Favourite Five Find-Outers book

[Anita Bensoussane]

I also prefer the Five Find-Outers to the Famous Five, Irene. In fact, the Adventure, Find-Outers, Barney and Secret series all come ahead of the Famous Five for me.

[Irene Malory Towers]

Last night I reread the Spiteful Letters Mystery and it is very good so I confirm that I would move that book to the top category. I am not reading the Hidden House which I have always liked a lot. I love the introduction of Ern. In terms of ranking the adventure stories I rate FFO, Barney and Adventure series as top and then Secret Series and FF in the same category. I like the secret series because of their unusual locations and the involvement of adults and the Secret Island is particularly special. But the FF are good because of the sheer number of them - so many adventure stories and secret tunnels, caves etc. Plus Timmy the dog.

[Bertie]

I wasn't expecting Irene to change her list when I mentioned my surprise that Spiteful Letters was so low - but I do think it deserves to be in the top half of the strongest FFO books so pleased to see Irene enjoyed it and has moved it up.

In reference to the last couple of posts, I do find it interesting how many people on here - myself included - would rate the likes of FFO, Adventure series, Barney R's above one or both of the FF and Secret Seven series, and yet it's the latter two that almost always get the mentions when Enid's books are discussed and the former ones are mostly ignored (did I read on here that some of those series are now out of print?)

I wonder why it became FF v Secret Seven as the top two so much? For me, Secret Seven, while OK, read as an inferior version of the find-outers books - set in one village, meeting in a shed, etc. But the mysteries are weaker and there's very little humour. It's strange how Secret Seven became one of the 'big two' ahead of the find outers. Was it more of a class divide - as the SS members are portrayed as less middle class than most of the other series so may have appealed more to some? Or was it more because they were a bit more simplistic and written for a younger audience than the other mystery / adventure series, so some preferred that?

[John Pickup]

The Secret Seven books are shorter and definitely intended for a younger audience. They fulfill the introductory role into the more mature adventure and mystery series as children get older. I think they provide a great starting point for readers new to books of this sort.
My favourite FFO book is Missing Necklace but Spiteful Letters is certainly in my top five.

[Tin Tin]

I am surprised that The Invisible Thief is the favourite of the number of readers that it is. Even as a child I thought, correctly as it turned out, I knew who the culprit was. Of the three visitors to the location first described, only one was fully described, complete with 'annoying' personality! And that did continue through the story. My vote goes to Strange Messages. Fatty had become more believable, less Mr. Wonderful;
making misjudgements and having to be rescued in the previous Mystery, and showing similar uncertainties in this one, very much the most adult if the series. A very enjoyable balance of social behaviour and mystery solving for all the Find Outers, not just the usual couple.

[Irene Malory Towers]

Commenting on Bertie's comments on why SS and FF books are better known although many of us "experts " (joke) prefer FFO's, Barney books and Adventure stories I wonder whether even the names have something to do with their popularity. FF and SS just rolls off the tongue and is easier to remember and perhaps to market although I am not sure how sophisticated marketing was when EB launched them.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Alliterative names do stick in the mind so that may well have helped, Irene.

Welcome to the forums, Tin Tin. As a child I was intrigued by the roundish mark with criss-cross lines that was discovered at the site of each crime in The Mystery of the Invisible Thief. I couldn't imagine what it could be and I was dying to find out. The "Frinton" and "Rods" clues are delightfully puzzling as well, and the story is rich in comedy, e.g. the "fisherman" episode and the quirkiness of characters like Miss Kay and Colonel Cross. It's still a cracking read even when the solution to the mystery is already known.

[Nair Snehalatha]

The mystery of the hidden house closely followed by Tally ho cottage , strange messages are my favorite FFO books-- definitely the winter setting, also Ern's presence in strsnge messages and hidden house are motivational
Secret Room is also a lovely book -- again because of the winter setting

[Blytonfan]

"The Strange Messages" - because it was the very first Find Outers book I read. I remember feeling mighty clever to have guessed that the word "goon" came from "Rangoon".

[Lenoir]

I think you were clever to get that. (I don't think I did).
Go to the top of the class, as Fatty would say.

[Blytonfan]

LOL - should thank my Geography teacher I guess. Was she ever so fond of drilling Countries and important cities into us

[Bertie]

I was having another look at this old poll, earlier. And I followed a link to another similar poll.

I'm not surprised to see the highest numbers mostly for that run of books 3-8, when the series really hit it's stride and delivered some of its finest books. However I'd forgotten that, within that run, one of the books that I love - Hidden House - scored comparatively low in this and very low in the other (just 2 votes!) I'm surprised by that, as it's Ern's first entry and has very good humour as well as being quite a decent mystery (albeit initially a made up one!)

I wondered why most voters don't seem to rate it as highly as plenty of the other 3-8 books? Personally, I prefer it to Secret Room, and would put it on a par with Invisible Thief and Pantomime Cat. With Spiteful Letters and Missing Necklace ahead of them all.

[Splodj]

This poll asked for your favourite one, so we don't know whether Hidden House was liked nearly as much as someone's favourite or not nearly as much. Perhaps it would have scored relatively better if people scored all books out of 10.

Although having said that the other poll, where it only scored 2, asked for your top 3. So maybe it wouldn't!

[Debbie]

I think for me in Hidden House the FFOs were close to bullying Ern, which spoilt it.
Yes he was irritating in that book, and trying to hang round with them when they didn't really want to, but they were actually pretty mean to him. I felt sorry for him, being set up, even before Goon caned him.
"Go and look for clues (that we planted) on your own" "go out on your own at night" (and we'll set you up), just felt as though they were making it clear that they were a gang and he wasn't really part of them. Yes, I sympathised with the FFO, because having someone you don't want hanging around is irritating, and I suppose they could have been nastier and just told him they didn't want him. Or was it nastier to pretend to someone that they were welcome while doing things behind their back?
As a child I often felt on the outside in groups, so that probably made my sympathy more with Ern.

The ending is good, with the rescue and escape and Ern being a hero, which very much changes their view of him, but the set up where he's an outsider takes most of the book.

[Irene Malory Towers]

The FF' O's were a bit mean to Ern but then he was quite rude too. But in terms of my favourite one I reread a the Missing Prince and this time it was a really old edition and my first time of reading it. There were quite a few passages that had been cut in subsequent more politically aware editions and unfortunately by cutting them out they missed so much humour and some of the sense. I don't have time tonight to expand on this but I will do tomorrow. It seems to get a bad press but I was rolling around with laughter. It is still one of my favourite FFO's. The humour is on top form.