The Mystery of the Creep-Show Crooks

Forty years ago, I read my first Three Investigators book. Now I have just finished reading my last one, The Mystery of the Creep-Show Crooks, by M. V. Carey. I'm glad that this particular story was last on my list rather than one of Ms. Carey's duds like Wandering Caveman. It's an interesting story. The boys find a bag on the beach containing make-up and a teddy bear made of real fur and set out to track down the owner. The girl turns out to be a runaway who came to Hollywood with dreams of being an actress. The boys track her down for her parents without much difficulty, but she doesn't want to go home. Then she disappears. Burglaries are taking place, even at the Jones house, where Aunt Mathilda is locked in a cupboard. A lot of detective work uncovers a money laundering scheme and the location of the kidnapped girl, with Worthington aiding a dramatic rescue. It was a good story with interesting crooks. However, unlike most of the investigators' past enemies, the crooks in this story are just stupid. They are very clumsy in their criminal activities and even store evidence against themselves in their car instead of getting rid of it. All in all, a good read and a fun way to end the series. As I've written before, The Three Investigators are very important to me. In childhood I read their books over and over. There were some disappointing stories along the way (Coughing Dragon, Nervous Lion, Phantom Lake) but there was never anything better in my reading experience than getting my hands on a well written story about Jupe, Pete and Bob. The anticipation of looking at the titles and having to wait for them to appear at Woolworth's or John Menzies. I still recall how it seemed to take forever for The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy and The Mystery of the Green Ghost to appear on the shelves, and how wonderful it was to read them when I got them at last. Now I've read all 43. Mission accomplished.