The Enid Blyton Society
The Mystery of Holly Lane
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Book Details...

First edition: 1953
Publisher: Methuen
Illustrator: Treyer Evans
Category: Five Find-Outers
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Type: Novels/Novelettes

On This Page...

Reprint Covers
Artwork
Review by Robert Houghton
Further Illustrations

Reprints

Wraparound dustwrapper from the 1st edition, illustrated by Treyer Evans


1st German edition published by Erika Klopp Verlag in 1960,
illustrated by Egbert von Normann with the title Mystery at Holunder Lane
Foreign Titles
German: Geheimnis am Holunderweg
French: Le Mystère du camion fantôme
Dutch: De Vijf Detectives – De geheimzinnige roof
Spanish: Misterio en la Villa de los Acebos
Portuguese: O Mistério do Dinheiro Roubado
Swedish: Mysteriet vid Ekallen
Finnish: Rahakätkön salaisuus
Icelandic: Dularfulla peningahvarfið
Czech: Tajemstvi Ukradenych Penez



Brief Summary by Julie Heginbotham: With nothing to find out, the children decide to get in a little practise and one task set for Larry was to disguise himself as a window cleaner and go to clean someone's windows. So Larry cleans the windows of a bungalow on Holly Lane, where an elderly man lives, not realizing that this very bungalow and the elderly man will soon turn into a mystery for the Find-Outers, which involves money gone missing, and the sudden disappearance of the elderly man's grand-daughter, Marian. With only a handful of clues to help them, such as – a window cleaner – grocer's boy, lady with papers and a man in a car – the Find-Outers are really challenged with this mystery.

Full Review (This may contain spoilers):

Robert Houghton's Review
The Mystery of Holly Lane — This eleventh mystery sees a real return to the top for the series. It ranks as one of the best mysteries, very well constructed and very intriguing right down to the final chapter. Suspects are brought in nicely, and the mystery of what has become of the old man's money is resolved in a very ingenious way. Once again, Goon suspects the wrong person, and goes about trying to prove his hunches in a most aggressive manner. The Inspector, promoted to Chief Inspector in The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is now promoted again to Superintendent, keeping up with Jenks' real-life model, Enid's friend Stephen Jenkins.

Once again, this story begins with the Find-Outers on the look out for Fatty, who they think will be arriving home in one of his disguises. The race is on to be the first to spot him. But this time, they choose the wrong man — a rather suspicious looking (and sounding) foreigner who is looking for a house called 'Grintriss' (Green Trees). The children eventually manage to guide the poor man in the right direction, with Fatty's help, and thus are introduced to the area in which the crime is to take place — the cottage opposite Green Trees, which is in Holly Lane. These illustrations are hidden by default to ensure faster browsing. Loading the illustrations is recommended for high-speed internet users only.