The Mystery of the Missing Man

Enid Blyton's The Mystery of the Missing Man is a Find-Outers story for 9 year olds where Fatty's biggest problem, to begin with, is a house guest called Eunice.

What happens

It's the Easter holidays and Fatty is slimming. He says it's for the school tennis team. It isn't going well, because he forgets all about it the moment a bun comes near him.

Then comes the bad news. A school friend of his father's is coming to stay for a conference about beetles. And he's bringing his daughter.

Eunice is loud, bossy and tremendously sure of herself. She won't call him Fatty. She orders Buster to heel. And she follows Frederick EVERYWHERE (he takes up cross-country running just to get away from her).

Fatty is used to being the cleverest person in any room. Watching somebody talk right over him is very funny, and the others can hardly believe their eyes.

Then it gets worse. Fatty hides in his shed dressed as a dirty old tramp, and Eunice spots him through the keyhole. She screams for help, Mr Goon the policeman happens to be passing, and Fatty has to run for it in his whiskers.

By the next morning Goon has turned that tramp into a fierce and violent stranger. So when a Chief Inspector calls to warn him about a dangerous escaped prisoner who's clever at disguises, guess who Goon thinks he's already seen?

It's a lovely muddle to be in on. Your reader knows exactly who that tramp was, and nobody else in Peterswood does.

This is book thirteen in the series, so the shed full of disguises and the long war with Goon come with plenty of history behind them.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The jokes about weight run right through this one. Fatty is trying to slim, Eunice is described as stout and hefty, and Larry reckons she could send Fatty flying. The friends are pretty unkind about her behind her back too. A child who gets comments about their size might find that a bit much.

Others will probably just enjoy the battle of wills. And Eunice isn't all bad (Fatty's mother thinks she's wonderful).

What to read next

If your reader likes a muddle on a railway platform, The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage starts with the same five friends waiting for Fatty's train and a little white poodle causing chaos.