The Case of the Exploding Plumbing and Other Mysteries

Encyclopedia Brown #11

by Donald J. Sobol

Match Wits With The World's Greatest Boy Sleuth A huge footprint in the soft earth . . . counterfeit money in a bird's nest . . . a threatening letter . . . an exploding toilet . . . a missing silver dollar . . . and a stolen newspaper clipping that could be valuable! These are the only traces left at the scene of ten brain-twisting crimes that Encyclopedia Brown must solve! “I loved Encyclopedia Brown as a kid.”—Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Short Stories, Middle Grade, Chapter Books

73 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Donald J. Sobol was an award-winning writer best known for his children's books, especially the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series. Mr. Sobol passed away in July of 2012.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neo and I keep steamrolling through these sets of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. Yet another collection, filled with some wonderful stories we can process in a few minutes, which connecting as we guess the all but obvious solutions. The kid detective still works his magic, mostly in Idaville, USA, keeping the town crime-free and collecting quarters from those who hire him. Encyclopedia crosses a gritty girl who plays football, helps determine the owner of an elephant, and uses his wit to discover where a thief hid money inside the elementary school. These wonderful five-minute mysteries seek to entertain and exercise the brain of both child and adult simultaneously, but require some keen attention. Neo and I have used them as a before bedtime activity and we are getting much better at piecing the clues together in a timely manner. Young sleuths in the making may want to sharpen their skills with the massive collection of stories.

Neo really likes the stories that keep him thinking. I remember having these stories read to me when I was young as well, helping me want to pass along the tradition. Neo thoroughly enjoys listening to the stories and making an effort to uncover the clues that will help solve the cases. He mentioned that these are perfect stories for parent-child reading, but would be great for a good reader when they have time or are on a road trip. A note to parents: the stories are dated (1960s and 70s) and some of the terminology or word choices might not be as correct as you would like your young reader to use on a daily basis.

Did you know Neo’s has his own GR account for reviews? Check him out: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cover not here, but I'm not surprised that this edition didn't sell more as it's just three kids in a department store stockroom. Good mysteries though... mostly solvable to all, especially if you've been paying attention in school, in life, and to when grandma talks about the 'old days' of petticoats, newspapers, and typewriters.

As always, recommended to age 9 up, as younger children just won't know enough about how the world works/ worked, and won't be able to access the joy of figuring out the puzzles... even if their nickname is "Wikipedia."

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown puts on his thinking cap to solve several cases in this collection. Some of the cases include counterfeiting, jewel robbery, littering, misplaced sandwiches, bullying, and others. But as always, using wits, and deductive reasoning, Encyclopedia is able to solve the case.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book from my childhood.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are all fun reads that make you think. RL3 or thereabouts; so it's like the detective above Nate the Great. I have started to give these books to my eldest nephew (who is now 7) and he is enjoying them.

[Leslie (updates on SG) · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a reading challenge (middle-grade mystery), I revisited this collection of Encyclopedia Brown stories because it contains the one I remember the most, "The Case of the Skunk Ape." The stories hold up well.

[Mskychick]

This is a placeholder for re-read of Kristen Ashley Fantastical

[Kevin Hogg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid addition to the series. I preferred the previous book, but this one was enjoyable as well. Some specific thoughts:

Runaway Elephant - A good story. I put the pieces together, but it's a bit more challenging than the usual opening stories.

Worn-Out Sayings - A good premise, so I enjoyed the story, even if the solution was a bit straightforward.

Skunk Ape - This one might take a bit of thinking. I figured it out, but a bit of background knowledge would help.

Counterfeit Bill - I would have enjoyed another suspect or two, as the guilty party stood out a bit too much (even if it was initially hard to pinpoint why).

Window Dressers - I like how solutions like this seem to be becoming more common. Sally should have more time to shine.

Silver Dollar - Not a bad story, but I had a suspicion about where it was going before the case itself was introduced.

Litterbugs - This one might be lost on younger readers, but the clue should be readily apparent to anyone from my generation or older.

Frightened Witness - I enjoyed the solution, but I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to figure this one out. It takes more suspension of disbelief than I've got.

Exploding Toilet - One of the best stories in this collection. I had to think about it for a minute, but the solution came to me--always fulfilling when it seems like a bit of a challenge.

Salami Sandwich - And then I wrapped the book up by dropping the ball on this case. If I'd read it more closely, maybe I would have caught it.

[Neo · Rating 4 out of 5]

We keep steamrolling through these sets of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries! This is another collection, filled with some wonderful stories my dad and I can process in a few minutes, while connecting as we guess the all but obvious solutions. The kid detective, Encyclopedia, is still working his magic, mostly in Idaville, as he keeps the town crime-free and collecting 25 cents from those who hire him. Encyclopedia crosses a tough girl who plays football, deals with an elephant who has two owners, and uses words to discover where a thief hid money inside the elementary school. These wonderful five-minute mysteries seek to entertain and exercise the brain of both child and adult at the same time, but require some real attention. My dad and I have used them as a before bedtime activity and we are getting much better at piecing the clues together in a timely manner. Young sleuths in the making may want to sharpen their skills with the massive collection of stories.

These are stories that keep me thinking. I know my dad had these stories read to him as a kid, so now he is helping me with the tradition. I listen to the stories and make a regular effort to uncover the clues that will help solve the cases. Perfect stories for parent-child reading, but also would be great for a good reader when they have time or are on a road trip.

[Kotaro]

This book is like a series of mysterious events that can be solved by the story alone, even though personally I had no idea what were the answers of the mysteries. I don't really have a connection between the characters since I didn’t know the original series. But I still enjoyed this book, because the book provides a different way to enjoy a book. Not just by reading, but we can enjoy this book also by using our brains to estimate what happened. Unlike other mystery books, not just 1 event that was used for the mystery, but lots of events were used for us to enjoy. Also, the answers are in the back pages of the book, so for readers that estimated the answer for the mysterious events can check their answers in the back pages.

#HISReads #Book-a-Week Challenge

[Ruthiella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, as usual. I think I might have read this as a child because some of the illustrations seemed familiar. But none of the mysteries or their solutions rang any bells. I only solved “The Case of the Window Dressers”. I found, however, the solutions pretty obscure here. Hat sizes? Who wears a hat anymore? And wouldn’t a sandwich left in a shoe box for a few hours start to smell? Still, this was very enjoyable to read.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because I liked that he was such a good detective & didn't let 1 crime get away.
I think I would recommend it for 2nd - 4th graders .
This is my first encyclopedia brown but I would read more of them.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soooo dated. The mysteries are sometimes unsolvable for a 21st century kid. But Pete still enjoyed the silly, square fun.

[Maria Carmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another adventure with the best 10 year old detectives Encyclopedia and Sally!!!

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon, 8 January 2018.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fast reads

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Working through a few more bedtime Encyclopedia Brown mysteries to pass the time...

[Margo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a book.

[Alexis Kaelin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say this one was just not very enjoyable. We've liked many others, but this one was almost impossible to guess at and the stories were a wee bit boring.

[Vidyuth Gowtham · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridiculous as always.

(I re-read these as a joke with my dad, so I mainly log them to know which ones we've read.)

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun puzzle book for an easy read. Definitely looking forward to reading more of these short stories to try and keep my brain firing on all cylinders!

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

That’s a wrap for 2023 🎉🎉🎉 thanks to my old book collection at my parents to help me hit my reading goal (picture me dabbing)

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good memories book!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
More cases with fifth grade sleuth Encyclopedia Brown

[AS]

Actually the same book as Encyclopedia Lends a Hand - not sure why there’s more than one title? I don’t know of any others in the series where that’s happened

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it

[Joyce T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This cover creeps me out. But really, there were a few interesting cases in this.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I loved these books as a kid! I'm glad my kids are at an age where they can appreciate them, so I have a good excuse to re-read. The mysteries are quirky and short enough to keep even the flightiest of readers interested. I love Sobol's ability to give the reader all the clues they need without playing his hand too obviously. There are a couple of cases in this one that would be virtually unsolvable by a modern generation (because they deal in technologies that are now obsolete), but I still found it a fun read.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend Encyclopedia Brown. I was 8 when I first encountered this series. I loved it. It was recommended by a boy that I liked. What I liked about these books is that it taught me how to think before making wild guesses. Each book had several cases which were easy to read and follow for a child. I recommend this to any parent looking for helping their child to use logic and deductive reasoning. Great on how to look at relevant facts at a child's level.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4.5 STARS

I loved this mystery series as a kid, but have not read them since so this review is based on my memories. My love of mystery started pretty early and Encyclopedia Brown was among my first series. Each book has several mysteries that you can solve along with Encyclopedia, complete with clues. I could not get enough of these books, and didn't realize that this series started in 1963.

These are easy to read chapter books for young kids.

***This is a series Review***