Favourite Five Find-Outers book

[Rob Houghton]

One of my favourites is 'The Mystery of the Disappearing tramp'!

Pantomime cat is a good winter read though.

[Moonraker]

One of my favourites is 'The Mystery of the Disappearing Tramp'!

Yes, just what I was thinking, David. I would love to read one of David's (Rainbow Jude) lengthy reviews on that book. Certainly a worthwhle addition to the series.

[221b]

I'm with Viv on the Wintry-themed books.

I've always liked Secret Room for the opening chapters, the disguises, the secret writing and the getting out of locked rooms.

For the reasons that Anita has mentioned, I also love Strange Bundle. I remember laughing hysterically on my first reading of Fatty and Goon going round Mr Fellows' house. I always enjoy the cosy scenes set in Fatty's shed [always wanted my own as a child] and I remember a few of these in this story. It seems the FFO tend to meet in Fatty's shed in the Winter and Pip's Summer House in the er... Summer.

I also found Tally-Ho Cottage intriguing and I like Strange Messages.

[Nick]

Thanks to you good folk on here I've just discovered the FFO. So far I've read;

Disappearing Cat
Missing Necklace
Strange Bundle
Holly Lane (current read)

They have all been an absolute joy, with Necklace being the standout out read.

Something that has occurred to me though is how "modern" Britain would view the FFO? Cheeking policeman, interfering with the law? Somehow I get the feeling that a modern FFO would provoke a hysterical reaction from our gutter press and be highlighted as children from broken britain!

[Lenoir]

I’ve just finished "Mystery of the Pantomime Cat, The".
  It seems that if Fatty has a weakness at all, it is against certain female characters such as the girl at the cinema ticket office who gets the better of him, and I’m also thinking of Eunice who was also a match for him.
  Larry comes into his own a bit here: when Fatty is feeling depressed about the mystery he takes charge and proposes a meeting at his place so they can go through everything again.
  I see that even my seventies dragon paperback still has the mistake when “Larry becomes Pip”. Larry was in two places at the same time! The cover picture shows the children sitting in the front row when in fact they were in the second row.

  I enjoyed the thread of humour that runs through it, with them repeatedly running into Goon. The full moon face episode is classic.
  The book also shows Goon at his worst with his continuous haranguing of Pippin, but in general I enjoy the little comments that Goon makes to himself.

[pete9012S]

I just love The twelfth book, The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage , involving a stolen painting,Fattys masterclass of disguises,some great humour, which makes me laugh out loud......(Think of Goon following 'Larkin' who ends up going round the childrens playground to the utter mystification of Goon!)

Lots of really good clues,including a stolen rubber bone, the way Mrs. Larkin changes towards poppet, (Bets observation;"I'm glad that horrrid Mrs. Larkin is so much nicer to dear little Poppet. She might be Mrs. Lorenzo the way she fusses her now")......which proves to be her downfall!

I distinctly remember the day my mum came home to our cottage,one dark, dank, cold December night,fully laden with bags and bags of shopping and said 'I got you this book',it seemed to fit the time of year perfectly,children prancing round a winter bonfire,poking at something.........

I was also greatly impressed by the account of Fatty,disguised as Larkin bumping into 'Larkin',who as we know was really Lorenzo,himself disguised as Larkin! This to me was to me an utterly brilliant concept by Enid......(I always wished and wished the real Larkin could also have appeared somehow before the hapless Goon,so he could have been confronted by THREE LARKINS!)

Regards Pete

[Clopper]

Secret Room is a big favourite of mine, mostly because Fatty is bubbling over with himself. All of the FFO books are great but Secret Room makes me laugh and laugh.

[Clopper]

I have just been reading Hidden House again. I'd forgotten what a wizard read it is. Apart from the fabulous Fatty outdoing himself we have the wonderful Ern and we have a better picture of Goon.

The actual mystery is a good one and handled well. What do you think of the mysteries as mysteries?

As an Agatha Christie fan I am used to some whacky plots and I often feel that Enid could have written some good detective novels. Don't you agree?

[bilgewaters]

personally,It depends on what mood I'm in as to which is my favourite.I love the Christmassy ones because they remind me how cosy a coal fire was to sit around and drink hot milky ovaltine or cocoa.And I love the summery ones because they remind me of the long hot summers of my childhood, ahh, they don't make nostalgia like they used to! However, my all time favourite has to be . . . . Hidden House for mood and humour and Spiteful Letters for whodunnit-ness and humour.