The boys are back. The truth is buried deep. And the trail is anything but cold.The Salvage Yard is still there. So is the secret headquarters. And so are the Three Investigators—smarter than ever, a little older, and ready for their most challenging cases yet.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-volume arc, it's the summer before their freshman year of high school, and Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrew are back on the case in Rocky Beach, California. Their new client, Isabella Chang, wants to uncover the truth about a murdered ancestor whose son, Li Chang, is rumored to have hidden a bag of gold from the heady days of the California Gold Rush.

With their mentor Hector Sebastian moving to Wyoming and longtime driver Worthington striking out on his own, the Investigators are facing big changes. Yet they still manage to persuade Worthington to drive them to the Gold Country in a rented four-wheel drive, stopping along the way to camp in Yosemite.

Back at the Salvage Yard, Uncle Titus has brought home a new haul of oddities, including a suit of armor and eight Chinese talismans hammered from metal-one of them a Talisman Against Demons. When Bob receives a threatening call in Yosemite from a menacing relative of Isabella's, the boys realize this mystery is no longer a puzzle on paper. It's dangerous.Why was the one-room schoolhouse where Li Chang studied suddenly razed to the ground? Why is its foundation guarded by a wild-eyed woman with a shotgun? Who stole letters written to Li Chang's Irish schoolmaster? What does the Owl of Athena carved on his gravestone mean? And why was he so secretive about his hidden gold?Join Jupiter, Pete, and Bob as they ponder the complexity of a book cipher and uncover secrets hidden for generations. 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.In The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy and the 25 other new Three Investigators books, both old and new fans will find an America as classic as Robert Arthur's novels.