Brains Benton
"I found these books to be extraordinarily vivid when I was in elementary and junior high school. They center around two youths: Barclay ("Brains") Benton who is in junior high school, and James (Jimmy) Carson, who together constitute the Benton and Carson International Detective Agency. Brains Benton is apparently a child genius with a proclivity for scientific investigation. He rigs up a spare room over the garage into a science laboratory, and the two kids use science to solve interesting mysteries. I found it distinctly above Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators and The Hardy Boys in quality and challenge for a mystery series because of the frequent use of scientific methodology, and because the books extolled the virtues of using your education to solve puzzles. Booksellers tell me that collectors greedily snap these up; indeed, it took me 20 years of looking before I completed my set." --Phil Kass
#1 The Case of the Missing Message, by Charles Spain Verral, copyright 1959
#2 The Case of the Counterfeit Coin, by George Wyatt, copyright 1960
#3 The Case of the Stolen Dummy, by George Wyatt, copyright 1961
#4 The Case of the Roving Rolls, by George Wyatt, copyright 1961
#5 The Case of the Waltzing Mouse, by George Wyatt, copyright 1961
#6 The Case of the Painted Dragon, by George Wyatt, copyright 1961
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