Five on a Treasure Island
and
Blyton’s Summer reads
The Mystery of the Missing Man is the thirteenth Five Find Outers mystery, and involves well, a missing man! The police are after him, and therefore so is Fatty and the other Find-Outers. This is complicated by the Trottevilles having guests: Eunice, who could literally give Fatty a run for his money, and her father who is a beetle-lover and in town for a beetle conference. Somehow all these elements collide and yet the mystery still gets solved.
Uncle Quentin is what you might call a stroppy scientist, if that was a common phrase. He’s not quite a mad scientist – he’s too serious and neatly turned out, and he doesn’t do wild experiments or anything. He does work very hard, though, and expect near silence and peace for his work. That’s a little hard to come by when you have four children and an excitable dog in the house, so he is prone to outbursts and door-slamming when he is interrupted. He isn’t all bad though, he is generous with what he has and only works so hard to provide for his family. If you can get past his hot temper, he is actually quite fair and reasonable most of the time.
Fiona
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worldofblyton
World of Blyton 
“Missing Man” is incredibly funny. I’m looking forward to your review, Fiona.
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I grew up reading many of Enid Blytons stories – ‘Five on Treasure Island’ perhaps being my favourite. I later revisited Kirrin Island when I read the Famous Five series to my own children Bea now 21 and Hugo 23. They even had a go at the computer game – which seemed quite clever but they got bored with it quite quickly unlike the stories. We also read the first few books in the ‘Five Find Outers’ Series. Hugo especially liked Fatty and old ‘Clear Orf ’ was always fun. Finally as they reached their teens they began to grow out of them and started reading Harry Potter. Bea turned to ‘Buffy’ while Hugo moved on to Anthony Horowitz and Alex Rider. However they still had an old favourite to which they used to listen while getting off to sleep when we went camping and that was I think the last book in the Secret Seven Series ‘Fun For The Secret Seven’ and old Brownie the horse.
However I do have to own up and say that my favourite children’s book of all time was ‘The Fourth Key’ by Malcolm Saville published in 1957 – the last story I think in his ‘Michael and Mary’ Series – a story about how three friends came across Bee-Eaters “a mile or two from the South Downs” in Sussex at the end of July 1955 and their efforts and ensuing adventures in protecting them. Based on fact as many of his stories, as in 1955 Bee-eater successfully bred in Streat Sand Quarry Sussex – the first time since an abortive attempt in 1920. This book set me on a lifetime hobby of watching birds which I still enjoy today.
This book now seems to be quite rare and sought after as a Collectors Item with prices reaching £70-80!
I enjoy your posts so keep up the good work. I must dig out some of my old copies to read again.
Clive
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Thank you for the lovely comment, Clive. My little boy is still a baby but I hope, like your children, he will enjoy Blyton’s books too. I started watching and reading Buffy as a teen, but I didn’t start on Harry Potter until my mid twenties (and well after the hype first started!). I have read most of Malcolm Saville’s Lone Pine books, but none of his others yet. At £70 I might have to give your favourite a miss though!
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Thank you, in turn, for your lovely comment Fiona. I’ve just remembered we also had a video (VHS) of a play – more of a farce really – which seems to have been based on ‘Five Go Adventuring Again’!
Clive
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