Forgotten Favorites: The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno; A Darkly Comic and Poignant Look Into The Adult Life of Encyclopedia Brown

Forgotten Favorites: The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno; A Nostalgic and Darkly Comic Book About The Adult Life of Encyclopedia Brown

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Anyone who grew up between the 1970’s-’90’s remembers Encyclopedia Brown, the series of juvenile detective books by Donald Sobol. For those that don't, an explanation will be needed. Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown (Yes, Sobol named him after the Jim Croce song)  was the 10-year-old son of the Chief of Police in Idaville, Florida. He had an eidetic memory and was himself an amateur detective. (The book would usually describe Encyclopedia’s head as being like an encyclopedia or a library but usually add something like “his pals said he was better than a library. At least they could take him fishing.”)

The books were very formulaic in nature. The crimes never involved dark subjects like murder. Usually, theft and kidnapping were as felonious as they got. The first chapter of each book involves Encyclopedia solving a crime for his father at the dinner table. The second usually concerned Encyclopedia's Detective Agency (Mysteries solved for a quarter-” no case too small”.) where he solves a case for a local child usually involving Bugs Meany, local bully and leader of a group of tough boys called the Tigers. (The narration often suggested other names for the gang: “They should have called themselves The Umbrella Carts because they always pulled something shady.”) The third chapter usually featured another crime caused by Bugs but Encyclopedia is aided by his friend/assistant/bodyguard Sally Kimball, the prettiest and toughest girl in the fifth grade and who beat Bugs up once. The other chapters concerned with other cases. One would be sure to focus on Wilfred Wiggins, high school dropout and con artist who planned some scheme to bilk kids out of their money. (One of these adventures contains the immortal lapse in logic from Encyclopedia, one that I often quote: “I wouldn't believe him if he swore he were lying.”) Each mystery contains a purposely contradictory clue to which Encyclopedia latches on to solve the mystery. The final pages are answers to the mystery to explain how Encyclopedia solved it. For example Bugs Meany claim to sell an inscribed Civil War sword from Robert E. Lee to Stonewall Jackson after the First Battle of Bull Run. The answer would reveal that Encyclopedia knew it was a fake because Lee, a Confederate general, would have called it the “Battle of Manassas.” Not to mention that the sword said “First Battle of Bull Run” before there would have been a Second Battle of Bull Run.

Of course nowadays some have argued the logic behind Encyclopedia's observations. TV Tropes has devoted two sections specifically for Encyclopedia Brown: Conviction by Contradiction (AKA "Bugs Meany is Gonna Walk") in which other explanations could be offered for the clue. (If a professional fails to use professional jargon, it may not necessarily mean that they are a phony because they don't appear to know it. They may have forgotten or dumbed down their dialogue to speak in layman's terms.) and Conviction by Conterfactual Clue (AKA "Encyclopedia Browned") in which the claim itself is wrong (In one case Encyclopedia deduced that someone committed a crime because "thunder always happens before lightening." While scientifically that is true, an approaching thunderstorm can be close enough that thunder and lightning seem to occur simultaneously.)

Many Readers probably enjoyed the books and possibly dreamed of starting their own detective agencies. (This Reader certainly did.) Of course in real life, mysteries aren't always solved by simple deduction and not by super genius kids. Sometimes they are messy, dark, and have no solution. The Readers also didn't always account for what would happen to Encyclopedia Brown, or the many other kid and teen detectives like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and others, when they are faced with these real world mysteries and after they grow up and realize the world around them is complicated and unsolvable.

Joe Meno wrote this possibility in his  novel, The Boy Detective Fails. It is nostalgic in that it explores the wondrous adventurous spirit of these childhood detective stories but takes a swerve into dark comedy by revealing the disturbing adult world as the young detective ages.

Billy Argo, the book’s answer to Encyclopedia Brown, has a proud history of solving mysteries since age 10. His walls are fitted with newspaper clippings of mysteries solved by him, his best friend, Fenton, and younger sister, Caroline. Billy acquired quite the reputation of a boy genius detective until he attended college.

While Billy was away at college, Caroline committed suicide. Grief stricken and anxious about the reasons behind his sister's death, Billy attempted suicide. Instead of following his sister in death, Billy is institutionalized for ten years in a psychiatric hospital. He emerges from the hospital, a cynical and bitter thirty-year-old man hiding from his mystery-solving youthful self.

But mysteries don't hide from Billy forever and he can't resist looking for answers when something unsolvable happens right in front of him. He encounters two children, science fair prodigy, Effie Mumford and her selectively mute brother, Gus. The kids are concerned about the death of their beheaded pet rabbit. So once again the Former Boy Detective is called into action.

There are little passages that lovers of these juvenile mysteries will smile at. While Billy is certainly a prototype of Encyclopedia, Caroline is cleverly pitched to the opposite extreme from the feisty tomboy, Sally. Instead, Caroline is a very feminine young lady who wears pretty dresses, studies French, and transcribed the mysteries with her girlish handwriting in her white and gold diary. At least she is that way, until she attempts to solve a mystery on her own without Billy. She emerges from a violent encounter as a bedridden Goth girl dressed in black listening to sad songs until her death.

Other characters and situations are familiar to fans of juvenile mysteries. One female character, Violet Dew is clearly based on Nancy Drew and a pair of brothers emerge that bear a strong resemblance to Frank and Joe Hardy. Even the chapter titles are based on these mysteries called “The Case of X,” such as “The Case of the Brown Bunny.”

The book is filled with odd moments that explore this gruesome and bizarre world. Billy  solves mysteries that would have given Encyclopedia nightmares. He is surrounded by serial murders, corrupt political figures, and criminals that do bad things simply because they want to. It's a much darker world that was found than in good old Idaville.

There are some very bizarre moments as well. Besides the Mumford's Headless Rabbit, there are buildings that instantly vanish (leading to a conspiracy of villains.) Billy discovers that one of his former arch- enemies is staying in the same group home that he is. At times, this book is almost like an acid trip into a children's adventure book.

Besides the weirdness, there is real depth with the characters. Billy bonds with the Mumford children becoming a mentor/big brother to them. While he is stuck in a boring job as a telemarketer selling wigs, he sympathizes with many of the customers who are often sick or disfigured. He also becomes enamored with Penny Maple, a widowed kleptomaniac who can no more stop stealing than Billy can stop being a detective.

The strongest emotional crux is with Billy looking for answers to Caroline’s suicide. Caroline is a ghost haunting Billy throughout the book as he reads her diary and asks questions about why she would do it. Ignoring the advice of his psychiatrist that he can't bear not having answers, he pursues his investigation into Caroline's motives.

When he traces Caroline's final case and comes face to face with the violent crime that resulted in Caroline's suicide, Billy learns a truth that the child detective doesn't know but the embittered adult does: Some questions are better left unanswered and some cases are better left unsolved.