The Secret Of Skeleton Island

The Three Investigators travel cross-country from sunny Southern California to an island off the coast of South Carolina, where Investigator Pete Crenshaw's father is working on a movie set. The set has been plagued with thefts and mysterious happenings involving an old ghost legend and pirate treasure, and the boys are recruited by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock to see if they can uncover the truth. This they do, eventually, after putting themselves into various forms of physical jeopardy and then more or less promptly rescuing themselves. For the second book in a row, Jupiter (a former child film star known as Baby Fatso) is sidelined while Pete and Bob have all the physical adventures. I didn't like that part at all but the series is show more determined to establish Jupiter as the brains and Bob and Pete as the brawn and that's just the way it goes, I reckon. As in The Mystery of the Green Ghost, the boys are aided in their adventures by a cheerful immigrant teen, this time from Greece. I appreciate that these books in the 1960s show the Three Investigators as welcoming and unbigoted, even as it paints the adults in a less flattering light. I'd like to think young readers took our young heroes as role models in this, at least, if not in the "constantly disobeying parents and getting into trouble" bits. show less

I read a few of these when I was younger and always rather enjoyed them. It's always different reading such stories when you're older but I still really enjoyed this addition to the series.

Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews are three boys who have decided to start a detective agency, aptly named The Three Investigators. They use 3 question marks as their symbol and are willing to solve any mystery, riddle or puzzle. Jupiter is the brains of the operation, Pete the muscle and Bob the researcher. The boys have their own secret Headquarters - (a portable office that's been hidden under many piles of junk) that has secret entrances and a phone, use chalk (each boy a different colour) to leave directions, clues and messages to show more each other - and even a driver (Worthington) with Rolls Royce - courtesy of a competition Jupiter wins to have a chauffeur for 30 days. I'm not sure how long they actually have the car for - I don't think I ever read any without it but I haven't read all of them, so who knows.

The Secret of Skeleton Island reminds me of Treasure Island - even though it's not really even close to being similar beyond treasure and having a history of a pirate. Anyway, the motto for this book is everything that can go wrong does. The boys get stranded multiple times. Jupiter gets sick. Pete and Bob get stuck. Their new friend Chris gets framed. It's one thing after another. I enjoyed the mystery although I did see it coming - I vaguely remember reading this one as a kid.

Still overall an enjoyable read. I'll definitely be reading (and rereading for some) the rest of the series. 3.5 stars. show less

I loved this series as a kid, about a trio of youthful investigators who investigate and solve mysteries, with Alfred Hitchcock as a sort of sponsor who "introduces" their successful cases. This one has the Three Investigators being sent to "Skeleton Island", where a movie being filmed on the island is being plagued by theft, sabotage and possibly the ghost of a woman who was struck by lightning on the carousel twenty years ago. I was lucky enough to find over twenty of the books, comprising most of the series, at an estate sale today, and look forward to renewing my acquaintance with the intrepid trio.

This was my first adventure book, it was great. The mystery took second place behind the scuba diving and other adventures.

Skeleton Island is the next stop for The Three Investigators, where they encounter a movie company and a ghost.

A great, easy-to-read mystery.

I loved this series when I was a child, and am looking forward to reading them sometime soon with my son.