In this second book about the Three Investigators, Robert Arthur has exceeded the achievements of the first.The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot relates the story of the boys' first real case. Having been charged with finding a missing parrot, they soon find themselves intimately involved in a search for a valuable work of art. Here we see the case evolve from a seemingly simple, far from dangerous search for a missing pet to an expanded search for seven mysterious parrots (the significance of which are not at first apparent) and finally to a race against an international art thief to acquire a lost masterpiece. Along the way, they face mysterious foreigners working against them, make sense of an enigmatic coded message, and ultimately triumph (albeit somewhat by accident). Admirably, they also go out of their way to generously help a young Mexican immigrant and his uncle establish a more comfortable life for themselves.
This is the Three Investigators at their finest. The mental acumen of Jupiter Jones is put to the test, and once again his mental prowess proves up to the task.