The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy

The boys are back. The truth is buried deep. And the trail is anything but cold. The world has changed since the first time The Three Investigators went into action, but some things never go out of style. The persistence of truth. The power of perseverance. The importance of questioning everything. Conceived and co-written by Elizabeth Arthur, the daughter of Robert Arthur, the creator of the Three Investigators universe, this exciting reboot of the classic series takes its iconic characters into a new age. They return reimagined, reinvigorated, and more relevant than ever. In the first book of a 26-book story arc, it's the summer before their freshman year in high school and Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews, and Pete Crenshaw are back on the case in Rocky Beach, California. Their new client, Isabella Chang, wants to discover the truth about a murdered ancestor whose son Li Chang is rumored to have hidden a bag of gold nuggets his father panned from the American River during the heady days of the California gold rush. With their old friend and mentor Hector Sebastian moving to Wyoming and their longtime driver Worthington leaving the Rent'n'Ride to set up a business of his own, The Three Investigators are facing big changes. Nevertheless, they manage to convince Worthington to drive them to the Gold Country in a rented four-wheel drive, stopping along the way to set up camp in Yosemite. Before they take off, Jupiter's Uncle Titus returns to the Salvage Yard with a new haul of unusual old items, including a suit of armor and eight Chinese talismans painted on hammered metal - one of which is a Talisman Against Demons. In Yosemite, Bob gets an unexpected call from a menacing relative of Isabella Chang - who seems determined to scare them off the case. Thus begins a tale of intrigue, misdirection, hunches, ciphers, clues, coincidences, and a classic blend of legwork and analysis. Why was the one-room schoolhouse where Li Chang was educated suddenly razed to the ground? Why is its foundation being guarded by a wild-eyed woman with a shotgun? Who stole letters addressed to Li Chang's Irish schoolmaster? What does the Owl of Athena carved on Li Chang's grave marker mean? And why was Li Chang so secretive about the location of his hidden gold? Join Jupiter, Pete, and Bob as they ponder the complexity of a book cipher and uncover secrets hidden for generations. Adventure, danger, and intrigue await in this absorbing new episode in the Three Investigators saga. Whether you're a long-time fan or are meeting the boys for the first time, you'll be glad to be part of this new beginning.

Elizabeth Arthur is the author of five literary novels (Beyond the Mountain, Bad Guys, Binding Spell, Antarctic Navigation, and Bring Deeps) and two memoirs (Island Sojourn and Looking for the Klondike Stone.) Her books have been published by Harper and Row, Doubleday, Knopf, and Bloomsbury U.K. She has received fellowships and grants from the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, the Vermont Council on the Arts, the Ossabaw Island Project, and the Indiana Arts Commission. She twice received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and was the first novelist ever given an Antarctic Artists and Writers Operational Support Grant from the National Science Foundation. Her novel Antarctic Navigation was chosen by the New York Times as a Notable Book.