Favourite Five Find-Outers book

[Splodj]

There is another thread with a FFO poll where you voted for your top 3. If most think there is not a single runaway best this is probably a better arrangement. But it closed after only 32 had voted.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Ah yes - here's a link to the other poll:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8361

Pantomime Cat is the leader (just!) in that poll, showing that it makes the top 3 for many readers. It's an enjoyable book and the mystery is extremely interesting, but in my opinion the lack of foreshadowing lets it down. The same applies to Burnt Cottage.

[Bertie]

Thanks for that link, Splodj and Anita. Interesting to see another poll.

I'm not surprised that the run of books from 3/4-8 mostly does the best in each poll, as that definitely is when the wonderful series is at its very best in terms of quality and consistency.

But interesting to see in both polls that Hidden House is the outlier in that and scores comparatives low. I really enjoy that book. It's also interesting that, although Ern seems popular on here, many of his books don't do that great in the polls. Tally Ho and Strange Messages score quite highly on this poll, but overall the five books generally get an average score (6) or much lower. Even, as I said, the book he appears in (Hidden House) in that run of 4-8 is the lowest scorer both times. Pore old Ern.

[Splodj]

Pantomime Cat is the leader (just!) in that poll, showing that it makes the top 3 for many readers. It's an enjoyable book and the mystery is extremely interesting, but in my opinion the lack of foreshadowing lets it down. The same applies to Burnt Cottage.

You may be referring to the 'twins' and the 'flypast' respectively, key revelations at the end which could have been mentioned earlier so the reader could have the shared in the discovery of the solution. The 'twins' omission is worse in my view, because the reader was cheated out of a chance to solve whodunnit before the end.

[Hannah]

I never minded that it was only mentioned at the end as the Find-Outers didn't know it either.

[Courtenay]

You may be referring to the 'twins' and the 'flypast' respectively, key revelations at the end which could have been mentioned earlier so the reader could have the shared in the discovery of the solution. The 'twins' omission is worse in my view, because the reader was cheated out of a chance to solve whodunnit before the end.

I remember really enjoying Pantomime Cat right up until the "twins" revelation, which basically sent it plummeting through the floor in my estimation. Not just because of the key element of the mystery being omitted, but far more because of the massive error that renders that plot twist impossible. Male and female twins CANNOT BE IDENTICAL. They may look somewhat similar, as siblings often do, but there's no way they can be so alike as to be mistaken for each other. Shakespeare made the same error in Twelfth Night, but writing in the 1600s, he at least had some excuse for being ignorant of basic human biology. Enid Blyton didn't — and that mistake not only ruins the plot, but makes her look utterly stupid.

[Bertie]

To be fair to Enid Blyton, she does establish that the show Alec Grant was putting on was him "acting various women's parts". So I think it's conceivable if they look enough alike in build and general appearance - both "small and neat" - that they could pass for each other while dressed up in various different female costumes. Especially as she'd established just how talented a female impersonator Alec Grant was. So it's not as though they were stood side by side and people couldn't tell one from the other.

Personally, although I'd noticed a lot of the 'errors' in Enid's books even as a child, I don't remember ever really thinking this was a big weakness or anything. I always loved the big double revelation - first when Fatty picks up on Bets' joke and realises it was someone else in Boysie's costume; And then the discovery of how he did it. And then the great scene at the end when they and Pippin tell it to Inspector Jenks and Goon gets his comeuppance.

[Splodj]

I agree we have to be wary of viewing these things differently when reading as adults. But when the FFOs interviewed Alec Grant he talked about his mother, so it would have been easy to have him talk about his sister instead at that stage without it being an obvious giveaway.

Incidentally I thought they were described just as twins anyway - not identical twins.

[Bertie]

Yeah, that's a good point, Splodj. I didn't have a problem with the ending at all - but, yeah, I guess EB could have slipped in a passing reference to his sister when he was mentioning his mother and the letters he writes to her. Personally, I don't think it was all that necessary, or glaring an omission, but it would have been an easy and subtle way to introduce his sister to the story earlier.

[Jack400]

I never really had a problem with the errors in Enid's books. After all I only had to watch a typical 'adult' film on TV to, typically, see plenty of errors.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The 'twins' thing doesn't really bother me - it's not as though Enid Blyton states that the characters are identical. I suppose they might just as well be brother and sister rather than twins, but the fact that they're twins establishes that they're the same age, making it more likely that one could pass for the other. Besides, there's a long tradition in literature of look-alike boy-girl twins being mistaken for one another, e.g. Viola and Sebastian in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night as you said, Courtenay.

Pantomime Cat is the leader (just!) in that poll, showing that it makes the top 3 for many readers. It's an enjoyable book and the mystery is extremely interesting, but in my opinion the lack of foreshadowing lets it down. The same applies to Burnt Cottage.

You may be referring to the 'twins' and the 'flypast' respectively, key revelations at the end which could have been mentioned earlier so the reader could have the shared in the discovery of the solution. The 'twins' omission is worse in my view, because the reader was cheated out of a chance to solve whodunnit before the end.

I never minded that it was only mentioned at the end as the Find-Outers didn't know it either.

Yes, you're right that I was referring to the late introduction of the 'twins' and the 'flypast', Spodj. The most satisfying detective novels include subtle hints to the solution of the mystery (generally made available to the fictional mystery-solvers as well as to the reader) while at the same time seeming to suggest other possibilities, so at the end of the story the reader thinks, "Of course - why didn't I see that?" Pantomime Cat is a brilliant book in many ways and Burnt Cottage is most engaging too, but the solutions depend upon details that are suddenly dropped in towards the end. Having said that, Holly Lane does have foreshadowing but I've ranked it below Pantomime Cat and Burnt Cottage in my listing. I think that's because I find Holly Lane rather a depressing book in some respects (the sheep-worrying episode doesn't help), while Pantomime Cat and Burnt Cottage are brimful of larger-than-life characters and the comic scenes are particularly memorable.

It's also interesting that, although Ern seems popular on here, many of his books don't do that great in the polls.

When I first encountered Ern, I was annoyed as I wasn't keen on another character intruding to that extent. I wanted the Find-Outers to stay just as they were. However, by the time I'd met Ern a couple of times I liked him and was happy when he popped up in other mysteries.

For me, the strongest 'Ern' titles are Strange Messages and Hidden House. One reason I put Banshee Towers at the bottom is that Fatty is so condescending to Ern, tossing out preachy platitudes and implying that Ern isn't yet a real friend, but could be one day (even though Ern is already a loyal friend to the Find-Outers and has shown many times that he's dependable, likeable and more than willing to play his part in whatever is going on).

[Irene Malory Towers]

I will do a proper ranking tomorrow when I have more time but I am going to be unpopular and say that the Vanished Prince is my favourite. Yes I know that the plot is actually quite weak but the humour is fantastic. I think I have commented on it in an earlier post, so I will see if I can find it. There are so many hilarious passages that outshine the rather poor plot with its lack of proper investigation. And there are 2 other features - the first is the implication that if the Prince is not found then he will be killed which suddenly elevates the importance of this investigation, they are not just investigating a kidnapped cat or a fake insurance claim. The second is the superb ending where Fatty shows compassion and humanity towards Goon and Jenks points out to Fatty that this generosity surpasses everything. A fantastic lesson in life and if most people adopted it, the world would be a much better and nicer place.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I do agree that there's some wonderful humour in Vanished Prince, Irene. I've never forgotten Mrs. Hilton saying, "Well, really, Frederick, I cannot approve of your jewellery!" when he's failed to remove a pair of dangly earrings after a disguise. I can just imagine her tone of voice! As for Fatty's poetry, it's an absolute delight. Although Vanished Prince is 14th on my list, that's only because the series as a whole is so strong.

Fatty shows generosity towards Goon at the end of Strange Bundle too, though once again it's only a temporary truce.

[Boodi 2]

I've never forgotten Mrs. Hilton saying, "Well, really, Frederick, I cannot approve of your jewellery!"

Me too, which is one of the reasons it is fourth or fifth on my list. I had no problem with Ern and co. not recognizing Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets in disguise and still laugh about the "state"/golf umbrella!!!

[Irene Malory Towers]

It is such a strong series that it is difficult to rank them but similar to others I categorise them into 3 groups, the first really good stories such as 1) Vanished Prince, 2) Missing Necklace, 3) Pantomime Cat, 4) Tally Ho Corner, 5) Missing Man, 6) Hidden House, the second - the good stories such as 7) Invisible Thief, Strange Messages, 9) Missing Bundle, 10) Spiteful letters, 11) Secret Room, 12) Burnt Cottage and the third - the not so good stories such as 13) Holly Lane (just found this weak, the tired trick of following the wrong person and Goon trying to get Buster shot was over the top),14) Disappearing Cat (never worked for me as the baddie was so blindingly obvious and not as much humour) and 15) Banshee Towers (dreadful). All of them are good apart from Banshee Towers which is dreadful from start to end. Strange Messages her penultimate book was already showing signs or poor writing and the ending is terrible but I have ranked it quite highly as I think the plot is more complex than most of them - 4 subplots actually, finding the Ivy House, What had Mr Smith done to be evicted, who wrote the messages and the final and main plot of the retrieving the jewellery. I am rereading the Vanished Prince and chuckling away.