The Mystery of the Hidden House

In this sixth entry in her fifteen-book Five Find-Outers and Dog series, originally published in 1948, Enid Blyton returns to the story of Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets, who (together with Buster the dog) spend their school-breaks solving mysteries. When Pip and Bets, and Larry and Daisy, are all forbidden to "look for mysteries" by their respective parents, it seems as if the children will pass a very boring holiday. But the arrival of Ern, nephew to Peterswood's very own police bobby, Mr. Goon, provides an unexpected source of amusement. As the Find-Outers set out to lead Ern (and Mr. Goon) into a fake mystery, they are surprised to discover that they have stumbled onto a real one...

Read as part of an ongoing project to show more familiarize myself with the work of Enid Blyton, who, despite being virtually unknown here in the United States, is the sixth most popular author in the world, The Mystery of the Hidden House was very much in the style of the preceding five books in the Five Find-Outers series. The writing is somewhat choppy, and the plot shallow and conveniently resolved, but it "reads" quickly, and will appeal to young fans of series-work.

That said, although I have erred on the side of generosity with the previous books, awarding them between two and a half and three stars, I opted for the two-star rating here. This sixth title has all the flaws and virtues of the others, but it also has a much stronger dose of classism, in the characterization of Ern. Notions of class are never entirely absent from the series, as witnessed by the contrast between the slow-witted Mr. Goon and the friendly, "high-up" Inspector Jenks. Even the sympathetic working-class characters - whether it's under-gardener Luke in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat, or maid Gladys in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters - are depicted as somewhat simple. But the centrality of Ern to the plot here means that the reader has the "simplicity" of the working class before her eyes continuously. Reading about how Fatty and the other Find-Outers made fun of Ern's pronunciation, or giggled at his stupidity, soon grew tiresome. show less

This Five Find-Outers novel introduces a new character, Ern, who is Mr Goon's nephew. The rivalry between the find-outers and Mr. Goon is the heart of this series, along with the mysteries investigated. Ern, a big and not very bright boy, is not an antagonist here, but sort of an unwitting ally of the find-outers. As always, a lot of the fun is the children outsmarting and misleading the unpleasant policeman. In this case, they use Ern to misinform his uncle, by feeding him false information that the overeager Mr Goon is sure to hear about, as he spies and extorts the information from poor Ern.

The mystery itself was less interesting to me than the shenanigans involving Mr Goon and Ern. After all, there's not a lot of investigating and show more making deductions from the clues. The mystery basically falls into their laps accidentally. Still, I had a good time. Let's face it, Mr Goon, Ern and Fatty are hilarious when they interact. Curiously, the ending turned into an adventure rather than a mystery, reminding me of the situations the famous five get themselves into.

I did feel sorry for Ern, though. Between his unsympathetic uncle (who uses corporal punishment on him several times in this novel) and the find-outers pretending to take him into his confidence but actually using him and covertly laughing at him... I was glad he distinguished himself in the end. show less

I read it while I was in the hospital with pneumonia.I loved this book so much since it was the only thing I had close to entertainment.Still,it was cool!

Red

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