The Enid Blyton Society

Oooh you're in for a treat Courtenay HOw far have you got?

Well, a lot of them I read when I was little, but not all. I have the complete set now but still haven't managed to get through them, with all the other things I have going on! The ones I haven't read are Vanished Prince, Holly Lane (actually, I did read that one years ago but can't remember anything about it other than the amusing mystery of "Grintriss" at the start!! ), Tally-Ho Cottage, Missing Man and Strange Messages. I will definitely get to them some day, but no spoilers in the meantime please!!

I am rereading Vanished Prince at the moment. I will try and resist the urge to post spoilers though

The review of The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage. The perspective from someone who loves detective novels.

https://theinvisibleevent.com/2018/08/07/422/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That was really interesting, thanks, Sixret!

Meanwhile, I STILL haven't managed to finish reading all of the FFO books (not because I don't want to, just because there are so many other things I need to read and do in my life), so I still haven't been able to vote for my all-time favourite, assuming I eventually do settle on one...

Very interesting Sixret, thank you.

sixret wrote:The review of The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage. The perspective from someone who loves detective novels.

https://theinvisibleevent.com/2018/08/07/422/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A thoughtful review. It's good to see the Find-Outers books being taken seriously and praised for being intelligent, well-constructed and entertaining detective novels. As the writer of the piece says, it's delightful "just how firmly these books sit in the detective fiction firmament. Proper clues, decent logic, intelligent psychology, neat red herrings, rigorous construction, and genuine classic GAD misdirection." It's a pity that the Find-Outers series doesn't generally attract anywhere near as much attention as the Famous Five and Secret Seven series.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:It's good to see the Find-Outers books being taken seriously and praised for being intelligent, well-constructed and entertaining detective novels. As the writer of the piece says, it's delightful "just how firmly these books sit in the detective fiction firmament. Proper clues, decent logic, intelligent psychology, neat red herrings, rigorous construction, and genuine classic GAD misdirection." It's a pity that the Find-Outers series doesn't generally attract anywhere near as much attention as the Famous Five and Secret Seven series.

I've always thought so too — when I was little, I preferred the Find-Outers to the Famous Five (and never got into the Secret Seven, so I really can't compare). Mind you, although I know other fans have said the FFO set them up for a lifetime of enjoying Agatha Christie and other great mystery writers for adults, that never happened to me. I have read a few Agatha Christie books and enjoyed them, but the genre as a whole doesn't grab me... maybe because I don't like people getting hurt, let alone murdered. I'd rather stick to Peterswood, where the crimes never get really serious.

I read quite a lot of Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell books in my teens and early twenties but I don't tend to read many adult detective novels now, even though I too have always preferred the Find-Outers books to the Famous Five and Secret Seven series. (I also prefer the Adventure, Secret and Barney series to the Famous Five and Secret Seven.)

Oh good, then I'm not the only one. I did enjoy the Agatha Christie books that I read in my teens (all Poirot ones, I think — I really loved Poirot), but just haven't felt inclined to read more — which makes me an anomaly in my family, as my parents both love detective fiction, particularly the Golden Age sort! But it's never really grabbed me.

Actually, that reminds me of something that I think should go in a "holiday" thread under General Natter, so I'll switch forums now...

I was very much the same as you and Anita, Courtenay, when I was a child. I had read quite a few Find-Outer books by the age of 12 - not all of them by any means, but about 7 or 8 - and I only ever read two Famous Fives before the age of 22.

I did read a lot of Secret Seven as well, though - and apart from Valley of Adventure, I wasn't a fan of the Adventure books. I did like The Secret Island, Secret of Spiggy Holes, Secret of Moon Castle, Holiday House, etc though - but my favourites in those days were definitely Secret Seven and Find-Outers.

I read all the main series as a child, and most of the stand-alone books and many short stories, but the Famous Five and Secret Seven weren't among my favourites. Having said that, certain titles from both those series stood out as particularly thrilling or atmospheric.

As a child, the Secret Seven's that really stuck out for me were Secret Seven Adventure, Good Work Secret Seven, Secret Seven Win Through, Secret Seven Mystery, Secret Seven Fireworks, and Good Old Secret Seven. For some reason I always liked the autumnal settings best!

Back to Find Outers, as a child my favourites were The Mystery of the Secret Necklace, The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat, The Mystery of Holly Lane, and The Tally Ho Mystery.

I thought the FFO had something to do with the Famous Five at first! I had no idea Blyton had created another set of five. I never considered whether I liked one over the other because they were so different.

Mysteries with dark, shadowy settings have a particular appeal for me. My favourite Secret Seven book is Go Ahead Secret Seven and my favourite Find-Outers book is The Mystery of the Strange Bundle.