The Five Find-Outers

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The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (1944)

The Five Find-Outers and Dog (not to be confused with The Famous Five), also known as the Enid Blyton Mystery Series, 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, close to Marlow, Buckinghamshire, the children encounter a mystery every school holiday, always solving the puzzle before Mr Goon, the village policeman, much to his annoyance.

1 Characters
2 Timeline
3 Books
4 External links

[edit] Characters

Fatty (Frederick Algernon Trotteville) – the leader of the five. He was given the nickname Fatty by the other children because of his initials (F.A.T.) and his stout build. An only child, he receives generous amounts of pocket money from his parents and wealthy relatives. His wealth causes some friction with the other children, especially Pip, 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, grease-paint, cheek-pads, false teeth and other items in his shed at the bottom of the garden. Fatty is a skilled orator and poet, and able to create poetry ad-lib. He always comes top of his form at school and his ambition when he grows up is to become a detective.
Larry (Lawrence Daykin) – the eldest of the five and was the original leader of the Five Find-Outers, passing the role to Fatty (somewhat reluctantly) after the second mystery. Fatty however justifies his new role by demonstrating the use of invisible writing and escaping from a closed room.
Daisy (Margaret Daykin) – Larry's younger sister. Creating the Five Find-Outers was Daisy's idea.
Pip (Philip Hilton) – the same age as Daisy.
Bets (Elizabeth Hilton) – Pip's young sister, and the youngest of the Five Find-Outers. She adores Fatty and he is very fond of her. 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 in fact the Hiltons forbid Pip and Bets from getting involved in mysteries. Bets is often the first to spot vital clues and also tends to see through Fatty's disguises before anyone else.
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.

Other recurring characters are:

Theophilus Goon (or Mr Goon as he is known) – the village policeman, who is outwitted by the five children in every 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" (instead of clear off). Consequently, the children have given him the nick name "Clear-Orf".
Ern Goon (short for Ernest) – Mr. Goon's nephew. Ern is introduced in the book Mystery of the Hidden House. Ern is a great lover of poetry, or 'portry' as he calls it, and is a great admirer of Fatty. Ern has two twin brothers, Sid and Perce. Sid has a fondness for toffee, so much so that he has trouble speaking or being understood.
Inspector (then Chief Inspector, then Superintendent) Jenks – the head of the local police department. Because the Five are resented by Mr Goon, the children always telephone 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 while fishing.

[edit] Timeline

At the beginning of the series, Larry is 13, Fatty, Pip and Daisy are 12, and Bets is 8. Bets goes to day school, whereas all the others go to boarding school. The series spans across school holidays beginning with the Easter holidays and cycles through Summer and Christmas holidays. During all holidays the children solve a mystery till Mystery of the Invisible Thief. However there is a break here. After this the next mystery is in the next summer holidays.