History Literature / TheThreeInvestigators

* GeniusBonus: On numerous occasions, Jupiter's intellect and knowledge base allow him to make connections and deductions that most readers in the target demographic wouldn't be familiar with--Shakespeare is the most obvious example, since the famous Hamlet soliloquy quote appears in ''Stuttering Parrot'', while Puck, the pseudonym used by [[spoiler:Harold Thomas]] in ''Magic Circle'', is how Jupiter identifies him as [[spoiler:the missing Charles Goodfellow]]. Anything on the supernatural in the M.V. Carey books actually counts as this, but in general the series authors tend to include all manner of intriguing and informative details in the stories, usually connected in some way to unmasking the criminals or solving the mystery, though not always. Other examples would be "John Silver" from ''Stuttering Parrot'' (and for that matter, the names of all of the parrots); the Augustus/Octavian bust mix-up in ''Fiery Eye'''; the kookaburra from ''Laughing Shadow''; Francois Fortunard's lost masterpiece from ''Shrinking House''; the Queen Mary in ''Dead Man's Riddle''; the history of Fremont's expedition in California during the Mexican War in ''Headless Horse''; and the bit with Indonesia once having been a Dutch colony being how [[spoiler:Harold Thomas]], [[SpottingTheThread who ate at an Indonesian restaurant]], was revealed as Charles Goodfellow, original native of Holland, in ''Magic Circle''.

* {{Sidekick}}: In many of the books, the boys have one of these in the form of their client, a local who happens to make a handy guide or MrExposition, or a relative who either is seeking a lost heirloom/treasure or wishes help to ClearTheirName or that of a member of their family. A RunningGag early on is that this would be a boy of a new nationality for each book--Carlos from ''Stuttering Parrot'', Hamid from ''Whispering Mummy'', Chang from ''Green Ghost'', Chris from ''Skeleton Island'', August August from ''Fiery Eye'', and Djaro from ''Silver Spider''. This gag was dropped for a while, although sidekicks continued in ''Screaming Clock'', ''Moaning Cave'', ''Crooked Cat'', ''Flaming Footprints'', and ''Shrinking House'', then was briefly resurrected for Cluny of ''Phantom Lake'' (well, Scottish-American, but close enough) and Diego of ''Headless Horse''. A number of these were found in and around Rocky Beach, justified by its proximity to both Los Angeles and Hollywood. Interestingly, none of these were reckless (at least no more so than the boys themselves) and many were quite helpful.

''The Three Investigators'' was a juvenile detective book series written by Robert Arthur Jr., originally called "Creator/AlfredHitchcock and the Three Investigators". It centered on a trio of high school boys - [[TheHero Jupiter Jones]], [[TheLancer Peter Crenshaw]] and [[TheSmartGuy Bob Andrews]] - who live in the fictional town of Rocky Beach, California. The boys spend their free time solving various mysteries rather than true crimes.

** Usually averted otherwise throughout the series, in fact as often as not it is defied by Jupiter who often ''suspects'' or at least does not discount servants and other seemingly irrelevant characters. At least once, though, Jupiter did almost fall prey to the trope when he continually discounted the possibility that [[spoiler:[[ObfuscatingDisablity Mrs. Chumley]] could be the scarecrow.]]

* {{Cult}}: Of the titular ''Singing Serpent''; despite (or perhaps even because of) being a ScamReligion, it's actually explored fairly seriously and sympathetically for the victim of it.

* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Countess and Marechal from ''Shrinking House'', Professor Shay from ''Phantom Lake'', "Thurgood" from ''Death Trap Mine''...]]

* {{Expy}}: Based on the names of the characters involved (Kulak, Demetrieff, Kerenov) and the coup which took place in the {{Backstory}}, the plot of ''Flaming Footprints'' reads like a search for the lost crown jewels of Imperial Russia.

* {{Frameup}}: Happens fairly often, such as: Harry's father in ''Screaming Clock'', Stebbins in ''Phantom Lake'', Pico in ''Headless Horse''.

* {{Gaslighting}}: While the intent was only to distract her or force her to leave the estate so the museum robbery could go off as planned, the exploitation of Letitia Radford's fear of scarecrows and bugs in the titular ''Sinister Scarecrow'' is malicious enough to count as this trope, and she nearly does go mad. Ends up being subverted, however, when the villains' concern that the boys will catch on to their scheme leads to the scarecrow attacking the boys, thus proving it isn't just in Letitia's head.

* HiddenInPlainSight: A favorite for solving various mysteries. The titular silver spider turns out to be [[spoiler:in a spider web with a real spider]], the titular Phantom Lake turned out to be [[spoiler:the man-made "view down the loch" where the treasure was buried]], the titular invisible dog (a crystal statue) was hidden [[spoiler:in a swimming pool]], and the Cortes Sword of ''Headless Horse'' turned out to be [[spoiler:painted and nailed to the side of the Cortes statue]].

* LinkedListClueMethodology: Twice. The first time is played with--in ''Stuttering Parrot'' the messages of the seven birds all lead generally to one place where the treasure is hidden, but each message after the ones which lead them there are part of a linked chain to help them find the exact hiding place. Played straight with the titular "Dead Man's Riddle".

* MagneticPlotDevice: Also happens a lot, usually with whatever item they're seeking or the clue which will solve the mystery/find the treasure, but the titular crooked cat and the paintings from ''Shrinking House'' take the cake.

* RealAfterAll: Aside from the fact the monster of ''Monster Mountain'' turns out to be a genuine [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti mountain man]], several of the entries involving the supernatural written after M. V. Carey took over the series turned out to be real, or at least implied to be. In a chillingly effective moment at the end of ''Haunted Mirror'', the villain sees ''something'' in the supposedly cursed glass that makes him flee right into the arms of the police; unable to explain it, the boys look very uneasily at the mirror and quickly leave. More obviously, when the villain of ''Magic Circle'' flees the scene only to crash in his car while the witch of the titular circle looks on with grim vindication, the boys have to wonder if she cursed him for what he had done to her; Jupiter scoffs at such notions of course, and a true Wiccan would not curse lest she run afoul of the Three-fold Rule, but...

* ScoobyDooHoax: The frequent explanation behind seemingly supernatural happenings. Textbook examples include ''Green Ghost'', ''Skeleton Island'', ''Haunted Mirror'', ''Dancing Devil'', and ''Sinister Scarecrow''.

* SundialWaypoint: Used to find the titular ''Fiery Eye''.

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Fairly frequent, when either the lost item they're searching for literally does turn out to be somewhere else or they encounter a RedHerring. One particularly memorable example is in ''Stuttering Parrot'' when, after following every clue to the Merita Valley graveyard, the long flat box which had once held the painting is discovered holding only a note saying, essentially, "[[ALoserIsYou You didn't read the clues well enough, better luck next time!]]" The last parrot clue, "I never give a sucker an even break, and that's a lead pipe cinch!" even lampshades this...[[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope until it turns out]] it was actually a stealth clue telling them the lead pipe found in the graveyard is the actual hiding place for the painting]]. Another example in ''Fiery Eye'' not only involves them looking in the wrong bust for the titular jewel, but finding a MockGuffin version of it.

* BritishEnglish: The puzzle of ''Dead Man's Riddle'' is written entirely in Cockney rhyming slang.

[[caption-width-right:225:AlfredHitchcock: The Secret of Terror Castle.]]

''The Three Investigators'' was a juvenile detective book series written by Robert Arthur Jr., originally called "AlfredHitchcock and the Three Investigators". It centered on a trio of high school boys - [[TheHero Jupiter Jones]], [[TheLancer Peter Crenshaw]] and [[TheSmartGuy Bob Andrews]] - who live in the fictional town of Rocky Beach, California. The boys spend their free time solving various mysteries rather than true crimes.

The long-standing popularity of the series in Germany has resulted in two live-action movies, ''The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island'' and ''The Three Investigators and the Secret of Terror Castle''.

* AntiVillain: A number of the boys' enemies turn out to be this, either having sympathetic reasons for doing what they do, not genuinely wishing to hurt anyone, being ForcedIntoEvil, performing a HeelFaceTurn, or simply being too AffablyEvil to be hated. Good examples are Mr. Claudius of ''Stuttering Parrot'', [[spoiler:Professor Yarbrough]] of ''Whispering Mummy'', Arthur Shelby of ''Coughing Dragon'', [[spoiler:Professor Shay]] of ''Phantom Lake'', and [[spoiler:Mrs. Chumley]] of ''Sinister Scarecrow''.

* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The creature of ''Monster Mountain''.

* ClearTheirName: A big part of the plot of ''Screaming Clock'' is this for Harry's dad; also plays a smaller role with Pico in ''Headless Horse''.

* ConMan: A popular villain type. Appears in ''Singing Serpent'', ''Monster Mountain'', ''Death Trap Mine'', ''Magic Circle'', and ''Sinister Scarecrow''.

* EmbarrassingNickname: Jupiter had a backstory as a former child actor with the stage name ''Baby Fatso''.

* {{Expy}}: Based on the names of the characters involved (Kulak, Demetrieff, Kerenov) and the coup which took place in the {{Backstory}}, the plot of ''Flaming Footprints'' reads like a search for the lost crown jewels of Imperial Russia.

* {{Frameup}}: Happens fairly often, such as: Harry's father in ''Screaming Clock'', Stebbins in ''Phantom Lake'', Pico in ''Headless Horse''.

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Happens on occasion.

* HostageForMacGuffin: Constantly.

** On another occasion, someone asks what the "???" on their business card means. This is a {{Once an Episode}} thing which wouldn't normally be significant, but one of the group notices that they didn't actually read the card, and must have seen it before.

* LinkedListClueMethodology: Twice. The first time is played with--in ''Stuttering Parrot'' the messages of the seven birds all lead generally to one place where the treasure is hidden, but each message after the ones which lead them there are part of a linked chain to help them find the exact hiding place. Played straight with the titular "Dead Man's Riddle".

* MacGuffin: While usually the boys are pursuing [[PlotDevice important clues/items]], or even the actual treasure, just as often it's an item with little or no purpose (the Silver Spider of Varania is needed to crown its king and thus needed to prevent the RegentForLife plot of the EvilChancellor, but otherwise does nothing), it's only a clue or a hiding place for one that leads somewhere else (the crooked cat, the haunted mirror, the paintings from ''Shrinking House'') and thus becomes irrelevant once it has served its purpose, or it's a RedHerring. Appropriate that this would appear, [[AlfredHitchcock considering who the series is named after]].
* MacGuffinDeliveryService: In most of the stories with riddles leading to lost treasures, the villains sit back and wait for the boys to solve it for them, then swoop in to take it from them. Sometimes the villains are figuring out the riddle too and thus [[OneTrueSequence happen to arrive at a location]] [[MacGuffinMelee at the same time as the boys]] (justified in LinkedListClueMethodology cases--because the clues have to be figured out and followed in order, the heroes and villains meeting up is bound to happen eventually) and ''then'' take it away from them, but usually they merely follow the boys and let them do the work. Classic example: the Percivals from ''Dead Man's Riddle''.

* MasterOfDisguise: Stephen Terrill, [[FamedInStory the Man of a Thousand Faces]].
* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: Borderline example--while as far as we know Mr. Green of the Green Mansion never did this with his wife's corpse, he did stash her body in a secret room in his house, laid out in a coffin with her finest clothes and the [[MineralMacGuffin Ghost Pearls]].

* NeverSayDie: Although the boys never really come too close to death, the danger they suffer is often very real and both they and their families worry about getting injured or killed. Of course the worst violence they usually suffer is getting knocked out and/or BoundAndGagged[=/=]LockedInAFreezer. But in ''Dead Man's Riddle'' they do almost [[InevitableWaterfall go over a waterfall]], and in the early book ''Green Ghost'', when Jensen asks Mr. Won what to do if the boys don't turn over the Ghost Pearls, [[WhamLine he coldly tells him to slit their throats]]. They are also held at gunpoint several times (''Stuttering Parrot'', ''Vanishing Treasure'', ''Screaming Clock'', ''Laughing Shadow'', ''Flaming Footprints'', ''Shrinking House'') and are left to die in the desert in ''Death Trap Mine''.

* NotMeThisTime: Hugenay, in ''Screaming Clock''.

* OrwellianRetcon: After 1980, the conceit of having AlfredHitchcock introduce (through ghost writers) the books and interact with the boys was [[AuthorExistenceFailure no longer feasible]]. As a replacement, the authors created a mystery writer named "Hector Sebastian." Some editions of the earlier books written with Hitchcock as a character replace him with Sebastian.

* PolishTheTurd: The sole rationale for the series initially being named ''AlfredHitchcock and the Three Investigators'', and the frequent cameos of Hitchcock in the first thirty books or so, was Robert Arthur's insight that the books would sell better if they were ''somehow'' connected to somebody famous. He was right.

* PutOnABus: Despite [[HeelFaceTurn seeming to reform]] after being used and abandoned by [[spoiler:Marechal]] in ''Shrinking House'', Skinny Norris appears at his nastiest and the closest he comes to true criminal activity in ''Headless Horse'' (aiding and abetting Cody in concealing who started the brush fire and framing Pico for it). When the truth comes out he is sent away by his father to military school and never seen again in the series.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Every once in a while the usual formula of a client coming to the boys or them stumbling upon a case would be subverted--when, for example, [[BusmansHoliday they happened to be traveling outside Rocky Beach or had been invited away/on vacation]] (''Skeleton Island'', ''Moaning Cave'', ''Monster Mountain'', ''Death Trap Mine''), and once they even ended up traveling to another ([[{{Ruritania}} fictional]]) country (''Silver Spider'').

* SundialWaypoint: Used to find the titular ''Fiery Eye''.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Unavoidable for a series written mostly in the 60's and 70's, but offenders which stand out are the constant references to payphones, the speakerphone Jupiter invents, walkie talkies and directional finders, the colored chalk to leave trails or send messages when cell phone texting could accomplish the same thing, and the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup (which would likely not tie up all circuits today and could again be accomplished quicker and easier with texting). What is unfortunate is that Robert Arthur, the original author who came up with most of these inventions, took great pains to [[ShownTheirWork show his work]] and be current with technology, including that which the police and detectives would have; as usual the passage of time turned the series into an UnintentionalPeriodPiece.

* YellowPeril: Mr. Won of ''Green Ghost''.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Fairly frequent, when either the lost item they're searching for literally does turn out to be somewhere else or they encounter a RedHerring. One particularly memorable example is in ''Stuttering Parrot'' when, after following every clue to the Merita Valley graveyard, the long flat box which had once held the painting is discovered holding only a note saying, essentially, "[[ALoserIsYou You didn't read the clues well enough, better luck next time!]]" The last parrot clue, "I never give a sucker an even break, and that's a lead pipe cinch!" even lampshades this...[[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope until it turns out]] it was actually a stealth clue telling them the lead pipe found in the graveyard is the actual hiding place for the painting]]. Another example in ''Fiery Eye'' not only involves them looking in the wrong bust for the titular jewel, but finding a MockGuffin version of it.

* HiddenInPlainSight: A favorite for solving various mysteries. The titular silver spider turns out to be [[spoiler:in a spider web with a real spider]], the titular Phantom Lake turned out to be [[spoiler:the man-made "view down the loch" where the treasure was buried]], the titular invisible dog (a crystal statue} was hidden [[spoiler:in a swimming pool]], and the Cortes Sword of ''Headless Horse'' turned out to be [[spoiler:painted and nailed to the side of the Cortes statue]].

* {{Sidekick}}: In many of the books, the boys have one of these in the form of their client, a local who happens to make a handy guide or MrExposition, or a relative who either is seeking a lost heirloom/treasure or wishes help to ClearTheirName or that of a member of their family. A RunningGag early on is that this would be a boy of a new nationality for each book--Carlos from ''Stuttering Parrot'', Chang from ''Green Ghost'', Chris from ''Skeleton Island'', August August from ''Fiery Eye'', and Djaro from ''Silver Spider''. This gag was dropped for a while, although sidekicks continued in ''Screaming Clock'', ''Moaning Cave'', ''Crooked Cat'', ''Flaming Footprints'', and ''Shrinking House'', then was briefly resurrected for Cluny of ''Phantom Lake'' (well, Scottish-American, but close enough) and Diego of ''Headless Horse''. A number of these were found in and around Rocky Beach, justified by its proximity to both Los Angeles and Hollywood. Interestingly, none of these were reckless (at least no more so than the boys themselves) and many were quite helpful.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Unavoidable for a series written mostly in the 70's and 80's, but offenders which stand out are the constant references to payphones, the speakerphone Jupiter invents, walkie talkies and directional finders, the colored chalk to leave trails or send messages when cell phone texting could accomplish the same thing, and the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup (which would likely not tie up all circuits today and could again be accomplished quicker and easier with texting). What is unfortunate is that Robert Arthur, the original author who came up with most of these inventions, took great pains to [[ShownTheirWork show his work]] and be current with technology, including that which the police and detectives would have; as usual the passage of time turned the series into an UnintentionalPeriodPiece.

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Fairly frequent, when either the lost item they're searching for literally does turn out to be somewhere else or they encounter a RedHerring. One particularly memorable example is in ''Stuttering Parrot'' when, after following every clue to the Merita Valley graveyard, the long flat box which had once held the painting is discovered holding only a note saying, essentially, "[[ALoserIsYou You didn't read the clues well enough, better luck next time!]]" The last parrot clue, "I never give a sucker an even break, and that's a lead pipe cinch!" even lampshades this...[[spoiler:[[DoubleSubverted until it turns out]] it was actually a stealth clue telling them the lead pipe found in the graveyard is the actual hiding place for the painting]]. Another example in ''Fiery Eye'' not only involves them looking in the wrong bust for the titular jewel, but finding a MockGuffin version of it.

* FakinMacGuffin: In one book the bad guy wants a journal that the boys have which was written in the mid 1800s, with potential clues to a BuriedTreasure. Jupiter hands it over, then after the bad guy leaves he reveals that he only gave up the oilskin cover of the journal, having taken the pages out first.

* GracefulLoser: Several of the baddies, but Mr. Won (who returns the deed to Verdant Valley despite the Ghost Pearls being destroyed) and Hugenay in ''Stuttering Parrot'' stand out.

** Another good example: Rory from ''Phantom Lake'' whose whole purpose in the plot, other than being a ViolentGlaswegian, was to distract the reader from wondering who might really be Java Jim or his accomplice. On the one hand, his constant attempts to convince the boys to stop looking for the treasure, his conveniently timed comings and goings, and his various misdeeds all made a great candidate for the villain--too obvious, in fact. Which might cause some readers to get suckered into thinking he was guilty, while others would dismiss him but then be left not knowing who the real villain was. [[spoiler:Anyway, he wasn't Java Jim--he just didn't want Mrs. Gunn to be rich because he was afraid she wouldn't accept his marriage proposal. A bit of UnfortunateImplications there--what she wants doesn't matter? She can only be rich if he earns it for her and takes care of her?--but otherwise a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny funny]] in one.]]

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Fairly frequent, when either the lost item they're searching for literally does turn out to be somewhere else or they encounter a RedHerring. One particularly memorable example is in ''Stuttering Parrot'' when, after following every clue to the Merita Valley graveyard, the long flat box which had once held the painting is discovered holding only a note saying, essentially, "[[ALoserIsYou You didn't read the clues well enough, better luck next time!]]" The last parrot clue, "I never give a sucker an even break, and that's a lead pipe cinch!" even lampshades this...[[spoiler:until it turns out it was actually a stealth clue telling them the lead pipe found in the graveyard is the actual hiding place for the painting]]. Another example in ''Fiery Eye'' not only involves them looking in the wrong bust for the titular jewel, but finding a MockGuffin version of it.

* HiddenInPlainSight: A favorite for solving various mysteries. The titular silver spider turns out to be [[spoiler:in a spider web with a real spider]], the titular Phantom Lake turned out to be [[spoiler:the man-made "view down the loch" where the treasure was buried]], and the Cortes Sword of ''Headless Horse'' turned out to be [[spoiler:painted and nailed to the side of the Cortes statue]].

* ConservationOfPlotDetail: Just about everything in the books is relevant or becomes a clue. Often even the RedHerring has some connection to the plot underfoot.

* AntiVillain: A number of the boys' enemies turn out to be this, either having sympathetic reasons for doing what they do, not genuinely wishing to hurt anyone, being ForcedIntoEvil, performing a HeelFaceTurn, or simply being too AffablyEvil to be hated. Good examples are Mr. Claudius of ''Stuttering Parrot'', [[spoiler:Professor Yarbrough]] of ''Whispering Mummy'', Arthur Shelby of ''Coughing Dragon'', and [[spoiler:Professor Shay]] of ''Phantom Lake''.

** ''Sinister Scarecrow'': A case about helping a traumatized and paranoid woman afraid of ants turns into preventing a museum robbery.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Every once in a while the usual formula of a client coming to the boys or them stumbling upon a case would be subverted--when, for example, they happened to be traveling outside Rocky Beach or had been invited away/on vacation (''Skeleton Island'', ''Moaning Cave'', ''Monster Mountain'', ''Death Trap Mine''), and once they even ended up traveling to another ([[{{Ruritania}} fictional]]) country (''Silver Spider'').

* VillainTeamUp: In ''Sinister Scarecrow'', thanks to {{Blackmail}} on one side.

* BuriedTreasure: Some of the more memorable entries involve these--''Stuttering Parrot'', ''Skeleton Island'', ''Fiery Eye'', ''Laughing Shadow'', ''Phantom Lake''. The last one was even PiratyBooty.

* WorkingTheSameCase: Two examples, both early in the series--in ''Whispering Mummy'' Pete, fed up with the seemingly supernatural case, decides to go off on his own to investigate a missing cat, only to find out it connects to the mummy. Then in ''Vanishing Treasure'' the bank robbery being performed by the "gnomes" they investigate turns out to be perpetrated by the same thieves who stole the Emperor's belt from the museum which had forbidden them from getting involved ([[NotNotKiddo because they were "just kids"]]).

* HiddenInPlainSight: A favorite for solving various mysteries. The titular silver spider turns out to be [[spoiler:in a spider web with a real spider]], the titular Phantom Lake turned out to be [[spoiler:the man-made "view down the loch" where the treasure was buried]], and the Cortes Sword of "Headless Horse" turned out to be [[spoiler:painted and nailed to the side of the Cortes statue]].

* ScoobyDooHoax: The frequent explanation behind seemingly supernatural happenings.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Every once in a while the usual formula of a client coming to the boys or them stumbling upon a case would be subverted--when, for example, they happened to be traveling outside Rocky Beach or had been invited away/on vacation ("Skeleton Island", "Moaning Cave", "Monster Mountain", "Death Trap Mine"), and once they even ended up traveling to another ([[{{Ruritania}} fictional]]) country ("Silver Spider").

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Stephen Terrill].

* OrwellianRetcon

* ExactWords: The prize Jupiter won was to have a Rolls Royce at his disposal for 30 days. When one month was nearly over, Jupiter argued that 30 days actually amount to 720 ''hours of service'' -- and succeeded.

* ArchEnemy: That perennial ne'er-do-well Skinny Norris.
** Later on the mastermind Victor Hugenay.