#12 The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow

By William Arden (Dennis Lynds), 1969
1978 Marchesi Cover pb
1969 Hardbound. Harry Kane cover art
Hitchcock Cover. 1st ed. PB circa 1982
Weekly Reader Hardbound circa 1990
Keyhole Cover 2nd PB edition 1985
Random House Trade and GLB Hardcover Editions 

First Printed: 1969 
Cover Art: Harry Kane 
Internal Illustrations: Harry Kane
ISBN's: Trade Ed. 0-394-81492-4; GLB 0-394-91492-9

Trade Edition First Printing Identifier: Lists to "The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow" on the back cover.

Other Trade Edition First Printing Traits: 
- Matte cover finish 
- Blue graveyard endpapers 
- No ISBN

Notes: Sometimes "semi-glossy" cover hardbound copies of this title show up, they usually list to #16 or #20 on the back cover.
Random House First Paperback Edition 

"Marchesi Cover"

First Printed: 1978 
Cover Art: Stephen Marchesi 
Internal Illustrations: Harry Kane
ISBN: 0-394-83775-4

First Printing Identifier: 1234567890 number line on the copyright page.

Notes: There were 8 Printings of this title with the Marchesi Cover art in this edition printed between 1978 and 1981/82. With the 9th Printing, below, the new Adragna cover art was used.



"Hitchcock Cover" Paperback

First Printed: circa 1982 (9th Printing)
Cover Art: Robert Adragna 
Internal Illustrations: Harry Kane
ISBN: Same as Marchesi Cover above

Earliest Printing Identifier: 90 number line on the copyright page.

Notes: 9th printings will list to "Wandering Cave Man" + BoMP on inner list.
10th printings list to "Missing Mermaid" + BoMP on the inner list.
Scholastic Book Services Paperback Edition 

First Printed: September 1979 
Cover Art: Charles Liese 
Internal Illustrations: None
ISBN: 0-590-30053-9

First Printing Identifier: 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 number line on the copyright page.
Random House Revised Paperback Edition

"Keyhole Cover"

First Printed: 1985 
Cover Art: Robert Adragna 
Internal Illustrations: None
ISBN: 0-394-86412-3

First Printing Identifier: 1234567890 number line on the copyright page.
Weekly Reader Children's Book Clubs Hardbound Edition 

First Printed: circa 1989 
Cover Art: Robert Adragna 
Internal Illustrations: None
ISBN: Same as the Keyhole Paperback above.

First Printing Identifier: None

Notes: One of two Three Investigators books issued by Weekly Reader, the other being "The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy."  
Back to the Original Series page.
Random House "Dodge" Paperback Edition

"Dodge Cover"

First Printed: Was scheduled for 2000
Cover Art: Bill Dodge 
Internal Illustrations: None
ISBN: None

Notes: This book was never published in this edition. Cover art was created, as shown here, but the book never went into production.