The Enid Blyton Society
Secret Seven Win Through
Back Book 7 of 15 in this category Next

Book Details...

First edition: 1955
Publisher: Brockhampton Press
Illustrator: Bruno Kay
Category: Secret Seven
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Type: Novels/Novelettes

On This Page...

Reprint Covers
Artwork
Reviews by Dennis Worley and David Cook
Further Illustrations

Reprints

Spine and front cover from the 1st edition, illustrated by Bruno Kay


Cloth boards of the 1st edition


Endpapers from the 1st edition


Title page from the 1st edition, illustrated by Bruno Kay


1st American edition published by The Children's Press in 1972 illustrated by Tom Dunnington


1st German edition published by Blüchert Verlag,
cover by Nikolaus Plump, with the title The Black Seven Have Success
Foreign Titles
American: The Secret Seven and the Hidden Cave Adventure
German: Ihr schafft es Schwarze Sieben
French: Le Clan des Sept et l'homme de paille
Dutch: De Grote Zeven weer in actie
Spanish: El triunfo de los Siete Secretos
Portuguese: Os Sete Levam a Melhor
Finnish: SOS ja Variksenpelätti
Icelandic: Leynifélagið Sjö saman ræður gátuna
Czech: Tajna Sedma Zahada opustene jeskyne
Greek: H Emhia Me Ta Myethpia
Catalan: El Triomf Dels Set Secrets



Brief Summary by Julie Heginbotham: With their usual meeting place being cleaned out and painted, the Secret Seven have to find somewhere else to meet. So it's voted on that they use a cave in the quarry near the field where Peter's father grows the potatoes. But it's soon clear to the Seven that someone else is using the cave, when food, cushions and books go missing. Then clever Scamper finds a note book on the cave floor, belonging to Albert Tanner and inside are the words – Meet him on post-office seat 8.30pm, 15th, Ted! Now the Seven have a lovely juicy mystery to solve!


Full Reviews (These may contain spoilers):

Dennis Worley's Review
The seventh book, Secret Seven Win Through, is set at Easter Time so the fog has cleared. Peter calls a meeting off his own bat this time; he doesn't need Susie to motivate him. However, their shed is in disarray. Their first thought is that Susie is the culprit. In fact if anything goes wrong, they always think of Susie first. This time it transpires that the gardener has been instructed to clear it out. He was instructed to do so by Peter's father, so there is nothing they can do about it. Although they are disappointed, they don't get sulky and bad tempered about it. They hold the meeting in the summer-house, and decide to look for a new place to meet.

Peter calls another meeting that evening to discuss their findings and remarks sardonically "for once in a way nobody yelled the password out"! A cave in the quarry on the farm owned by Peter's father is chosen, which means Peter's choice is the winner. They make the cave nice and homely. Colin brings his whole set of Famous Five Books. At that stage (1955) there would have been fourteen of them, assuming he had them all.

The next time they go to the cave, they find some things missing. Susie is a possible suspect of course, but when Jack goes to ask her she gets very upset. She doesn't usually steal things on the sly so it is unlikely that she is the culprit.

Five Go Down to the Sea gets the distinction of being the book that was stolen by the thief. Later more books are stolen, so presumably the thief was quite a fan. If he had lived in this age he might even have joined the E.B. Society I suppose.

It is an intriguing mystery — trying to find out how the thief got into the cave without disturbing the booby trap that was set up (it was primarily set up for poor old Susie of course). The thief manages to stay one step ahead, and there is a surprise ending when Susie, of all people, actually plays a vital role in helping them to 'win through'. She is even moved by the excitement of the moment to say that she thinks they're 'wonderful'! Jack doesn't want her to join in the victory spread though, and who can blame him? Peter, to his credit, realises how helpful she has been, (perhaps he also felt a bit of remorse over the false accusations levelled at her), and so he allows her to join in. Peter might have a short temper and he doesn't like being teased, but he does have a heart.
Review by David Cook
After three stories that take place during term time, at last there is one that has a setting in a holiday period! It's Easter, only two books on from the previous Easter, and the Seven are forced to look for a new meeting place when the shed has to be repaired and painted. For the first time, the farm that Peter and Janet live on is featured as the Seven make their new headquarters in a hidden cave in a quarry on the farm. We know that Peter's father grows corn and root crops and there are pleasing descriptions of different pathways. The route to the new headquarters is through a gate at the bottom of the garden into a field, where a grassy path skirts the old duck pond and turns right to the old, abandoned sand quarry where the cave is hidden behind a bright yellow broom plant. Another path from the gate at the bottom of the garden runs around the potato field, over the stile to the oatfield where a scarecrow is to be found. There is generally a much more rural feel to this story, with a huge chestnut tree behind the post office seat and the Scarecrow Inn situated up on the common.

The story concerns the discovery by the Seven that someone else knows and uses their cave. Colin, fast emerging as the bookworm of the group, has some of his (plug! plug!) Famous Five books removed and Susie and her friend Jeff (from Secret Seven on the Trail) hide in the cave to trick the Seven and help to solve the mystery. These illustrations are hidden by default to ensure faster browsing. Loading the illustrations is recommended for high-speed internet users only.