Encyclopedia Brown, the Three Investigators, The Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes were my gateway to a lifelong love of mysteries.
I forgot about Encyclopedia Brown! I didn't read Sherlock Holmes until I was in high school.
My daughter's favorites were Lois Duncan's mysteries and Christopher Golden's BODY OF EVIDENCE forensic mysteries. We had a deal that if she read a good book, I'd read it, too, so we could talk about it. She is back to working full time so she doesn't read quite as many books as I do, but she still manages to introduce me to new books and authors I haven't read.