Adventure Novels for LDS Youth Sign the
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All C. B. Andersen novels are published by Deseret Book Company. Available wherever LDS Books are sold.
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 5:
The Secret Mission
By C. B. Andersen
 
Available at:
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• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 5: The Secret Mission
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 4: The Forgotten Treasure
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 4:
The Forgotten Treasure
By C. B. Andersen
Available at:
• Deseret Book
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
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The Book of Mormon Sleuth 3:
The Hidden Path
By C. B. Andersen
 
Available at:
• Deseret Book
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 3: The Hidden Path
 
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 2: The Lost Tribe
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 2:
The Lost Tribe
By C. B. Andersen
 
Available at:
• Deseret Book
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

 
The Book of Mormon Sleuth
By C. B. Andersen
13th printing!
Available at:
• Deseret Book
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
The Book of Mormon Sleuth
 
     Reviews
 (See all reviews)

The Secret Mission
Reviewed by Jaymie Reynolds, AML
     Brandon Andrews is having nightmares. Okay, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Brandon Andrews is having a nightmare, over and over and over again. A chance encounter in a grocery store with a crotchety old man has been taking over Brandon's nighttime musings. In this dream, the man from the grocery store consistently morphs into Mr. Omni, a man whom Brandon sees as a nemesis from his past.   ...more...
Reviewed: 4 June 2008

The Forgotten Treasure
Reviewed by Dayna Davis, LDS Files
     Now here is a book that I would truly recommend to my 12 year old nephew - and then enjoy talking to him about it after he read it. It reminds me of the Encyclopedia Brown stories that I used to read as a preteen - but with a gospel emphasis. I also have to say, that when I was done with this book - I was recommitted to having family home evening, family prayer, and daily scripture study. The author just makes these activities seem like so much fun! It is my goal to be a parent like the parents of the Andrews family. They just seem to be so cool!   ...more...
Reviewed: 14 August 2004

The Forgotten Treasure
Reviewed by Jeff Needle, AML
     "The Forgotten Treasure" continues the adventures of the Andrews family who, as the opening pages of this book remind us, are incapable of enjoying a normal family vacation. In previous volumes, they've encountered kidnapping, theft, plane crashes, and just about anything you can think of.   ...more...
Reviewed: 6 July 2004

Series Books 1-3
Reviewed by Holly E. Newton, Meridian Magazine
     Now for a great mystery series full of adventure. "The Book of Mormon Sleuth", book 1, "The Lost Tribe", book 2, and "The Hidden Path", book 3, are all part of "The Book of Mormon Sleuth" series. C.B. Andersen has masterly written three books which will intrigue and excite kids 11 and older from beginning to end!   ...more...
Reviewed: 28 November 2003
 
// preface
reviews under construction
Books by C. B. Andersen

C. B. Andersen currently has five adventure novels available.

The Book of Mormon Sleuth

The Book of Mormon Sleuth
"I loved this book! It was a pure delight to read."
-- Jeff Needle
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 2:
The Lost Tribe
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 2: The Lost Tribe
"One of the most exciting books in the series. Anybody who reads it will love it."
-- Deseret Book Customer
 
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 3:
The Hidden Path  
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 3: The Hidden Path
"All three stories are gripping and humorous.... I only hope there are many more books to come in this series."
-- Holly E. Newton
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 4:
The Forgotten Treasure  
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 4: The Forgotten Treasure
"C.B. Andersen is very thorough in his explanations, but he weaves them into the story line so you can hardly recognize you’re getting a gospel lesson."
-- LDSReview customer
 
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 5:
The Secret Mission  
The Book of Mormon Sleuth 5: The Secret Mission
   Why did a first-edition Book of Mormon wind up in an old Catholic mission in San Diego? What clues does it contain to a mysterious past? And why is Dr. Anthony interested?
   The Andrews family is off on another exciting quest, this time to sunny southern California, where Brandon and his siblings must follow clues found in the scriptures to solve a century-old mystery.
   Volume five of The Book of Mormon Sleuth series, The Secret Mission, is filled with exciting adventures, new friends, and old foes.
The Book of Mormon Sleuth

The Book of Mormon Sleuth
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READER COMMENTS

BACKCOVER TEXT

I spun around to see what he was looking at. About a half mile upstream and coming straight for us was a huge boat. There was no chance that whoever was steering the thing would see our tiny raft before it smashed us to smithereens.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jeff said flatly.

"The Book of Mormon has an answer for every situation," I said, reaching for my backpack.

"What! Are you crazy?" Jeff said, throwing his hands in the air. "I hate to break it to you, but this is no time to be reading the Book of Mormon!"

Oh, but it is. If there's anything twelve-year-old Brandon has learned, it's how to find answers to any need in the Book of Mormon. Whether it's how to solve everyday problems, escape the clutches of a demented thief, or solve the mystery of Aunt Ella's cellar, Brandon's scriptures never fail him.

This entertaining and fast-paced novel will provide a greater appreciation for the book that the Prophet Joseph Smith called "the keystone of our religion" and help young readers learn how to apply its teachings in their lives. 		 

BOOK REVIEW

Reviewed by Jeff Needle
Published by Association for Mormon Letters

Let me begin with what usually ends a review -- I loved this book! It was a pure delight to read.

The Book of Mormon Sleuth is the story of young Brandon Andrews, a typical, mischievous Mormon youth, a budding soccer star. The Andrews household is considerable -- Mom and Dad, six children, and Granny, all living under one roof, and constantly getting in each others' way.

One day Dad announces that the family will be spending their summer vacation months with Aunt Ella, a kindly relative who lives in Iowa on a dairy farm. This isn't exactly how the children had planned to spend their summer, and they all wished that Mom and Dad had made other plans. This wouldn't be their first visit to the dairy farm, and two of the children have big plans for the summer.

But Aunt Ella phones Brandon to tell him she has a big surprise for him, and will only hint at the surprise by making him look up certain scriptures in the Book of Mormon.

Turns out that Aunt Ella has an original Book of Mormon, with a "bookmark" -- a piece of paper with some writing on it -- that ostensibly leads to a "treasure." Suddenly the trip to Aunt Ella's is exciting!

But there's trouble afoot. A man by the name of Dr. Anthony is after the "treasure map" in the Book, and he will stop at nothing to get that map. He presents himself as a scholar interested in this printing of the Book of Mormon, but he is actually a vicious, greedy man wanting nothing but material gain.

There are really two story lines in this book. The action mostly takes place as this Dr. Anthony pursues the family in their vacation travels. Several times he manages to corner Brandon and some of his siblings. The action scenes are written with rich detail and, to a young person, will be truly harrowing. And at each turn, the children follow the Scriptures and go to God in prayer. Of course, they are delivered from their situations.

The second story line is, I suspect, the main focus of the book -- the value of the Scriptures in everyday life. Andersen goes to great lengths to invent situations where young people reading the book will be compelled to open their Scriptures in order to follow the story. At first, this Scripture study is a burden to Brandon, but as the story progresses, he begins to learn that it can be fun.

What a great lesson for children! Reading the Book of Mormon can be fun. Children can be taught to make Scripture study an adventure. But it takes time, and effort, on the part of adults to make it so.

Aunt Ella is a perfect example. Brandon, while exploring one of the underground storage areas on her farm, finds food items labeled, not with the name of the item, but with a Scripture reference. Sure enough, each reference refers to the food being stored -- bread, honey, etc. What a great idea!

Part of the story takes the family to several Mormon historical sites, including Nauvoo. In the process, Dad teaches the children the highlights of Church history. In fact, one of the most exciting portions of the book has the evil Dr. Anthony pursuing two of the children through the underground tunnels beneath the old city. And the children are only able to escape by following Scripture-related clues engraven on the planks covering the tunnels!

This is Andersen's first book. He's a very good writer. I hope he continues his writings. He manages to tell the story from the standpoint of a young boy, with all the charm and innocence of youth. At one point, Aunt Ella instructs Brandon to look up every reference to the Liahona:
    We read every reference I could find about the Liahona, and I learned several things that I hadn't known before. First of all, it was made of brass, not gold. And it said that the writing on the ball gave them understanding about the Lord's ways. I had always sort of thought it said things like "turn right at the second big rock" or something like that. (p. 119)
Glimpses of everyday Mormon life are offered with humor and great sympathy. Here is how young Brandon depicts the process of packing their van for the long trip to Aunt Ella's:
    I must admit Dad had tried to make traveling a little easier. The van is pretty big, and a couple of years ago he bought one of those little TV/VCR combos that he hooks up so everybody on the back two seats can watch videotapes as we travel.

    The only problem is that our family's pretty big, too. I haven't mentioned Chelsea and Daniel before now. Chelsea's five and Danny is three. That makes six kids and three adults, counting Granny. Even with one of those luggage bins on top of the van, by the time we got everybody's junk in with all the people, there wasn't much room left in our 12-seater MAV. (That's what we call it -- the Mormon Assault Vehicle.) And the rule with the TV in the van is this: If either Chelsea or Danny is unhappy in any way, then we have to watch something that they like to watch. I think it's also part of the rule that if they happen to like a certain video, then we have to watch it as least twelve times before we can go to another tape. (p. 22)

Young people will certainly identify with this view of family life!

Andersen manages to tell the story from a first-person perspective, and that of a young boy, without resorting to peppering the text with easy code words like "cool" and "radical" and all the other stereotypical terms used by grown-ups when they're trying to sound like kids.

I highly recommend this book for all ages. Children will love it -- it's an adventure sure to excite the imaginations of young people. And adults will benefit from this book. It will open their eyes to the possibilities of making Scripture study fun for their children.

And last, but certainly not least, when was the last time you were able to purchase a great book the whole family could enjoy for only $9.95?
Reviewed: 3 July 2000
Copyright © 2000 Jeff Needle
Reprinted by permission
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Game Rules

Rule #1 - Have fun!

WordSearch Puzzles

Print out the puzzles and see how fast you can solve them!
Each of these WordSearch puzzles was created by me, C. B. Andersen.


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The History of Games and The Book of Mormon Sleuth

Did you know that The Book of Mormon Sleuth was inspired by a computer game? It's true!

Have you ever heard of the game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I've never played the game, but a few years ago, my son (Brandon) was playing this game on the computer. He told me that he had to look up clues in an Almanac to find out where to go next in the game. I thought that would be a great way to learn about the Book of Mormon and so I wrote The Book of Mormon Sleuth.

Unless otherwise noted, everything in the Games section was created by me, C. B. Andersen.

I've liked Word Search puzzles for as long as I can remember. I used to make my own when I was young. When I thought about making some puzzles to put on this web site, I came up with the idea of writing a "Word Search Puzzle Maker" to make it easier. My real job is a Software Engineer and so I really like writing computer programs. You can use my WordSearchMaker™ to create your own puzzles! Using the program, you will have a much easier time than I did when I made them by hand!

About the Author
Carl Blaine Andersen holds a bachelor of science degree and a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a software engineer.

A former member of the Mormon Youth Symphony, Carl enjoys music and teaches cello. His first published novel was The Book of Mormon Sleuth.

He and his wife, Shari Lynn Tillery Andersen, are the parents of six children and have even more grandchildren.
guestbook under construction

FAVORITE QUOTES
There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
-- Albert Einstein
Dost thou love life?
Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
-- Benjamin Franklin
There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it illbehooves any of us,
To find fault with the rest of us.
-- Hazel Felleman
The Best Loved Poems of the American People [1936], 615
When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself . . . surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth?

If there are rats in the cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am . . . .

Now that cellar is out of reach of my conscious will. I can to some extent control my acts: I have no direct control over my temperament. And if (as I said before) what we are matters even more than what we do -- if indeed, what we do matters chiefly as evidence of what we are -- then it follows that the change which I most need to undergo is a change that my own direct, voluntary efforts cannot bring about . . . . cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the first few steps in the Christian life we realize that everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God.
-- C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity

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