I Companion Guide PDF $. Easily view and/or print all. Mystery 01- Mystery of the. Burnt Cottage - Blyton. The first two files, namely.
Author | Enid Blyton |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Genre | Children's literature, mystery, adventure |
Published | 1943–1961 |
No. of books | 15 |
The Five Find-Outers and Dog, also known as The Five Find-Outers, is a series of children's mystery books written by Enid Blyton and first published between 1943 and 1961. Set in the fictitious village of Peterswood based on Bourne End, close to Marlow, Buckinghamshire, the children Larry (Laurence Daykin), Fatty (Frederick Trotteville), Pip (Philip Hilton), Daisy (Margaret Daykin), Bets (Elizabeth Hilton) and Buster, Fatty's dog, encounter a mystery almost every school holiday, always solving the puzzle before Mr Goon, the unpleasant village policeman, much to his annoyance.
- 1Characters
Characters[edit]
The Five Find-Outers and Dog[edit]
- Frederick Algernon 'Fatty' Trotteville – the leader of the Five Find-Outers from the third book on, when he justifies his leadership by demonstrating how to use invisible ink and how to escape from a locked room. He is given the nickname Fatty by the other children because of his initials, Frederick Algernon Trotteville, F.A.T. and his stout build. Being an only child, he receives generous amounts of pocket money from his parents and wealthy relatives, but Fatty is always willing to share his money with the group, often buying rounds of cakes, drinks and ice-creams. Fatty also uses his pocket money to finance his interest in disguises and stores a large collection of clothes, wigs, greasepaint, cheek-pads, false teeth and other items in his shed at the bottom of the garden. Although boastful by nature, he learns to be more modest as his bragging causes the other children to become irritated. Fatty is a skilled orator and poet, and able to create poetry ad-lib. He is apparently top of his form at his boarding school and his ambition when he grows up is to become a detective. Fatty develops an interest in ventriloquism as the series progresses. Bets in particular adores Fatty and is very loyal to him.He is 13 in 'Mystery Of the Spiteful Letters'
- Laurence 'Larry' Daykin – the eldest of the five and the original leader of the Five Find-Outers, passing the role to Fatty at the beginning of the third book. Larry is sometimes annoyed by Fatty's boasting. He is Daisy's older brother. He is the first character to be introduced in the series, but is developed considerably less than the other main characters as the series continues.As the oldest of the Five Find Outers,he is 14 years old.
- Margaret 'Daisy' Daykin – Larry's younger sister. Creating the Five Find-Outers was Daisy's idea. She is particularly good at thinking of plans and ideas. She is younger than Larry by a year and the same age as Pip and Fatty,who is 13.
- Philip 'Pip' Hilton – The same age as Daisy and a few years older than Bets, his younger sister whom he frequently teases. In contrast to Fatty's rather relaxed parents, Mr and Mrs Hilton are quite strict and often take a dim view of Pip and Bets's sleuthing activities, wishing that Pip especially would direct the same amount of energy into his schoolwork. In The Mystery of the Hidden House the Hiltons forbid Pip and Bets from getting involved in mysteries, but the children still find themselves in one. He is 13, implying he is 4 years older than his little sister.
- Elizabeth 'Bets' Hilton – Pip's younger sister, and the youngest of the Five Find-Outers. She adores and hero-worships Fatty and he is very fond of her. Though the youngest, the kind-hearted Bets proves herself to be a worthy member. She is keenly observant, providing crucial ideas that help Fatty in solving some of the baffling mysteries - as in the 'Mystery of the Pantomime Cat' when she provides the breakthrough idea, to which Fatty exclaims: 'Bets' he said, stopping at last 'Bets! Good, clever, brainy old Bets. She's got it! She's solved it! Bets, you deserve to be head of the Find-Outers! Oh my word, Bets, why, why, why didn't I think of it before?'. She also thought of the name 'Five Find-Outers and Dog'. She is 9 years old.l[1]
- Buster – Fatty's jet-black Scottish Terrier. He thinks the world of Fatty and his favourite pastime is to nip at Mr Goon's ankles. His favourite food is biscuits, spread with potted meat.Originally Larry, Pip, and Daisy only let Fatty join the detective club because of Buster.
Police Force[edit]
- Theophilus Goon, the village policeman, who is outwitted by the five children in every single story. Mr Goon would dearly love promotion, but considers the children to be hindering him rather than helping. To chase them away he often tells them to 'Clear Orf' (clear off). Consequently, the children have given him the nickname 'Clear-Orf'. Whenever he is upset or frustrated, Mr Goon constantly yells, 'Gah!' causing much amusement among the children. In the second book, The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat, and for a long time after that, the children are known to arrange false clues for Mr Goon to mislead him so that they can solve the mystery first without having to put up with him interfering their investigations.
- Inspector Jenks, also known as Chief Inspector and Superintendent – the head of the local police department. Because the Five are resented by Mr Goon, the children always telephone or meet the Inspector when they have solved a mystery. Over the course of the books he becomes a great friend of the children. Jenks is based on a real character from Blyton's home town who was promoted through the ranks of the police just as was his fictional counterpart. He becomes acquainted with the Five Find-Outers quite by chance in the first book of the series, The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, while fishing. He admires the children, especially Fatty, much to the dismay of Mr. Goon, and clearly hints that he would like Fatty to become a policeman when he is grown up. He is also very fond of Bets who in turn looks forward to meeting him.
- P.C. Pippin – During The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat, P.C. Pippin takes over for a short time while Goon goes on a holiday and secretly helps the children to solve the mystery. Much to the delight of the children, P.C. Pippin is a nice man and dislikes Mr Goon extremely, who in turn hates him.
- P.C. Kenton During the mystery of the Strange Bundle, P.C.Kenton is mentioned a few times and helps Mr.Goon to find an imaginary pig, dog and a man who wanted his auntie.
- P.C. Tonks Appears at the beginning of The Mystery of the Invisible Thief while Goon is on a refresher course. He clearly states to Fatty that nothing could possibly take place in a quiet town like Peterswood.
- P.C Johns Appears in The Mystery of Tally Ho Cottage where he and Goon catch Fatty spying on Tally Ho Cottage in the middle of the night while also watching the house themselves. They are found in the morning by Ern locked in the boiler room.
Minor characters[edit]
- Ernest 'Ern' Goon – Mr Goon's nephew. Ern is introduced in the book The Mystery of the Hidden House. Ern is a great lover of poetry, or 'portry' as he calls it, though he never finished any poem (or 'pome' as he calls it) but Fatty can always finish it for him. That is one of the reasons that he is a great admirer of Fatty. Ern might be considered to be an unofficial seventh member of the group, although class distinctions are maintained, e.g. Ern is not permitted to eat dinner with the children but instead eats in the kitchen with the Cook. He is also seen in 'The Mystery of the Vanished Prince', 'The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage', 'The Mystery of the Strange Messages' and 'The Mystery of the Banshee Towers'.
- Miss Trimble – Lady Candling's companion. The children call her Miss Tremble, because she is scared of everything. Her glasses often fall off and Bets loves to count how often this happens, much to Miss Trimble's annoyance. First appearing in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat, she reappears in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters, when the children question her about the regular passengers on the 10:15 Monday bus to Sheepsale. In The Mystery of the Hidden House, the children (save for Fatty) see her at the railway station but that is the last time she is mentioned.
- Miss Harmer – The person who takes care of the cats belonging to Lady Candling in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. She is very upset after the most valuable cat Dark Queen is stolen twice, both times she was away for the day. When the children are smelling the cat cage she asks them to leave because she feels unsafe about the cats since the second time Dark Queen is stolen. When the children need her key to the cage they play a trick on her so she leaves her coat out of sight and Pip takes the key out of her coat pocket.
- Gladys – Pip and Bets' maid in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters. When she receives a spiteful, anonymous letter, she flees the house to live with her aunt. When the children track her down, she admits that she used to be a thief but is trying to forget her old life. At the end of the book, Mrs Hilton announces that Gladys is coming back. She is mentioned a few times in The Mystery of the Missing Necklace. It is unknown what happened to her, as by the beginning of The Mystery of the Hidden House, the Hiltons have a new maid, Lorna.
- Mr and Mrs Hilton – The parents of Pip and Bets, they are very strict and particular. In The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, Mr Goon gets the Find-Outers into trouble by complaining to Mrs Hilton. Mrs Hilton is especially described as being 'very strict about nice manners.' He again complains to the Hiltons when the Find Outers send him a rude message written in secret ink in The Mystery of the Secret Room. Goon persuades the Hiltons not to tell the Find Outers anything about the anonymous letters in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters. In The Mystery of the Hidden House, Mr and Mrs Hilton forbid Pip and Bets to get mixed up in any mysteries, due to a talk with Mr. Goon. However, despite their shortcomings, the Find Outers look up to and admire the Hiltons.
- Sid and Perce Goon – (short for Sidney and Percy) Ern's younger twin brothers. They appeared in The Mystery of the Vanished Prince when they went camping with Ern. Sid has an obsession for eating toffee but he soon switches to chewing gum later in the series (according to Ern). Ern also refers to them later about a modelling clay incident (when Sid mistakenly chews Perce's modelling clay as he thought it was chewing gum).
- Mrs Moon – Cook at the Hiltons during The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters.
- Hilary – God-daughter of Inspector Jenks, her home (Norton House) is burgled during The Mystery of the Invisible Thief.
- Substitutes for Mr Goon – During The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat, P.C. Pippin takes over for a short while when Goon goes on a holiday. P.C. Tonks appears at the beginning of The Mystery of the Invisible Thief while Goon is on a refresher course.
- Luke – The gardener's help next door to Pip and Bets in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. Luke develops a close bond with the children, which is strained when he is the prime suspect both times the cat goes missing. It is revealed at the end of the book that Luke was set up to hide the real culprit. It is hinted that his friendship with the children will continue, although he has never appeared or even been mentioned since.
- Mrs.Trotteville – She is Fatty's mother and Fatty simply adores her.She is very lenient with him. Unlike the Hiltons she does not take Mr.Goon seriously and even considers him a nuisance.It is made out in the books that she enjoys going out with her husband for bridge parties.Though she does not like the children falling into adventure as she considers it dangerous, she does not interfere much and, gives Fatty a lot of freedom and trust.
- The Postman Appeared in several stories . The five always get some help from him.
Timeline[edit]
At the beginning of the series Larry is 13, Fatty, Pip and Daisy are 12, while Bets is 8. Bets goes to day school, whereas all the others go to boarding school, which Bets really does not like because the others are friends at school and she only sees them at the holidays. The series takes place in successive school holidays, beginning with the Easter holidays and cycling through the summer and Christmas holidays. During each holiday the children solve a mystery – until The Mystery of the Invisible Thief (summer holidays), after which there is a break until the next summer holidays in which they solve 'The Mystery of the Vanished Prince'.
Novels[edit]
The Mystery of the Missing Man (1956)
Collage of German book covers (editions 1971/72)
The 15 books in the series are:
The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage (1943)
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (1944)
The Mystery of the Secret Room (1945)
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters (1946)
The Mystery of the Missing Necklace (1947)
The Mystery of the Hidden House (1948)
The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat (1949)
The Mystery of the Invisible Thief (1950)
The Mystery of the Vanished Prince (1951)
The Mystery of the Strange Bundle (1952)
The Mystery of Holly Lane (1953)
The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage (1954)
The Mystery of the Missing Man (1956)
The Mystery of the Strange Messages (1957)
The Mystery of Banshee Towers (1961)
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (1944)
The Mystery of the Secret Room (1945)
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters (1946)
The Mystery of the Missing Necklace (1947)
The Mystery of the Hidden House (1948)
The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat (1949)
The Mystery of the Invisible Thief (1950)
The Mystery of the Vanished Prince (1951)
The Mystery of the Strange Bundle (1952)
The Mystery of Holly Lane (1953)
The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage (1954)
The Mystery of the Missing Man (1956)
The Mystery of the Strange Messages (1957)
The Mystery of Banshee Towers (1961)
References[edit]
- ^http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/five-find-outers.php
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Five_Find-Outers&oldid=922990608'
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Book 1 of 15 in this category
Book Details...
First edition: 1943
Publisher: Methuen
Illustrator: Joseph Abbey
Category: Five Find-Outers
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Type: Novels/Novelettes
Publisher: Methuen
Illustrator: Joseph Abbey
Category: Five Find-Outers
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Type: Novels/Novelettes
On This Page...
Reprint Covers
Artwork
Reviews by David Cook & Robert Houghton
Further Illustrations
Artwork
Reviews by David Cook & Robert Houghton
Further Illustrations
Back to 1st edition
1. 1963 Armada, illustrations by Joseph Abbey, cover by Dorothy Brook
2. 1966 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Peter Archer
3. 1972 Methuen, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Peter Archer
4. 1979 Methuen, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Reginald Gray
5. 1983 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover Bruno Elettori
6. 1987 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover Mick Austin
7. 1990 Dean, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Liz Roberts
8. 1991 Armada, illustrations by Rodney Sutton, cover uncredited
9. 1996 Mammoth, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Button Design Co.
10. 1997 Dean, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Button Design Co.
11. 2003 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Jason Ford
12. 2004 Dean, not illustrated, cover by Button Design Co.
13. 2009 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Martin Usborne and Shutterstock
14. 2009 Dean, not illustrated, cover Mary Gernat
15. 2014 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Timothy Banks
16. 2016 Hodder, not illustrated, cover by Timothy Banks
2. 1966 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Peter Archer
3. 1972 Methuen, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Peter Archer
4. 1979 Methuen, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Reginald Gray
5. 1983 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover Bruno Elettori
6. 1987 Dragon, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover Mick Austin
7. 1990 Dean, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Liz Roberts
8. 1991 Armada, illustrations by Rodney Sutton, cover uncredited
9. 1996 Mammoth, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Button Design Co.
10. 1997 Dean, illustrations by Mary Gernat, cover by Button Design Co.
11. 2003 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Jason Ford
12. 2004 Dean, not illustrated, cover by Button Design Co.
13. 2009 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Martin Usborne and Shutterstock
14. 2009 Dean, not illustrated, cover Mary Gernat
15. 2014 Egmont, not illustrated, cover by Timothy Banks
16. 2016 Hodder, not illustrated, cover by Timothy Banks
Wraparound dustwrapper from the 1950 reprint, illustrated by Joseph Abbey
1st German edition published by Erika Klopp Verlag in 1953,
illustrated by Walter Born with the title Mystery of the Fire in the Night
'The Redoubtable Mr. Goon' sent to Enid Blyton by Joseph Abbey
German: Geheimnis um einen nachtlichen Brand
French: Le Mystère du pavillon rose
Dutch: De Vijf Detectives – Een geheimzinnige brand
Spanish: Misterio en la villa Incendiada
Portuguese: O Mistério da Casa Queimada
Swedish: Mysteriet med den brunna stugan
Finnish: Palaneen talon salaisuus
Icelandic: Dularfulli húsbruninn
Czech: Tajemstvi Spalene Chaty
Malaysian: Misteri Pondok Terbakar
Brief Summary by Julie Heginbotham: One April night, the sky of Peterswood is lit up by the brightness of a cottage on fire. Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Bets, Pip, and Buster the dog, set about trying to solve this exciting mystery of who burnt down Mr Hicks' cottage workshop in his garden. They make lists of suspects they want to interview and try and find as many clues as they can, whilst trying to avoid the wrath of the village policeman, Mr Goon, who the children nickname 'old Clear Orf.' Will they manage to solve the Mystery of the Burnt Cottage before Mr Goon does?
Full Reviews (These may contain spoilers):
David Cook's Review
This first story is very much a scene setter, putting into motion characters and processes that would evolve and reoccur throughout the series. Unlike many future volumes this story starts with the major crime incident that the story is about, the firing of Mr. Hick's cottage workroom and we are introduced to our future band of detectives and their main ongoing rival and protagonist as efforts are made to quell the conflagration.
Larry Daykin spots the fire to the west of the village from his bedroom window as he is preparing to go to bed. As his parents are out, he and his sister Daisy are free to get dressed and go and investigate. En route down their lane they pass another house from which they are joined by their contemporary Pip Hilton and his sister Bets who is four years younger. As the Hilton parents are quite strict about letting their children out we must assume they too are out for the evening.
Arriving with several other villagers at the fire scene they discover that as the nearest fire engine is in the next village the fire has taken an unassailable hold on the cottage. Mr. Goon the village policeman leading the fire fighting efforts greets them with his usual cry of 'Clear orf you!' When a small Scottie dog appears and barks around Goon's ankles they are therefore less sympathetic than they might have been. The dog's owner who is 'plump, well-dressed and rather pleased with himself' and has an 'effected drawling' voice is trying to throw pails of water on the fire. His aim is not good and Larry gets partially soaked, though as we soon learn this inaccuracy is out of character.
Mr. Hick arrives in his chauffeured car from the railway station and the London train in time to see his cottage collapse and has to be restrained from entering the conflagration to rescue his priceless old documents. He then asks Goon to clear spectators from his garden and the four children leave followed by the boy (and his dog) who asks to join them the following day.
Perhaps surprisingly the four children are not initially keen to have the company of the boy who would later become their much admired leader. Pip had previously said of the boy, 'He's awful. Thinks he knows everything and has so much pocket money he doesn't know what to do with it!' Larry doesn't particularly like the look of the boy and later describes him as 'a silly fat sausage'. Daisy describes him as a 'conceited fat creature' and asks, 'Why should he think we want to know him?' It's only the following day when the dog Buster interrupts their meeting at Pip's with his loveable antics that they consider letting the boy into their circle of friends. And then only so they can enjoy Buster's company.
Pip tells the other three that he has heard from a source Enid never reveals that the fire was arson and that insurance investigators have already discovered petrol was used. The boy arrives ostensibly looking for his dog — we never learn whether he deliberately sent Buster on ahead to inveigle himself into the company of the others — just in time to hear Daisy propose that they become detectives and find out who deliberately fired the cottage. Bets is upset that they don't intend to include her and for the first of many times the fat boy sticks up for her and suggests they all belong including Buster who may have the qualities of a bloodhound. He introduces himself as Frederick Algernon Trotteville and with those initials is immediately dubbed 'Fatty'. When Larry agrees to Fatty's proposal Bets names them 'The Five Find-Outers and Dog' to much mirth, but when Fatty proposes to take charge Larry tells him the others are not so stupid as to see what a 'very good opinion' he has of himself. Fatty is very much on trial.
Fatty has arrived with information. He is staying with his parents at the inn opposite Mr. Hick's house and on the afternoon of the fire saw an old tramp in Mr. Hick's garden. He has also heard, presumably from the customers at the inn that Mr. Hick is known locally for his bad-tempered attitude to people. Quite why the Trotteville's are staying at the inn is unclear. Fatty's parents — who don't actually appear in this story or the next one — go out every day to plat golf and leave Fatty alone, hence the boy's wish to join in with the others. Whether they are on holiday — the story is set in the Easter holidays — or waiting for a house to become available in Peterswood we are not presently told. At the start of the next book Enid tells us that Fatty's parents enjoyed their Easter stay in Peterswood so much that they then bought a house and much later on in the series when Fatty wants information on places in Peterswood he asks his mother as she has lived in Peterswood for many years. Perhaps we should assume that Mrs. Trotteville brought her husband and son back to see the village she grew up in.
After lunch the Find-Outers reconvene at Pip's house and gather in the Summerhouse at the top of the garden, which becomes their first headquarters. It has a loose board in the wall where they later keep their accumulated evidence. They establish their intentions and then go off to visit the crime scene. The reason for Bets' comparatively young age in relation to the others is explained as Enid uses her naivety to explain to her readers the meaning of detectives, insurance, finding clues and interviewing suspects. The latter are to include the tramp, Mrs. Minns the cook who helped the fire fighting by filling the pails of water, and Mr. Hick's manservant/valet who was sacked that day.
Mr. Hick's garden has been trampled but the children discover where someone has stamped down nettles in the perimeter ditch and forced their way through the hedge leaving clear footprints beyond. A scrap of grey cloth is also found by Fatty and he does an accurate drawing of one of the footprints. Unfortunately he boasts about this and annoys the others. In these early stories Enid portrays these habits of Fatty's as unprepossessing but in later books she almost makes them virtuous.
The four elder children interview Mrs. Minns and Thomas the chauffeur and Enid starts to have fun. We learn of a fourth suspect and elderly rival historian to Mr. Hick with the unlikely name of Mr. Smellie. Mr. Hick shouts from a window wielding a tea cup and is dubbed 'Hiccup'. Then Enid finds humour in rheumatism of all things. Mrs. Minns couldn't have fired the cottage as she was 'stuck' in her chair with rheumatism, and later Bets banished to walking Buster describes (with beautiful observation on Enid's part) how the dog 'walks stiffly... just as if he had had rheumatism' when the two of them discover the old tramp and Buster advances with hackles raised!
On a more serious note we learn that Lily the 16 year old kitchen maid defies her boss Mrs. Minns by sticking up for Horace Peeks the sacked valet despite receiving a scolding. She even asks the Find-Outers to post a letter to him warning him he's suspected of the crime. The Find-Outers seek out all their suspects to check their alibis and to try to find if any of them own a shoe to match the footprints they've found. On each occasion they encounter Clear Orf and Enid builds up his character. When they rush off after the tramp Bets and Buster find Goon appears on the scene and his anger manifests itself in his red face and heavy breathing. When he turns up in Mrs. Minns' kitchen we learn he has bulging pale blue eyes. The description is reiterated when the Find-Outers interview Horace Peeks whose own bulging pale blue eyes are described as being like Goon's!
Goon also get involved in events that almost become rituals throughout the series. Fatty's bruising fall from a hayrick distracts Goon from pursuing the suspect tramp. Cycling back from Peek's house, the Find-Outers crash into Goon and knock him off his bike and later Goon turns up at an awkward moment when Larry and Fatty try to return Mr. Smellie's shoe.
All their endeavours lead the Find-Outers to discover that three of their suspects were indeed in Mr. Hick's garden on the evening of the fire. The tramp was lurking to try and steal eggs from Mr. Hick's henhouse, Horace Peeks had returned with Lily, with whom he is secretly 'walking out' to collect all his things that he had left when he was hastily ejected from the premises by Mr. Hick, Mr. Smellie had slipped into the house to retrieve papers he had inadvertently left there through quarrelling with Mr. Hick. But there is no firm evidence linking any of them with the footprints or the scrap of grey cloth.
Stumped, the Find-Outers go off for a bike ride (where did Fatty get his?) and for the first time Enid takes them to a real place, Burnham Beeches. Bets is deemed too young to go and Fatty lets her walk Buster again. In typical Fatty style he promises to reward Bets with a bunch of primroses.
On this riverside walk Bets and Buster discover more impressions of the shoe the Find-Outers are seeking. Bets has already proved herself well placed to identify these footprints as she was the first to rule out a shoe of Mr. Smellie's as belonging to the culprit. Buster proves his bloodhound qualities when he successfully leads Bets along the footprint trail back to Mr. Hick's house where the pair are surprised by the house owner himself. Bets is so enthused by her discoveries that she confides all to Mr. Hick. Breaking his vow of silence to Bets, Mr. Hick informs Goon of the Find-Outers' activities and he in turn complains to their parents and they are banned from participating in further investigation.
Sent to apologise to Mr. Hick for 'interfering' in his affairs, all present are startled by the noise of a fleet of 'Tempest' aeroplanes flying low overhead. Mr. Hick unbends enough to enthuse over these saying he had seen seven of these flying over several days previously and after a quick tally that also proves to be the number flying past now. It is Fatty who realises that the previous occasion the Tempests appeared was the evening of the fire when Mr. Hick was reputedly on the London train.
Retreating to their favourite riverside walk the Find-Outers realise the implications of this. Their route takes them by the railway and they are just in time to see the London evening train, which stops near them for a few minutes before proceeding to the station. 'It always stops there' says Bets revealing to the Find-Outers and their readers just how 'Old Hiccup' could have boarded the London train. Just then Buster appears having conveniently unearthed the pair of shoes they have been seeking for so long. Mr. Hick had buried them near his covert route linking his house and the railway line, and the Find-Outers' case is finally solved.
This is a very satisfactory conclusion to the investigation, but Enid has on this first and only occasion broken the golden rule of any whodunnit story. That is to place before the reader all the clues and evidence so that the reader has as much chance of solving the mystery as the fictional detectives whose exploits they have been following. The first knowledge the reader has of the Tempest aeroplanes is when they fly over Mr. Hick's house. There is no mention of them in the first chapter and it is a pity no-one was placed to point this out to Enid before publication. It would have taken just a few minutes for the opening paragraphs to be amended to mention that it was the sound of the Tempests passing overhead that first drew Larry to draw back his curtain, from where he duly spotted the fire. This may be a slight nit pick, but Enid never made that mistake again.
Of course that isn't quite the end of the story. The Find-Outers find themselves having solved the mystery, but unable to approach either their parents as Goon has complained or Goon himself as he would take the credit for all their discoveries. Luckily who should be silently fishing nearby overhearing their discussion but Inspector Jenks. There are a couple of interesting points here. The problem of who to take their findings to had been raised earlier in the story and Larry had already suggested going to see Inspector Jenks as he was known to his father. That was the first mention of the Inspector's name and in the following account of how the 'big fisherman' helps them to a satisfactory conclusion at Goon's police station the Inspector's surname is only mentioned one further time. Perhaps Enid was being a bit cagey as to whether the real Inspector would permit the use of a character's name that was similar to his own.
The other point is that when the Inspector's face first appears above the rim of the high riverbank it is described as 'a large round face'. The overall impression given throughout the series is that the Inspector has a tall sturdy appearance, not dissimilar to Bill Cunningham in the 'Adventure' series, yet the photo of the real Inspector — Stephen Jennings — which appears in The Story of My Life indeed reveals a large round face with a distinctive double chin!
As an aside there appears to be some discrepancy as to whether the real Inspector's name was Jennings or Jenkins. I have used the former because it is the name Barbara Stoney uses in Enid's biography, but I note Imogen Smallwood amongst others uses the latter, so perhaps readers of this article many supply the true answer.
Overall this was an excellently plotted debut tale of the Find-Outers and boded well for what was to follow. All the individual characters of the Find-Outers and Dog, Goon, Inspector Jenks and Pip's mother have been firmly established as has the modus operandi for solving a mystery.
Robert Houghton's Review
The first book of the fifteen is
The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage and it is also one of the best of the series. Published in 1943, it is easy to see why her readers demanded a sequel, and another and another, as so often happened with the books that turned into series. It is an intriguing mystery revolving around an old professor's workroom, (not actually a cottage after all), which conveniently goes up in smoke while he is supposedly away on business. Enid introduces the characters straight away, starting with Pip and Bets, and then bringing in Larry and Daisy. Fatty, or Frederick, is not introduced until the end of the first chapter. I don't know if it was Enid's intention to make Fatty the main character at this point or not, but all the way through the book she clearly tries to force him into a supporting role, even making Larry the head of the Find-Outers in the first instance. Even in the second book, Larry is still named as the head, but by the third and fourth books it becomes clear that no-one but Fatty has ever really been the leader all along. Incidentally, it is Pip who first gives Fatty his nickname. On being told by the pompous fat boy that his name is Frederick Algernon Trotteville, Pip notes the initials; F.A.T. and a legend is born!!
Several ingredients of this first book were to become regular features of the series as a whole, although in this first mystery Fatty has no thoughts of disguises or any of the other tricks and talents he acquires later on. A tramp features quite heavily and assorted tramps, gypsies and all sorts of scruffy individuals were to crop up every now and then throughout the series. Also footprint clues and bits of cloth snagged on nails. 'Old Clear Orf' (P.C. Theophilus Goon, to give him his official title), features in a rather less exaggerated form in this mystery and is not yet QUITE the clown that he was later to become.
As in many of the books that were to follow, Bets spills out all their detective work to the professor and thus helps to solve the crime. The professor tells them not to meddle — to leave the detecting to the police and ushers them to the door. Just then, a fleet of aeroplanes flies past. The professor mentions that he saw them the other day, too, and with this statement the mystery is solved. The planes flew over on the day of the fire, proving that the professor wasn't in London as he'd told the police, but was in the locality — starting the fire himself for reasons of insurance. This in itself is quite an adult theme, and quite a surprising one to find in a book written for children. It is the book's main strength that the victim also turns out to be the villain.
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