German Three Investigators Master of Death and Final Thoughts

In Master of Death, the Three Investigators take part in the filming of a short drama for a school project.  The students find an old house to use for filming.  The owner informs the Three Investigators that they must not touch the puppets or disturb the chalk line that serves as a magical barrier.  The puppets are cursed, and if the barrier is broken then the students will be in grave danger.

Ooh, this sounds spooky!  M. V. Carey would have come up with a plot like this one.

On page 43, it is stated that a 400 year old puppet is not that valuable.  I find it strange how often in the Three Investigators series that very old items are said not to be valuable.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

The German Three Investigators books fall between the Crimebusters series and the original Three Investigators series as to how good the books are.  Some titles are as good as the original series.

This is how I rank the books.  I have indicated the condensed books in green.

Outstanding:

The Haunted Ship
Valley of Horror
Evil Games
Ghost Train
Ghost Village
Soccer Trap

The books I ranked as outstanding are as good as the original Three Investigators books.  In particular, The Haunted Ship, Valley of Horror, and Ghost Train are not only as good as the original series but have the same atmosphere as the original series.  These three books hit the mark quite well and are actually better than some books in the original series, such as the higher-numbered ones.

Very Good:

Hidden Fouls
The Curse of the Cell Phone
Mysterious Testament
Pharoah's Message
Pirate's Curse
Vampire City 
Master of Death

These books are a step down from the previous group, but they are still quite good and are above average.  My two favorites from this group are Pirate's Curse and Vampire City.

Good:

Poisoned E-Mail 
Dangerous Quiz Show
Canyon of Demons 
Black Madonna 
Soccer Mania
Web Phantom

The "good" books can also be considered borderline mediocre.

Did not like:

Soccer Gangsters
Hollywood Horrors
Arctic Adventure
Bite of the Beast

This last group is mediocre or not good.  Hollywood Horrors is the only one in this group that was not shortened for the English translation.  The condensed books tend not to be as good as the ones that were not shortened.

The books in the German series are uneven in quality, like the higher-numbered books from the original series.  Some books are excellent while others are not as good.  The premise also varies somewhat depending upon who wrote the books.  Some books mention Bob having lots of girlfriends, while other books have the boys using chalk like in the early books from the original series.

Overall, the German books are worth reading.