Timeline
1964
Random House publishes #1 The Secret of Terror Castle
& #2 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot in Trade
and GLB Hardcover Editions as part of the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Series.
1965
Random House publishes #3 The Mystery of the Whispering
Mummy & #4 The Mystery of the Green Ghost in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions.
1966
Random House publishes #5 The Mystery of the Vanishing
Treasure & #6 The Secret of Skeleton Island in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions.
1967
Random House publishes #7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye
& #8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider in Trade
and GLB Hardcover Editions.
1968
Random House publishes #9 The Mystery of the Screaming
Clock & #10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. Moaning Cave is by William
Arden, making it the first book not by Robert Arthur.
1969
Random House publishes #11 The Mystery of the Talking
Skull & #12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. Talking Skull is Robert
Arthur's last book.
1970
Random House publishes #13 The Secret of the Crooked
Cat & #14 The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions.
1971
Random House publishes #15 The Mystery of the Flaming
Footprints & #16 The Mystery of the Nervous Lion in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. Flaming Footprints is
the first title to forego the wrap-around cover art for a solid color spine
and the first new Three Investigators title to have an ISBN. This
format will continue through to the end of both hardcover editions (Trade
and GLB).
Scholastic publishes a "large size" paperback edition of #4 The Mystery of the Green Ghost and #1 The Secret of Terror Castle. This is the first publication of The Three Investigators in paperback. Both books retain their original cover art and internal illustrations.
1972
Random House publishes #17 The Mystery of the Singing
Serpent & #18 The Mystery of the Shrinking House in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions.
Random House publishes its First Paperback Edition of #1
The Secret of Terror Castle under the Windward
Books division, with new cover art by Ed Vebell.
1973
Random House publishes #19 The Secret of Phantom Lake
& #20 The Mystery of Monster Mountain in Trade
hardcover and GLB editions.
Random House publishes its First Paperback Edition of #2
The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot under the
Windward Books division, with new cover art by Ed Vebell.
1974
Random House publishes #21 The Secret of the Haunted
Mirror & #22 The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. Both are among the last two
titles to have the blue graveyard/spiderweb endpapers, but only in their
First Printings. Random House replaces the blue graveyard/spiderweb
endpapers with plain, white ones for all later printings of the two.
Scholastic publishes a mass market "small format" paperback edition of #11 The Mystery of the Talking Skull. The original cover art is retained, but thre are no internal illustrations. Scholastic will use this small format with no internal illustrations for the remainder of its Three Investigators publications.
1975
Random House publishes #23 The Mystery of the Invisible
Dog in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. The plain, white endpapers are now
the standard for new titles, with the exception of a very rare variant
of Invisible Dog's Trade Edition First Printing.
The glossy cover finish appears for
the first time on late Random House Trade Hardcover printings of #19 The Secret of Phantom Lake
and
#20 The Mystery of Monster Mountain. Both of these printings
contain the blue graveyard/spiderweb endpapers.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #21 The Secret of the Haunted Mirror. The original cover art is retained.
1976
Random House publishes #24 The Mystery of Death Trap
Mine & #25 The Mystery of the Dancing Devil in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. With Death Trap Mine,
Random House begins using the glossy finish as the standard for the new Trade
Edition covers, replacing the previous matte finish.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #19 The Secret of Phantom Lake. The original cover art is retained.
1977
Random House publishes #26 The Mystery of the Headless
Horse in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions.
1978
Random House publishes #27 The Mystery of the Magic
Circle & #28 The Mystery of the Deadly Double in Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions. Deadly Double is the
last of the original 43 titles to have internal illustrations and the last
to be offered in the Trade Hardcover Edition.
Random House publishes a First Paperback Edition for ten titles, plus a Second Paperback Edition for #1 The Secret of
Terror Castle & #2 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot.
All twelve have new cover art drawn by Stephen Marchesi with Harry Kane or Jack Hearne internal illustrations. There is a silhouette of Alfred Hitchcock's
head on the spine. The ten are:
#3 The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy
#6 The Secret of Skeleton Island
#7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye
#8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider
#9 The Mystery of the Screaming Clock
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave
#11 The Mystery of the Talking Skull
#12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow
#15 The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints
#18 The Mystery of the Shrinking House
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #20 The Mystery of Monster Mountain, #25 The Mystery of the Dancing Devil and #10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave. Monster Mountain and Dancing Devil retain their original cover art. In contrast, Moaning Cave's cover art is by the original artist, Harry Kane, but is an updated version of the original cover for Random House.
1979
Random House publishes #29 The Mystery of the Sinister
Scarecrow & #30 The Secret of Shark Reef in
First Paperback and GLB Editions. There are no internal illustrations.
The covers are drawn by Robert Adragna, and have a silhouette of Alfred
Hitchcock's head in the upper right corner of the cover and on the upper
spine (paperback only). Shark Reef will be the last book to
include Alfred Hitchcock.
Random House publishes a First Paperback Edition for #4 The Mystery of the Green Ghost, #19 The Secret of Phantom
Lake & #20 The Mystery of Monster Mountain. All feature
cover art by Robert Adragna with the Hitchcock silhouettes and no internal
illustrations.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #3 The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy, #12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow and #9 The Mystery of the Screaming Clock. Whispering Mummy retains its original cover art, but Laughing Shadow and Screaming Clock feature new cover art by Charles Liese, an artist never used by Random House.
1980
Alfred Hitchcock passes away on
April 29.
Random House publishes a First Paperback Edition for #5 The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure, #21 The Secret
of the Haunted Mirror, #22 The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle
& #24 The Mystery of Death Trap Mine. As before, all feature
cover art by Robert Adragna with the Hitchcock silhouettes and no internal
illustrations.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye and #15 The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints. Both feature new cover art by Charles Liese.
1981
Random House publishes #31 The Mystery of the Scar-Faced
Beggar & #32 The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs in First Paperback and GLB Editions.
Scar-Faced Beggar introduces the
new, fictional mentor (replacing Hitchcock), Hector Sebastian. Hitchcock's
death is acknowledged in the book. The series is now called The
Three Investigators Mystery Series. The Hitchcock silhouette
on the front cover and spine (paperback only) is replaced with a keyhole
design. The cover art is still by Robert Adragna with no internal
illustrations This format will continue on for the remainder of the
new titles.
Random House publishes a First Paperback Edition for nine titles. All feature cover art by Robert Adragna and no internal
illustrations. They still retain the Hitchcock silhouettes (the keyhole
design has been reserved for new titles only). The nine are:
#13 The Secret of the Crooked Cat
#14 The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon
#16 The Mystery of the Nervous Lion
#17 The Mystery of the Singing Serpent
#23 The Mystery of the Invisible Dog
#25 The Mystery of the Dancing Devil
#26 The Mystery of the Headless Horse
#27 The Mystery of the Magic Circle
#28 The Mystery of the Deadly Double
All of the Random House paperbacks published in 1981
(with 1981 printings) have a Mystery Quiz with a removable bookmark bound
inside the front or back cover. The bookmark features Stephen Marchesi's
cover art from
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave.
Random House publishes new issues of the 1978 paperback edition of #2 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, #6 The Secret of Skeleton Island, #11 The Mystery of the Talking Skull and #18 The Mystery of the Shrinking House in which new cover art by Robert Adragna replaces the work of Stephen Marchesi and the two Hitchcock silhouettes are used (cover
and spine). All titles retain their internal illustrations. In 1982 and 1983, new issues, with identical format changes, will continue for all but two of the remaining "Marchesi Covers."
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider, #4 The Mystery of the Green Ghost and #30 The Secret of Shark Reef. All three feature new cover art by Charles Liese. This is the second Scholastic publication of Green Ghost, but now in the small format.
1982
Random House publishes #33 The Mystery of the Purple
Pirate & #34 The Mystery of the Wandering Cave Man in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes new issues of the 1978 paperback edition of #1 The Secret of Terror Castle, #3 The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy, #9 The Mystery of the Screaming Clock, #12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow, and #15 The Mystery of Flaming Footprints.
Random House publishes The Three Investigators' Book
of Mystery Puzzles in a Paperback Edition.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #18 The Mystery of the Shrinking House and #6 The Secret of Skeleton Island. Both feature new cover art by Charles Liese.
1983
Random House publishes #35 The Mystery of the Kidnapped
Whale & #36 The Mystery of the Missing Mermaid in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes a new issue of the 1978 paperback edition of #10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave. #7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye and #8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider apparently do not receive a new issue.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #32 The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs and #14 The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon. Blazing Cliffs features new cover art by Charles Liese. Coughing Dragon also features new cover art, but it is the same art by Robert Adragna used on Random House's 1981 First Paperback Edition.
1984
Random House publishes #37 The Mystery of the Two-Toed
Pigeon,
#38 The Mystery of the Smashing Glass & #39 The
Mystery of the Trail of Terror in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes fifteen of the Revised Edition titles
(paperback only), in which numbers 1 - 30 are revised to
completely remove any reference of Alfred Hitchcock and to update the writing
style. Hitchcock is replaced by Hector Sebastian. Like #31
The Mystery of the Scar-Faced Beggar and subsequent titles, the books
are now part of The Three Investigators Mystery Series and the keyhole
design is used on the front cover and spine. The cover art is the
same as before, by Robert Adragna, with no internal illustrations.
Scholastic publishes a paperback edition of #13 The Secret of the Crooked Cat with new cover art. Again, it is the same art by Robert Adragna used on Random House's 1981 First Paperback Edition.
1985
Random House publishes #40 The Mystery of the Rogues'
Reunion & #41 The Mystery of the Creep-Show Crooks in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes the remaining fifteen Revised Edition
titles. The one-time character of Reginald Clarke is
introduced in #1 The Secret of Terror Castle to replace Hitchcock
as the director in need of a haunted mansion.
Random House publishes The Case of the Weeping Coffin
& The Case of the Dancing Dinosaur in Paperback
and RLB Editions. The titles are numbers 1 and 2 in Random House's
new Find Your Fate Mystery series, which features internal illustrations
and the keyhole design on the upper spine. John Hulsey and Vincente
provide the cover art and illustrations for Weeping Coffin and Dancing
Dinosaur, respectively. Four titles will be published in this
series.
1986
Random House publishes #42 The Mystery of Wreckers'
Rock in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes The Case of the House of Horrors
in Paperback and RLB Editions as number 7 in the Find Your
Fate Mystery series. Aristides Ruiz provides the cover art and
internal illustrations. Numbers 3 - 6 do exist in the Find Your
Fate series, but do not feature The Three Investigators.
1987
Random House publishes #43 The Mystery of the Cranky
Collector in Paperback and GLB Editions.
Random House publishes The Case of the Savage Statue
in Paperback and RLB Editions as number 8 in the Find Your
Fate Mystery series. Tom Leonard provides the cover art and internal
illustrations.
Weekly Reader Books publishes a hardcover edition of #12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow. The book is simply a hardbound version of the 1985 Revised Edition (updated text with cover art by Robert Adragna, etc.).
1989
Random House begins a new Three
Investigators era with a new series called Crimebusters. This
series is geared toward a young adult audience and features the investigators
as older teenagers in high school. Random House and its division, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., publish GLB and Borzoi Sprinter Paperback Editions, respectively, for seven
titles. All feature cover art by Hector Garrido, with no internal
illustrations. The seven are:
#1 Hot Wheels
#2 Murder To Go
#3 Rough Stuff
#4 Funny Business
#5 An Ear for Danger
#6 Thriller Diller
#7 Reel Trouble
Weekly Reader Books publishes a hardcover edition of #3 The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy. Again, this edition is simply a hardbound version of the 1985 Revised Edition (updated text with cover art by Robert Adragna, etc.). Oddly, Hector Sebastian's introduction has been eliminated.
1990
Random House and Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publish GLB and Borzoi Sprinter Paperback Editions for the Crimebusters titles #8 Shoot the Works, #9 Foul Play,
#10 Long Shot & #11 Fatal Error. Cover art is
again by Hector Garrido, with no internal illustrations.
Weekly Reader Books publishes a hardcover edition of the Crimebusters titles #1 Hot Wheels and #6 Thriller Diller. Both books have their original cover art, but lack their Crimebusters
number on the front cover.
1991
Random House begins to partially re-publish the original and Crimebusters
series in a Bullseye Paperback Edition
under the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. division. Two Crimebusters
titles are published: #1 Hot Wheels and #2 Murder To Go,
both featuring their original Hector Garrido cover art and original typeface. The art is surrounded on three sides by a dark colored border containing a shoe prints/confetti design.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishes eight of the original 43 titles in the Bullseye Paperback Edition, but with new cover art by
either Roger Loveless or Dominick Finelle, outlined on three sides by a
brightly colored border containing questions marks. The question
mark symbol is also used on the upper spine. All earlier titles (before
number 31) feature the Revised Edition text, with Hector Sebastian and
no internal illustrations. The eight are:
#1 The Secret of Terror Castle
#2 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot
#9 The Mystery of the Screaming Clock
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave
#21 The Secret of the Haunted Mirror
#33 The Mystery of the Purple Pirate
#36 The Mystery of the Missing Mermaid
#39 The Mystery of the Trail of Terror
1992
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishes #11 The Mystery of the Talking
Skull,
#26 The Mystery of the Headless Horse, #32 the Mystery
of the Blazing Cliffs &
#35 The Mystery of the Kidnapped Whale in the Bullseye Paperback Edition. The cover art is again by Roger Loveless
or Dominick Finelle, with no internal illustrations and the Revised Edition
texts for Talking Skull and Headless Horse. No additional
Bullseye titles will be published.
Random House, along with Robert Arthur's
daughter, Elizabeth Arthur, renews the copyrights for #1 The Secret
of Terror Castle, #2 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, #3
The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy and #4 The Mystery of the Green
Ghost.
1994 - 1997
Random House and Elizabeth Arthur
renew the copyrights for:
#5 The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure
#6 The Secret of Skeleton Island
#7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye
#8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider
#9 The Mystery of the Screaming Clock
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave
#11 The Mystery of the Talking Skull
1998
The Three Investigators series returns
with Random House's re-issuing of #1 The Secret of Terror Castle, #2 The
Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, #3 The Mystery of the Whispering
Mummy, #4 The Mystery of the Green Ghost, #5 The Mystery
of the Vanishing Treasure and #6 The Secret of Skeleton Island in
paperback. This is not a new edition, but simply a Current Paperback
Issue of either the Revised or Bullseye Paperback Editions with new cover
art. The texts, typefaces and ISBNs remain the same. New cover art is by Bill Dodge and features a Sherlock Holmes style symbol on
both the cover and spine; there are no internal illustrations.
This format applies for the remaining five books published over the next
two years.
1999
Random House's publishes #7 The Mystery of the Fiery Eye
and #8 The Mystery of the Silver Spider, #9 The Mystery of the
Screaming Clock and
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave in the Current Paperback Issue.
2000
Random House's publishes #11 The Mystery of the Talking
Skull in the Current Paperback Issue. It is unknown
if any additional titles will be published in this issue.
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