The Enid Blyton Society

Rob Houghton wrote:That's an interesting observation. I obviously knew he dressed up as various gypsies and tramps and generally 'lower class' people, but I didn't notice till now that he never dresses as a toff or an upper-crust type! Obviously the excitement was to mix with the lowly and unwashed of Peterswood!

I guess it was partly because of Enid Blyton's assumption that 'all' villains were lower class! people who wear clean clothes don't commit crimes!!

What about Napoleon?

Wolfgang wrote:What about Napoleon?

true - but Fatty only dressed as him in the waxworks, rather than walking through the village!

Or the first time Fatty ever disguised himself, as a French boy (also calling himself "Napoleon"!) — I don't think he wore dirty clothes then.

Fatty and the others wore new clothes (which Fatty had just bought on holiday in Morocco) when they posed as foreign royalty in The Mystery of the Vanished Prince.

I suppose all of his "disguise clothes" would have got dirtier as time went on, as he wouldn't easily have been able to wash and dry them without awkward questions being asked. And many of them were already old when he added them to his collection.

With the ability to wrap domestic stuff around his finger I suppose he could persuade one or the other to wash them for him in case of need.

Looking at the poll, I'm quite surprised to see Invisible Thief leading the way for favourite Find Outers book. Personally, I always found the mystery a bit predictable and obvious as to who the thief was, but maybe that's just me!

It's not just you at all, Deej — I feel exactly the same way about it!

I haven't voted yet, as I haven't yet read the entire series, so I don't think it's fair for me to pick a favourite yet when perhaps I haven't discovered my real favourite! Mind you, so far my favourite is probably Disappearing Cat, which I must admit also features an obvious villain (albeit one who seems to have a solid alibi) and I also guessed what trick was used to hide the fact that Dark Queen was missing, well before the Find-Outers twigged. So you'd think I'd have found it as much a let-down as Invisible Thief, but I absolutely loved the whole story. The only explanation I can think of is that I just love Siamese cats!!

I was amazed that Invisible Thief was leading, too! I see I voted for 'Strange Messages' - which I think is one of the best plotted in the entire series, especially since Enid was a little past her peak as a writer by 1957. My favourite for rereading though has to be Pantomime Cat - I think I've read it seven or eight times!

I always liked Missing Necklace but I must agree with Rob, Pantomine Cat gets better every time I read it.

I really enjoyed Pantomime Cat too — although, as I remember remarking at the time, I was annoyed that part of the plot hinged on a twin brother and sister being identical, which is a biological impossibility!!! (But then, Shakespeare made the same mistake. )

I agree a little...but then as the man regularly dressed as a woman and was only seen from a distance on stage, I guess make-up and wigs etc could have made them look more similar.

The one thing I dislike about Pantomime cat is the fact the children never check out the culprit's alibi - I think it would have been an even stronger book if they had done so, and found that members of the audience had enjoyed 'his' performance.

Courtenay wrote: part of the plot hinged on a twin brother and sister being identical, which is a biological impossibility!!! (But then, Shakespeare made the same mistake. )

I had absolutely no idea that it was an impossibility until I read it on here!

I always thought that identical twins could be boy and girl, and that they would look the same apart from maybe their hair style, and that if the girl had short hair like her brother (or he had long hair like a girl), they'd be indistinguishable.

My favorites are:

Invisible thief
vanished prince
secret room
strange messages
pantomime cat
Strange bundle
Holy Lane
Tally-Ho

Courtenay wrote:It's not just you at all, Deej — I feel exactly the same way about it!

I haven't voted yet, as I haven't yet read the entire series, so I don't think it's fair for me to pick a favourite yet when perhaps I haven't discovered my real favourite! Mind you, so far my favourite is probably Disappearing Cat, which I must admit also features an obvious villain (albeit one who seems to have a solid alibi) and I also guessed what trick was used to hide the fact that Dark Queen was missing, well before the Find-Outers twigged. So you'd think I'd have found it as much a let-down as Invisible Thief, but I absolutely loved the whole story. The only explanation I can think of is that I just love Siamese cats!!

That's good to hear!

I like Disappearing Cat also despite it being fairly obvious who was behind the theft. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the false clues the children laid to trick Mr Goon. I know Goon is an unlikeable character and doesn't treat the children very well but I still feel it was wrong of them to potentially hinder an investigation. It's not the only book in which this happens - something similar happens in Hidden House on the hill with Mr Goon and Ern and also in Pantomine Cat with PC Pippin. That said, Pantomine Cat is my favourite in the series and the false clues do lead the children on the trail of a real mystery!

I also guessed you liked cats, as your profile picture on the other forum indicates!