Brains Benton

Written in the late 1950s and early 1960s, 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 Brains Benton books are similar in tone to The Mad Scientists' Club books.

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.

Titles

1. The Case of the Missing Message (1959)
2. The Case of the Counterfeit Coin (1960)
3. The Case of the Stolen Dummy (1961)
4. The Case of the Roving Rolls (1961)
5. The Case of the Waltzing Mouse (1961)
6. The Case of the Painted Dragon (1961)

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.

Fan fiction

In 2007, a Brains Benton fan fiction short story, "Christmas Eve in Crestwood", by Charles E. Morgan, III, was published, using the same typeface as the original series. 130 copies were made, and distributed to members of the Brains Benton Yahoo! Group.

In recent years Morgan has written six full-length books:

"The Case of the Carrier Pigeon," "The Case of the Lost Loot," "The Case of the Stolen Jewelry," "The Case of the Final Message," "The Case of the Disappearing Magician," and "The Case of the Crossed Wire." In addition, he has written a collection of short stories entitled, "The Adventures of Benton and Carson."

Two other authors have written Brains Benton novels starting in 2012. One author has taken two approaches the first being an extension of the original series with Brains and Jimmy still teenagers and the other as cross-over stories featuring the main characters now university graduates working in the cross-over world of Tom Swift. His books include"

"The Case of the Courier Cat" "The Scandal at Crestwood College" "The Subtraction Mystery" "The Case of the Other Missing Message"

The other author (Thomas Hudson) also places his novel "The Case of the Insane Woman Down Memory Lane" in the boys' future where they have come back to Crestwood on an extended vacation from work in California only to become involved with an old woman who has been seeing aliens. She wants their protection but they figure she's crazy. Until, that is, she mysteriously disappears from a place she could not possibly have left. This story is also available as a young reader book with the boys still teens solving the same mystery. It is meant to be enjoyed by children while their parents enjoy the full novel.

External links

• The Brains Benton Mystery Series Article about Brains Benton
• The Brains Benton Anthology Detailed information about Brains Benton
• Brains Benton In Europe Guide to European edition of Brain Benton