List of Hardy Boys books

Grosset & Dunlap

The Mystery Series consists of the first 58 stories and the Detective Handbook which were originally published between 1927 and 1979. The first 38 books and the Detective Handbook were revised between 1959 and 1973.

Simon & Schuster

This now-discontinued series of paperbacks started in 1979 as a continuation of the hardcover books, hence the volume numbers start as #59 and ended in 2005 with volume 190.

In 2005, Grossett & Dunlap released hardcover versions of volumes 59 through 66. These volumes were in the blue glossy flashlight cover format, similar to the original 58 covers. The artwork on these books was from the original Wanderer paperback covers, although severely cropped to fit the covers. To date, there is no news about plans for further Grossett & Dunlap hardcover versions.

In March 2013, Grossett and Dunlap discontinued publication of Volumes #59-#66 in hardcover.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Be a Detective Mystery Stories (1984–1985)

In these books the reader controls the outcome of the story by choosing different options of advancing the plot, similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure books.

1. The Secret of the Knight’s Sword
2. Danger on Ice
3. The Feathered Serpent
4. Secret Cargo
5. The Alaskan Mystery
6. The Missing Money Mystery

The Clues Brothers

The Clues Brothers books were aimed at younger readers, particularly in third and fourth grades. The series was introduced in 1997 and was cancelled in 2000 for lack of popularity. Starting in 2013 the series will be available as ebooks.

This series had some big differences from the other Hardy Boys books, such as:

Undercover Brothers

"The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers" is a series of paperback books which replaced the Digest paperbacks in early 2005.

The Hardy Boys are now agents of A.T.A.C. (American Teens Against Crime) and are solving more realistic and/or violent crimes.

This series is written in first-person narrative style with Frank and Joe alternating chapters.

Spy Set - Box set of volumes 1–4 (2005)

Super Mysteries

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery Series (2007–2012)

The Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery books are a new series first published in June 2007 and are not to be confused with the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys SuperMystery series that was published between 1988 and 1998.

This is a spin-off series of the Nancy Drew: Girl Detective series and The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers series. Books are narrated in the first person with chapters alternating between Nancy's, Frank's, and Joe's view. Series cancelled when Nancy Drew, Girl Detective and Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series ceased publishing new titles.

1. Terror on Tour - 2007
2. Danger Overseas - 2008
3. Club Dread - 2009
4. Gold Medal Murder - 2010
5. Bonfire Masquerade - 2011
6. Stage Fright - July 2012

Undercover Brothers Graphic Novels

The Undercover Brothers also appear in a series of graphic novels by Papercutz.

The New Case Files

(A new graphic novel series from Papercutz)

1. Crawling with Zombies
2. Break-Up!
3. Nancy Drew The New Case Files #3 -- "Together With The Hardy Boys" (This book is listed as number 3 in the Nancy Drew series, but is also the 3rd story in the Hardy boys series, and concludes the plot that was begun in Hardy Boys #1 and #2, and Nancy Drew #1 and #2)

The Hardy Boys Secret Files

The Hardy Boys Secret Files is a series begun in 2010 by the publisher Simon & Schuster under their Aladdin imprint. It features the Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe, as grade-school detectives. Three new titles are published yearly as paperback books and eBooks. This series rebooted in 2016 as the "Hardy Boys Clue Book" series.

1. Trouble at the Arcade
2. The Missing Mitt
3. Mystery Map
4. Hopping Mad
5. A Monster of a Mystery
6. The Bicycle Thief
7. The Disappearing Dog
8. Sports Sabotage
9. The Great Coaster Caper
10. A Rockin' Mystery (October 2012)
11. Robot Rumble (April 2013)
12. Lights, Camera...Zombies! (August 2013)
13. Balloon Blow-Up (December 2013)
14. Fossil Frenzy (April 2014)
15. Ship of Secrets (August 2014)
16. Camping Chaos (December 2014)
17. The Great Escape (April 2015)
18. Medieval Upheaval (August 2015)
19. The Race Is On (December 2015)

The Hardy Boys Adventures (2013-current)

In 2011, Simon & Schuster announced it would cancel the Undercover Brothers series and launch a new series, Hardy Boys Adventures, publishing four volumes in 2013. The series is scheduled to publish new titles three times a year. This series is written in the first person with chapters alternating between Frank's and Joe's narration. This is the first series to be available in three different formats; paperbacks, hardcover books with dust jacket, and eBooks. The first four titles had an initial printing of 25,000 copies in paperback and 2,500 copies in hardcover. Books 5 through 8 had an initial print run of 25,000 in paperback and 5,000 in hardcover. Books 9 and 10 had an initial print run of 10,000 in paperback and 5,000 in hardcover. Audio books of several titles will be released starting 2015 on CD and download, read by Tim Gregory. The first three titles will be published as a single volume in June 2016 using the cover art from the first book in the series.

Trivia

The Hardy Boys Clue Book (2016 - current)

This is a re-boot of the Hardy Boys Secret Files series published by Aladdin Paperbacks in paperback, hardcover, and eBook editions written by Franklin W. Dixon with covers and internal illustrations by Matt David. This is an interactive series, as readers will get to write down their clues and predictions. A page before the final chapter has questions the reader can answer regarding suspects, clues, and solutions. The first book in the series references events in the last book of the Hardy Boys Secret Files series, making this a continuation of that series.

Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Dynamite Comic Books (Beginning March 2017)

1. Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie (March 2017) In this modern take, teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are accused of the murder of their father - a detective in the small resort town of Bayport - and must team up with the femme fatale Nancy Drew to prove their innocence (and find the real guilty party in the process) in a twisting, hardboiled tale, complete with double-crosses, deceit, and dames.

The Hardy Boys Casefiles Series (1987-1998)

The Hardy Boys Casefiles are aimed at early-to-mid teen readers and have more mature themes, including espionage, murder, and slight romance. The new direction the series would take was set in the first volume, Dead On Target, as a bomb planted in the Hardy Boys' car blows up Joe's longtime girlfriend, Iola Morton, in the first chapter. Book packager Mega-Books and Simon & Schuster released the first two Casefiles under the Archway imprint in April 1987 and continued to release a new title monthly until November 1997. In January 1998 the last Casefile, #127 Dead In The Water, was released. This series was published in mass-market, or rack-sized, paperbacks to widen the distribution of the books to supermarkets and other outlets. In September 1987 the Hardy Boys digest series was revived and continued with #86 The Mystery of the Silver Star. Events from the Casefiles are not referenced in the Digest series, and Iola Morton is alive and a character connected with Joe Hardy as in the previous 85 titles. The Casefiles universe also merges with the Nancy Drew Files and Tom Swift worlds in titles published as A Nancy Drew And Hardy Boys SuperMystery and A Hardy Boys and Tom Swift UltraThriller. Several spin-off series were cancelled by Simon and Schuster at the end of 1997, including the Hardy Boys Casefiles.

Unpublished Titles

Several ISBN numbers were issued for books #128 and beyond before the series was cancelled. Book #128 would have been called Explosive Force and was written by Jerry Novick. A complete manuscript exists for this story. The story written for release as Casefiles #130 was ultimately used as Hardy Boys Digest #150 The Crisscross Crime. It is not known if other manuscripts or story outlines exist for other unpublished Casefiles stories. The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys SuperMystery series also had ISBN numbers issued for future titles that ended up being cancelled. The planned #37 entry was being written by Louise Munro Foley and had the working title "The Playhouse Mystery". An untitled volume #38 was listed as forthcoming on an on-line book sales site.

Collector's editions and foreign publications

From 1998 to 1999, Simon & Schuster published three Hardy Boys Casefiles Collector's Editions that contained three previously published Casefiles stories (Vol. 1 #'s 38, 39 and 40; Vol. 2 #'s 48, 51 and 52; Vol. 3 #'s 55, 58 and 59). In 2005, Simon & Schuster reprinted Vol. 3 in hardcover with a different cover that used the current Hardy Boys Mystery Stories (Digest) cover of a file folder with modified art from Hardy Boys #152, exclusively for Borders Bookstores.

The Canadian rights to the Casefiles and its spin-offs have been held by Paperjacks (April 1987-December 1989) and Distican, Inc./Simon & Schuster Canada (January 1990 – present; Simon & Schuster US bought out Distican in 2002 and just changed the company name). Aside from inserting an ad for their 'Books By Mail' program, their address on the copyright page, and a small Maple Leaf with "Printed In Canada" being put on the front covers, and distributing the books, Paperjacks was allowed no other editorial/layout changes to the books. Once Distican took over the rights in January 1990, the books were all published in the US and just distributed by Distican in Canada with no publishing occurring in Canada.

Simon & Schuster UK have published many 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 books of the Casefiles since the early 1990s in the UK and other British Commonwealth Nations (except Canada). In 2005/06 Simon & Schuster UK reissued four Casefiles under the Undercover Brothers label, with two other books being planned but cancelled before publication.

Armada/Collins held the UK/British Commonwealth (except Canada) rights to the Casefiles from about 1988 till 1991, with reprint rights continuing on throughout the 1990s, allowing Armada to publish different 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 books of the first 10 Casefiles.

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys SuperMystery Series (1988–1998)

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew teamed up in this 36 volume series of paperbacks. This series follows the formula of the main characters and their friends typically involved in separate mysteries that end up being connected. The sleuths join forces to solve the overall mystery. This series is based in the Nancy Drew Files and Hardy Boys Casefiles continuity, so murder, romance, and flirtation between the series regulars are common. Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy share an attraction in this series, though after a brief kiss in "The Last Resort" this attraction is not acted on. Subsequent books focus on the respect and friendship that developed between the two and their continued feelings for Ned Nickerson and Callie Shaw. Several spin-off series were cancelled by Simon and Schuster at the end of 1997, including the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys SuperMystery series.

Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thriller Series (1992–1993)

The two volume Ultra-Thriller series is a short-lived Hardy Boys spin-off that joined boy inventor Tom Swift with the crime-solving Hardy Boys, Frank & Joe. Although the Franklin W. Dixon pseudonym was used, the series was more akin to the then-current Tom Swift IV series and listed in the Tom Swift books as part of that series. Published as mass market paperback books under the Archway imprint of Simon and Schuster.

1. Time Bomb
2. The Alien Factor

Other Books

There have been many Hardy Boys spin-off books and minor series over the years.

The Hardy Boys Handbook: Seven Stories of Survival (1980)

Not to be confused with The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook, The Hardy Boys Handbook: Seven Stories of Survival was first published in 1980 by Wanderer Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) and contains seven short stories with instructions for wilderness survival, 134 pages long. Written and illustrated by outdoor journalist and survival instructor Sheila Link under the Hardy Boys imprint, published in hardcover in different format than the rest of the series.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Sleuths (1981, 1984)

The first Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Sleuths book was published in 1981 with the sequel published in 1984. Both volumes contain seven short stories with Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys working together and are written under the pen-name of Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon. Both books were published under Simon & Schuster’s Wanderer Books imprint.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Campfire Stories (1984)

This book was first published by Wanderer Books in 1984 and like the Super Sleuth books, Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon listed as co-authors. National Director of Program Services, Camp Fire, Inc, Karen W. Bartz wrote a foreword for this book. Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon also wrote a foreword.

The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories (1984)

This was first published in 1984 by Simon & Schuster under their Wanderer Books, and then in 1987 by their Minstrel Books imprint. In 2002 it was published yet again by another Simon & Schuster imprint; Aladdin paperbacks. Because there were so many re-prints, several (four) different editions with different cover art exist.