The Mystery of the Strange Bundle

[black labrador]

2 questions about the plot

1. How did the man who broke into Mr Fellows house know he had thrown the clothes into the river? I always thought he must have followed Mr Fellows to the river but on reflection surely the nightwatchman who saw Mr Fellows would also have seen him? And if he was close enough to see Mr Fellows throw the clothes into the river surely he could have captured him?

2. If Mr Fellows was working for the police (or more likely MI5?) why didn't he alert them immediately? I understand he wouldn't tell PC Goon but he must have had appropriate contacts who could have rescued the clothes?

[Jed]

Yes, I had never noticed them holes in the plot till now - well spotted!
Blyton sometimes hardly proofread her work at all before she sent it to the publishers - probably why there are some holes in the plots of some of her books.

Jed

[Wolfgang]

I finally finished reading the French edition today. It also realised that it is another case in which the children remove evidence from the location - in this case the little red glove. If Mr Goon had found it, he might have not "returned" the clothes to Fatty. It's also strange that Mr Goon wasn't informed about the role of Mr Fellows and what Chief-Inspector Jenks was after. Even if he didn't trust Mr Goon enough to confide in (which he did later in the book) he could have sent someone to investigate further.

[pete9012S]

I must admit as a child I couldn't really follow the intricacies of the plot - but oh my auntie, how this book really made me laugh till my tummy hurt!

[Rob Houghton]

The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is one of my least favourite Find-Outer books, although I like some aspects of the plot, such as how the secret formulas are hidden.

As a kid, Missing Necklace and Pantomime Cat were my favourites, and also Tallyho Cottage - which I found incredibly amusing because of Ern's poetry and Larkin meeting himself!

[Jack400]

I must admit as a child I couldn't really follow the intricacies of the plot - but oh my auntie, how this book really made me laugh till my tummy hurt!

Nice one, Pete
As a child, I probably took it as a 'normal' police/ FFO story. MI5? I'd only heard of MFI!

[pete9012S]

[Splodj]

Another 'plot hole' is that Fatty claims he heard Goon say he was going to get a boat-book and drag out the sack that Fatty had dropped in the river. It is a key part of the plot when they go down to the river specifically to watch Goon do this.

But Goon had not said it. He had only thought it to himself some time after Fatty had dropped the sack: 'He made up his mind to come with a boat-hook the following day and haul it up'. Even if he had said such a thing out loud (and why would he?) Fatty would not have heard it - as he had run away.

[pete9012S]

Well spotted!
I wonder if even the mighty Eddie has ever noticed that one!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Well spotted, Splodj! I'll have to look out for that next time I read the book.

[Eddie Muir]

Well spotted!
I wonder if even the mighty Eddie has ever noticed that one!!

Thank you for the kind description, Pete. I’ll put the cheque in the post.
I must admit that I never noticed that one! Like Anita, I’ll have to look out for it next time I read the book.

[pete9012S]

Here's the text from the book:

GOON:
He would have to walk back at his own pace. He knelt down again to look into the river, but, of course, he could see no sign of the sack. He made up his mind to come with a boat-hook the next day and haul it up. He would find out what was in that sack if he had to go into the water himself to get it!

FATTY:
Does he suspect it was me last night that he followed? I wonder if he's found that sack of bricks and stones yet! He said he was going to get a boat-hook and drag it up. Well, good luck to
him! It'll keep him out of the way for a bit, messing about in the river!

Interestingly, when the Find-Outers meet together, it is the usually fairly timid Daisy & Bets who seem to drive the Find-Outers back down towards the river to hopefully intercept Goon with boat-hook!!

Fatty told the others about his escapade of the night before. They laughed delightedly. "Oh, Fatty!" said Bets. "I never knew any one like you in my life. And I never shall. There's just nothing you're scared of doing." "I was a bit scared of old Goon just now," said Fatty. "Honestly he looked like an angry bull. I don't blame him. I must be pretty annoying to him. I was jolly glad when Buster came flying out!" "Wuff," said Buster, thumping his tail approvingly.

"Do you think Mr. Goon has got that sack of yours out of the river yet?" said Daisy. "Whatever will he say when he finds it is full of stones and bricks! He doesn't know it was you who dumped it there, does he?"

"No. But he'll guess it was when he finds what's in the sack!" grinned Fatty. "You should have seen me heave it in! Old Goon nearly went in after it."

"Do you think he's gone to look for it now?" asked Bets. "He wouldn't leave it too long, would he? Let's go for a walk down to the river and see if he's anywhere about. We can bike down."

"Yes, do let's," said Daisy. "You've been having all the fun, Fatty - we want some now too. I'd just love to see Mr. Goon digging about with a boat-hook and bringing up a sack full of stones and bricks."

"All right. We might as well," said Fatty, getting up. "Walkie - walk, Buster. Come on!" They got on their bicycles. Pip and Bets had theirs at Larry's, as they had bicycled there that morning. They free-wheeled down the hill towards the river....

.

[Irene Malory Towers]

I love the colour picture. My edition does not have any pictures, which is a shame. I think there are a lot of holes in Enid Byton's books but they generally do not detract from my enjoyment, unless they are really ridiculous. But reading through these comments it does look like there are more holes than most in this Find Outer. I am currently reading the Mystery of the Pantomime Cat to my daughter and this is one of her best. Such a tight plot.I remember reading it as a child and I had no idea who had done the dastardly deed !

[Bertie]

This is one of my least favourite mysteries of the series.

I like the humour in it. Especially the ventriloquism in the house. But I thought it was a pretty weak mystery - in that they didn't really know what the mystery was all about until it's over. And they don't really do a great deal of effective detective work or really 'solve' it by working anything out - they just get the clothes 'given' to them, then carelessly let them get stolen, and just got very lucky that the item they needed wasn't taken. And then have most of the mystery explained to them after the event by the police.

I still read it when I'm re-reading the series (only skip Banshee Towers), but it's not one I eagerly anticipate.