Kosmos, Sony Music Entertainment and Boxine are releasing toys, audio dramas and e-books for The Three ??? in English.

From this autumn, Germany’s well-known and successful detectives – The Three ??? – will also be solving their crimes in the UK.

In October, the German publishing house Kosmos will be launching the first of the detective gadget range through its UK office, Thames & Kosmos. At the same time, five of the first crime cases will be available as e-books, while licence partner Sony Music Entertainment will simultaneously release audio books on various streaming platforms. Boxine will finish off the choice of products with its Tonie boxes, which can be used to listen to the tales.

The first release of detective gadgets from Kosmos includes a Multi Spy Tool, Gangster Alarm and Listening Spy. In 2019 there will be further releases including a voice changer and a detective briefcase.

The Three ??? is one of the most successful crime series for children and adolescents in the world. Since 1964, Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw and Bob Andrews have investigated thrilling cases and solved mysterious riddles. With 17.5m books and 50m audio books sold since then, the tales of the three detectives capture the imaginations of kids from all generations.

The audio drama success stories of The Three ??? began in 1979 with Super-Parrot, under the label Europa/Sony Music Entertainment. The audio dramas were first available on vinyl, then on audio cassette and then on CD.

Matthias Kienzle, sales and marketing director for Kosmos, commented: “Together with our partners Sony Music, we have carefully maintained the brand for centuries. Meanwhile, The Three ??? has become one of the best-known and most popular children’s brands in Germany. The next logical step is to therefore increase international marketing of the brand too.”