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Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators #34

Die drei ??? und der Höhlenmensch

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The disappearance of some recently discovered fossils and the sighting of a living cave man present Jupiter, Pete and Bob with a perplexing puzzle

139 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

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310 people want to read

About the author

M.V. Carey

120 books28 followers
Also known as Mary V. Carey
Personal: Born May 19, 1925, in New Brighton, Cheshire (now Merseyside), England; brought to the United States in 1925, naturalized citizen in 1955; daughter of John Cornelius (an engineer) and Mary Alice (Hughes) Carey. Home address in 1993 was 3748 Birch St., Ventura, CA.

Ms Carey passed away in 1994.

Education: College of Mount St. Vincent, B.S., 1946.

Religion: Roman Catholic

Career: Coronet, New York City, editorial associate, 1948 - 55; Walt Disney Productions, Burbank, CA, assistant editor of publications, 1955 - 69; free-lance writer 1969 - 1994.

Member: PEN; Mystery Writers of America; Society of Children's Book Writers; Women in Communications.

Awards, Honors: Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award, 1986, for "A Place for Allie".

Hobbies and Interests: Walking on the beach.

Writings:
Novelizations of Walt Disney Motion Pictures:
(With George Sherman) WD's "Babes in Toyland" Golden Press, 1961.
WD's "The Sword in the Stone" Whitman, 1963.
The Story of Walt Disney's Motion Picture "Mary Poppins" Whitman, 1964.
WD's "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" Whitman, 1964.
WD's "Donald Duck and the Lost Mesa Ranch" Whitman, 1966.
The Story of WD's Motion Picture "Jungle Book" Whitman, 1967.
The Story of WD's Motion Picture "Blackbeard's Ghost" Whitman, 1968.
"Mrs. Brisby's Important Package" (adapted from film "The Secret of NIMH), Golden Press, 1982.

Juveniles:
"Raggedy Ann and the Glad and Sad Day", Golden Press, 1972.
"Little Lulu and the Birthday Surprise, Whitman, 1973.
"The Tawny, Scrawny Lio and the Clever Monkey" Golden Press, 1974.
"Alonzo Purr, the Seagoing Cat", Western Pub., 1974.
"The Owl Who Loved Sunshine", Golden Press, 1977.
"The Gremlin's Storybook", Golden Press, 1984.

The Three Investigators Mystery Series (Random House):
"The Mystery of the:
#15 Flaming Footprints, 1971.
#17 Singing Serpent, 1972.
#20 Monster Mountain, 1973.
#21 The Secret of the Haunted Mirror, 1974.
#23 Invisible Dog, 1975.
#24 Death Trap Mine, 1976.
#27 Magic Circle, 1978.
#29 Sinister Scarecrow, 1979.
#31 Scar-Faced Beggar, 1981.
#32 Blazing Cliffs, 1981.
#34 Wandering Cave Man, 1982.
#36 Missing Mermaid, 1984.
#39 Trail of Terror, 1984.
#41 Creep-Show Crooks, 1985.
#43 Cranky Collector, 1987
FYF#8 The Case of the Savage Statue, 1987.

Other:
(Editor) Jane Black, "The Indispensables", Hewitt House, 1971.
"Step-by-step Candlemaking", Golden Press, 1972.
"Step-by-step Winemaking", Golden Press, 1973.
"Love Is Forever" (collection of prose and poetry), C.R. Gibson, 1975.
(With George Sherman) "A Compendium of Bunk", C.C. Thomas, 1976.
(Editor) "Grandmothers Are Very Special People", C.R. Gibson, 1977.
"A Place for Allie" (young adult novel), Dodd, 1985.

Sidelights: Carey told Contemporary Authors: "I began writing late; my first articles and stories were published after I was thirty, and I was motivated by money. Money is not a bad motivation. The need to eat keeps us from laziness, and the fact that someone is willing to pay to read what we write assures us that we have indeed written."

"I think that writing should be honest and simple, and it should say something about what it means to be a person. When God is good to us, we write in such a way that the act of reading becomes a pleasure to those who buy our books. This experience doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it is at least as heady as winning the Irish sweepstakes. It makes mere competence seem dull. It is probably also what makes writing a compulsive occupation; some of us are uncomfortable when we are away from our typewriters for any length of time."

"My lifelong ambition, aside from writing, is to finish exploring the American West. This should keep me busy for at least another thirty years, since there is a

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5 stars
115 (17%)
4 stars
232 (34%)
3 stars
256 (37%)
2 stars
60 (8%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Lea.
1,119 reviews300 followers
August 3, 2021
Irgendwie fand ich den Fall um einen "Urmenschen", der eventuell (offensichtlich nicht und niemand glaubt dran) zum Leben erweckt ist, ziemlich langweilig und auch ein bisschen lieblos. Schade. Aber ich war auch nie ein Fan der Hörspielversion davon.

Re-read nach 3 Jahren: Ich konnte mich an so gut wie gar nichts mehr erinnern, und glaube auch dieses Mal wird der Inhalt des Buches nicht lange bei mir bleiben. Das Altmodische hat einen gewissen Charme - das Buch ist aus den 80ern aber liest sich wie die Fälle aus den 60ern.
Profile Image for Niki.
1,024 reviews166 followers
March 31, 2023
I weirdly rather liked this. I say weirdly because I wasn't expecting much, the reviews are meh and the premise isn't that intriguing. Maybe it was because I was severely sleep deprived while reading, but it kept me guessing and I didn't solve the mystery miles ahead of the characters (I'm looking at you, Nervous Lion) And there are a few "weird" elements to the mystery rather than just the boys catching thieves and criminals, which bores me to tears.

Loses a few points because of the character of Eleanor, a stereotypical "really timid, really emotional, cries pretty much immediately under the slightest pressure, is on the brink of a breakdown the entire time, total doormat" A character even calls her "poor, foolish girl" TWICE in the span of 2 pages at the end, showing us how the author (who's also a woman!) respected/ liked her own character.

Also, special shoutout to the event that Joe describes, it happened exactly as he says and it's even funnier on-page. Jupiter "thinks out loud" and says the plot point, the entire cafe/ diner around the boys falls into a, I quote, "deathly hush", someone proclaims "By golly!", and then everyone scrambles out in a rush to go experience the plot point. It's hilarious.
Profile Image for Nadja.
1,923 reviews88 followers
September 18, 2016
Die 30er Folgen sind schon oft sehr abenteurreich und dafür bleibt das Detektivische leider ein bisschen auf der Strecke. Wenigstens sind die Drei dank der Spurensicherung doch noch auf dem richtigen Weg. (2.5 Sterne)
Profile Image for Nadja.
1,923 reviews88 followers
November 13, 2023
Sehr atmosphärisch und weit an den Haaren herbeigezogen. Für einen drei ??? Fall hat es aber gerade zwei krasse Szenen.
Profile Image for Nadja.
1,923 reviews88 followers
March 24, 2024
Eckart Dux hat als Sprecher einen tollen Job gemacht. Die Folge ist schon sehr verrückt, aber das Hörspiel ist trotzdem spannend gemacht und insgesamt sehr atmosphärisch.
Profile Image for Isabel.
11 reviews
March 11, 2020
"Oh", sagte das Mädchen. [...] Ich habe noch nicht einmal meinen Namen genannt. Ich heiße Hess. Eleanor Hess. Na, das ist ja nicht wichtig."
"Natürlich ist das wichtig", befand Tante Mathilda.
"Aber Sie müssen nicht denken, ich sei etwas Besonderes. Ich bin nicht berühnt, eigentlich gar nichts."
"Das heißt noch lange nicht, dass Sie niemand sind", entgegnete Tante Mathilda sehr bestimmt. "Es freut mich, Sie kennen zu lernen, Eleanor Hess."

❤️❤️❤️ Mary Virginia Cary = DIE beste Klassiker-Autorin, and that's facts.
Profile Image for Elizabeth S.
1,900 reviews78 followers
March 11, 2011
Another solid three investigators mystery. This time the boys don't have an official client, but investigate to satisfy curiosity. For some reason, the three investigators books by Carey often have unstable females in them. In other books there was a bossy, demanding, illogical girl. In this book we have a young woman who seems to burst into tears at every possible moment. I've been told that Carey is a female writer, so perhaps the intention is to introduce female characters into a the series. But, please, if you are going to have females as characters, don't make them so annoying.

The part of this book that I enjoyed the most was an historical moment that occurred when the boys reported to Hector Sebastian at the end. Sebastian had just gotten this weird computer thing that had a never-before-seen word processor on it. And then, what magic!, you can make the box next to the computer come to life and make noises and then you have a print-out of what you typed! It was so amazing to read such a description of a computer and printer from the early 1980s.
483 reviews10 followers
November 4, 2020
An anemic outing, and one whose mystery is so poor that, arguably, it should not have been published in its present form.

As seems to be the case with the later books, the boys just don't do much detecting here, they're largely bystanders for large chunks of the book. Also, it's over fifty pages before the titular caveman shows up. The last twenty or so pages are pretty bad, and my interest in the book plummeted at that point.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
April 5, 2017
I enjoyed this volume, although it was really a bit darker than usual for the Three Investigators. It begins with a death, and then the story contiues with experiments on animals and genetic engineering. The caveman plot had a few cool twists to it, but the story did venture into the realm of science fiction before it was all said and done. A little far out, but a good read.
Profile Image for Mark.
Author 67 books173 followers
April 26, 2022
Who stole the cave man's bones from Newt McAfee's museum? There are plenty of suspects - an angry scientist, a relative with a grudge, a cocky handyman and more. But the suspects all have an alibi, and the Three Investigators have to face another possibility. Maybe the museum's night watchman didn't have a nightmare. Maybe he really saw the cave man just walk away!
When the remains of a prehistoric hominid are found in a field in Citrus Grove, the owner of the land decides to open a museum dedicated to it while a scientist from a nearly research foundation wants to study them. The boy involve themselves, following an incident a few months beforehand that first drew Jupiter to news of the case and become determined to find out who stole the bones. This was published in the UK in 1985 (I was sixteen and clearly not the right age for it) and according to my records I last read it 20 years ago so had almost no memory of it whatsoever and it’s very odd to come to a Three Investigators mystery and not recall key parts of it. This starts well with a scientist dying of a heart attack just outside the Jones Junkyard (the boys have come across many dead bodies before this, but I think it’s the first time someone dies in front of us) and maintains a decent pace once the action shifts to Citrus Grove. However, for me, a few things got in the way of a decent story well told - there were too many characters, the boys aren’t hired by anyone but simply stick their noses in and, worst of all, a key set piece relies on the entire town being rendered unconscious for 40 minutes (it does get explained) but nobody seems to worry about it (or, rather, there doesn’t seem to be the panic I would assume from an event like that). I do still have an issue with the Hector Sebastian character but this plays out well in general and while it’s not prime Three Investigators material (try books 1 to 30 for that), it’s well worth a read.
Profile Image for Joe Stevens.
Author 3 books5 followers
September 24, 2021
As I was reading along and contemplating boredom in print, a character suddenly remembered that in all these types of mysteries a certain plot point happened and everyone ran away to experience the plot point. It was the oddest feeling to basically have a character in a book announce the author's plot point and for everyone to pursue it mindlessly. I've never seen that in a book before.
Needless to say this took me out of the book that was already dull and the rest of the novel was a struggle to finish. Sadly the conclusion was forced and mostly lucky guesswork. One of the weakest entries in this series and in the canon of literature.
Profile Image for Charles.
Author 41 books289 followers
November 15, 2008
I read this one when I was grown up and it wasn't very good. It's a different author from some of the others, though, so I'm not sure whether it's age or author that led me to enjoy it less than the ones I read when I was young.
Profile Image for Jim Barber.
Author 6 books11 followers
May 9, 2016
Love the Three Investigators, but I have to say, this one is not my favorite. In fact, all of the books in the series written by this particular author always seem to miss the mark. This story may be my least favorite of any of the previous 34 books in the series.
Profile Image for Colton.
340 reviews32 followers
May 4, 2017
Solid, but way too many characters to keep track of and too many subplots so that the end effect is muddled. Still, it is well-written and readable.
Profile Image for sonofabook.
198 reviews2 followers
August 24, 2021
In einem Nachbarort von Rocky Beach wurde in einer Höhle ein Skelett gefunden. Dieses soll von einem Urzeitmenschen stammen. Das lassen sich die drei Freunde Justus, Peter und Bob natürlich nicht entgehen und machen sich direkt auf dem Weg.
Dort angekommen ist die Stadt voller Leute in Anspannung auf die Eröffnung des Museums, bzw. der Höhle, um diese Ausgrabung zu bestaunen.
Aufgrund der Fülle finden die drei nur noch eine Unterkunft bei Eleonores Onkel. Eleonore hat Justus bereits vor einigen Tagen getroffen, als sie mit ihrem Professor des Forschungsinstitutes in Rocky Beach war.
Kurz bevor die Museumseröffnung am nächsten Tag jedoch losgeht, tritt bei der Versammlung der Stadt etwas aus den Sprenkleranlagen des Parkes aus, und alle dort Anwesenden werden in die Bewusstlosigkeit geschickt.
In der Zwischenzeit wird das Skelett geklaut und der Besitzer um Geld erpresst.
Hier greifen die drei ??? ein und gehen dem mysterlösen Zwischenfall auf den Grund. Wer könnte ein Motiv haben?

Ich muss sagen das was eher eine langweilige Folge. Das Thema hat mich nicht so gekriegt und es war zu offensichtlich platziert wer jetzt verantwortlich für das Verbrechen war.
Ich bleibe einfach dabei:
Es ist sehr selten, dass mich Folgen die nicht in Rocky Beach spielen überzeugen können.
641 reviews3 followers
March 2, 2019
It is rather amusing to try and envision the author's thought processes when writing these books. M.V. Carey started down a path with some of her earlier books where she decided that a single plot was overly simple. And since then, many of her books feature a criminal plot occurring alongside another plot. It certainly makes trying to decipher the plans more difficult for the reader attempting to solve the case along with the Three Investigators.

Also, Hector Sebastian has suddenly written screenplays. So, it appears that just being a mystery novelist was not enough. Will this factor into a future storyline?

And one additional note, we are given a tidbit of chronological information in that Hector Sebastian has upgraded his typewriter to a personal computer with a word processing program. Somehow the boys have travelled across some decades of time without aging themselves.
Profile Image for Charley Schnuff.
353 reviews
April 7, 2024
Was mir bei diesem Teil der Drei ??? aufgefallen ist, ist vor allem der Disclaimer zu Beginn der Folge, da ich mich nicht daran erinnern kann, dass ich das schon einmal erlebt habe.

Die Geschichte selbst hat mir eigentlich ganz gut gefallen, auch wenn sie um ehrlich zu sein gerade in der Auflösung ein wenig und undurchsichtig war - aber wenn man bedenkt, dass eine Folge der Reihe keine Stunde geht, müssen bestimmt auch ein paar Abstriche gemacht werden.

Das Dreier-Gespann hat mir jedoch wieder gut gefallen und der Reiz ist nach wie vor da, die Reihe weiter zu hören.
Profile Image for Oneofthefoxes.
746 reviews24 followers
Read
December 14, 2022
Ich habe das Hörbuch gelesen von E. Dux gehört.

Muss sagen das mir das Hörspiel besser gefällt, da es etwas mehr Humor hat und die Handlung einfach insgesamt runder wirkte.
Die Lesung war solide, aber ich hätte von einem Profi wie Dux mehr erwartet. Eventuell lag es auch daran, das seine Stimme für mich nicht so gut passte. Er hat gelesen, aber mir fehlte Tiefe in der Lesung. Die Figuren klangen alle gleich und es gab oft auch keine richtigen Emotionen, wenn sie nötig gewesen wären.
Profile Image for Vincent T. Ciaramella.
Author 10 books10 followers
September 30, 2024
My son and I are pushing deeper and deeper into the Three Investigators collection and this was our latest. We really enjoyed this one. I remember owning this one back in the 1980’s but I didn’t remember the plot so it was like reading it for the first time. We haven’t picked our next one yet but I should know at bed time tonight.

Profile Image for Roger.
1,110 reviews6 followers
September 24, 2022
Among my least favorite so far in the series
Profile Image for mo (sie).
451 reviews14 followers
January 3, 2023
*3.5
ganz ok, aber die auflösung ist eher entäuschend. habe das hörbuch mit eckart dux gehört, war ganz in ordnung.
Profile Image for JBooks.
389 reviews5 followers
February 9, 2023
Leider hat mir der Fall des Höhlenmenschens nicht gefallen :/
Profile Image for Tanja.
590 reviews57 followers
January 1, 2018
Das ursprüngliche Zuhause dieser Rezension ist der WortWelten-Blog:
http://wort-welten.blogspot.de/


Zusammenfassung:

Ein Mann bricht auf dem Schrottplatz zusammen und stirbt kurz darauf. Ein Mann, der in einem bekannten Institut arbeitete, das in dem kleinen Städtchen Citrus Cove angesiedelt ist, in dem bald darauf ein uralten Skelett gefunden wird. Justus, Peter und Bob bekommen die Möglichkeit, das Städtchen zu besuchen. Dort treffen sie auch auf Eleanor, die einst den verstorbenen Mann nach Rocky Beach begleitete und deren Onkel der gefundene Höhlenmensch gehört. Und alsbald stecken die Jungen in einem neuen Fall - denn der Höhlenmensch wurde gestohlen!


Fazit:

Mensch, hat sich dieses Buch vielleicht gezogen! Lag wohl mitunter daran, dass das Buch schon so manches Jahr auf dem Buckel hat und entsprechend old-fashioned daher kommt. Wie auch immer. Eine recht solide, wenn auch verworrene Geschichte war das. Und die Auflösung - na ja. War einfach nicht so ganz meins dieses Buch, muss ich zugeben. Auch ist dies eine alte Folge von den drei Fragezeichen, die ich ausnahmsweise mal nicht als Kind in Hörspielform verschlungen habe. Nun ja, jedenfalls vergebe ich mehr als großzügig doch noch folgende Wertung ...
124 reviews
January 12, 2026
• In Citrus Grove wird ein „Höhlenmensch“-Skelett entdeckt; dann häufen sich „Spuk“-Momente: Wächter Zigeuner-John behauptet, der Höhlenmensch sei lebendig davongelaufen – während real kriminelle Dinge parallel passieren.
• Hängenbleibende Szene: In einem Park kippt praktisch die ganze Stadt weg – Justus erkennt, dass die Beregnungsanlage mit einer Chemikalie versetzt wurde, um alle auszuschalten.
• Auflösung, Teil 1 (Erpressung): Eleanor Hess und Frank DiStefano nutzen ein neues Narkosemittel (aus dem Umfeld von Dr. Birkensteen), um das Skelett zu stehlen und McGee zu erpressen; DiStefano wird verhaftet, Eleanor sagt aus und kommt milde davon.
• Auflösung, Teil 2 (Millionen-Plan): Dr. Hoffer hat zusätzlich die Skelette vertauscht (Gerippe aus Brandons Institut in die Höhle, „Höhlenmensch“-Gerippe weg), um Brandon zu blamieren und selbst die Million der Spicer-Stiftung zu kassieren.
• Der „Höhlenmensch“ war also ein Kostüm: Perücke + Tierfell, barfuß – John hielt ihn für den Urmenschen. Justus überführt ihn über einen Fußabdruck mit Hammerzehe.
• Abschluss: Hoffer wird verhaftet und gesteht; McGee bleibt der geldgierige Störfaktor („meine Knochen!“) – und die drei ??? liefern die nächste Schlagzeile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Robert.
71 reviews16 followers
June 28, 2009
Kembali bernostalgia di masa-masa SMP. Saya ingat sekali potongan cerita mengenai "Misteri Manusia Gua" ini pernah nongol di buku paket Bahasa Indonesia SMP saya untuk bagian cerita terjemahan. Jadi, jauh sebelum Julia Perez eksis, saya sudah mengenal nama "Jupe" dari singkatan Jupiter Jones, ketua sekaligus anggota Trio Detektif tercerdas, di antara Pete dan Bob. Jupe digambarkan sebagai anak yang jenius, Pete merupakan anak jangkung yang atletis, sementara Bob adalah anak yang cermat dan teliti.

Mereka dikenal menggunakan logo "tanda tanya" dalam sebuah segitiga (mirip logo Guess ya?) tiap kali ingin menandai sebuah lokasi penyelidikan. Di akhir-akhir cerita, selalu Jupe yang melontarkan analisis jitunya mengenai segala hal di balik pengungkapan kasus. Sementara ada karakter Alfred Hitchcock yang digambarkan selalu mengangguk-angguk setuju terhadap analisis panjang lebar Jupe, sembari menambahi beberapa detail yang melengkapi. Seingat saya akhirnya karakter Alfred Hitchcock ini diganti oleh karakter baru.

Sekilas seperti: mendengar lagu yang terdengar familiar di telinga, tapi tidak ingat siapa penyanyi dan judul lagunya.
Profile Image for Jason Towers.
153 reviews14 followers
October 14, 2025
Once again, not really pitched for child readers; and no mention of Headquarters, gadgets or other Three Investigators tropes, although the business card eventually appears. But the book is so well written that I didn't mind. Its mystery pays off and there's no masked hoodoo. (All of the English language covers I've seen depict a scene that doesn't appear in the book.) 3½, rounded up because I found it a compelling read.
#T3I
27 reviews
April 28, 2020
This was a bit of a slog to get through. It took place away from Rocky Beach and had no familiar faces aside from the three investigators so the nostalgia level was low. The plot was so contrived that I couldn't suspend my disbelief at all. And to top it off, while Jupiter is always the main mystery solver, Pete and Dave had zero effect on the outcome of this one.
Profile Image for Nicole.
112 reviews2 followers
April 30, 2014
Not the best entry in the series. These later ones, from the 80's, are pretty hit-or-miss.
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