Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators:
The Secret of Terror Castle (1964)
by Robert Arthur
‘Skinny’ Norris – a school mate of the three boys, a snob and a prankster who always tries to make life difficult for them.
Jonathan ‘The Whisperer’ Rex – the one-time business manager of silent-film actor Steven Terrill
Introducing the characters
Alfred Hitchcock – world-famous English film director, famous for his movies of suspense.
Jupiter Jones – ‘First Investigator.’ Stocky and unathletic, the brains of the trio.
Pete Crenshaw – ‘Second Investigator.’ Tall, athletic, but nervous with it
Bob Andrews – ‘Records and Research.’ Studious, intelligent, good natured
Worthington – their British chauffeur. An amiable fellow who enjoys helping the detectives.
Charlie Grant – an ex makeup-man, friend of both Rex and Terrill
Aunt Matilda Jones – a large, good natured woman, who along with her husband Titus have raised Jupiter Jones since he was a baby. When she sees Jupe or his friends she has only one idea – put them to work!
Uncle Titus Jones - Owner of the Jones Junkyard. A struggling business until Jupiter suggests he change the name to the Jones Salvage Yard, and work to make the business unique.
Hans and Konrad – Blond Bavarian brothers who work for the Jones Salvage Yard
Teen-age friends Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews, based in Rocky Beach, California, had long been thinking of starting a detective agency. After ‘Jupe’ wins the use of a Rolls Royce car and chauffeur for thirty days in a contest, he decides that now that they have such sophisticated transportation, the time is ripe for them to take the plunge. All they need is one case to properly launch ‘The Three Investigators.’ Jupiter Jones is the ‘brains’ of the group, a one-time child actor with a practically photographic memory, a maturity beyond his years, and a zest for solving puzzles. This zest is also felt by good natured Pete Crenshaw, the ‘muscles’ of the group, and Bob Andrews, known as ‘Records’ who does the research. These two are by no means dull-witted, they simply do not have the superior intelligence of their good friend.
Pete Crenshaw’s father, a special effects man who works in one of Hollywood’s movie studios, has informed Pete that the great director Alfred Hitchcock is looking for a real haunted house to use in his next movie.
Jupiter decides that this is the case the Investigators must take on. If they succeed in finding such a house, Bob Andrews’ father, a newspaper reporter, will chronicle this successful first case for them, and if Alfred Hitchcock will write an introduction for the book, Jupe feels that the career of the Three Investigators will be assured. They visit Hitchcock at his studios to offer their services. Hitchock is skeptical at first – he already has location scouts scouring locations in cities rich in supernatural lore, such as Salem, Massachusetts and Charleston, South Carolina. Jupe suggests that it will be more cost efficient if they can find a house for Hitchcock in the local area. Still skeptical, Hitchcock nevertheless agrees to let them try, making no guarantees.
The house that Jupe chooses to investigate has been given the nickname ‘Terror Castle.’ Originally called Terrill’s Castle, because it was built for silent movie star Steven Terrill, the house was designed to look like the haunted castle set used in one of his pictures – and was decorated with all sorts of props and furniture used in his films.
Terrill was known as ‘The Man with a Million Faces’ (shades of Lon Chaney Sr.!) Unfortunately, when the Talkies came into vogue, it was discovered that he had a high squeaky voice and lisped. (Shades of John Gilbert!) His career over in a sudden crash, Terrill retired to his Castle, living the life of a hermit. After a few years, after he’d been forgotten by the fickle public, a wrecked car was discovered, having run off the road and crashed down over the cliffs, a few miles north of Hollywood, the body washed out to sea. Police trace the license plate numbers and learn the car belonged to Terrill. They find Terrill’s castle deserted, and a note on a table: ‘’Though the world will never see me alive again, my spirit will never leave this place. The castle will be forevermore accursed.’’
For thirty years, the huge castle had stood alone at the end of isolated Black Canyon, deserted. Real estate agents have been unable to rent it to anyone – indeed, moving men have been too afraid to stay in the castle long enough to remove any of the original furnishings. Everyone who has ever entered the castle soon feels a sense of overwhelming terror and rushes out. Is the castle haunted by the ghost of Steven Terrill? Or is it haunted by one of the ghosts that inhabits some of the building materials that Terrill had had imported from castles and such-like in Scotland and England in order to build his own? This is the puzzle that Jupiter sets himself and his friends to discover.
Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews are a likeable trio of detectives, surrounded by a colorful cast of characters that make this novel a joy to read. It is a juvenile novel, certainly, but most adults will enjoy it also for its genuinely mysterious puzzle and the atmosphere it evokes of the bygone silent-move days. The presence of Alfred Hitchcock (who ‘writes’ the introduction and has a cameo in each of the books in this series) is a unique casting coup and a definite plus for the series. Highly recommended to mystery lovers of all ages.
This review copyright
May 24, 2000.
If you wish to comment on this review, please email us at Book Review comments.
The Secret of Terror Castle is currently available in an abridge edition which eliminates the character of Alfred Hitchcock. Original editions (recommended) are available from used bookstores: www.abe.com.
This page sponsored by these books:
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M]
[N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [X] [W] [Y] [Z]
Do you have the clearance to be the viewer of this page?
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page