The Enid Blyton Society Five Find-Outers

The Five Find-Outers Mystery Series

The Five Find-Outers and Dog are Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and Fatty's Scottie dog, Buster. Fatty's real name is Frederick Algernon Trotteville and, unfortunately for him, his initials fit him to a tee.

Five Find-Outers

However, his vibrant personality, inventiveness and sparkling sense of humour make Fatty a fun, larger-than-life character whose nickname quickly becomes a term of endearment.

The children investigate crimes in and around the riverside village of Peterswood, much to the annoyance of the village policeman, blustering buffoon Mr. Goon. He does his best to outsmart the Find-Outers but Fatty ("that Toad of a Boy!") and his friends are always one step ahead, sometimes aided and abetted by Goon's own nephew, Ern. Gah!

Five Find-Outers

When working on "a nice, juicy mystery," Fatty and the others hunt for clues (or "glues" as Bets calls them), don disguises, interview suspects, check out alibis and gradually put together the jigsaw until the last piece falls into place.

Five Find-Outers

Often, bright young Bets makes an observation which sets Fatty's cogs turning, enabling him to solve the most baffling of cases ahead of Goon and earn words of praise from Inspector Jenks (who is later promoted to Chief Inspector and then Superintendent).

Five Find-Outers

It is in part the character of Fatty that makes these books so special. He may be boastful and arrogant but he is also generous, ingenious, a master of disguise and deduction, ventriloquist, escapologist, poet and macaroon-gobbler extraordinaire! Things just aren't the same when he's not around. As Daisy remarks, "Without Fatty we're like rabbit-pie without any rabbit in it."

Full of humour and intrigue, the Find-Outers books paint a fascinating picture of life in a mid twentieth-century English village — a world of cosiness, quirkiness and class-consciousness peopled by colourful characters such as tramps, fair-folk, errand boys on bicycles, shop-keepers, cooks and the well-to-do.

The first title in the series, The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, was published in 1943 and the earliest editions of the books were illustrated by Joseph Abbey, Treyer Evans and Lilian Buchanan.

The Five Find-Outers (and Dog) Mystery Books

Five Find-Outers

There are 15 original books in the Five Find-Outers and Dog Mystery Series by Enid Blyton, written between 1943 and 1961...
First Published in 1943 by Methuen
Book 1 of 15 in this category
See review by David Cook & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1944 by Methuen
Book 2 of 15 in this category
See review by David Cook & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1945 by Methuen
Book 3 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1946 by Methuen
Book 4 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1947 by Methuen
Book 5 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1948 by Methuen
Book 6 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1949 by Methuen
Book 7 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1950 by Methuen
Book 8 of 15 in this category
See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton
First Published in 1951 by Methuen
Book 9 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1952 by Methuen
Book 10 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1953 by Methuen
Book 11 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1954 by Methuen
Book 12 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1956 by Methuen
Book 13 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1957 by Methuen
Book 14 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton
First Published in 1961 by Methuen
Book 15 of 15 in this category
See review by Robert Houghton

Dean's Reward Series

The hugely popular Dean's Reward Series featured reprints of many popular series including the Five Find-Outer Mystery Series...

First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 65 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 66 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 67 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 68 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 69 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 70 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 71 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 72 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1990 by Dean
Book 73 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 74 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 75 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 76 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 77 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 78 of 101 in this category
First Published in 1991 by Dean
Book 79 of 101 in this category

Solve-it-yourself Mysteries (by Stephen Thraves)

In 1986, Stephen Thraves wrote four Solve-It-Yourself Mysteries featuring the Five Find-Outers and Dog...

First Published in 1986 by Dragon Grafton
Book 1 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1986 by Dragon Grafton
Book 2 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1986 by Dragon Grafton
Book 3 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1986 by Dragon Grafton
Book 4 of 4 in this category

Dean Mysteries Omnibus Editions

In 1992 and 1994, Dean published two Mysteries Omnibus books featuring the first six original novels (three in each). These are the "complete and unabridged" versions...

First Published in 1992 by Dean
Book 1 of 2 in this category
First Published in 1994 by Dean
Book 2 of 2 in this category

Dean 2002 Collection Editions

In 2002, Dean published six Collection books featuring original novels from popular series. The Mysteries Collection is number four in the series ...

First Published in 2002 by Dean
Book 4 of 6 in this category

Games and Puzzles...

There have been a few Five Find-Outer games produced over the years, including a card game in 1958 and Whitman's jigsaw puzzles in 1977...

Enid Blyton Card Games

First Published in 1958 by Pepys
Book 6 of 8 in this category

Whitman Find-Outers Jigsaws

First Published in 1977 by Whitman
Book 1 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1977 by Whitman
Book 2 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1977 by Whitman
Book 3 of 4 in this category
First Published in 1977 by Whitman
Book 4 of 4 in this category