The Enid Blyton Society

My copy of Eric Leyland's Mystery At Mardale arrived today with illustrations by Geoffrey Whittam. I believe this book may be part of a series too.

Robert Houghton wrote:Just received my copy of 'Mystery of Pig's Nose' today - looking through it, I think I'll like it! I didn't realise it would have so many fine illustrations - like a Secret Seven book - and the writing style seems easy to read. I'll let you know!

Have you read Mystery of Pig's Nose yet, Robert? I managed to borrow a copy and found it quite Blytonish in its plot elements. Style-wise, I didn't think it flowed as naturally as a Blyton book - in particular I noticed that there was frequent recapping of events. Characterisation and atmosphere were good, however, and because everything revolved around just the two boys, Max and Scrap, I felt we got to know them fairly well as individuals. It was interesting to learn about the Devonshire expression "pig's nose"! I must admit I was able to predict a few things that would happen, having read Blyton books dealing with similar situations!

I did enjoy reading it, Anita - although I agree with you that it didn't flow as smoothly as Enid Blyton's stories do. I also felt it was a bit predictable regards the outcome - and I would have preferred it to have been set over a longer period - say a week, rather than just a few hours!

I did enjoy the atmosphere of it - he was good at painting with words, but still not a patch on Enid Blyton.

I think you must not compare these books with Enid Blyton, but simply with the Secret Seven as both were issued in the 7-10 Brock Books. I feel that Eric Leyland's character descriptions are better and some of his plots aren't too bad! I thought the second Max and Scrap book was better than the first.

I have never heard of him but it looks like an interesting book, judging by the cover.

I did enjoy his style, and compared to the Secret Seven, I guess the characterisation is much better. My main bugbear with Pig's Nose was that it didn't develop slowly and mysteriously but was all over in only 8 chapters and only one evening. I prefer books that 'slow burn' and a mystery that takes place over a number of days, as most of Enid's did.

Oh I love that dust jacket!

I'd buy the book for the jacket alone.

Whilst trying (unsuccesfully) to find a list of these books in order, I came across this which is quite interesting. Apologies for continuing this under Other Illustrators, but I thought it better rather than to start another thread.

I did put a list of this series from my own files, but I will put it again here:-

Eric Leyland (Brockhampton Series)
1 Full Steam Ahead (August 1951) (ill. Leslie Otway)
2 Mystery of Pig’s Nose (August 1951) (ill. John Woods)
3 All Hands on Deck (May 19 1952) (ill. John Woods)
4 Crash Landing (October 6 1952) (ill. Jack Matthew)
5 Village Under the Water (August 17 1953) (ill. John Woods)
6 Danger Below (August 23 1954) (ill. John Woods)
7 Man Overboard (June 20 1955) (ill. John Woods)
8 White Fury (January 19 1956) (ill. John Woods)
9. Forest Feud (January 14 1957) (ill. John Woods)
10. Wings Over the Outback (January 20th 1958) (ill. John Woods)
11. Tall Timber Trail (January 19th 1959) (ill. John Woods)

I can confirm that Full Steam Ahead and Crash Landing (both of which I have now read) are about other main characters, but the nine books illustrated by John Woods are all about Max and Scrap.

Thanks, Tony.

Full Steam Ahead looked good, based on the illustrations Tony posted earlier in the thread.

That is a stunning dustwrapper. It would certainly have made me want to read the book if I'd come across it as a child.

Having borrowed a copy of All Hands on Deck, I also preferred it to Mystery of Pig's Nose. It has an appealing seaside setting and a sustained narrative with more drama, and the descriptions of night-trawling in the North Sea seem true to life. Max and Scrap are very likeable and the adult characters are also well-drawn. John Woods' illustrations are full of movement and detail. I had to grin at the line, "His eyes were set just a shade too close together"!

All Hands on Deck is strong on characterisation and setting, has an engaging story and the characters don't keep going over what has happened so far as they did in Mystery of Pig's Nose. An enjoyable book which I'm sure I would have liked reading alongside the Secret Seven as a youngster, though I still think Enid Blyton is the master storyteller of her era when it comes to flow, timing and naturalness.

Max and Scrap in the Lake District arrived today - only two more to get now!

That's a beautiful illustration!

fantastic cover!