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.
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!
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.
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).
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
- Original Five Find-Outers Mystery Novels by Enid Blyton
- Dean's Reward Series
- Solve-It-Yourself Mysteries by Stephen Thraves
- Dean Mysteries Omnibus Editions
- Dean 2002 Collection Editions
- Five Find-Outers Mystery Games and Puzzles
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 |
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First Published in 1944 by Methuen Book 2 of 15 in this category See review by David Cook & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1945 by Methuen Book 3 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1946 by Methuen Book 4 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1947 by Methuen Book 5 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1948 by Methuen Book 6 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1949 by Methuen Book 7 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1950 by Methuen Book 8 of 15 in this category See review by Imran Patel & Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1951 by Methuen Book 9 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1952 by Methuen Book 10 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1953 by Methuen Book 11 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1954 by Methuen Book 12 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1956 by Methuen Book 13 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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First Published in 1957 by Methuen Book 14 of 15 in this category See review by Robert Houghton |
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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...
Solve-it-yourself Mysteries (by Stephen Thraves)
In 1986, Stephen Thraves wrote four Solve-It-Yourself Mysteries featuring the Five Find-Outers and Dog...
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 |
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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 |