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ENID BLYTON - THE MYSTERY SERIES

When I was younger, many many moons ago, I started reading Enid Blyton Books. I tried The Secret Seven & The Famous Five but only ever got hooked on the "Mystery" series. These 15 books featured five amateur sleuths and a dog (As usual!!!) There were two sets of siblings, Larry Daykin and his sister, Daisy; Pip Hilton and his sister, Bets and there was Frederick Algernon Trotteville, who came to live in the village and became known as Fatty - because he was!

It soon became apparent the Fatty was the greatest detective of all time. He could solve a case from even the minutest clue, he had all kinds of gadgets and he could disguise himself so that even his own Mother could not recognise him!!! And he was only 14!!! So far fetched as to be brilliant!!

It was easier for us, the reader, to spot the villain. Normally if there was a really unpleasant character in the book, he had to be the guilty party, however good an alibi he had - Fatty would soon whittle THAT down!!

Very popular with the local Police Inspector Jenks, they were not so popular with the village bobby Mr. Goon, who they outsmarted each time. There were always many amusing moments between Mr. Goon, who was nicknamed "Clear Orf" due to the amount of times he used to shout that at everybody, and Fatty who owned a lovable black Scottie called Buster who was always snapping at Goons ankles.

Like my love of certain Agatha Christie book covers, I also have favourites for this series. With Agatha it is 1960s FONTANA Books covers, with this series it is ARMADA Books covers issued between 1963 & 1966. Thanks to Ebay I have now a complete set of the ARMADA series. However, a few of my original books are years old and tatty so trying to replace those.

So that's the Mystery series! 50 in March and still reading them! Ah well!

01. The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage