The Mystery of the Moaning Cave

This book is the tenth book in the Three Investigator series. This book follows "The Mystery of the Screaming Clock" and precedes "The Mystery of the Talking Skull." Pete Crenshaw was visiting the Crooked-Y Ranch when mysterious things began to happen. Pete quickly recognized that the happenings were a job for the Three Investigators and he called Jupiter Jones and Bob Andrews to his aid. The number of mysterious events increase after the arrival of Jupe and Bob. Someone tries to run them off a road and they barely survive. El Diablo, a legend of another century, chases them. A sinister man with an eye patch seems to be a threatening presence. The most mysterious events occur in a cave located between the Crooked-Y Ranch and the sea. The cave sometimes moans, but the moaning always stops when someone enters the cave. The cave is supposedly the last resting place of El Diablo, but it may also house the Old One, a mysterious being from another age who may reside in a dark pool in the cave. However, our intrepid investigators are undaunted by ghosts and creatures, particularly when Jupiter finds a raw diamond in the cave. It seems like this mystery compounds continually. When the boys think of a novel way to get into the Moaning Cave, they have a mysterious encounter. The boys wander the cave and have even more mysterious encounters, at least one of which they may never be able to tell anyone for the rest of their lives. This book was the first of fourteen Three Investigators books written by William Arden, a pen name of Dennis Lynds, whose best known pseudonym may be Michael Collins. The style of this book was somewhat different from the previous Three Investigators books. Some of that difference may be the location. This series typically takes place in Rocky Beach with the Jones' Junk Yard a usual locale. This mystery takes place around the fictional town of Santa Carla (which was also the setting of the horror movie "The Lost Boys"), the Crooked-Y Ranch, and the Moaning Cave. It seemed to me that by the end of this book that Lynds was really doing a good job of characterizing each of the Three Investigators. I look forward to reading other books by Lynds. I enjoyed this mystery, though I think some of the earlier mysteries in this series are better and I recommend a first-time reader begin with "The Secret of Terror Castle," the first book in this series. Enjoy!

The Mystery of the Stolen DiamondsThat is the title that I think this book should be because there is another mystery going on at the same time that eventually involves the Three Investigators with the mystery of the moaning cave. The plot is trying to see how or what is making the cave moan only at night and not in the morning. I really liked this book because it kept me reading, even when I wasn't supposed to be reading the book.

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.

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.

The tenth (10th) installment in the "Three Investigators" series finds the boy sleuths travelling to a ranch to try to solve the mystery of 'Moaning Valley'. They uncover clues leading back to an 18th century bandit, and object of local folk legend named 'El Diablo'. The legend says El Diablo used the cave in Moaning Valley as his hideout, and disappeared into the cave 80 years ago... But suddenly there are stories that he's returned! The cave gives off an errie moan that terrifies anyone who hears it. The boys do a bit of scuba diving, and see an odd creature in the water on the western bank of the mountain where El Diablo's cave is located. The conclusion is both satisfying, and fun as they tie up all loose ends, and help the authorities solve a mystery at the same time. I re-read this story to my 6 year old son last month - still one of my favorites in the series.