- Title: The Mystery of the Green Ghost
- wiki: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back to a mystery involving the Three Investigators whose mantra of “We Investigate Everything” leads Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews into a crumbling mansion that houses both a human skeleton wearing a priceless string of pearls hidden within a secret room only discovered during the demolition and a green apparition, apparently the ghost of the house’s former owner, haunting its hallways.
While looking for a possible story for the school paper about the mansion being torn down, Bob and Pete are on hand for the appearance of the ghost whose later appearance at his niece’s struggling winery leads the pair to Verdant Valley leaving Jupiter back at home to solve the truth behind the ghost’s first appearance… until he’s needed to search for his missing friends who are chased, trapped within an abandoned mine, and kidnapped for a the string of rail jewels found in the mansion that some are willing to kill for.
One of the earlier Three Investigator novels, The Mystery of the Green Ghost features several staples of the series including a local kid to fill in information for the Investigators and Jupiter struggling with a clue that seems just beyond his reach (this being how the small group of sightseers were able to hear the ghost from outside the house and how that relates to a counting discrepancy among the witnesses). The mystery of the ghost itself is saved for the trio’s debrief to Hector Sebastian who gladly accepts their case and his latest souvenir. The book is also notable for an appreciative Chief Reynolds who provides the trio with an official endorsement to help them in their further endeavors.