ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR

Ten-year-old Encyclopedia Brown, Idaville's "secret weapon against crime," gets ever sharper as he gets—er—remains the same age. The junior genius and partner Sally solve three big-time crimes and a passel of neighborhood cases of varying degrees of farfetchedness, including that of the Painting Gerbils. Bugs Meany's usual frame-up job is foiled once again and Sally gets to punch out Cuthbert DeVan DeVoe, local catnapper. The puzzles occasionally require knowledge not provided by the text (e.g., ambulance patients are loaded head first) to keep detectives on their toes. However, with two fistfights cheerfully resorted to, it looks like due process is taking a downswing.