Judging by what I read as a kid, I can pretty much say I was born a mystery fan. Between Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, my early love of Agatha Christie, and Encylopedia Brown I was hooked at a young age.
Encylopedia Brown was a young boy who lived in the fictional town of Idaville and solved mysteries either on his own or helping his dad who was the local police chief. The books I read tended to be a series of short mysteries where Encylcopedia would gather the clues and ask the right questions in order to solve the case. Sometimes he was helped by his friend Sally Kimball who was the one kid in town who was able to stand up to the town bully.
For some reason the one story I still remember to this day involved Chineses fighting kites and how one of them was purposefuly attacked by another. What really sticks out in my head is how Encyclopedia figured out which of the suspects was lying to him. When he was interviewing a young girl who claimed she just got out of the shower and was filing her nails, Encyclopedia explained to her that he knew she was lying because someone as fashionable as her would never file her nails after leaving the shower because the nails are too fragile after being wet for so long and they would tear up.
He was a brilliant boy and I thank him for all the memories.
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