Brains Benton

Written in the late 1950s and early '60s, the Brains Benton Mysteries chronicle the adventures of young teenagers Barclay "Brains" Benton (X) and his friend James "Jimmy" Carson (Operative Three); they together form the "Benton and Carson International Detective Agency."

The series was originally published by the Golden Press, with reprints being done in the same format by Whitman Books, both imprints of Western Publishing. All six titles appeared in hardback with only two volumes being reprinted in paperback. Aside from the original six titles, there is a large and growing body of fan fiction that has been written as well.

Titles

# The Case Of The Missing Message (1959)
# The Case Of The Counterfeit Coin (1960)
# The Case Of The Stolen Dummy (1961)
# The Case Of The Roving Rolls (1961)
# The Case Of The Waltzing Mouse (1961)
# The Case Of The Painted Dragon (1961)

The books are very realistic; there is no scene that could not have actually happened. However, these books came out toward the end of the heyday of juvenile fiction series (like Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, Jr.), and the series didn't last very long.

The books were written by Charles Spain Verral. However, after book #1, all of the remaining books had the pen name of George Wyatt as author. Verral had turned over the writing to another author but was not pleased with the results; he then took the outlines of each book and rewrote them. The Brains Benton books are similar in tone to The Mad Scientists' Club books.

In recent years, the Brains Benton characters have appeared in fan fiction. In 2007, "Christmas Eve in Crestwood," a short story by Charles E. Morgan, III, was published by White Star Service Company. It was printed in a limited edition of 150 copies, each numbered, and distributed to members of the Brains Benton Yahoo group. This edition was set using the same type face used in the production of the original series books, and printed letterpress.

External links

* [http://www.townofautumn.com/brainsbenton/ Unofficial Brains Benton Site]
* [http://www.enidblyton.net/classic-childrens-books/the-brains-benton-mysteries.html Keith Robinson's article on Brains Benton]
* [http://www.brainsbentonineurope.co.uk Brains Benton in Europe] - Detailed guide to the European editions.
* [http://www.seriesbookart.co.uk Series Book Art: Brains Benton] - Internal illustrations from both the US and European editions.