven't seen in a dozen years; I am now old enough to have friends I haven't seen in as many years. I'm thrilled to find Jupe as stout as ever, Pete as adverse to danger as I recalled, and Bob as meticulous as he'd been when I was a kid.

[Monica M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sebetulnya ceritanya menarik tapi deskripsi lahan keluarga Alvaro terlalu panjang dan membosankan ketika mereka pertama kali mengunjungi lahan tersebut.
Petualangan trio detektif di bagian akhir yang juga disitu menurut saya kurang menyenangkan karena deskripsi alam yang lagi-lagi bertebaran dan panjang. Akan sangat membantu kalau ada ilustrasi peta dan pemandangan dari tanah Alvaro ini.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of the non-original writer authored books. The three investigators feel like three investigators, there is mystery, there is adventure, there are no magical effect passed of as science and the conclusion is satisfying.

[Soňa]

Goodreads Challenge 2020: 30. kniha

[Birte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die ganz alten Folgen sind immer mit einer Prise Nostalgie verbunden :)

[~°♡ Taskin °♡~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't hook me up from the beginning, but when it did I wasn't just able to put it down! A must read.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as fun as many of the earlier stories.

[Bubu · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay I like it Picasso! Noch spannender als sonst und auch nicht die "Standart" Geschichte. Ich mochte auch, dass Peter und Bob mal mehr im Fokus stehen und nxiht nur Justus Protagonist ist.