Michael Ian Black

This series of eight books written between 1967-1976 unfolds in Utah Territory at the turn of the last century and follows a boy genius, T.D. Fitzgerald Jr., making money and solving mysteries. The stories are told from the point of view of the decidedly more average, and slightly jealous, younger brother, John (and loosely based on the life of the author). There's an unforgettable scene when the boys' family gets the town's first indoor toilet and the line to see it stretches down the road.