The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot

The second book in the classic middle-school mystery series The Three Investigators. This adventure finds them hired by Alfred Hitchcock himself to help a friend, whose parrot has been stolen. Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews find out that the parrot, who was purchased from a Mexican street-cart peddler, was trained to imperfectly quote Shakespeare: "To-to-to be, or not to-to-to be."

Further inquiries lead to other parrots sold by that same peddler, all of them trained to speak a particular phrase, and a man who has been systematically stealing them from their new owners. The boys suspect that the unusual phrases each parrot speaks is another clue to the location of a mysterious treasure, but they can't solve the mystery show more until they find all the parrots and learn their individual phrases.

It's a good setup and a satisfying mystery with a not-so-much-evil-as-misunderstood villain and a chance for each of the boys to show off their particular talents: Jupiter's brain, Bob's research skills, and Pete's physicality. And for a book written in 1964, it offers a remarkably enlightened portrait of the Mexican street peddler and his nephew Carlos. Carlos, in particular, is presented as a character to admire. The boys rely on him to help solve the mystery and are free with their praise of him and his uncle while also finding a way to extend some financial assistance without making it seem like charity.

I'm enjoying re-living my childhood with this series and looking forward to the next one. 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 the first two in 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 Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot has the boys going on a treasure hunt. Reminiscent of Treasure Island, "John Silver" has trained seven parrots to speak the clues that lead to his buried treasure. The boys are busy hunting down missing parrots, dodging 'the fat man' who keeps threatening them and creating havoc with Ghost to Ghost hookups (which is actually really cool - although might be better known as a phone tree. I enjoyed how this worked to help them solve the case). The mystery is interesting and I still really enjoy the characters. The adult figures aren't particularly fleshed out but then again - they so rarely are.

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

Lots of fun. I remember being blown away by this book as a kid, and I suspect the big reason was just the idea of - mild spoiler - leaving the map to your treasure encoded by training several parrots each to speak one of the clues. Brilliant. I find myself mildly surprised that Agatha Christie never thought of it.

A couple of the coincidences are pretty far out there - this isn't deathless prose we're talking about - but kids should enjoy it.

This is a re-read - thought I would read it again after I listened to an audio dramatization last week.

The book holds up great (I grew up on the Three Investigators) but it is what it is...juvenile 1960's detective story written for teen boys about three friends that hook up with Alfred Hitchcock, have a Rolls Royce on hand, have a great clubhouse in Jupiter Jones's junkyard and run a detective agency. Not realistic in the least but it's not supposed to, it's supposed to be escapist for teen boys.

Hot on the trail of seven talking parrots that have seemingly vanished into thin air, the Three Investigators are in more trouble than ever. Danger lurks at every turn as they search for the birds, each of whom can quote part of a coded message from a mysterious dead man.

What I believe to be the best children's mystery out there. This one book probably inspired me more as a child than anything else, rivaled only by the antics of Trixie Belden!

An enjoyabe and easily read mystery.