The Last Chance Detectives

"The Last Chance Detectives" was a Christian video/radio drama fiction series produced by Focus on the Family back in the late 1990's and early 2000's. The series focused on four preteens who solve Nancy Drew-esque mysteries in their tiny American desert town.

Premise

12-year-old Mike Fowler lives in the minute community of Ambrosia (presumably located in the Utah/Arizona/Colorado region of the midwestern U.S.A.) with his single mother and his paternal grandparents. The family runs the "Last Chance Gas and Diner" highway stop near the town's municipal limits, as well as the small hangar and airstrip nearby. The diner property is also home to "Lady Liberty", a B-17 Bomber flown by Mike's grandfather in WWII; it is in the plane that Mike and his three friends----Ben Jones, Winnona "Winnie" Whitefeather, and Spence----run their detective agency called the "Last Chance Detectives". Together, they solve mysteries and have great adventures, while learning about religious morals along the way.

Characters

*"Mike Fowler": Mike comes a family with a history of flying, as his father and grandfather both served in the Air Force as pilots. Mike's family is the most examined in the series&mdashwhen he was six (according to the opening of the first video episode, "Mystery Lights at Navajo Mesa"), his father was listed by the airforce as "Missing in Action" after the aircraft he was flying exploded in midflight. While it appears that he has died in the video episodes, the radio episodes indicate that Mike's father may still be alive, and merely suffering from a case of amnesia sustained in the accident.

In his detective agency, Mike is the unspoken leader of the group and a father figure. He spends his time helping to investigate cases and cooling down the quarrels between Ben and Winnie. Mike also seeks wisdom from his grandfather, who provides Mike with a verse from the Bible that has answers for Mike's questions.

*"Winnona "Winnie" Whitefeather": Little is known about Winnie, except that she lives with her grandmother. Mike describes her in "Mystery Lights at Navajo Mesa" as "she has a temper like Donald Duck, but she's cool anyway." Winnie finds cases for the mystery to solve, and can be also found in conflict with Ben.

*"Spence (last name unknown)": Spence is the agency's technical expert who spends his time refurbishing electronic devices (most of which are found in the B-17) for use in solving cases. The only mention of his family is that his father is a geologist working in the vicinity. Even though he is the youngest of the group, Spence serves as the voice of rationale among his friends and uses his genius and creativity to solve problems.

*"Ben Jones": Slightly overweight, and a lover of comic books, he is the kind of guy who, according to Mike in the first episode, "thinks that every housefly is a killer-bee in disguise." Often used for comic relief, he joins Mike with investigating on the cases that the group faces. In addition, due to his carefree personality, Ben often clashes with Winnie with his opinions. His background is the most clouded, as it is only known that he has parents.