Mystery of the Secret Room...why is it rather unpopular?

[Chrissie777]

I liked the wintry feel of this book, and while I like some other FFOs better, this one is far from being one of my least favorite from this series.

Yes, the winter scenes were beautiful.

[Chrissie777]

I much prefer it to Disappearing Cat which is my vote for second worst entry after Banshee Towers.

Same here, "Disappearing Cat" was rather disappointing for me and so was "Spiteful Letters" and "Vanished Prince".

[Chrissie777]

I know that Eddie agrees with me that the series doesn't really get going until Missing Necklace when Fatty really starts to develop and feels more mature.

"Necklace" is another good one. I enjoyed the scenes with the wax figures. Wasn't Fatty acting as Napoleon or do I mix that up with another book?

[Darrell71]

Yes he was.

[MJE]

     I should comment on this, because it is one of my favourite books in this series, too. I thought I *had* commented on it recently, actually, but it must be in another thread.

If I would have been much younger when I discovered these books, I sure would have tried the ink.
Did you ever write something with invisible ink and then made it visible? Is it really working?

     I think I did try it myself. I don't quite recall if I tried the locked-room trick: I may not have, since in any buildings to which I had access, rooms with that kind of lock were not common - but I'm sure I would have tried it if I had found a suitable room, and someone to lock me in.

It is one of my faves too! The environment that has been created, the delicious sense of mystery and aventure, this book takes you through the mystery, but with Fatty being caught, it has some adventure too, unlike some other FFO stories.

     That is true, and I suspect it's one of the reasons I like it. Don't get me wrong - I like the mystery element found in most of the books, and it's quite suspenseful - but I encountered adventure in Enid Blyton (in the form of the Famous Five) before I encountered mystery, so maybe the former imprinted in my mind a little more strongly. Also, "The Mystery of the Secret Room" was the very first book in the Find-Outers series I read, so I accepted it on its own terms, without having any preconceived idea of how books in this series "should" go.

So don't know how you got this idea about peolple not liking it Chrissie! But, once again, what you are saying may be quite possible? :?:

     I got the impression, too, that it was less liked by many people, and I gathered that the reason was that the story is more adventure-oriented, and does not really follow the normal pattern established in this series, which is more a classic mystery, where you follow up clues and suspects, do a bit of deduction about strange events, and at the end dramatically unveil the culprit. I suppose when you get to expect that pattern in this series, you may tend to be disappointed when one doesn't follow it but does something else, even though that something else may be quite expected in another series.

Plus Miss Crumpet is such an awesome name. :lol:

     Errr... it was actually Miss Crump. But I hope that is still just as awesome.

I much prefer it to Disappearing Cat which is my vote for second worst entry after Banshee Towers.

     Never found anything wrong with "The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat". In general, I don't recall finding any title in this series noticeably week (not even "The Mystery of Banshee Towers"), although maybe I found some better than others. (A couple of years ago I read a discussion here pointing out all the logical flaws in "The Mystery of Banshee Towers", and ruefully had to concede they were valid points; but I never noticed this as a boy, and even when I re-read the book years later in adulthood, I don't remember noticing those problems. And if I read it again now, maybe I wouldn't even now - provided I don't first re-read that thread that discusses those problems.)

Same here, "Disappearing Cat" was rather disappointing for me and so was "Spiteful Letters" and "Vanished Prince".

     "Vanished Prince" was another of my favourites, I must say. I recall the incredibly funny episodes with Bets pretending to be a haughty foreign princess and talking about Mr. Goon's froggy eyes, while he goes purple in the face and just about bursts out of his buttoned-up uniform; and the eerie setting of the swamp near the end, too. Good story, in my opinion, with an exciting climax. And I don't recall any problems with "Spiteful Letters", either.

Regards, Michael.

[Darrell71]

      Also, "The Mystery of the Secret Room" was the very first book in the Find-Outers series I read, so I accepted it on its own terms, without having any preconceived idea of how books in this series "should" go.

Yes, it was the first book I read too!!

[stardust]

This was my first book in the series too, and it's my favourite!

[MJE]

     Back here again after a few days....

     Just harking back to "The Mystery of the Missing Necklace" for a moment. It was one of the early books I read - the next after "The Mystery of the Secret Room", I think - and it was good in many ways - but at the time I first read it, it was a rather big disappointment in one sense; and that was that, just a few chapters from the end, Mr. Goon came in and solved the mystery instead of the Find-Outers - well, except for one little bit still unsolved. And of course, in those remaining few chapters, the Five Find-Outers completed the rest of it. But I think I did feel a bit cheated, somehow (siding with the Find-Outers, as of course I did), that Goon came in and took a lot of it from the Find-Outers.
     Did anyone else feel a bit like that?

Regards, Michael.

[Edited to correct "Secret" to "Mystery" in book title.]

[Daisy]

That's an interesting point Michael. I remember when I first read the book the feeling of disbelief when Goon apparently solved the mystery, then the relief when I checked that there were still a good few pages left! Hurrying on to the next chapter, it was distinctly cheering to discover there was more work to do and of course the Find-Outers did it.

[Darrell71]

Hmmm.... you have a point MJE, but the find-outers actually got the real necklace! So I only partially felt it that way,.......

And, do you mean The MYSTERY Of The Missing Necklace MJE?!

[MJE]

And, do you mean The MYSTERY Of The Missing Necklace MJE?! :lol:

     Yes, I did. Sorry - it was just a typo.

Regards, Michael.

[Ming]

 

If I would have been much younger when I discovered these books, I sure would have tried the ink.
Did you ever write something with invisible ink and then made it visible? Is it really working?

     I think I did try it myself. I don't quite recall if I tried the locked-room trick: I may not have, since in any buildings to which I had access, rooms with that kind of lock were not common - but I'm sure I would have tried it if I had found a suitable room, and someone to lock me in.

I tried the invisibility ink trick with lemon juice - it worked just fine. I used a paintbrush to write my message with - I suppose a fountain pen would've made it a lot neater.

I also tried the locked door trick - the last house we lived in (built in the early 80s) had the perfect door for it. I didn't have someone to lock me in, so I tried pushing the key out with a hair pin while the door was ajar and drawing it to the other side with a newspaper. Worked like a charm, until my parents carpeted the room.

[Gingeroo]

Yikes, I don't how I managed to do that- I normally check in the relevant book to make sure I'm not spouting nonsense, as I can't remember every detail from every Blyton book I have ever read, but I seem to have forgotten to do that this time.

[Moonraker]

Only Ming would try to write a message in invisible ink with a paint brush.

[Chrissie777]

I tried the invisibility ink trick with lemon juice - it worked just fine. I used a paintbrush to write my message with - I suppose a fountain pen would've made it a lot neater.

I also tried the locked door trick - the last house we lived in (built in the early 80s) had the perfect door for it. I didn't have someone to lock me in, so I tried pushing the key out with a hair pin while the door was ajar and drawing it to the other side with a newspaper. Worked like a charm, until my parents carpeted the room.

Hi Ming, those sound like great memories!