The Mystery Of The Moaning Cave

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators #10

by William Arden

Many years ago, the young bandit El Diablo disappeared into a cave, never to be seen again. Now an eerie moaning sound is coming from his old hideout, and the ranchers who live nearby think he may still be alive.

The Three Investigators set out to explore the moaning cave—and soon wish they had come armed with more than a flashlight!

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 1968

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

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first ever "Three Investigators" mystery - and I fell in love with the team. (Ironically, I had originally thought that Hitchcock wrote these mysteries, which is why I bought them! I was disabused only very late, several novels into the series.) Pete Crenshaw, the active sportsman and the muscles of the team: the quiet and studious Bob Andrews, the knowledge bank of the team: and Jupiter Jones, the fat leader who contrived to look stupid, the brain of the team. I especially loved Jupiter, like I loved Fatty of the Five Find-outers, because of the physical resemblance to teenage me.

I do not remember much about the story other than the ghost of a dead Mexican bandido; but I remember that the mystery was quite complicated and much more satisfying than the ones produced by Enid Blyton, which I had started to find simplistic by then.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm back on my Three Investigators bulls**t. Only 14 books to go and I'll have finally read the entire original run of the series.

"The Moaning Cave" was a good one imo. Kind of similar vibes to The Headless Horse except the execution is far better. I actually *could* understand what the landscape looked like this time.

Lots of twists and turns, some plot holes/ convenient stuff (Why was Reston going after the black horse on the first night? What are the odds that there'd be some Top Secret Navy Business going on precisely in the same cave that's also involved in a diamond heist AND is the location for an actual historical mystery? The stuffed dummies trick should NOT have worked, just how careless and shallow were the adults' search of the cave system so that several entrances and barely-concealed tunnels were missed, etc, etc) but it's all very entertaining so I'm going to overlook all that.

Nice blend of contemporary (well, written in 1968.......) and historical (the El Diablo mystery originated in the 1880s) mysteries. I liked it.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series! Another great mystery starring the teenage sleuths. In this one, we find the boys at a ranch trying to find out what's been scaring all the ranch hands away. I was shocked we didn't see another boy their own age around, as that has been a staple of the series, but this time it was mostly just the main three.

I will say the ending was slightly predictable, as I had figured out who the real bad guy was fairly early. That being said, there were still several twists and turns in the story and I was still surprised at some of the happenings.

Overall, another good volume!

[Mostafa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars
ویلیام آردن و مایکل کالینز مشهورترین نام مستعار دنیس لیندز (15 ژانویه 1924 - 19 آگوست 2005)، نویسنده آمریکایی است که در درجه اول داستان های راز آلود می نوشت.
او همچنین از برندگان جایزه ادگار نیز هست . این جایزه به یاد ادگار آلن پو( پدر ژانر وحشت) به نویسندگان برجسته ژانر وحشت اعطاء می شود
داستان سه کارآگاه از شخصیت های ابتکاری رابرت جی آرتور جونیور بود (زاده 10 نوامبر 1909 - درگذشته 2 مه 1969) او نویسنده برجسته داستان های معمایی و جنایی بود که نویسندگان زیادی بر اساس شخصیت های سه گانه او، ( شخصیت سه کارآگاه) داستانهای معمایی و رازآلود را نگارش کرده اند

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old cave, rumoured to be the resting place of a famed bandit called El Diablo, has suddenly begun to moan and no-one knows why. There by accident - Pete’s dad knows the ranch owners - the boys decide to investigate and came up against legends of the Old One, a scar-faced mystery man, two old prospectors and a gripping mystery. The first non-Arthur book (he gets the credit, William Arden wrote it), this is well-written, clever and full of atmosphere - well worth a read.

2013 re-read - My 2009 review stands but I’d just add that Arden makes great use of locations, especially Moaning Valley and Santa Carla (an invention of Arden’s, though the name was re-used in “The Lost Boys”) and actual historic figures - Father Junípero Serra and John C. Fremont - add to the authenticity. Good fun, with a terrific atmosphere and great pace, this is a cracking read.

2018 re-read - A cracking read, great pace, some nice interplay between the lads and a great sense of location.

[Satish Sridharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel I ever read! A lot of kids/teens started with the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew stuff but I always felt The Three Investigators series was more interesting.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

2009 review - An old cave, rumoured to be the resting place of a famed bandit called El Diablo, has suddenly begun to moan and no-one knows why. There by accident - Pete’s dad knows the ranch owners - the boys decide to investigate and came up against legends of the Old One, a scar-faced mystery man, two old prospectors and a gripping mystery. The first non-Arthur book (he gets the credit, William Arden wrote it), this is well-written, clever and full of atmosphere - well worth a read.
2013 re-read - My 2009 review stands but I’d just add that Arden makes great use of locations, especially Moaning Valley and Santa Carla (an invention of Arden’s, though the name was re-used in “The Lost Boys”) and actual historic figures - Father Junípero Serra and John C. Fremont - add to the authenticity. Good fun, with a terrific atmosphere and great pace, this is a cracking read.
2018 re-read - A cracking read, great pace, some nice interplay between the lads and a great sense of location.
2021 re-read - the more I read this book, the more I like it. A great introduction to Arden’s writing, following on really well from the Arthur legacy, this has great characters, pace and locations. This time around, I decided to google the California channel islands and discovered the Chumash Indians had settled on some of them which made me smile, because of the Chumash Hoard in the next Arden book, “The Laughing Shadow”.
2025 re-read - Completely agree with previous results, it’s great fun with a tight story and a good mystery.

[Mike Battaglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book in one sentence: Three, ultra clever teen aged detectives find themselves embroiled in a mystery when a cave near the ranch where they are staying starts to mysteriously moan, scaring off the ranch hands and baffling the boys until they discover a connection to the legendary bandit El Diablo, making them determined to prove that it isn’t his ghost that is moaning from deep within the cave.

Opinion: It’s no mystery that these are the books that woke up the writer in me. Even now, when I re-read them, I still feel that thrill. It’s been long enough that I don’t remember the solutions to the mysteries, making them fun all over again. The books do follow a fomula, but it’s really no different than episodes of your favorite television series. Something about the innocent, dogged determination of the young detectives to solve a riddle, solve a mystery, investigate, question; their ingenuity and their resourcefulness, the fact that they are not immune to being afraid. It is these qualities that made this series such a quintessential influence on me. Their office is in an old caravan buried under junk in a relative’s junk yard, with secret entrances to get inside, and the dynamics between the three boys works on every level because one is the brains, one is the muscle, and one is the researcher. Whether Alfred Hitchcock actually had anything to do with the writing of the books is not known, but his presence in the books aids the suspension of disbelief. They read like a very early version of the X-Files, with a dash of Scooby Doo-style unmasking, and no small amount of gene-splicing from the old Hardy Boys Mysteries. There were forty two books in the series that I know of, and I treasured all of them like friends so my nostalgia no doubt makes me very bias, but they don’t publish forty two books in a series if the books aren’t popular. Find one for a few bucks at your nearest used books shop and remember what it’s like to be young and full of adventure again.

[Shreyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Mystery of the Moaning Cave' (The Three Investigators #10) by William Arden.

“Moanin’ Valley ain’t a good place,” Hardin said stubbornly.

“A grown man like you,” Mrs. Dalton exclaimed. “Afraid of a cave!”

“I ain’t afraid,” Hardin said slowly. “But I ain’t afraid to face facts, neither. I lived around here all my life. Even when I was a boy, I heard about Moanin’ Valley. I never believed the stories then, but now I ain’t so sure.”

Rating: 3.5/5.




Review:
Of all the eleven T3I books available during the school book fairs during my childhood, I was able to grab the first six and the eleventh books in the series back then. Books 7 to 10, including The Mystery of the Moaning Cave, were the ones I wasn't able to get hold of during that time, and as a result, these four books were the ones I wasn't able to read in the original T3I series (I was unaware of the existence of the continuation series during those days).

Now that I have tackled The Mystery of the Moaning Cave, I'm close to finishing my goal of a chronological read-along of the original T3I series. I refrain from using the term "canon" because many hardcore T3I fans consider books written by Robert Arthur Jr. (the original author who wrote books 1 to 9, and then the 11th book) as the definite canon. This even includes Robert Arthur Jr.'s daughter, Elizabeth Ann Arthur, who has recently got back the rights to the T3I series and is working on a new continuation series. I don't mind the canonical debate over these books. For me, the more it is, the better it will be. As a long-time fan of these books, I was more than delighted to know that there were more books beyond the first eleven published books – it simply gives me more opportunities to revel in the continued adventures of these three young sleuths.

The Mystery of the Moaning Cave, the tenth book in the T3I series, isn't written by the original author but by William Arden. I went into this book with this knowledge and expected the authorial voice to be much different than what I was accustomed to. While William Arden has managed to preserve the essence of the original works and stayed true to the qualities and quirks of the three main protagonists, the book somehow still feels vastly different to its predecessors. Unlike the earlier mysteries where the three investigators organically stumble upon a mystery (or are handed out a case), this book opens up right in the middle of their new case. At the end of the first chapter, there's a lengthy narrative exposition about how the three sleuths landed upon this case – a previously unused narrative device that simply didn't sit right with me. Furthermore, after having my mind blown away by some well-thought-out puzzles and riddles in the previous books, the lack of these made it seem more like an adventure story rather than a typical T3I mystery.

Keeping the narrative differences aside, I do believe that Willaim Arden did an excellent job staying consistent with the personalities of the three sleuths. With a change of hands, there is a risk of the new author not getting the characters right – which wasn't the case when Willaim Arden took over the reins from Robert Arthur Jr. Although there weren't any mind-boggling puzzles and ingenious wordplay, the book still kept me entertained from the start to the end. It was fairly easy for me to guess who the main culprit was right from the time the character was introduced, but it was the journey that led to his capture that kept me hooked on the story.

So, that's it then! Just one book left for me to complete my nostalgia-induced chronological read-along of the original eleven books long run of the T3I series. Although I have read the next book during my school days, I'm still excited to relive the experience one more time.

[Rosa Dracos99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela de la serie infantil "Alfred Hitchcock y Los Tres Investigadores", leída para un reto. Me ha llevado a mi infancia, en la que devoré esta serie (y aún debe haber algún volumen en alguna caja almacenada).
Así como otros libros de mi infancia, leídos ahora, los he encontrado totalmente desfasados y anodinos; estos, creo que han envejecido mejor...salvando las distancias.

[Aulya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lanjut lagi setelah terakhir baca tahun 2014 *lama banget, ahaha*

Urutan paling disukai sejauh ini dari vol 1-9 :
1. Nuri Gagap (#2) -> lucu dan menarik.
2. Laba-Laba Perak (#8) -> ada unsur politik, pengkhianatan, yang cukup berat dan tegang.
3. Mata Berapi (#7) -> petualangannya seru.

Mereka (Jupiter, Bob, Pete) ini bocah ngebolang yang nekat. Mereka punya markas, mobil hasil undian yang bisa dipakai kesana-kemari, klien, kemudian terlibat dalam bahaya besar dari kasus-kasus yang dihadapi. Karakter mereka juga lucu: Jupiter si cerdik, Bob si kutu buku, dan Pete si penakut.

Ulasan vol 10 :
Saya lumayan kecewa sama kasus kali ini, terlalu biasa saja.
Walau masih ada otak encer dari Jupiter yang bisa melihat lebih jauh tentang kemungkinan yang ada.

Setengah perjalanan lebih banyak deskripsi masuk ke dalam gua, sampai banyak lorong dan sebagainya. Memang ada eksperimen menarik, tapi sedikit, waktu mereka berusaha mengakalkan sosok pengganti agar tidak terlihat oleh siapa saja yang ada di Gunung Setan untuk mencelakakan mereka. Humornya juga tidak ada, tidak ada bagian yang buat saya ketawa lagi dengan perkataan dan gerak-gerik Pete.

Kasus Gua Raungan hanya melibatkan hal aneh terjadi layaknya di desa-desa, rumor El Diablo: misterius, tapi tidak ada bagian yang menantang untuk digali. Musuhnya kali ini tidak menarik, berbeda dengan pihak pencari keuntungan seperti di Kurcaci Gaib, Pulau Tengkorak, Jeritan Jam..pokoknya volume sebelumnya lebih ada kesan greget tersendiri yang buat petualangannya seru.

Intinya, agak membosankan. Teka-tekinya tidak ditarik sebanyak mungkin untuk meninggalkan rasa ingin tahu. Memang ini tergolong misteri ringan, tapi percayalah, yang sebelum ini jauh lebih bagus.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update:

Beim zweiten Mal hat mir das Buch besser gefallen und ich hab es mal von zwei auf drei Sterne hochgewertet. Vielleicht ganz einfach weil es jetzt das 10. Buch der Originalreihe ist, die ich alle nach einander lese, und ich mich jetzt schon mehr in den altmodischen Stil eingelesen habe. So richtig spannend ist das Buch zwar immer noch nicht, aber irgendwie charmant.

Review von 2016:

Ich kann ja mit vielen der klassischen amerikanischen ??? Bücher weniger anfangen (meine eigenen "Klassiker" würde ich eher in der frühen Marx Zeit anordnen), obwohl ich den Charme sehr gut verstehe. Aber diese Anmerkungen des Erzählers, die einem immer erklären oder Fragen stellen, finde ich zum Beispiel einfach nur nervig.

Leider war das das einzige ???-Buch, das ich mit in den Urlaub genommen habe, dabei wäre es so eine gute Chance gewesen, meinem Freund einen meiner Lieblingsfälle unter die Nase zu halten. Anstelle dessen, hat er mir lang und breit erklärt, wie unlogisch der Fall war und mir das Buch sogar noch ein Stückchen mehr vermiest (weil er nämlich leider recht hat).

Zumindest optisch liebe ich aber diese kleine stoffbezogene Pocket Hardcover Ausgabe. Auch wenn es natürlich irritiert, wenn aus Hitchock plötzlich Hitfield wird.

[Amit Sareen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story here relates to an eerie moaning sound coming from a cave and some recent accidents happening in and around the ranch located near this cave. Some age-old myths and legends which need to be uncovered with logical reasoning and investigation are where these young lads (Jupiter, Pete, and Bob - The Trio) land, always looking for trouble. A thrilling story with characters full of eerieness and suspicion makes it an exciting read till the last page. How Jupe/Jupiter deduces and reaches final conclusions to unravel the mysteries is always a treat to read.

Well, if you've read any book of the series, you know what to expect. The mystery starts from page one without any delay. The part I love about this series is its quick pace, no-nonsense emotional turnarounds, and it being an easy-breezy quick read for teenagers, as well as adults. It's so full of the story part that you just can't put it down.

It's always been a pleasure reading the Three Investigators. I've read most of them as a kid and after trying to find them for so long, to read again, I managed to get my hands on this one from a local library.

[MaggyGray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Teufelsberg ist eine Folge, die ich nie so richtig "leiden" konnte, obwohl sie spannend, gut durchdacht und mit einem tollen Schluss versehen ist. Aber genauso wie "die Geisterinsel" oder "der lachende Schatten" habe ich mit dieser Folge nie so richtig die Drei Fragezeichen verbunden; keine Ahnung wieso.
Als ich jetzt, als 33jährige, das Buch noch einmal gelesen habe (hören tue ich sie trotz allem immer mal wieder), muss ich meine Meinung ändern. Zwar ist sie immer noch keine meiner Lieblingsfolgen, trotzdem finde ich sie nach dieser Lektüre weit besser und spannender, als noch vor ein paar Jahren. Auch hier ist Justus die treibende Kraft, wenn es um das Aufklären verzwickter Sachverhalte geht, aber er ist noch nicht so ein blasser Besserwisser, wie er in den neueren Folgen oft dargestellt wird. Auch Peter und Bob tragen das ihre dazu bei, dass der Fall um die im Teufelsberg gefundenen Diamanten aufgeklärt wird, und der kurze Besuch eines Marine Kommandanten rundet das Ganze noch zusätzlich ab.
Für Fans ein absolutes Muss!

[Robert Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the very first 3I book I ever read. After 37 years, it's still a firm favourite. The boys go to the Crooked Y ranch, where the cave in Devil's Mountain has started to moan again after 50 years. They come upon a diamond mine, eccentric old prospectors and a 19th century Mexican bandit. This was the first of several books for the series penned by William Arden, but he emulated the original author's style so well that few readers noticed the difference. A very good story.
http://fourdecades.blogspot.com.br/20...

[Gregory Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Three Investigators is exactly what you want out of a teen detective yarn: fast-paced, fun, inventive, and a little bit spooky. The characters are likable and the prose is good. I can't say the mystery in this one was the most interesting I've ever read, but if this series were a TV show then this would be a solid filler episode.

[Payal Pasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok-ish. I read this book during my school days and I am sure I must have loved it. But now it was very transparent and kiddish for me.

[Edy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buku ini merupakan bagian dari serial Alfred Hitchcock dan Trio Detektif. Judul asli buku ini adalah The Mistery oh the Mouning Cave dan diterjemahkan menjadi Misteri Goa Raungan. Seri ini mengisahkan Trio Detektif (Jupiter, Pete dan Bob) yang sedang berlibur di rumah ayah Pete yakni Mr. Dalton. Mr Dalton ini seorang petani yang memiliki lahan pertanian di kaki gunung yang cukup luas dan didalamnya terdapat sebuah goa. Goa ini dinamakan Goa Raungan karena secara misterius goa ini pada saat-saat tertentu mengeluarkan suara raungan. Goa ini oleh penduduk lokal diyakini dulunya jadi tempat persembunyian El Diablo, seorang perampok yang baik hati terhadap masyarakat miskin.

Sewaktu tinggal di rumah Mr. Dalton, Trio detektif mendapat informasi bahwa raungan dari dalam goa ini sejak sebulan sebelumnya terdengar lagi. Trio detektif mulai penasaran dan mereka menyelidiki goa tersebut secara sembunyi-sembunyi. Sewaktu didalam goa, trio detektif mendapati bahwa didalamnya banyak lorong seperti labirin yang sebelumnya digunakan untuk aktivitas pertambangan. Dalam penyelidikannya Trio Detektif bertemu dengan prospektor (ahli prakira kandungan tambang) yakni Ben jackson dan Waldo. Selain itu mereka bertemu dengan Profesor Walsh, detektif Reston dll. Dari penyelidikan yang beberapa kali sempat mengancam jiwa mereka, Trio Detektif akhirnya menemukan bahwa Ben dan waldo telah menemukan intan di goa tersebut yang merupakan hasil curian dari seorang penjahat bernama Schmidt. Detektif Reston dan Trio Detektif akhirnya bisa membuka kedok bahwa Schmidt tersebut selama ini menyamar jadi Prof. Walsh. Trio detektif sendiri juga berhasil menemukan bahwa suara raungan dari goa berasal dari suara angin yang masuk ke berbagai lorong dalam goa. Ketika lorong goa tersebut ditutup, suara itu tdk muncul dan sebaliknya.

Buku ini merupakan cerita ringan dengan alur sederhana sehingga pembaca tidak bisa berharap ada banyak pesan moral didalamnya. Cerita dalam buku ini hanya mengajarkan soal ketelitian, cara berpikir logis dengan menggunakan logika dan hukum-hukum fisika sederhana.
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[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know whether my awareness of the seams made me look for them, or whether they were just that apparent, but it was clear that the author had changed with this book. There were a couple individual character quirks that weren’t quite right, and this felt more like a generic teen mystery than a Three Investigators story.

I was really hoping for more about the Great Old One in the ocean cave, but that pretty much never got paid off. The way in which the Great Old One was used broke the frame in which these are the actual tales of boys that know Alfred Hitchcock. But instead we have top secret military exercises whose only inclusion in the story does not advance the narrative, does not explain the historical place of the legend, and instead only gives away national secrets.

[Saku Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simpelthen en af de bedste af dem indtil videre. Lidt tidstypisk men man får da hjertet op i halsen ganske som drengene selv hær det. Her var lidt mere spænding end i de andre. En gammel version af the Goonies.

[Hal Astell · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first discovered the 'Three Investigators' series, I thought they were by Alfred Hitchcock. I had little idea who Hitch was at that point, but he introduced the books and my Armada editions only listed his name on the cover, as indeed did the original American hardbacks. At some point, I noticed the little notes on the title page that said things like "Text by Robert Arthur", so realised that other people wrote them and Hitch was part of some sort of licensing deal. The series taught me a lot and not just about history!

My copy of 'The Mystery of the Moaning Cave' also says "Text by Robert Arthur", but it isn't. This is the first book in the series to have been written by someone else, William Arden, who would go on to write fourteen of the forty-three titles that comprise the original run (one much later than the rest). Arthur returned to write the eleventh, 'The Mystery of the Talking Skull', but died in 1969, so Arden penned the next two and, a couple of Nick West titles aside, alternated with M. V. Carey all the way to book thirty-four when another author, Marc Brandel joined the fray.

I should add that Arden wasn't even a real name, only a pseudonym for Dennis Lynds, who wrote adult novels too under his own name and a variety of others. Most of these were mysteries, such as the 'Dan Fortune' books he wrote as Michael Collins, the 'Buena Costa' books he wrote as John Crowe and the 'Kane Jackson' books for which he also used William Arden. He even wrote a bunch of 'Shadow' novels under the house name of Maxwell Grant, but I also see two later science fiction titles in his bibliography. Other pseudonyms were Carl Dekker and Mark Sadler.

While I vaguely remember the series changing over time and the earliest books by Robert Arthur being my favourites, this stands well among them. It certainly falls under the same horror fringes and cultural history as so many of Arthur's books and trawls in a further American tradition in the western. The setting is the Crooked-Y ranch that sprawls right up to the Pacific Ocean and includes locations with such quintessential 'Three Investigators' names as Moaning Valley, Devil Mountain and El Diablo's Cave. The nearest town is Santa Carla, merely ten miles away, but there aren't any goddamn vampires here. Hey, this was 1968! Presumably they hadn't moved in yet.

It's Pete Crenshaw who starts this one out, because he's spending two weeks at the Crooked-Y at the invitation of its owners, Mr. & Mrs. Dalton. Jess Dalton used to be a rodeo rider, a well-known enough one to have been hired by Hollywood to work on westerns, where he knew Pete's dad well. However, he's not there long before he realises that there's a mystery to be solved. Quite a lot of the Daltons' ranch hands have been injured, too many to be coincidental, and also El Diablo's cave is moaning after fifty years of quiet. So his friends and colleagues Jupiter Jones and Bob Andrews quickly join him and the game is afoot.

Some of this one is rather predictable from 'Scooby Doo' mysteries. Of course, the Daltons are not going to buy into the old superstitions that tie into the local legend of El Diablo, a sort of Joaquin Murrieta type, the real life Robin Hood of the West who inspired the fictional character Zorro. Of course, a bunch of his ranch hands are absolutely going to believe that El Diablo has returned and so start to leave his employment. And, of course that means that there has to be an explanation a trio of smart amateur detectives can figure out. At least it doesn't end up being the work of an old lighthouse keeper who would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids.

However, Lynds trawls a lot of cultural heritage into this one and makes it feel comfortable. This is California, which the young English teenager in me knew was American but gradually realised was formerly Spanish and Native American. Lynds acknowledges that history and spins details that go back to the Spanish era, like the fiesta parade in Santa Carla, and, before that, to before the white man showed up, like the old Indian legends about Moaning Valley. He also includes a more recent set of traditions, so there are also ranches, prospectors and rodeo riders. It was a heady mixture for me forty years ago when I hadn't travelled further west than Devon and it still feels evocative to my fifty-year-old self a state east in Arizona, where I've now seen a lot of these traditions.

If the setting is the novel's greatest success, then the set of plot coincidences that keep the story moving is its worst point. I doubt I saw any of those as a kid, but they're often glaring as an adult; not least, the involvement of the United States Navy. Sure, Lynds telegraphed that early on with a note about the Navy doing manouevers a couple of times a year in the Channel Islands, which are now a national park, but how they tie into the story later feels rather forced. Bear in mind, it's not just that the Navy are there doing stuff, though that's enough. It's what they're doing in addition to all the other things in play in the same place. It gets to be a little much.

In-between is the actual mystery. The boys have to use both brains and brawn this time out, which is welcome and some of the scenes reminded me of films. The claustrophobia in the fiesta parade, in which the boys catch sight of the mysterious man with an eyepatch who they also encountered on the way down Devil Mountain, reminds of the parade in 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'. A scene in which the boys crucially locate a second entrance to El Diablo's Cave seemed reminiscent of 'The Goonies'. While Ray Bradbury's book had been released before this, the movies came after so the resemblance is likely coincidence but highlights how this taps into a particular zeitgeist.

All in all, it's a decent first time out for "William Arden" and, while I'm eager to dive into the final outing for series creator Robert Arthur, 'The Mystery of the Talking Skull', this hasn't remotely put me off continuing on into the contributions of other authors. At some point, the series is going to feel a little off, if my memory is sound, but it's telling me that that won't happen until I progress firmly into the twenties. This is book ten. There's plenty of time yet.

Originally posted at the Nameless Zine in May 2024:
https://www.thenamelesszine.org/Odds-...

Index of all my Nameless Zine reviews:
https://books.apocalypselaterempire.com/

[Raja99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I Reread This Book: I was lucky enough to find a hardcover edition a few weeks back and decided to reread it as a comfort when I and my wife were sick.

The Three Investigators was easily my favorite detective series as a kid, and two or three of the books had a huge impact on me. I don't think I read The Mystery of the Moaning Cave until I started collecting the books a few years back.

The series was created, and set up, by Robert Arthur. I'd thought he wrote the first ten in the series, but that isn't so; this book is the tenth, and it was written by William Arden. (The 11th was Robert Arthur's last book in the series.)

Given that Arden is probably my second-favorite of the authors who wrote T3I books, I was mildly surprised that I didn't like this one very much. Arden doesn't have a very good grasp of the characters yet, and the story is marred by the somewhat far-fetched (if not ridiculous) explanation for the somewhat far-fetched local legend of The Old One.

(Finished 2008-11-26 23:24 EST)

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

** Books 166 - 2016 **

3,1 dari 5 bintang!

Dulu suka sekali dengan kisah lima sekawannya enid Blyton dan Alfred Hitchock lalu ketemu buku ini jadi kangen buat ngobatin rindu kepada lima sekawan. Ceritanya biasa saja mengenai kasus gua yang meraung di tengah malam dan diselidiki oleh ketiga detektif muda (Jupiter, Pete dan Bob). Pembunuhnya juga bisa tertebak dengan mudah >__<

Favorit saya pastinya Jupiter dong gilaaa analisa dan deduksinya.. Pinter dan jeli banget!

Terimakasih iJak untuk peminjaman bukunya

[ULa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ijak #4

Kurasa inilah pertama kalinya aku membaca cerita Trio Detektif, karena aku tidak ingat pernah membacanya waktu kecil. Ternyata petualangan mereka lumayan seru dan menegangkan juga.

Jelas sekali pemimpinnya adalah Jupiter, dia yang paling pintar sehingga dia sangat mendominasi dibanding dua orang temannya yang harus unjuk gigi dengan porsi lebih sedikit. Suka dengan mereka, tapi Jupiter agak songong ini bocah.



Dan yeeeiiii pelaku tebakanku benar.

[Phoenixfly · Rating 5 out of 5]

gw suka pada kisah Misteri Gua Raungan ini. Kisahnya cukup mendebarkan dan alur ceritanya enak untuk dibaca.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved mysteries. I read Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and, Bobsey Twins.

But I didn’t discover Literature until I discovered Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators.

Honestly this is one I’d like to track down every copy, but I’d better read one first to see if they still hold up. I’m fairly certain I’ve read this one before though I have no idea when I stopped reading them!

In this book the three investigators (Jupiter, Pete and Bob — diversity having not been invented yet) look into a cave that is making creepy moaning sounds. They don’t go into the cave, but they go and hear the sounds.

”Fiddlesticks! It’s just old supersittuion and you know it” Mrs. Dalton said.

I’ve gotta start using Fiddlesticks more.

”It’s similar to the way a small animal becomes paralyzed when a snake looks at it.”

The Three Investigators decide to go into the spooky cave at night when they hear the Moaning™. They are given a few frights and maybe someone attempted to kill them but they explore the cave complex anyway.

They get out of the cave alive, but have no learned where all the moaning is coming from.

Of course, we call it a grubstake. They wouldn’t take charity.

It’s going to hard to work grubstake into conversions, but I’ll try.

Reading from an adult perspective I still appreciate the quality of the writing. Every chapter is more or less a cliffhanger and the mystery unfolds logically.

The Three Investigators are drawn with their unique personalities and of course, all the others characters are colorful as well.

Schmidt is a master of disguise and impersonation.

I guess that’s because in 1968 when this book was written, plastic surgery didn’t exist!

You see, I think Schmidt spotted me in Nevada. I tried to fool him by putting on this eye patch and painting a false scar on my face before coming to Santa Carla.

Because not only had prosthetic eyes not been invented, but the area was ripe with pirates!

The First Investigator just stood there and grinned.

That’s Jupiter Jones’ Colombo/Peroit/Holmes move right before the denouement.

But whatever The Three Investigators probed next, it would definitely be a case of danger and suspense.

Truer words were never spoken. This was a very fun read. Definitely nostalgia tinted for sure, but still a good case

I probably won’t track down the rest of them right away but it’ll be hard to get rid of this one!

4 stars easy.

[Erika Reieru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kisah Trio Detektif ini cukup menghibur, walaupun tidak cukup mendebarkan. Karena kisah perjalanan ketiga detektif remaja ini dalam mengungkap 'Misteri Gua Raungan' bisa dengan mudah kutebak siapa pelaku sebenarnya. Ada dua hal dari kisah ini yang mengganjal.

Pertama, kisah yang menceritakan kecelakaan secara beruntun menimpa para pekerja Mr. Dalton. Salah satunya ketika seorang pekerja sedang berjalan saat senja di lembah, ketika tiba-tiba melihat sosok tubuh yang besar sekali muncul dari Gua El Diablo. Itu semua hanya pemanis dan pengecoh semata. Memaksa para pembaca untuk berpikir bahwa 'ada sesuatu yang menyeramkan' di dalam lembah, seperti monster atau manusia jadi-jadian yang di luar nalar manusia. Karena sampai akhir cerita pun aku tidak dapat jawaban dari kebenaran 'sesosok tubuh yang besar sekali' tersebut.

Kedua, aku sama sekali tidak paham bagaimana cara masuk El Diablo palsu ke dalam Lembah Raungan tanpa diketahui oleh Waldo yang berada di atas Gunung Setan untuk memantau pergerakan seseorang setiap kali ada yang berniat masuk ke dalam Lembah Raungan. Padahal Jupiter dan Pete saja sampai harus menyelam melewati jalan masuk bawah air yang berada di dekat pantai. Misteri ini pun tidak dijelaskan hingga akhir cerita.

Sekali lagi aku bisa menebak siapa pelakunya, dan apa yang direncanakan para detektif remaja dari sebuah serial novel bergenre misteri. Karena alurnya juga mudah ditebak sih, gak terlalu rumit. Tapi paling tidak novel ini aku rekomendasi untuk kalian yang suka main tebak-tebakan mencari kebenaran di balik kisah misteri, dan yang mau nyoba baca novel bergenre misteri. Dijamin seru, karena kasusnya yang di angkat juga terbilang ringan.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folge 19 der Hörspielreihe beginnt ohne Vorgeplänkel und wirft die Hörer*innen direkt mitten ins Geschehen, wo Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw und Bob Andrews einem rätselhaften Geheule nachgehen, das vom sogenannten Teufelsberg auszugehen scheint. Was die drei Detektive genau in diese Umgebung und auf die benachbarte Mendoza-Ranch verschlagen hat, wird im Hörspiel leider nicht erwähnt, sodass der Anfang etwas überhastet und zusammenhanglos wirkt. Unabhängig davon deuten erste Erkenntnisse des Trios daraufhin, dass die Geräusche möglicherweise im Zusammenhang mit dem Banditen El Diablo stehen könnten, der vor Jahrzehnten in der Region sein Unwesen trieb und auf der Flucht vor dem Gesetz im Berg verschwand und danach nie wiedergesehen wurde. Sorgt nun sein Geist für Angst und Schrecken oder steckt ein andere Erklärung hinter dem "Tal der Wehklagen"?

Abgesehen vom etwas lieblosen Beginn zählt "Der Teufelsberg" zu den spannenderen Fällen der bisherigen Folgen, auch weil die Episode eine kleine Abweichung zum typischen "Mehrere Parteien jagen dem gleichen Gegenstand hinterher"-Schema liefert. Die Geschichte um die Banditen-Legende ist interessant und wird schlüssig erzählt, zudem kann die Folge mit einer besonders gelungenen Geräuschkulisse überzeugen, wobei vor allem das Dröhnen des Berges oder die hallenden Höhlen hervorstechen. Insgesamt eine gute Folge, die durchweg abwechslungsreiche Unterhaltung bietet.

[David Phipps · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Three Investigators is a juvenile detective series published in the 60s, 70s, and 80s that spans about 43 books. They feature three teenage boys who mostly investigate paranormal type stuff that they debunk (somewhat like Scooby-Doo) or other abnormal crimes that the police do not handle. They report their cases to Alfred Hitchcock or a fake director depending on which versions you read. Their base of operations is hidden away in the depths of a junkyard and it has multiple hidden entrances. I discovered these books in the library during middle school and promptly read them all. As such, I have a lot of nostalgia for these books.

The Mystery of the Moaning Cave is #10 in the series. The boys are visiting a ranch and investigate eerie wailing coming from a nearby cave system. This book was very much like a Scooby-Doo episode. I read an online ebook version of this since most of these books are out of print.

[sonofabook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die drei Detektive Peter, Bob und Justus sind in einer fremden Stadt um einem mysteriösen Pfeiffen bei einer Höhle auf dem Grund zu gehen. Diese Höhle befindet sich im Tal der Wehklagen, was seinen Namen aufgrund des heulenden, pfeiffenden, Geräusch erhalten hat.
Außerdem geht die Sage um, dass El Diablo, ein bereits totgeglaubter Bandit der sich einst verletzt in diese Höhle zurückgezogen hat, dort hausen soll.
Dem gehen die drei ??? auf den Grund, wobei sich nicht nur auf Diamanten stoßen, sondern auch auf eine Gestalt mit monsterähnlichen Fußabdrücken.
Als Peter und Bob bei dem Recherchen zum Berg und der Höhle dann beinahe getötet werden, scheint sich das Motiv hinter dem mysteriösen Pfeiffen zu ändern.

Eine ganz spannende Folge, die allerdings ein etwas zu schnell erzähltes Ende hat und auch im Vorhinein nicht ganz spannend wirkt.
Man vermisst tatsächlich seit einigen Folgen das gute alte Rocky Beach und die alt bekannten Charaktere und Charaterinnen.