The Book of Mormon Sleuth

The Book of Mormon Sleuth #1

by C.B. Andersen

Twelve-year old Brandon is sure his summer vacation has been ruined when his parents drag him to the Midwestern farm of his mother's eccentric aunt. What the unhappy seventh grader hasn't counted on is Aunt Ella's ability to bring alive their daily reading of the Book of Mormon. From its pages she spins an intriguing game, turning her house, dairy farm and daily routines into a puzzle — a labyrinth that can be solved only by using clues taken from the scriptures.

Brandon's reward for solving the puzzle is to be a rare copy of the original edition of the Book of Mormon. But when a mysterious Dr. Anthony shows up and attempts to steal the valuable book, Brandon must use his newfound knowledge of the Book of Mormon to confront real dangers.

For more information check out the author's webpage at CBAndersen.net.

Genres: Mystery, Lds Fiction, Religion, Lds, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

C. B. Andersen holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Brigham Young University and is a software engineer at Novell. A former member of the Mormon Youth Symphony, he enjoys music and teaches cello. His first published novel was The Book of Mormon Sleuth. He and his wife, Shari Lynn Tillery Andersen, have 6 children and live in Orem, Utah.

Reviews

[Elise Derr Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea that a solution for every problem can be found by turning to the scriptures!

A young boy learns from an elderly great-aunt the value of studying and become familiar with the scriptures. When a treasure-hunter threatens to steal a family heirloom (an original copy of The Book of Mormon), Brandon comes to the rescue with his newfound skills.

An entertaining plot, but slow-moving. The setting is realistic, but the things taking place are not, so that made it difficult to relate to.

[Amelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book!! I loved it!!

[Michelle Van Dyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little cheesy but better than expected

[Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author create an amazing sibling dynamic, and is very realistic.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mormon fiction, similar to Tennis Shoes books. The plot is simplistic but enjoyable. I have only two complaints about the book, one is it took awhile before anything much happened. About half the book is just laying the background for the fun stuff. The other complaint is that when all this crazy adventure stuff starts happening and their vacation is constantly interrupted, they just keep vacationing like nothing is strange, they keep leaving children largely unattended and pretending nothing special is happening. However, the fun stuff is an adventure of the Saturday morning cartoon variety, which I happen to enjoy. And there are some moments of religiosity.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

C.B. Andersen originally wrote this story for his children to teach them to love the Book of Mormon. So, in the book, there is a lot of gospel discussion and Book of Mormon quotes. But, it is also a mystery/adventure story about Jeff, age 11, who inherits a valuable Book of Mormon (one of the original publications) from his great aunt and who has a bad guy trying to steal that book. And the bad guy doesn't care who he hurts or kills to get the book.

I think this would be a good book to read to your children, ages 8-13, and discuss and look up the quotations. It did leave me with a great love and respect for the Book of Mormon.

[Mayli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was exciting, enticing, and when you thought it was coming to an ending, something would stir it up again. There is a man named Dr. Anthony and he wants an old book of Brandon's Aunt Ella's that supposedly has a treasure map in it. Aunt Ella is giving the old and very precious book to Brandon, but Dr. Anthony will do almost anything to get this book! He follows them from all the different places Brandon's family stops on vacation and escapes from authorities and desperatly tries to get the book, and the map, but through all this, will he get what he wanted or be thrown in jail (being handled by the FBI)????

[Christopher Seifert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate what the author was trying to do here. This book is intended to get kids interested in church history and excited about reading The Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, The Book of Mormon Sleuth suffers from the same problem a lot of LDS literature suffers from: It's virtuous, but it's far from lovely. Fine literature this is not. I could nitpick the heck out of this thing, but in the end, my seven year old enjoyed it, so I'll just leave it at that.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little slow for me so I had a hard time being excited about it. That might have something to do with the fact I have lots of books I want to read but can't keep up with the good suggestions AND my kids and I are reading a much more intense fun read. It wasn't bad but I just wanted to read it to get it over with so I could go on with other books.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book well enough and would probably have given it 3 stars personally except that I thought it was a great one for me to recommend to my son. It uses seminary scripture mastery, has an adventure, good guys and bad guys, schemes, plans and things that blow up. I think a good choice for ages 8 to 11.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coincedental, and somewhat far fetched, however, enjoyable and informative. One of the things I've really liked about this series so far is the integration of the religous culture and the story. Alot of times the integration seems forced, but it isn't in this series. It's geared for a young adult level reader, and I've found them quite good reads.

[Francesca Hurley · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think it's pretty good. i think it's amazing how brandon uses the book of mormon to find the answer to every problem he has. i think that what's-his-name needs to think about for a moment that a book of mormon will not tell him where buried gold is.

[Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's about a eleven year old boy who is given a copy of the first The Book of Mormon. This book races you throught all the old church sights against a man who wants 'a treasur'. Race with Brandon and his family to keep the book safe.

[Vernon Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was only after I read this and looked at the acknowledgments that I realized my cousin wrote this. It is a fun read. It has enough description that someone who has not been to the sites they visit you can see them clearly.

[Kristeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I would read it since Matthew had. He really liked it and my Dad gave us three. Learned some history. It was great for Matthew (11yrs.)

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really really funny adventures of a very very typically Mormon family.

[Aasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, i thought it was an interesting way to show how the Book of Mormon can be used in morden life. It was really cool book. I really liked it.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was sooo good! Kept me on my toes! In fact, the whole series did! Just certain books shouldn't be read a night...

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a fun time reading this book. It is a pretty fast read. It was a fun mystery.

[Jaime Kershaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

my 10 year old loves these books. i thought i would give it a read this summer. It ok..but great for 10 year olds!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Matthias]

I'm LDS, and I've seen other LDS kids rading this, so I wonder if this is a cool book.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was pretty good. I liked the "mystery" part of it. But it was CREEPY!!! I stayed up almost all night to finish it because I couldn't sleep without finishing it cause I would have nightmares!

[Kenzi Kraync · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!!! I love how he is always referring to his scriptures no matter what situation he is in!!!

[Tawny · Rating 3 out of 5]

its good so far. i love church applied into fun daily reads. then you know that they're wholesome.

[Megan]

This is one of my new favorite books!!! I think that this is one of the best books ever. It even kind of helps my faith grow! If you haven't read this yet you need to!!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of scripture references in it. It was a good book. There was some LDS history in it that was interesting.

[Zmeg4c2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fictional series that is full of adventure. Characters learn to apply the teachings of the scriptures in their lives.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved reading this book! Would really say yes read it!

[Jamie Hendrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked all the scripture references in this book, and it was fun to see all the mystery in it. It also made me want to use the Index in the back of The Book of Mormon more. =D