The Mystery of the Missing Necklace

The fifth installment of Enid Blyton's Five Find-Outers and Dog series, in which a group of children solve mysteries during their school holidays, The Mystery of the Missing Necklace follows Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, and Bets (together with Buster the dog) as they spend their summer trying to catch a ring of jewel thiefs. Determined to stay one step ahead of Mr. Goon - the village police bobby and the children's nemesis - the Find-Outers find themselves relying more and more on Fatty's extraordinary disguises. But will their clever leader get in over his head...?

I continue to enjoy this juvenile mystery series, despite the paper-thin plots and formulaic prose, and particularly relish the Find-Outers' hilarious conflicts with old "Clear show more Orf," the nickname given to Mr. Goon. As mentioned in previous reviews, Blyton has created engaging, well-developed characters in Fatty and Bets, although I still feel that Larry, Daisy and Pip are underutilized. All in all, this was another enjoyable contribution to my education in all things Blyton, and an inducement to continue with this series. show less

A good Five-Find-Outers mystery. I have mentioned before how I don't enjoy this series as much as the Famous Five or the Adventure series, but it's due to my personal preference. With the more adventure-oriented series, I enjoy the variety of settings and the freedom and independence the children have to organize their holidays on their own. The Find-Outers, at least so far, operate in their own town, where they live with their parents, which is more realistic for a band of children but less fanciful and fun.

However, this series offers quite good mysteries for children, with their investigations, clues and deductions. I also enjoy the children's battle against Mr. Goon, the unfriendly local policeman. And, of course, Fatty's costumes show more and the resulting confusion are always fun. The Find-Outers outwitting Mr. Goon is always a childlike pleasure. As an adult I feel a bit sorry for Mr. Goon, even if he is rather boorish. Here he deserved all he got, though, after leaving Fatty locked in that cupboard.

In this one, watching suspects and fooling them (and Mr. Goon, of course!) with disguises plays a big role in the story, rather than interrogating witnesses or physically looking for clues. It has a memorable scene, with the criminal's meeting attended by two different spies, unbeknownst to each other. show less

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En tjuvliga härjar i trakten!
De fem deckarna - Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip och Bets - har äntligen fått ett nytt mysterium att ägna sig åt.
Vem är egentligen Nummer 3? Vem äger cykeln med signalhornet? Och vem stal halsbandet?
De får snart upp ett spår. Fatty klär ut sig till luffare - och nu blir det farligt. Men Fatty är inte ensam om att förklä sig. Konstapel Goon har också varit på kurs!