The Mysterious Benedict Society is a group of children with special abilities, who are chosen by a man named Nicholas Benedict to undertake an undercover mission to stop his evil twin, Ledroptha Curtain, from broadcasting secret, subliminal messages and trying to take over the world. He selects the children for this mission after they pass a series of tests that are designed to show their problem-solving abilities and lateral thinking skills. Like Mr. Benedict and his twin, each of the children is highly intelligent and also either orphans or children who live apart from their parents for various reasons.

The four children are:

Reynie Muldoon – Reynie (short for Reynard) becomes the leader of the group. Reynie was orphaned as a baby and has no memory of his parents or his life before coming to the orphanage. At the orphanage, he progresses quickly through all of the lessons they have to offer, and they have to provide him with a tutor. Nobody really seems to understand him or care about him except for his tutor, Miss Perumal, who later adopts him.

Kate Wetherall – Kate also used to live in an orphanage because her mother died when she was small, and she was apparently abandoned by her father. She can’t remember her mother at all, and she only has one memory of her father from a time when he took her swimming. She remembers him as a nice man, but she thinks maybe she was wrong about that, since he abandoned her. (She learns differently at the end of the first book.) She lived in the orphanage for several years before she ran away to join the circus. Because of her circus life, she’s very strong and athletic, and she’s also surprisingly good at estimating sizes and distances with just her eyes. Everywhere she goes, she carries a bucket with various, random useful items that she uses in surprising ways.

George “Sticky” Washington – Sticky isn’t an orphan but a runaway. He thought that he had a happy life with his parents until they discovered his amazing memory, which is how he gained his nickname. Things he reads stick in his mind forever, and he can easily remember things that he’s experienced in detail. From the time his parents learn about his memory, they insisted on entering him in contests and quiz shows to earn money. As Sticky won these contests, his parents became more and more money-grubbing, entering him in more and bigger contests. They stopped letting him play with friends and made him constantly study so he would know all the answers to everything. Sticky became stressed out and wanted to quit, but they wouldn’t let him. Eventually, he pretended to run away and hid nearby to see what his parents would do. At first, they were worried and tried to find him, but then, people began donating money to them to help in the search. His parents kept up the search in a nominal way, so people would continue to donate, but they weren’t really interested in finding him. They said to each other that they were getting more money for him not being there, so they were better off with him gone. Sticky was shocked at their lack of love and concern for him, so he left for real. The reason why he’s bald when the other kids first meet him is that he used hair remover to disguise himself from anybody who might still be looking for him. Fortunately, at the end of the first book, it is revealed that his parents were also victims of Mr. Curtain’s subliminal messages. They really do love and miss their son, and Sticky and his parents are reconciled.

Constance Contraire – Little is revealed about her past in the first book, but Constance turns out to be the most mentally-powerful of the group. Although the others don’t know it right away, she is only about 2 years old in the first book. She can keep up with the others intellectually, even though she is 10 years younger than they are, but she is much smaller than they are and tires easily. Her young age is also the explanation behind why she often gets cranky and is incredibly stubborn. She’s not only mentally strong, but she’s also in her terrible twos, and nobody can entirely deal with it, including Mr. Curtain. Mr. Benedict later adopts her, and her mental powers continue to develop through the rest of the series. More of her backstory is revealed in the third book in the series. She is an orphan whose parents died in a train crash, and she lived in the storage room of a library for a time.

After the kids pass Mr. Benedict’s tests and agree to join his team, they are given rooms in Mr. Benedict’s book-filled house, which can only be entered through a complicated maze. There, they are under the guidance and protection of Mr. Benedict’s three assistants.

Mr. Benedict is narcoleptic and often falls asleep when he starts to get excited about something, particularly when he laughs, so he tries to keep calm. His assistants frequently watch him for signs that he is about to pass out and take precautions. His twin also suffers from narcolepsy, but he passes out when he gets angry. Because he often gets angry, he spends most of his time in a wheelchair and wears dark glasses, so people can’t always tell when he falls asleep. Eventually, Constance finds a way to cure Mr. Benedict of his narcolepsy.

Mr. Benedict’s Assistants:

Rhonda – She was originally from Zambia and was one of the first children to pass Mr. Benedict’s tests several years earlier. Mr. Benedict adopted her, and she is very protective of him.

Number Two – She is also one of Mr. Benedict’s adopted daughters, but she refuses to tell the children what her real name is, preferring to go by her code name. (It is later revealed that her name is Pencilla.) She always wears yellow and rarely ever sleeps.

Milligan – He is an amnesiac who knows nothing about his early life. He’s not even sure that his real name is Milligan, but it’s the only name he could remember. His earliest memory is about escaping from some people who were interrogating him. At first, he thinks his amnesia is due to a head injury, but they later learn that his memory was wiped by Mr. Curtain, along with other people Mr. Curtain thought posed a threat to him. He recovers his memory toward the end of the first book when he remembers that “Milligan” isn’t really his name but a partial memory of the last thing he promised his daughter, Kate. He is actually Kate’s missing father. The two of them start living together again, and Kate is happy and reassured that her father didn’t really abandon her.

In the first book, the children put an end to the evil boarding school that Mr. Curtain was using to broadcast his subliminal messages, but Mr. Curtain escapes to continue his evil plans in other books. He is finally arrested in the third book in the series, but some of his henchmen are still at large in the final book.

The books were written by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Books in the Series:

The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007)

A group of children are recruited to infiltrate a strange boarding school as spies to uncover an evil plot.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (2008)

Mr. Benedict and Number Two are kidnapped by Mr. Curtain, and the children have to rescue them.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma (2009)

Someone shows up, claiming to be Constance’s father, and Mr. Curtain tries again to reclaim his equipment for broadcasting subliminal messages.

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (2012)

A prequel to the other books about Mr. Benedict’s childhood.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages (2019)

The children face off against Mr. Curtain’s remaining henchmen.