This twenty-third adventure for the Three Investigators is an M. V. Carey novel, so there's the expected array of welcome female characters but, for a change, they're not principals and they aren't all notable. The primary character this time out, other than the boys themselves, is the art collector and philanthropist, Fenton Prentice, who's being haunted. He knows that, not only because someone's been rifling through his medicine cabinet and the drawers in his desk, but also because he's seen him; he shows up now and again in the form of a shadow. Of course, we wonder if that's one mystery or two even as the evidence is being provided.

Prentice lives in an apartment complex, presumably a more desirable sort than the ones in my neighbourhood, even if the other residents are of, shall we say, highly varied means. We meet a lot of them, because they're natural suspects in the Prentice case, and Carey does a strong job of building a deep ensemble cast. These apartments are also located next to a church, which is also being haunted. Mrs. O'Reilly, the rectory housekeeper, often sees the ghost of the previous pastor walking about at night with a candle, even if the current priest, Fr. McGovern, may think that she's seeing things.

If you think there's a lot going on in a very small area here, you're absolutely right. In fact, the news about the church ghost manifests during a frantic scene that surrounds a burglary in the next street over, one in which the police chase their suspect close enough to where we are that Pete is stopped and searched for resembling the suspect. That scene is all the more tense given everything that's going on in Los Angeles at the moment. However, at least he doesn't have to deal with the Marines and the National Guard.

Given all this, it shouldn't shock to discover that at least some of it is connected. For a start, the burglary took place at the house of the late artist Edward Niedland, a friend of Prentice's, and we soon learn that Prentice is the real victim because the item stolen was a Carpathian Hound that Niedland had made for him in crystal. He had finished it a month ago, but Prentice let him exhibit it at the Mallery Gallery before taking ownership. It was stolen in between its return to Niedland's house, now occupied by his brother Charles, and its delivery to Prentice.

All that means that there are multiple mysteries here. Two appear to be supernatural in origin, the ghost that's visiting Prentice and the ghost haunting the church. Another, the theft of the crystal dog, doesn't seem to be, but the fourth, regarding who's snooping into Prentice's stuff, may or may not be. No wonder the Three Investigators take the first case, which also provides plenty of opportunity to trawl in the others. In the end, Jupe solves them all, though one does remain something a question mark, as the priest may or may not be a real ghost.

What's notable is that he solves the other three in completely different ways. The title mystery about the missing Carpathian Hound he solves through sheer deduction. It's been so long since I last read this that I'd forgotten the details, but I figured out where it was just before Jupe did. He also figures out how the thief avoided capture by the police dragnet, but by sheer luck, after being locked inside the church. Well, luck and deduction. After all, Jupe's far from stupid and it wouldn't be him if he didn't use opportunities that are thrown his way.

The more banal mystery about a snoop in Prentice's apartment he solves through application of technology, because he paints a particular ointment onto certain surfaces to leave indelible black marks on any flesh that might touch it, then watches everyone in the apartment complex. He beat me to that one easily, though the culprit makes natural sense. That leaves the ghost in Prentice's apartment, which he works out through research, an approach that I'd have needed as a child or a young teenager but not as an adult, especially having read Guy N. Smith's 'Mark Sabat' series recently.

By the way, that research involves a returning character to the series, Dr. Barrister, last seen in 'The Mystery of the Singing Serpent'. As this particular question isn't quite in his wheelhouse, he introduces them to a colleague at Ruxton University, Prof. Lantine from the parapsychology department, adding, "Half the faculty here think she's loony and the other half are afraid she can read their minds." I liked Eugenia, who's already aware of the church ghost and thinks Mrs. O'Reilly constructed it out of her own memories of Ireland. She confirmed my expectations of the apartment ghost and more observation proves it.

I liked that Carey used an ensemble cast here, far more than anything approaching that in any earlier book. Fenton Prentice is abundantly likeable but he's not a deep character, just another in a long line of pleasant elderly gentlemen (and some ladies) in need of the boys' special brand of assistance.

His landlady and neighbours are a mixed bag, some of them likeable too, others not at all and more somewhere in between. That means that we become sympathetic to varied degrees when bad things happen to them. Miss Chalmers is poisoned by chocolates in a mysterious box gifted to her out of the blue. Mrs. Bortz's car explodes. Murphy's apartment catches fire. And let's not forget that the thief wants $10,000 ransom from Prentice for the safe return of the Carpathian Hound. Even next door at the church, Earl, the caretaker, is attacked in the choir loft. There are no dull moments in this book!

I liked this novel, I liked its approach and I liked the introduction of Prof. Lantine, who I dearly hope will show up again, as her colleague, Dr. Barrister, did here. I liked the mysteries and the way they were solved. I liked how they often flirted with the paranormal, with the decisions as to whether the solutions are real or supernatural sometimes left to us to decide. However, it's occasionally reminiscent of 'The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure', so it's not entirely new to fans of the series. Of course, Carey's prose is as easy to eat up as ever. This isn't her best but it's another enjoyable entry in her growing catalogue of contributions. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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