The Rat-a-tat Mystery

The fifth of the six Barney mysteries - Barney, former circus boy, having found his father at the end of the Rub-a-dub mystery, can now invite his friends Roger, Diana and their orphaned cousin Snubby to his grandmother's country cottage for some winter fun. However Rat-a-tat house provides more than just tobogganing and skating, once again the four friends are plunged into another mystery. As with the other titles in the series there's an emphasis on sibling banter, games, fun and food and the actual mystery only starts well into the book. Looney (Snubby's spaniel) and Miranda (Barney's monkey) reprise their roles for comic relief and we have another "amusingly" named servant in Mrs Tickle - another Blyton cliche. Whilst there is some show more of Blyton's gender stereotyping at least the boys also have chores and pitch in to help run the house when they are snowbound. We are now into the 1950s and the denouement involves Barney's father and the police arriving by helicopter! A fun addition to the series. show less

I had heard that the two last books of the Barney Mysteries series were not as good as the first four ones. After reading this one, I don't think there was so much difference. It is a bit shorter, and the mystery had some childish elements (more childish than usual in Enid Blyton books, I mean). There's the snowman apparently moving and looking through the windows... I have read a review comparing this with a Scooby Doo adventure, and there's some of that, but overall it's not bad.

I was glad to see Barney happy with his family, after finally finding his father. That was nice, and it contrasted with Roger and Diana's father, who is at his most indifferent and unsympathetic towards his own children and his orphaned nephew. Barney's show more family was nicer, including his grandmother. Apparently, there was a disconnect between how that grandmother had been described in the past (Barney thought she was the cause his mother ran away). It may be that the old lady has changed or, more likely, Blyton forgot how she had described her.

The mystery was short, but it wasn't uninteresting, being a bit original (no secret passages this time). It did finish a bit abruptly, as we don't even get to see the bad guys apprehended.

Perhaps not the most elaborate or inspired of Blyton's books, but entertaining enough and a solid entry in the series. show less

Novels/novelettes

Novels/novelettes

9788423998906

1967 dustjacket

¿Quién llama a la puerta en medio de la noche? Nabé, Roger, Diana y Chatín investigan y encuentran huellas en la nieve, pero no hay nadie a la vista. La señora Cosqui les dice que es una advertencia, la última vez que se escuchó en Villa Rat-a-Tat fue hace cien años. ¿Puede esto tener algo que ver con el muñeco de nieve que creyó ver espiándola a través de la ventana? Los cuatro amigos están determinados a solucionar el rompecabezas, pero cuando Chatín hace de detective, desaparece misteriosamente...