The Mystery Of The Screaming Clock

Classic Three Investigators #9

by Robert Arthur

A room full of clocks and they all scream…why?

A new mystery for Jupiter, Pete and Bob to unravel but they haven’t much to go on - a torn message in code, a recording of Bert Clock’s glass-shattering scream and the theft of several valuable paintings - a thin collection of clues and time is running out…

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

159 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 1968

About the author

Robert Arthur (1909-1969) was a versatile mystery writer born November 10, 1909, on Corregidor Island, where his father served as a U.S. Army officer. He is best known as the creator of The Three Investigators, a mystery book series for young people, but he began his career writing for the pulps, and later worked in both radio and television. He studied at William and Mary College for two years before earning a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Michigan. In 1931, he moved to New York City, where he wrote mysteries, fantasies, and horror stories for magazines like Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, Detective Fiction Weekly, and Black Mask throughout the 1930s.

Later, with David Kogan, he co-created and produced The Mysterious Traveler radio show (1944-1952), earning a 1953 Edgar Award. He and Kogan also won an Edgar, in 1950, for Murder By Experts. In 1959, Arthur relocated to Hollywood, scripting for The Twilight Zone and serving as story editor and writer for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, while ghost-editing numerous "Alfred Hitchcock" anthologies for adults and children.

In 1963, Arthur settled in Cape May, New Jersey, where he created The Three Investigators series with The Secret of Terror Castle (1964). He wrote ten novels in the series before his death in Philadelphia on May 2, 1969. The 43-title series, continued after his death by writers-for-hire working for Random House, was published in over twenty-five languages and thirty countries. (Originally branded as "Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators", Random House dropped the Hitchcock name from the series after Hitchcock's death.)

In June of 2024, Hollow Tree Press reissued Robert Arthur's original ten novels as a sixtieth anniversary edition. Those editions have end notes written by his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Arthur and Steven Bauer, and Hollow Tree Press is also publishing a twenty-six book New Three Investigators series written by Arthur and Bauer.

Reviews

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justus, Peter und Bob finden auf dem Schrottplatz einen alten Wecker. Das Besondere an dem Wecker ist, dass er nicht klingelt - er schreit! Der Schrei klingt wirklich grausig; wer denkt sich nur so etwas aus? Die drei Detektive beschließen, das Rätsel des Weckers zu lösen...
Ein sonderbarer Fall. Gerade der Beginn ist so ganz anders, denn eigentlich gibt es keinen wirklichen Grund, sich des Weckers anzunehmen. Doch Justus, Peter und Bob sind neugierig, und so stoßen sie natürlich doch noch auf einige Verwicklungen...
Ich mochte die Folge! Ein bisschen altmodisch irgendwie, und gerade deshalb aber besonders charmant. Rätselhaft, geheimnisvoll und sehr unterhaltsam.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was surprising. It started out really slow, and very formulaic. However, about halfway through it picked up and turned into one of the better Three Investigator novels.

A "screaming clock" is brought into the junkyard. Rather than an alarm sounding, this clock screams. This puzzles the boys, and it goes on from there. We do have another teenage boy introduced, but this time hes from Cali just like the other boys, so no exotic cultures this time. Also, the villains are amped up a bit, just a little more dangerous than before. (One threatens them with a blowtorch for example.) We also see the return of a familiar villain, which was a pleasant surprise.

I didn't like the way the villain just walked at the end. If he's an international jewel thief you'd think he'd have some outstanding warrants, but instead the police let him waltz on out. That was silly, but a minor point in an otherwise good book.

The series still has some surprises left, and I look forward to future volumes!

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 9 of my quest to introduce my kids to the Three Investigators and read all of the books in order. So far, this is one of our favorites. The combination of a strange clock that screams that leads the boys down a rabbit hole of mystery, secret messages and dangerous art thieves seemed to hit all the right notes. A highly recommended read in the collection.

[Oneofthefoxes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eher 3,5 (ich runde nach Bauchgefühl auf oder ab, dennoch ist dies die eigentliche Sterneanzahl)

Der seltsame Wecker ist einer meiner absoluten Lieblingsfälle der Drei Fragezeichen. Das liegt daran, das ich das Hörspiel immer grandios fand. Das lebte natürlich auch von den Schreien des Weckers, die man damals natürlich effektvoll umsetzen konnte.
Dieses Hörbuch nun, gelesen von Henning May und Axel Luther als Albert Hitfield, ist eine vollständige Lesung. So ergeben sich auch einige Punkte, die im Hörspiel anders gelöst wurden^^

Mir persönlich hat der Inhalt wirklich gut gefallen, auch wenn ich zugebe, das die Änderungen im Hörspiel der Handlung tatsächlich ein bisschen mehr Pepp verliehen hatten.
Aber gut, insgesamt hatte ich mit der Geschichte wirklich Spaß. Auch wenn ich die Rätsel auswendig kann. Die ganze Idee mit dem Wecker und die Einbindung von Radioschauspielern, die Hörspielstars waren. Das gefiel mir schon als Kind sehr gut. Eine spannende Suche mit einigen Wendungen, jede Menge Bösewichte und nicht zuletzt Victor Eugenet mit seinem ersten Auftritt (zumindest in den Büchern). Das alles macht für mich den Fall als Solchen zu einem Highlight der Reihe.

Leider wird die Lesung von Henning May dem Ganze nicht sehr gerecht. Ich finde man merkt, das er keinerlei Erfahrung mit Hörbüchern hat. Zum Teil liest er gerade zu einfach nur ab. Seltsame Betonungen kommen hinzu, außerdem hören sich bei ihm fast alle Figuren gleich an. Die Akzente, bei zwei der Figuren fand ich eher peinlich. Schade, die Stimme ist wirklich an sich schön, aber hat mich als Lesestimme überhaupt nicht überzeugt.
Meine Wertung sieht daher getrennt wie folgt aus:

Inhalt: 4 Sterne

Lesung von Henning May: 2 Sterne

Ich weiß, da kämen wir im Mittel bei 3 Sternen raus, aber ich mag den Wecker einfach zu gerne *gg*

[Shreyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Mystery of the Screaming Clock' (The Three Investigators #9) by Robert Arthur.

“But why would anybody glue a crazy message like that to the bottom of a clock?” Pete wanted to know. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“A mystery wouldn’t be a mystery if it wasn’t mysterious,” Jupiter told him.

Rating: 5/5.




Review:
Despite being a huge fan of the T3I series during my school days, I was unable to procure a copy of books 6 to 10. I was, fortunately, able to borrow a few copies of these books from the local library when I began a chronological read-along of this series (I still hope to own copies of these books someday soon).

I must confess that I'm glad that I decided to embark upon a read-along of these childhood sweethearts. Because, if I hadn't done so, I would have missed out on some of these unread gems. The Mystery of the Screaming Clock, quite unexpectedly, turned out to be the best read of this series so far.

As an avid fan of riddles, puzzles, and all kinds of wordplay, I was delighted with the cryptic and perplexing nature of the secret codes used in this story. I was equally amazed by the ingenuity displayed by the three young sleuths to solve these secret codes to arrive at a meaningful message.

Just like the previous entries in the series, there's a young boy who aids the young sleuths in their latest mystery. However, unlike its predecessors, the boys aren't handed out a case by Alfred Hitchcock (or Hector Sebastian, based on which edition you are reading) or by a client. Instead, the case starts with Jupiter investigating a mysterious screaming clock that he unexpectedly comes across in his uncle's salvage yard. Mr. Hugenay, a character that previously appeared in The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, plays a part in this book as well. Although he isn't the primary antagonist and assists the Three Investigators in this mystery, I was astounded by his criminal genius and resourcefulness. He impressed me to such an extent that I'm looking forward to more of his cameos in the continuation novels in this series.

Overall, I had a great time reading this T3I mystery. I can unhesitantly state that The Mystery of the Screaming Clock has been my favourite read of the series so far. I had planned to read only the first 11 books (that form the original canon) in this series, but it is safe to say that this book has made me want to read as many T3I books as possible.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to The Stuttering Parrot and The Vanishing Treasure (the boys happen to stumble upon a robbery/ crime ring, they have to follow little riddles, etc.), but the stakes are high and the mystery solving is clever in both, so I'm not mad about it.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jupiter comes across a clock that screams-which leads the three investigators to a set of mysterious messages and another exciting mystery. This was a very enjoyable read. I didn't quite figure out what the puzzles (except one set) might turn out to be and even the puzzle leading to the denouement was very well done. This has to be my favourite in this series so far.

[Nadja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spannende Rätsel.

[Nadja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verworren und spannend von Anfang bis Ende.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Buch wurde zum Ende hin noch recht spannend, eigentlich genau in dem Moment, in dem Hugenay auftauchte. Überhaupt fand ich die Interaktionen zwischen Hugenay und Justus sehr interessant.

[Marielle]

wünschte es gäbe die live version auf spotify

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

2009 review - I had it in my head that this and “Talking Skull” are the weakest Arthur books but, upon re-reading this as an adult, I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly, it’s not as sensational as the other stories and sticks resolutely close to home (coming off of the Varania trip), but it’s a solid mystery, showing the boys detecting skills perfectly, though the story itself relies quite heavily on chance. Characterisation is good - it’s nice to see Hugenay again after “Stuttering Parrot” (and it’s a shame he never appeared again) - it’s well written, there’s some nice interplay between the lads and there are a couple of decent action sequences. Worth a read.
2013 update - My previous review still stands though it’s worth mentioning that Mr Jeeters, who is the chief villain here, is actually quite a nasty bloke, especially the threats he makes against Bob & Jupiter. I really enjoyed this re-read and it seems to me (certainly following my reading of “Silver Spider” and “Talking Skull”) that Arthur is at his best when the boys are near to HQ, with the action taking place in Rocky Beach and Hollywood. A nice touch there are two footnotes to previous cases, which help make this an enjoyable read and definitely one of the better entries in the series. Good stuff.
2018 update - an overdue and welcome re-read, I agree with the previous comments and would highly recommend this.
2021 update - a very welcome re-read, thoroughly enjoyable

[ULa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ijak #5


Asyik, asyik sekali novelnya :D


Setelah biasanya berkutat dengan novel misteri bertema pembunuhan, rasanya menyegarkan membaca novel Trio Detektif. Bagi mereka rasanya apapun bisabdijadikan misteri :) bahkan jam beker pun ternyata juga menjadi misteri yang asyik dan menegangkan. Rasanya ingin balik jadi kecil lagi dan berlarian di lapangan sambil tertawa keras - keras hahaha.

[Brooklyn Halley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este es otro misterio bien hecho y se nota. Pero en comparación con los otros libros de esta saga, este es el que menos me ha gustado. Sigo teniendo en un pedestal "El Misterio Del Loro Tartamudo". La gente debería leer estos libros, porque, por muy viejos que sean, tienen muchas historias que contar y además buenas.

[Ivana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klasika z "arthurovského" pera. Tieto prvé diely sú esenciou toho, prečo som dlhé hodiny rozmýšľala ako zakomponovať do príbehu dievčenskú postavu, ktorá by dobrodružstvá prežívala s nimi.

[Talulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally thought that the book was very well described. The author described the setting clearly and made it easy to picture where the characters where standing. I would recommend to read it.

[Michi · Rating 3 out of 5]

audiobook

[Bubu · Rating 5 out of 5]

immernoch die beste folge (guter wecker!)

[Neele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruder diese Schreie 😳

Sie werden mich heute Nacht wachhalten aber ich find's gut.

[Krisette Spangler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy my daughter was able to get me copies of these books from my childhood. It's so fun to reread them.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

2009 review - I had it in my head that this and “Talking Skull” are the weakest Arthur books but, upon re-reading this as an adult, I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly, it’s not as sensational as the other stories and sticks resolutely close to home (coming off of the Varania trip), but it’s a solid mystery, showing the boys detecting skills perfectly, though the story itself relies quite heavily on chance. Characterisation is good - it’s nice to see Hugenay again after “Stuttering Parrot” (and it’s a shame he never appeared again) - it’s well written, there’s some nice interplay between the lads and there are a couple of decent action sequences. Worth a read.
2013 update - My previous review still stands though it’s worth mentioning that Mr Jeeters, who is the chief villain here, is actually quite a nasty bloke, especially the threats he makes against Bob & Jupiter. I really enjoyed this re-read and it seems to me (certainly following my reading of “Silver Spider” and “Talking Skull”) that Arthur is at his best when the boys are near to HQ, with the action taking place in Rocky Beach and Hollywood. A nice touch there are two footnotes to previous cases, which help make this an enjoyable read and definitely one of the better entries in the series. Good stuff.
2018 update - an overdue and welcome re-read, I agree with the previous comments and would highly recommend this.
2021 update - a very welcome re-read, thoroughly enjoyable
2025 update - great fun, I really enjoyed this re-read.

[Hal Astell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm starting to run out of the ten 'The Three Investigators' novels that were written by the creator of the series, Robert Arthur. This is his ninth book in a row but 'The Mystery of the Moaning Cave', which is up next, was written by William Arden, before Arthur contributed a final book before his death in 1969, 'The Mystery of the Talking Skull'. I always preferred Arthur's books to those which followed by different hands, in part because he had a particular nostalgia for older culture. I saw that in 'The Secret of Terror Castle', which was ultimately about a silent movie actor and I clearly remembered it here because 'The Mystery of the Screaming Clock' is about a radio actor.

Initially, of course, it's about a clock and there surely can't be too many better openings to 'Three Investigators' novels than "The clock screamed." It's an apparently ordinary electric alarm clock that Jupiter Jones has plugged in to see if it works and it scares the crap out of everybody within earshot. Clearly it's a mystery and we're set in motion on the very first page. Of course, the boys investigate and some solid deduction and a little bit of luck gets them answers even though some of the trails they follow reach dead ends.

In fact, Arthur's sense of humour is given a strong showing here, because, in one instance, a trail appears to be literally that, a dead end. The boys acquire a phone number and call it, pretending to be the phone company in order to convert it into an address, only to hear a horrible scream. So they head over to the address given, only to discover that it was Mr. Hadley's dying scream, as he is about to be buried. That's a glorious touch, especially with the door promptly slammed in their faces. Of course, they get past this dead end and by chapter five find themselves inside a room in which a dozen different clocks all scream.

What I think I like the most about this setup is that it's impeccably weird but utterly believable, a stark contrast to the setup in the previous book, 'The Mystery of the Silver Spider'. Jupe lives with his aunt and uncle, who run a salvage yard in which he and his friends are often press-ganged into helping out. It's utterly natural that he'd plug in an alarm clock to see if it worked. It's equally as natural that a box of junk would end up at a junk yard. Add one quirky element and everything is ready to fall into place. It's a firm reminder that mysteries are all around us.

Compare that, however, with the prior book, in which the three boys are being driven around in a gold plated limousine when a European prince's car almost crashes into them and the soon-to-be crowned head of state asks them to be his guides around Disneyland, after which he invites them to his coronation and the government enlists them to be junior agents. Yeah, that's an incredibly large plot convenience to hinder a story with from the outset, because that sort of thing does not happen every day and not even one part of it is ever likely to happen to us.

By the way, one of Arthur's regular tropes was to include a fourth boy in each of these novels, as an excellent way to layer in a foreign culture for one book only, the particular culture changing in each story. That European prince, Djaro Montestan, was the least likely of them to show up in the first eight books, but he fit the template nicely. There's a fourth boy here too, but he's not from a different culture for once, which is almost disappointing. He's Harry Smith, a seventeen-year-old who lived in Hadley's house with his mother, who was Hadley's housekeeper, and he's as American as apple pie.

The other element that seems familiar here is stolen art, the MacGuffin at the heart of the best book in the series, in my not-so-humble opinion, 'The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot', as well as 'The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure'. The difference here, at least initially, is that the artwork has already been recovered before we begin. It's a set of modern paintings stolen from a house in Beverly Hills that were found by the police under the kitchen linoleum at Mr. Hadley's house when they looked into Harry's father, Ralph Smith, an insurance agent who had tried to sell their owner some life insurance and saw the pictures in the process. That's why he's serving five years. And it's why Harry offers up his fifteen bucks of savings if the Three Investigators will take that case.

And so we have two mysteries, which are inevitably going to end up connected, and two are better than one. Another plus point here is that the connection comes when Jupe decides to visit Alfred Hitchcock, who introduces all of their cases. After all, Hadley apparently used to be an actor, so it makes sense to ask a Hollywood director if he knew him. However, Jupe only manages 'We started out to investigate a screaming clock" and Hitch already has the answer. "Screaming Clock! What's happened to him, anyway? I haven't heard that name in years."

So Mr. Hadley is Albert Clock, known in the industry as Screaming Clock, because he screamed for a living on radio shows, priding himself in having more different screams than anyone else. Then television arrived and screamers weren't needed any more, so Bert Clock faded into the type of obscurity that critics like me shine lights on whenever we stumble on the fact that people of this level of interest existed and follow a trail just like Jupe and his colleagues. And that's why I adore Arthur's contributions to this series, I guess, because I never felt more kinship with the boys than when their mysteries take them into cultural territory in ways the ten-year-old me wished that he could do and the fifty-year-old me is blissfully to do on a regular basis.

And, having finally reached that point after nine paragraphs, I'll stop fleshing out the synopsis as you should read this yourself and try to solve the puzzle that Jupe stumbled so memorably upon before the Three Investigators do. I'll just add a hint that there's a returning character this time out, who I won't name but you may well guess, and, if memory serves, he doesn't return again, a fact that I still regret because I'd love to read another novel in which Jupe matches wits with—

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

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

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

2009 review - I had it in my head that this and “Talking Skull” are the weakest Arthur books but, upon re-reading this as an adult, I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly, it’s not as sensational as the other stories and sticks resolutely close to home (coming off of the Varania trip), but it’s a solid mystery, showing the boys detecting skills perfectly, though the story itself relies quite heavily on chance. Characterisation is good - it’s nice to see Hugenay again after “Stuttering Parrot” (and it’s a shame he never appeared again) - it’s well written, there’s some nice interplay between the lads and there are a couple of decent action sequences. Worth a read.
2013 update - My previous review still stands though it’s worth mentioning that Mr Jeeters, who is the chief villain here, is actually quite a nasty bloke, especially the threats he makes against Bob & Jupiter. I really enjoyed this re-read and it seems to me (certainly following my reading of “Silver Spider” and “Talking Skull”) that Arthur is at his best when the boys are near to HQ, with the action taking place in Rocky Beach and Hollywood. A nice touch here are two footnotes to previous cases, which help make this an enjoyable read and definitely one of the better entries in the series. Good stuff.

[Weni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Membaca lagi buku ini setelah lewat bertahun-tahun :D

Kisahnya diawali dengan ditemukannya jam weker yang bunyinya menjerit oleh Jupe. Lalu ada pesan yang menyertai jam itu. Pesan dari Albert Clock sang pemilik jam menjerit untuk Rex, agar bertanya pada Imogene, Gerald dan Martha. Ketiganya ternyata mendapatkan pesan yang berbeda dari Albert Clock.

Pesan kepada Imogene:
It's quiet there even in a hurricane
Just a word of advice, politely given
Old english bowmen loved it
Bigger than a raindrop, smaller than an ocean
I'm 26. How old are you ?
It sits on a shelf like a well-fed elf

Pesan kepada Martha:
3-27 4-36 5-19 48-12 7-11 15-9
101-2 5-16 45-37 98-98 20-135 84-9

Pesan kepada Gerald:
Take one lily, kill my friend eli
Positively number one
Take a broom and swat a bee
What you do with clothes, almost
Not mother, not sister, not brother, but perhaps father
Hymns? hams? homes? almost, not quite

Rangkaian pesan tsb ternyata menunjukkan tempat dimana Albert menyembunyikan lukisan2 berharga yang dicurinya. Lalu fungsi jam menjerit ? untuk mengeluarkan lukisan2 itu dari tempat persembunyiannya :D

[Eva Siagian · Rating 3 out of 5]

+ceritanya berawal dr hal kecil-hal biasa saja, berkembang mengikuti imajinasi Jupe dan mengawali petualangan Trio Detektif. seringnya anak-anak (berdasarkan ingatan saya spt sebagaimana anak2 seharusnya) selalu memulai imajinasinya dari ordinary thing.. mereka mengasah kemampuan berimajinasi dengan mengikuti permainan pikiran dan menciptakan petualangan..
+ini merupakan satu theme 'teka-teki'
-sayang, pengisahan-nya agak kurang mengajak pembaca menjadi bagian dari cerita Trio Detektif. saya cek di bukunya, yang ada hanya nama Alfred Hitchcock, tidak ada nama penulis lain. Jadi saya tidak tahu siapa penulis buku yang ini. Penggunaan kalimat tidak langsung lebih dominan ketimbang seri lainnya sehingga saya tidak merasakan kesan seperti biasa seperti "I am part of them" -- mungkin ini kesan yang dirasakan Alfred Hitchcock saat membaca laporan Bob.. hahaha..

[Beby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re read

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie; my review of The Mystery of the Screaming Clock is utterly biased because the Three Investigator series of kids' crime stories were vital to my childhood reading experiences. Fifty or so years ago I was always keen to get a copy of one of the adventures of Jupiter, Pete and Bob, loving how they solved mysteries and caught criminals, whilst living the dream of being able to be free and outsmarting adults. Come forward from the early 1970s and now, whilst I am very aware that this book and the others in the series are pulp fiction for children, in the same vein as the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series, I can also see how well crafted and fun the Three Investigators stories are.

The premise of the Three Investigator books is that three teenage boys living in Los Angeles, either through happenstance or direct engagement, get to solve crimes and mysteries. Jupiter Jones is the brains of the trio, applying his deductive skills to help them find answers to the chalelnges they face, with Bob Andrews as the recorder and researcher, and Peter Crenshaw providing a more muscular element to the team. Inquisitive, brave, generous and good, they are perfect leads for the novels written by Robert Arthur and later authors. That the boys then operate in a setting which is rich with interesting supporting characters, including a fictional version of Alfred Hitchock, and experience LA and Hollywood, makes this and other books so enjoyable.

There isn't much about The Mystery of the Screaming Clock that one wouldn't find in the other Three Investigator books. The plot runs an expected course, including an initial problem, some diffficult challenges that the boys overcome, interventions and appearances from a raft of unique figures, and after combining their individual and group talents with perhaps a bit of luck, solve the mystery. The prose style is relatively uncomplicated, and the characterisations of all the figures in the book are somewhat two dimensional. But that's okay; it's the nature of Arthur's novel to stick to a formula and offer an engaging if comfortable narrative for his young readers. This entry in the series is representative of all the others that I have read; The Mystery of the Screaming Clock is not about social issues or questioning too deeply the world that the Three Investigators exist in. It's pulp fiction with a simple moral code and three teenage boys always doing the right thing (whilst possibly subverting the adults' world that they encounter).

One neat aspect of this entry in the Three Investigator series is the focus on old time radio dramas, and how before television there existed a strong culture of stories being told on that media. Of course, with this and other books in the series dating from the 1960s through to the 1980s there is an inherent nostalgia for this long gone world for more contemporary readers. It could be said that The Mystery of the Screaming Clock is now a doubly powerful exercise in cultural memory for readers such as I.

So, is The Mystery of the Screaming Clock worth reading today? Of course I will say yes! Just because the constructs of this book and other Three Investigator novels are somewhat dated doesn't mean that the books are bad or should be left unread. I would like to think kids today would like to follow Jupiter, Bob and Pete on their adventures, and of course many adults will remember them as fondly as I do. They are also artefacts of a form and age of children's literature that is worthy of study. Finally, this book and many others in the series are just bloody good fun. Who wouldn't like to see three kids getting the better of criminals, solving mysteries, and showing up silly, secretive, shady or sanctimonious adults.

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts as of Three Invesitgators Book 9 which I dropped: I did start this book, but overall, I feel burnt out with the Three Investigators series. I liked the initial books, but I felt they became more mediocre and lower quality as they went on with repeated tropes, such as the foreigner kid they teem up with. I appreciate them starting with action-y scenes and being relatable to a young boy but some of the mysteries and tricks become really dumb or obvious, such as the Silver Spider case which didn't really have a mystery and was super obvious about the spider fake being hidden amongst real spiders.

The other thing I think is unfortunate is that for a series, it doesn't do much to a) develop the 3 - they stay the same traitwise for just about all the books up to this ninth one I reached, and b) they waste/squander their series potential only reusing Huganay for an antagonist/deuteragonist in two books and not really repeating other side characters much or showing more of their Rocky Beach city world. Lastly, there are some convenient things happening such as the rich boy paying for more of Worthington's Rolls Royce Ride right as their contract ended up expiring. I would've preferred something more hard-earned, such as the boys needing to bike more or making some contraption in the scrapyard to get around better or using money earned from cases to pay for clever cheap rides or so.

Anyway, overall, it was a fun enough series while it lasted, and I have all or almost all the books on my kindle (about 40 something books, of which I read the first 8 entirely and reread the 2nd and 3rd a few times I think), so I might revisit one day if I'm bored, but I doubt it. Part of the issue is that I've outgrown this series since I was a kid. If I had read this over a decade ago, I mightve gotten more of a blast out of it and could even tolerate how it became more lukewarm/mediocre. As it is though, its not good enough to make me want to keep going and doesn't feel as fresh anymore as of this ninth book.

[Ian Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Mystery of the Screaming Clock” by Alfred Hitchcock (1969)

Overall Rating 9/10 – A Real Scream!

Plot
Uncle Titus arrives at the scrapyard with a box of junk. In there is a clock with a strange note hidden underneath. The Three Investigators take a closer look and when they trigger the alarm, the clock screams at them. Determined to find out what is going on, the three embark on a detective mission and soon find themselves being hunted down by dangerous villains. What could go wrong?

Writing Style
Easy, flowing, short sentences. Very juvenile, with virtually no flowering at all. Pretty basic script that, just now and again, shows its age. For the first time, there were some (five actually) irritating uses of the word “For” as in … “They shivered, for it was cold” I don’t know why this sudden infliction has occurred, but I hope it doesn’t carry on, for I find it annoying (see what I did there?)

Point of View/Voice
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)

Critique
I loved this series of books as a youngster. Reading these now brings back a huge amount of nostalgia, and I have relived some of the feelings and sensations I experienced when I first read them. For a boy setting out on his life voyage of reading books, this is absolutely perfect. It is a wonderful world of basic script with a not-too-difficult plot wrapped in simple adventure. As an adult of 58 years, I was catapulted back in time, and I was once more 12 years old. I never want these books to end.

This book is now my favourite so far. It didn’t really show any of its age and could almost have been written today. The Investigators had to solve three riddles (which consumed most of the plot) and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of solving them first (I got two nailed down but not all three). It was also filled with the stuff of modern thrillers you see in Hollywood films (simplified, of course), and I could see it as an “action thriller”.

Brilliantly written and an utter joy to read.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein merkwürdiger alter Wecker vom Schrottplatz seines Onkels hat die Aufmerksamkeit von Justus Jonas auf sich gezogen – dessen Besonderheit: statt eines Klingelns gibt der Wecker einen markerschütternden lauten Schrei von sich. Das macht den Ersten Detektiv natürlich neugierig und so nötigt er seine beiden Mit-Detektive, sich des Falls mit ihm zusammen anzunehmen und das Geheimnis dieser seltsamen Uhr zu lüften. Ein dem Wecker beigelegter Zettel mit einer kryptischen Botschaft hilft dabei zunächst nicht weiter, doch eine kleine Gravur auf dem Apparat verrät den drei Detektiven zumindest, welcher Uhrmacher den Wecker angefertigt hat – kann er das Schreien der Uhr erklären?

Die 12. Hörspielfolge der drei ??? beginnt akustisch opulent, denn man bekommt den Schrei des "seltsamen Weckers" direkt in seiner vollen Pracht zu hören – und das Gekreische ist zwar etwas schmerzhaft, aber auch recht eindrucksvoll. Wer Angst um sein Gehör hat sollte diese Folge daher mit Vorsicht genießen, denn der Schrei zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch die komplette Episode und sorgt alleine deshalb schon dafür, dass man sie wohl noch etwas länger in Erinnerung behalten wird. Was den Fall betrifft, so hat dieser zwar vielleicht nicht unbedingt den gleichen Effekt, trotzdem ist die Geschichte abwechslungsreich und auch weitestgehend schlüssig erzählt – auch wenn das Figurengeflecht in der Kürze der Hörspielzeit manchmal etwas unübersichtlich daherkommt und es zwischendurch etwas wild wird. Ein weiteres Highlight ist ein Wiedersehen mit dem eloquenten Kunstdieb Hugenay, welches jedoch auch auch aufgrund der zuweilen bizarren Betonungen des Sprechers denkwürdig ausfällt. Insgesamt eine gute Folge, auch wenn sich die drei Detektive zwischenzeitlich wieder etwas leichtgläubig präsentieren.