Review of "The Case of the Painted Dragon: A Brains Benton Mystery," by George Wyatt

Review of

The Case of the Painted Dragon: A Brains Benton Mystery, by George Wyatt


Five out of five stars

 The high ranking is given by a man that loved the Hardy Boys series when he was young. Although he has covered many miles since then, I retain the joy of the juvenile mystery. This one features Barclay (Brains) Benton and James Carson, together they make up the Benton and Carson Detective Agency and they solve crimes and mysteries that often baffle adults.

 They have their own batcave equivalent in the upper level of the Benton garage complete with many gadgets, some of which remind you of the opening of the old television show “Get Smart!” They even have codes names that they use when they are on a case. In other words, they check all the boxes in the adolescent boy’s sleuthing/spying fantasies.

 If you take your mind back to when you were in your early teens, you will love this book The phrase “Painted Dragon” refers to an image painted by the deceased by auto accident father of one of the friends of Brains and James. The son is Mikko and he is of Japanese descent and there is a gang that is after a string of valuable pearls. His mother also died in the accident, so Mikko is under guardianship. To the adult mind, there are several logical flaws in the plot, but to the young one, it is a very fun book to read. This is the first Brains Benton book that have read and I wished that I had known of them when I was young.