Reviews

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot by Robert Arthur

bev_reads_mysteries's review

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5.0

The second book featuring The Three Investigators, Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews, and Pete Crenshaw. This adventure starts with a request from their mentor Alfred Hitchcock to help his friend Malcolm Fentriss find his missing parrot. The boys wind up tracking down not one parrot, but six...plus a mynah bird. It winds up that the birds, named after literary and historical figures, can quote portions of a riddle taught them by a man named John Silver. And if they can find the birds and decode the message they just might find some buried treasure. But there is large man with a devilish temper and a cunning European thief hot on their trail. They're going to have to be quick to outwit those two. It all ends with a confrontation in a spooky, foggy graveyard.

I somehow missed this adventure in the Investigators' chronicles when I was young. And, boy, did I miss a good one. This has it all--adventure, nasty bad guys with threats, a hidden treasure, a coded message to decipher, and Pete gets to do some action hero moves on the bad guys in the end while Jupe figures out all the obscure clues and Bob plays decoy to try and lure the villains away from the treasure. We meet Carlos, a very observant Mexican boy who gives the young detectives some good clues and helps them identify the car belonging to the large man. This is one of the best of The Three Investigators' mysteries.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

tartancrusader's review against another edition

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3.0

I loved the Three Investigtors books as a kid and, inspired by Karl Ove Knausgaard's "Boyhood Island", I'm going to re-read it to see what, if any, childhood memories it unlocks.

Well, that was unsuccessful as a memory-evoking experiment but I'm glad I reread it nevertheless. A fun little book with nothing particularly objectionable in it.

I'm sure that some today wouldn't be happy about the almost complete lack of female characters, at least any that are in any way necessary to the plot. And there was a fairly straight-out-the-box Mexican peasant stereotype but these are typical of three time in which they are written. I certainly would have no qualms about letting children today read it.

bookhangover's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

kryten's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

rike_reads's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.0

ndjrpgs's review against another edition

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4.0

Als Erzähler hat Oliver Rohrbeck natürlich nichts falsch gemacht, hingegen dem Fall richtig Leben eingehaucht. Vom Buch selbst bin ich nicht so begeistert wie bei den beiden anderen. Irgendwie weniger Atmosphäre und zum Teil ein bisschen langatmig. Dennoch gute vier Sterne, weil es halt schon ein Klassiker ist.

rosalita923's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.5

kiksid89's review

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4.0

A great story! I loved the simplicity yet complex details of it. Also, "luck" was too much on their side!

oneofthefoxes's review against another edition

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4.0

Großartige Lesung von Oliver Rohrbeck! Es sei darauf hingewiesen das es sich hier nicht!! um das Hörspiel handelt, sondern um die ungekürzte Lesung zum Jubiläum der Hörspielreihe.

Bei diesem Fall wurde ich sehr nostalgisch, da der Super-Papagei nach all den Jahren nach wie vor zu meinen Lieblingsfolgen gehört. Es war schon interessant die Geschichte mal im gesamten zu hören. Ich habe den Roman als Teenager sicher mal gelesen, kann mich aber nicht mehr erinnern *gg*
Mir persönlich hat es jedenfalls wieder sehr viel Spaß gemacht. Vor allem die Rätsel sind ja bis heute ein Markenzeichen der Reihe und ich mag diese Fälle auch immer noch am liebsten.
Außerdem liest Rohrbeck wirklich super. Klar ein klein wenig seltsam war es schon, ihn nicht nur Justus sprechen zu hören. Aber nach einer Weile hatte ich mich daran gewöhnt.
Für mich eine schöne Zeitreise und ich kann jedem Fan nur ans Herz legen, sich mal auch auf die Bücher einzulassen. Ich finde es lohnt sich!
Als Einstieg bieten sich gerade die Jubiläumshörbücher super an!

patmareg's review against another edition

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5.0

ha estado muy interesante y intrigante