A review by ashleylm
The Secret of Terror Castle by Robert Arthur
4.0
I had read this series (or at least some of this series) as a youth, and remembered them so fondly that I thought I'd revisit. Happily this first volume was available as an ebook. I demolished it in two bedtimes, and it was even better than expected (I assumed some of my fondness was because as an immature reader I wasn't so fussy). I'm not sure which ones I did and didn't read originally, but since I know I read about four or five, and there are a couple dozen out there, most likely for any given book this "re-read" will actually be a first read.
The three investigators are suitably distinctive, and only one of them is the handsome strong manly type, the other two are bookish and nervous, and overweight and theatrical. I am sure as a child I identified with Pete, but now I am firmly behind Jupiter.
The story drew me in, offered lots of twists and turns, interesting mise-en-scenes, and characters I could differentiate. Aside from the usual quibbles about 60 year old books (not enough women, minorities, etc., awkward appearances of crazy old gypsy woman) I thought it held up well, and certainly offered the promised mood. My only reservation is that as a mystery, there were so few characters that the solution readily offered itself. Who else could have dunnit?
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
The three investigators are suitably distinctive, and only one of them is the handsome strong manly type, the other two are bookish and nervous, and overweight and theatrical. I am sure as a child I identified with Pete, but now I am firmly behind Jupiter.
The story drew me in, offered lots of twists and turns, interesting mise-en-scenes, and characters I could differentiate. Aside from the usual quibbles about 60 year old books (not enough women, minorities, etc., awkward appearances of crazy old gypsy woman) I thought it held up well, and certainly offered the promised mood. My only reservation is that as a mystery, there were so few characters that the solution readily offered itself. Who else could have dunnit?
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)