'The Three Investigators' - sounds like a dull-and-boring little kids story with an unimaginative title, doesn't it? Well it isn't. It is one of the best series ever written. It was originally conceived as competition to the ever-popular Hardy Boys series, and boy did it outshine that! Now let me tell you about it, then you can download the free ebooks.
This series follows the adventures of Jupiter Jones ("Jupe"), Peter Crenshaw ("Pete") and Robert Andrews ("Bob"). They are a team of juvenile detectives in the fictional town of Rocky Beach in California, set to prove to the world that children can be as smart as adults, if not smarter, in solving the toughest of criminal cases. Jupe is the brains of the trio, and having once been a child actor, he still possesses a acting talent, and can talk his way out of any situation. Some people call him fat, though he prefers to be referred to as 'stocky'. Pete is the athlete, and is aptly suited to any fieldwork that their cases may call for. Though he has an understandable aversion to Jupe's usually daring plans, he is ready to support the Three Investigators in every way he can. Bob is more of a studious character. Having broken his leg when he was younger, he is not much of an athlete. He is the Records and Research man of the team; he performs research in the Town Library, where he has a part-time job. He also maintains records of the Investigators' cases for future reference.
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| Robert Arthur, the creator of the series |
One of the main reasons this series is so enjoyable is because the leading characters have distinct personalities, which makes it easier to keep track of what's happening in a story and enjoy reading, rather than rack your brain trying to figure out which character is where.The plots are highly original, and involve fantastic themes such as whispering mummies, talking skulls, a walking scarecrow and a headless horse.
This series has actually been written by a large number of authors, each of whom gives his/her own distinct touch to the plot. An excellent site containing in-depth analysis of the series can be found here.
Now for the eBook downloads part... Since most of the books except 11 are out of print, it was pretty easy to compile the list of downloadable eBooks. Let me walk you through the different books in this excellent series.
The Original Series
The original series comprises of 43 books written by various authors including Robert Author (The creator of the series), William Arden, Mary V Carey, and Marc Brandel. This series the main one, and perhaps the most interesting. So here we go, the books are in HTML format. So just do a Ctrl + S and save the HTML to your computer. And then just convert it to a format of your choice using a combination of DocsPal and CoolUtils. Then again, you might choose to read it in html format itself. It's all up to you.
2.
The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot
3. The Mysteryof the Whispering Mummy
4. The Mystery of the Green Ghost
6. The Secret of Skeleton Island
9. The Mystery of the Screaming Clock
3. The Mysteryof the Whispering Mummy
4. The Mystery of the Green Ghost
6. The Secret of Skeleton Island
9. The Mystery of the Screaming Clock
The Crime Busters Series
This is an series that was published from 1989 onwards portraying the Three Investigators as 17 years old. They now drive cars, use modern language, and are more grown up. I really don't like this series, because it spoils your whole idea of the Three Investigators. But don't let that stop you from seeing for yourselves.
1. Hot Wheels
2. Murder to Go
3. Rough Stuff
4. Funny Business
5. An Ear for Danger
6. Thriller Diller
7. Reel Trouble
8. Shoot the Works
9. Foul Play
10. Long Shot
11. Fatal Error
The Find Your Fate Series
Have you seen those new Give Yourself Goosebumps books where you have those choices that you've got to make at the bottom of every page, and you yourself are a character in the story? Well the Find Your Fate books are the exact same. In each book you are just, well, yourself, and you have to assist the three investigators to solve a case. It's quite fun, and it feels that you really are in the story. I myself have read only the first book in the series, as a hard copy. The eBooks are not available for obvious reasons. Imagine scrolling through a PDF file searching for a particular page... Well here's the list of books. Buy them on Amazon if you want to.
1. The Case of the Weeping Coffin
2. The Case of the Dancing Dinosaur
3. The Case of the House of Horrors
4. The Case of the Savage Statue
Radio Dramatization
The first two books in the series, i.e. The Stuttering Parrot and Terror Castle were converted into radio plays with sound effects and exact audio dramatization of the stories. The characters have very realistic accents, and the whole thing is excellently rendered. They are something every Three Investigators fan must listen to.
At the moment I can't find the site I originally downloaded it from. Since I don't think a radio recording can possibly have any copyright protection, I am sharing my own copy with you through Google Drive.
Click here to download an archive consisting of the two radio plays (The Secret of Terror Castle and the Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot). Press Ctrl + S on the Google Drive page that opens when you click on the link.
The Three Investigators Movies
Yep, you read that right! The Three Investigators have actually made it onto the silver screen! Popularity for the Three Investigators books got a major boost with the release of two full length movies, The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island (2007) and The Three Investigators and the Secret of Terror Castle (2009). Both these movies are loosely based on the books of the same name, and when I say 'loosely' I am making an understatement. The director seems to have taken great liberties with the plot to make it seem more interesting for the general public. That said, the movie does bring out some of the highlights of the stories, and the personalities of the characters (Though Jupe is a bit too fat, if you ask me). Watch the movie with an open mind. Do not expect too much.
I will give you the links to download the whole movies via torrents. Use uTorrent to open the .Torrent files. Alternatively, you can watch the movies on YouTube, where they are in different parts.
That's all for this post! I hope you too will become a Three Investigators fan like me. If you have any queries, complaints or suggestions feel free to post a comment below, or drop an e-mail to jayanth.rajakumar@gmail.com. I'll be back soon with more, have a great day!
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