The Mystery of the Moaning Cave (Three Investigators Series)

Rating:
Summary: Shaky start but strong finish
Review: First and foremost, it must be said that William Arden is not Robert Arthur, and that is a pretty severe handicap. Arden wrote a dozen Three Investigators books, even more than Arthur, but this first book has a few weaknesses, which is understandable. The book starts out somewhat slowly. The author seems to be a little wordy, particularly in his descriptions of things, early on, and this makes the pace and rhythm of the story a little choppy in places. As the story progresses, there also seem to be a few events and characters who don't seem to belong in this story--Arden fits them in, but their appearances just seem weird to me. One character, who seems to be a bad guy but who ends up being a good guy, backs away from helping the boys in a dire situation, and the reasoning he later gives makes little sense to me. Having said all that, I must say that the story does pick up the pace about halfway through and becomes worthy of the Three Investigators milieu. I wasn't that wild about a lot of activity occurring in caves (having had my fill of caves in The Mystery of the Green Ghost), but the nature and inherent danger of the caves does contribute to the suspense of the tale. Arden proves that he has come to know our trio very well when he has Jupiter alone solve the final piece of the puzzle, to the amazement of the adults involved. All in all, this is a satisfying, interesting story and hopefully a harbinger of good things to come in Arden's later contributions to the Three Investigators series.

Rating:
Summary: The Mystery of the Moaning Cave
Review: This was one of the first of many Three Investigators booksthat I have read. This book has many twists, and many differntpuzzles than only the inquizative Jupiter Jones could think of. This book was a very interesting and on - your seat book that I would recomend to any person looking for a great book on a hot summer night.

Rating:
Summary: Another Neat Story in the Series!
Review: This was William Arden's first entry in the Three Investigators series, and he does an admirable job. The boys solve this mystery away from their headqarters at a ranch location, and it has all the elements that kids love to read about...secret tunnels, caves, etc. Plus the mystery requires some genuine puzzle-solving skills. For anyone who hasn't read a 3I book in a few years or for those trying to start their collection, this is a good one to get.