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[Julie2owlsdene]

A good review on the updates of Sports and Games. I just love the art deco artwork.

A definate must have for me, just ordered it from the on-line shop

[Anita Bensoussane]

Amazing that someone wanted to order fifty copies of Sports and Games to help promote the Olympic Games. I bet Enid Blyton would be astonished to hear of that!

Anita

[Julie2owlsdene]

It would also have been lovely to hear Tony's reply

[Julie2owlsdene]

What a very good review of the Pantomime Cat by Imran Patel, which has been added on the update.

It was well written with a bit of humour that made it a very interesting read. Well done.

[Moonraker]

Yes, a very well constructed review. It is always good to see a new review of an old favourite; well done Imran!

[Tony Summerfield]

Yes, I agree with you both, Nigel and Julie. I have just read it again and it is a thoroughly entertaining review. A review should encourage people to want to read (or re-read) a book, and this one certainly does.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Does Imran post on the forums?

[Anita Bensoussane]

I enjoyed Imran's Pantomime Cat review too, especially the way he expressed his dissatisfaction with the "twist" at the end of the book:

Did we miss something?

Groan. We didn't.

Have to say I agree with his sentiments!

Anita

[Tony Summerfield]

Does Imran post on the forums?

Looking through the list of members, it would seem that Imran Patel is not registered, so I don't think there will be any posts on the forums. Someone else recently contacted me and asked if they could write some reviews, but I didn't recognise the name so I am fairly sure that he hasn't posted on the forums either - mind you, nor has he sent any reviews yet!

Provided that they are up to standard I welcome reviews from any source though.

[Philip Mannering]

OK, I'll own it - I'm Imran. I have PM-ed Tony for asking the question if a review of a particular book is already there, can an other person can write one on it too? He replied yes, so I did complete (and edit a lot) a review of this book, which interests me, particularly the weak plot. Of course, I had to ensure that nothing major about the culprit was to be given. In my original draft, there are lots of spoilers - I had to delete large chunks of information!

Thanks everyone for praising the review.

[Moonraker]

Yes, a great review, Phil - I so agree with you about the oh-so-obvious modus operandus. That is what spoiled the book for me; I would only give it a 5 ! It is worthy of note that Robert considers it to be the best! In my opinion, it is the worst but one.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I thought it was your review, Philip, that's why I asked whether you posted on the forums.(Must be the detective in me) Very good review. Excellent, well done.

Julie

[Philip Mannering]

Yes, a great review, Phil - I so agree with you about the oh-so-obvious modus operandus. That is what spoiled the book for me; I would only give it a 5 ! It is worthy of note that Robert considers it to be the best! In my opinion, it is the worst but one.

In my opinion, there are others worse than this. Banshee for one (oh-so-obvious!), Vanished Prince and Missing Man. And yes, it is worthy of note that Robert Houghton thinks it's the best. Another one where we all have different opinions!

I thought it was your review, Philip, that's why I asked whether you posted on the forums.(Must be the detective in me) Very good review. Excellent, well done.

Julie

Oh, must be the style of writing. Anyway, I enjoyed writing it a lot. Other ones? I'll give it a thought.

[Rob Houghton]

I have often said I liked Panto cat best, mainly because, a bit like 'Rubadub Mystery' (my favourite 'Barney' book) it is a real 'who-dun-it' with a few suspects. I WANT to really like 'The Invisible Thief', but the villain is very very obvious, I WANT to really like 'Spiteful Letters', but the villain is again very obvious. In my opinion the thief in 'Panto Cat' is not so obvious.

I know several people say Panto Cat is weak because we know from the begining that Boysie isnt to blame, but surely this is the point of the novel: to find out who is trying to frame him? I don't think we are supposed to imagine for one minute that it is the pantomime cat who has committed the crime. 'Disappearing Cat' suffers from the very same weakness, but in this we are certainly supposed to suspect Luke, even though it is obvious he is being framed and that there is really only one other suspect!!

There are so many well-written suspects in Panto Cat, and the idea of the guilty party actually using an entire audience full of people as their alibi is, I feel, a very ingenious plot-point, worthy even of Agatha Christie!

There is no accounting for people's taste when it comes to books, though but I must admit liking Panto cat because it doesnt contain a whole lot of Goon being tricked and it contains Pippin, whom I find very entertaining. I also like the end, where Goon is forced to tear up Boysies false confession and Goon gets his just deserts in front of everybody.

I also consider Burnt Cottage, Missing necklace, Holly lane, Strange Messages and Missing Man to be some of the strongest stories in the series. I really don't think much of 'Secret Room', 'Hidden House' and 'Disappearing Prince' - and 'Banshee towers ' might just as well belong to another series!

By the way: I liked the review 'Philip'- very well written and informative.

[Philip Mannering]

I have been meaning to post this comment for ages, but couldn't because of lack of necessary time... .

Anyway:

I totally respect your opinion, Robert, but I have to disagree with you here. In my opinion, the culprit in Invisible Thief isn't so very obvious. OK, so he is one of the few suspects and he was there all the time...but all that stuff about big-feet fooled me. Blyton does manage, this time, to conceal the twist. A wonderful book in my opinion. I agree with you about Spiteful Letters, the culprit is obvious there, but otherwise, that book is a mysterious and good read. About Disappearing Cat, I felt this book was strong in terms of mystery and plot, but maybe that's just me, since a number of people have said that it's the weakest. Yes, we had to suspect Luke, but then, what other choice were we to have? Much as I hated Tupping, I couldn't find a way that he had committed the crime, much to my disappointment. I was fooled there, and I admired the whole plot. A good book, in my opinion.

I do like Pantomime Cat's ending, but the whole skin thing struck to me as painfully obvious. The culprit was a bit not-too-much obvious, but if you really think this: that had Blyton's information not been given to us, how could he have committed the crime? It's like Blyton does manage to puzzle her readers, but so to speak, puzzles herself in plot.

Burnt Cottage suffers from the same weakness as Pantomime Cat, although an excellent story in it's own right. Again, if vital information hadn't been given, we couldn't have possibly solved the mystery. It all depends on that, and I am not impressed, since, as they are mystery stories, the author should give everything to the reader first, and then let him/her puzzle out the solution. In stories like these, we can't solve the mystery on our own.

I agree about Missing Necklace - it's one of the strongest stories, and my second favourite after Invisible Thief. A great book, that. I don't know too much about Holly Lane, read it only once a year or two ago; but I remember it as being a good one, although the ending didn't particularly satisfy me at that time. I wonder if that all will change as I seek to re-read the book. Strange Messages is my third favourite, and an excellent and intriguing mystery. About Missing Man, that book striked to me as weak when I first read it. It was made stronger than it was by the character of Eunice, of course. And yes, I too don't think much of Secret Room and Hidden House, both more adventure stories (although being very dark.) I remember being fascinated by Hidden House when I first read it, but I think I prefer the "true mystery" books of this series to the adventurous ones.

But "Disappearing Prince"? Wow! Sounds intriguing! A prince that keeps disappearing at times...oh, I want to read it! Anyway, I, yet again, agree with you here: I don't think much of Vanished Prince, despite it being the first Mystery book I read. I agree with you again on Banshee Towers - it doesn't sound like a proper Find-Outers book.

I hope you all got my points anyway.