The Mystery of the Invisible Dog

I don't think I ever read this one before! Maybe the cover was too scary for me when I was a child. I know some people don't like the M.V. Carey books, but I think she's simply delightful. They're funny, character-driven, and less reliant on the boys being kidnapped and trapped in caves. In this story, a cultivated elderly gentleman who is a patron of the arts calls on the Three Investigators to help him with a sinister spectral presence who is spying on him and going through his things. Jupiter seems to solve this mystery rather quickly with a minimum of fuss, but soon enough there's the theft of a priceless crystal dog statuette, a fire, car bombing, a poisoning, and the ghost of a priest. What I found really unusual about this book show more was that some of the supernatural phenomena turn out to be genuinely supernatural! I loved Ruxton University and the professors in the Parapsychology Department. This twist made it harder to solve the mystery, but it made the story a lot more fun. show less

I recently read this and another 2 in the series as an exercise in nostalgia, having read many of this series in my teens in the 1970s, when these were quite popular.

The three were:
no 11 The Mystery of the Talking Skull
no 22 The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle
no 23 The Mystery of the Invisible Dog

The Alfred Hitchcock hook is just that...there is no suggestion that he actually played any role in production of the series (apart from no doubt receiving a royalty on account of his name being used). He also appeared in the books but only as someone who the (teenage) Three Investigators recounted their adventures at the end of each book, only to receive his congratulations and admiration at their success and bravery in achieving that.

The show more Three Investigators are teenagers in the mid 1970s, Jupiter Jones (the genius; appears older than he is; lives with his aunt and uncle in their junk yard which 'houses' the Three Investigators hidden headquarters ( a 'buried' caravan with at least 3 secret entrances); Pete (the athletic one) and Bob (the studious one, 'research and records) whose father is also a writer on a local newspaper and hence often a source of news/research (some decades before the WWW/google/Wikipedia).

A per chance earlier success in solving a mystery lead to the Three Investigators receiving a grateful written thanks and recommendation from the local police chief. It is to be debated which is more difficult to believe ie whether the police chief would provide such a written recommendation (rather than a 'pat on the head', whether written or physical) or potential clients accepting it on its face without any question.

Clients also took on the Three Investigators due not wanting to 'go official' or to make too much fuss or for financial reasons.

The adventures always involved some mild peril for the intrepid duo and some recurring foes (including Skinny Norris, a youth of similar age who is peeved at the Three Investigators' continuing success).

I would not class the plots as being particularly well clued, though there are few absolute clangers.

They were a quick read back in the day and were again when I read these three in quick succession.

I understand there are over 40 books in the series, and were published not only in English but in German, written by 3 separate authors over time.

A nostalgic read for me. Unadulterated, they would unlikely be a hit with the general teenage reader of today, but they might be interesting for anyone who wanted to be amazed by not only how much is common between then and now, but even more as to what is so much different...no mobile phones; no internet; what you pay to make a phone call?; there is a phone directory with all phone numbers and addresses; and in the local library you could check the reverse directory to look up a phone number to find the address and name of the person's name; that phone number would be 'owned' by the home/house (not by a specific person) meaning the number may be that of anyone who lived/worked there.

Before I progressed to Isaac Asimov's short stories and novels, these along with the Tom Swift adventure series of novels and the A4 sized How and Why Books as to a wide range of non fiction books, these were a significant part of my regular reading. And as such my rating reflects my appreciation of them in those days, as opposed to some 50 old year later assessment (and I am happy with that)

Big Ship

27April 2026 show less

THE MYSTERY OF THE INVISIBLE DOG(1975)
Another supernatural-themed one by MV Carey again. Lots of interesting characters, (Burnout hippy Sonny Elmquist and cute over-eater Gwen Chalmers, for starts!) and a few spooky things to think about like astral projection and phantom priests! This is one I re-read most frequently, for some reason.
By the way, there really isn’t any “Invisible Dog” to speak of (At least as depicted on the cover), but to explain more would be to give away the plot...!

The 23rd installment of the Three Investigator series, a favorite of mine as a boy. This one involves a search for a missing and valuable Crystal Dog, and follows the tried-and-true formula until the end, when one or two of the inexplicable mysteries surrounding the case turn out to be genuinely paranormal. Astral Projection, for example, is an element of the story here. The departure from form doesn't really detract from the story itself, but it doesn't particularly enhance it either.

In the bottom quarter of the series. Some good deduction and twists but too many loose ends.

A great story that is easy to read.

A really enjoyable mystery to read and figure out.