Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Mystery of the Moaning Cave

The first book I’ll write about is the first one I ever read. Back in 1976, I was given a copy of the tenth story in the Three Investigators series, The Mystery of the Moaning Cave. The book was written by William Arden and published in 1968. Jupiter, Pete and Bob are visiting the Crooked Y ranch in California. Moaning Valley is part of the ranch, given this name because of the moaning sound that used to come from El Diablo’s Cave in Devil Mountain. After years and years, the cave has started to moan again, but only at night. Mr. Dalton, the owner of the ranch, is worried because many of his superstitious ranch hands are leaving. The boys decide to investigate. They explore the cave, visit a local fiesta and get involved in an accident as they cycle back to the ranch, almost being thrown over a precipice. They come up against a local eccentric, a mysterious scar-faced stranger and the Mexican bandit El Diablo, who seems to have returned from the dead. Many mysterious characters are interested in Moaning Valley. The action is fast-paced and exciting and leads to a great climax, with a cache of stolen diamonds, an unlikely crook and a logical explanation for the moaning cave.

This was my first 3I adventure and I loved it. I discovered later that William Arden was not the creator of the Three Investigators; he agreed to carry on the series after the original author, Robert Arthur, became too ill to write. But at the time, all I was interested in was the story and the characters: Jupiter, the stocky brainy boy who used lots of big words; Pete, the tall, muscular boy who excelled at physical activity but was also cautious and made funny little wise cracks; Bob, the studious boy with a bit of a lame leg who is good at research. I imagined I saw a bit of each boy in myself.

Moaning Cave is very special to me and started me off on a lifetime of reading. I read it again just two weeks ago, and what strikes me about this series is that many of the books still come across as totally logical and believable even today. The mysteries are well plotted and lead to sensible conclusions.

William Arden is one of several pen names used by Californian author Dennis Lynds. His most famous books were written under the name of Michael Collins. He once said that he took the name Arden from a milk truck that used to run down his street. I have read all his 3I books, but so far I’ve never read any of his work outside of the series. He wrote two of the finest 3I books, the other being The Mystery of the Dead Man’s Riddle. Dennis Lynds passed away in 2005 at the age of 81. In his final years, he spoke fondly of the Three Investigators. He knew what an impact his books had made on many people’s lives. Once I started to read the series, I always knew that I would leave Scotland some day and forge a new life elsewhere. Those stories opened up a lot of new horizons for me and left me with many good memories.

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