SOLVED. Y/A (?) Mystery, supernatural but not [s]

[Sam]

Ok, so this one is actually a series. Had to have titles published before 1997, but I think it was older than that (like maybe 1980s or 1970s). I don't remember there being a series title, as I had to track down other books by the author's name alone.

They were each mystery stories of a sort that kind of remind of Scooby Doo looking back on them - i.e., they involved mysteries that looked supernatural on the surface but were actually just people or simply not that supernatural at all. I think there was 1 or 2 teenagers that books focused on, but I also remember there was a professor-type figure in the picture as well. I used to always read the last chapter or so of these first because there was always an explanation of how the weird things that happened in the story in had actually happened. It kept me from being as scared while reading them.

The only story that really sticks out in my head would seem to be one involving an island, possibly a "skull" island of some sort. I think it was supposed to be haunted or something.

[Diana]

Just an idea: the Casebusters series by Joan Lowery Nixon?

Casebusters series

[Sam]

Sorry, but I really don't think that's it. There's several factors. First though, I want to point out that the Y/A label may be wrong - it's there because I remember the main protagonist being in their teens (or at least young) and the age I read them at.

The books I'm remembering were probably 200-300 pages long, and I've only ever seen them in a hardcover binding. However, the binding wasn't necessarily the original binding - it seemed kind of like a generic hard binding that a lot of libraries used. This estimate is based on a remembered width of somewhere between one-half inch and one inch. The binding is also part of what makes me thing these were older.

These were also books that I'm pretty sure weren't coming out at the time I was reading them. I'm pretty sure I always got them at the county/city library, though I don't remember what made me pick up the first one.

[Melanti]

This is a shot in the dark, but Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators series, maybe?

The first book is: The Secret of Terror Castle
The one with the island is: The Secret of Skeleton Island

There were a couple of books with a professorish characters, but I don't think there was one in every single book. It's been at least 20 years since I've read any though, so my memory might be faulty.

But everything else matches what you've said so far

[Sam]

That sounds like it could be it, but also doesn't sound quite right. I'll have to see if I can get hold of a copy somewhere to check it out.

I really do seem to remember a consistent adult authority figure who either explained or helped explain the mystery at the end, though. Maybe that tracks with these, maybe it doesn't.

[Melanti]

I just looked up the series on Wikipedia for you, and it said this: "The last chapter of each book was an epilogue in which the investigators sat with Alfred Hitchcock (and later, "Hector Sebastian"), reviewing the mystery and revealing the deductions through the clues shown earlier in the book." I hadn't remembered that part at all.

[Sairah]

I was about to suggest The Three Investigators as well! I loved those books from 5th grade through middle school. There definitely was always an explanation.

The adult figures I can think of are the limo driver and maybe a parent or two. The driver was mostly consistently there.

[Sam]

After looking through The Secret of Skeleton Island at the local library, I'm not convinced it's the same books I'm remembering. The structure is very, very similar but maybe that's because they're the same kind of story.

For one, I really don't remember ever seeing a cover picture and the books being bigger than that. I might have to check with my parents on this one, though I don't know that they'd remember either.

[Melanti]

If the books were rebound, especially if they were rebound way back in the 70's or 80's, that would explain the lack of a cover.

That series was my only guess. Sorry that my suggestion wasn't the right one but thank you for asking -- the trip down memory lane has been fun. I hadn't thought of the Three Investigators in years.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

What about one of Enid Blyton's series? She had several. Don't remember any specifically with an island--but then its been a LONG time since I read them. Some of the ones that I read had also been re-bound is why I thought they might be it.

She had the Secret Seven, the Famous Five, Noddy and I think one more series. My local library is down to only 1 book by her, but at one time, there was 2 or 3 shelves of her books.

[Kate]

Here's a look at Enid Blyton and islands:
Five on a Treasure Island
Five on Kirrin Island Again
The Secret Island
The Island of Adventure

I only know the Five series, and there were four kids, and not really an adult mentor. The other two series might fit in.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Sam, are you still looking for this series?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No response, moving to Abandoned.

[Sam]

I had stopped looking, and then I found the book that introduced it to me at my sister's house (belonging to my brother-in-law): https://www.goodreads.com/series/6688...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

So you're saying that's the series? Is it okay if we shelve the first one, The Curse of the Blue Figurine, or is there another one you'd rather have shelved

[Sam]

That one works, sure.