The Mystery of the Talking Skull

Another top-notch mystery for boys from Robert Arthur. He had a gift for creating situations that fascinate children; his books gave me endless hours of enjoyment as a boy, and now they're doing the same for my son (and for me again, too; the books are as fun to read aloud as they were to read in the first place!). The Three Investigators books are, in the most complimentary sense of the word, pure brain candy - compulsively readable and re-readable, with a perfect blend of puzzles, drama, excitement and humor.

As in the other Three Investigators books, Jupiter Jones (the brainy, chubby one), Pete Crenshaw (the athletic, nervous one) and Bob Andrews (the studious one) are faced with another mystery: a skull that talks, and mysterious men show more who apparently want that skull very badly indeed. All the usual secondary characters are present, including Headquarters itself. As always, I strongly recommend that you seek out a copy that features Alfred Hitchcock himself, rather than one of the poorly re-written later editions that replaced Hitchcock with a fictional character. Also, do yourself a favor and try to find a copy with the excellent Harry Kane illustrations!

There was one small additional chuckle for me when I read the books to my son recently; I'm pretty sure I caught a shout-out from Robert Arthur to one of his contemporaries, one who happens to be another favorite author of mine. I didn't know if they knew each other (although their writing styles are actually rather similar), but a reporter who helps the boys out a bit is named Fred Brown. If that's not a reference to [a:Fredric Brown|51503|Fredric Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234483488p2/51503.jpg]...well, I'm pretty sure that it must be. For one thing, the real Brown was also a newspaper reporter, at least for a while.

It's an outstanding book, one that belongs in the collection of anyone who enjoys exciting, thought-provoking mysteries. show less

I've loved the Three Investigators series ever since I was fourteen, and The Talking Skull has always stood out as a favorite. Part of it is simply that it's one of the first I read in the series, but it's also because the whole idea of the talking skull was nifty and well-done. I'm very fond of any story where Jupiter gets to show off his inventive skills.

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 Three Investigators — Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, Bob Andrews — don't have a case to investigate, so Jupiter decides they will visit an auction of luggage abandoned at a hotel, just for practice. They end up buying an old trunk, which turns out to contain the belongings of a magician, who has since disappeared. If you've put two and two together and deduced that the trunk contained an allegedly talking skull, congratulations! You are now eligible to join Jupe, Pete and Bob on their adventures.

The boys soon learn that a number of strange people are also interested in the trunk, and shenanigans ensue involving a long-ago bank robbery, a house full of gypsies and some mild home demolition, but all's well that ends well.

I know show more what you're wondering: Julia, how does the skull actually talk? I wouldn't want to ruin the mystery for you, so you'll have to read the book! show less

There is a certain sameness to these stories of the Three Investigators, a trio of kids, perhaps 14 or 15, who specialize in solving mysteries and report their cases to Alfred Hitchcock for publication. This one involves a mysterious old trunk, a talking skull, of course, and a missing cache of money. I'm convinced that the creators of the Scooby-Do cartoon series used this series for inspiration, only tweaking it with a (sort of) talking dog and a couple of girls on the team. This is not to say that I don't enjoy the series; I loved it as a kid and am glad to have discovered a cache of the near-complete run at a recent estate sale. It's just that with a few exceptions, the stories in the series are pretty forgettable.

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

An enjoyable and easy-to-read book.