Enid Blyton's influence on crime writing in the UK

[Mollybob]

I've just finished reading The American Boy by Andrew Taylor, a fictional account of the childhood of Edgar Allan Poe. I was interested to read that his crime writing was inspired by Enid Blyton. I quote:
"With Andrew's natural inclination for melodrama there was 'usually the odd corpse, the odd murder' even in his schoolboy plays, and he places the blame firmly on Enid Blyton's Noddy, the first 'crime' book he can remember reading. 'Hurrah for Little Noddy was Enid Blyton's groundbreaking expose of police incompetence and gang culture among goblins in the fast set. It has red herrings, a wrongful arrest and a thrilling car chase. Big Ears puts in some solid detective work too.' According to Andrew, at some point in the near future someone will publish a PhD thesis on the influence of Enid Blyton on crime writing in the UK. "I'm sure a lot of us in my early age group had our psyches warped at a very early age.'"
It's nice to see a modern writer paying tribute to Enid Blyton for a change

[Kitty]

I saw an interview with Jackie Collins recently, where she said that EB inspired her to write!! It must have been the crackling Bill/Aunt Allie chemistry, and Julian's distant but manly allure that did it...

[Mollybob]

I would never have thought it of Jackie Collins. You live and learn