#1 "Hot Wheels" and #2 "Murder To Go" can also be found in the larger-sized Knopf/Bullseye paperback edition printed in June 1991 and measuring approximately 5" x 7-1/2". This was in conjunction with the release of several titles in the original series. Also, #1 "Hot Wheels" and #6 "Thriller Diller" were published at some point in the 1990's in the hardbound "Just for Boys" Weekly Reader edition by Knopf and measuring approximately 5-1/2" x 8".
In 1989 Random House decided to launch a new, updated version of The Three Investigators to compete with the successful Hardy Boys Casefiles books. The Crimebusters books were designed for a slightly older teen-age reading audience. Jupiter, Pete and Bob are now 17 years old, drive cars, date girls, and use technology and language current with the time period. Eleven titles were published by six different authors or writing teams in a two-year period. Two manuscripts were written but never published due to the abrupt cancellation of the series effective with the retirement of long-time Three Investigators editor, Eugenia Fanelli. Artist Hector Garrido painted the cover art for all of the Crimebusters books, none of them have internal illustrations.
The Crimebusters are:
#1 Hot Wheels by William Arden, 1989.
#2 Murder To Go by Megan & H. William Stine, 1989.
#3 Rough Stuff by G.H. Stone, 1989.
#4 Funny Business by William McCay, 1989.
#5 An Ear For Danger by Marc Brandel, 1989.
#6 Thriller Diller by Megan & H. William Stine, 1989.
#7 Reel Trouble by G.H. Stone, 1989.
#8 Shoot The Works by William McCay, 1990.
#9 Foul Play by Peter Lerangis, 1990.
#10 Long Shot by Megan & H. William Stine, 1990.
#11 Fatal Error by G.H. Stone, 1990.
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS:
#12 Brain Wash by Peter Lerangis.
#13 High Strung by G.H. Stone.
In 2011 both of these latter two titles were published by Kosmos in Germany but they have not officially been translated into English.
The Crimebusters were published simultaneously in a trade paperback edition by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a subsidiary division of Random House, and in the sturdy hardbound Random House Gibraltar Library Binding (GLB) edition for use in libraries. The aforementioned paperbacks measure approximately 4-1/4" x 7" while the GLB books measure approximately 5" x 7-1/2". The first two titles in the paperback edition each went through two printings while all other titles had only one known printing.
