Plot
Luke, a friend of the Five Find-Outers, is working in Lady Candling's garden when her valuable Siamese cat is stolen. The Five Find-Outers and Dog work to solve the case.
It all takes place next door to Pip and Bets Hilton, when Lady Candling's prize cat, Dark Queen (a valuable Siamese), disappears right under the nose of Luke, the gardener's help. Mr Tupping, (the gardener), is a nasty piece of work and the children immediately decide it would be great if he were the thief! But how could he be, if he wasn't even there when Dark Queen was stolen? All the evidence points to poor young Luke, Mr Tupping's helper, but the Find-Outers simply can't believe Luke is the thief.
There are a couple of other possible suspects in Lady Candling's staff, such as Miss Harmer the cat handler, and Miss Trimble, who takes care of the roses. They're all pretty sure it was Mr Tupping... but how on earth did he do it? The answer to the mystery is very simple and pretty clever. Mr Tupping stole Dark Queen in the morning, then painted a small patch of cream-colored paint to another cat's tail to disguise it as Dark Queen, whose tail was bitten by another cat, resulting in the creamy patch on its tail. Then he made Luke work beside the cage all day, so that he could be the top suspect of the case. In the afternoon, Mr Tupping hopped into the cage, rubbed the paint off the cat's tail with a rag soaked in turps, and then announced Dark Queen was gone! At last, Mr Tupping is caught and shows that he had been mixed up with dog thieving cases before.
Enid Mary Blyton was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been translated into ninety languages. As of June 2019, Blyton held 4th place for the most translated author. She wrote on a wide range of topics, including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives. She is best remembered for her Noddy, Famous Five, Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers, and Malory Towers books, although she also wrote many others, including; St. Clare's, The Naughtiest Girl, and The Faraway Tree series.
The Secret Seven or Secret Seven Society is a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton and based on the publisher’s children. They appear in one of several adolescent detective series which Blyton wrote.
The Five Find-Outers and Dog, also known as The Five Find-Outers, is a series of children's mystery books written by Enid Blyton. The first was published in 1943 and the last in 1961. Set in the fictitious village of Peterswood based on Bourne End, close to Marlow, Buckinghamshire, the children Fatty, who is the leader of the team, Larry, Pip, Daisy, Bets and Buster, Fatty's dog, encounter a mystery almost every school holiday, always solving the puzzle before Mr Goon, the unpleasant village policeman, much to his annoyance.
Noddy is an English character created by English children's author Enid Blyton. Noddy first appeared in a book series published between 1949 and 1963, illustrated by the Dutch artist Harmsen van der Beek from 1949 until his death in 1953, after which the work was continued by Peter Wienk. Television shows based on the character have run on British television from 1955 to 2020.
The Mystery of Holly Lane is a 1953 children's mystery novel by English author Enid Blyton, and the eleventh book in the Five Find-Outers series.
Five Go Adventuring Again is the second book in the Famous Five series by the British author, Enid Blyton.
The Mystery of Banshee Towers by Enid Blyton is the last children's mystery novel in a series of fifteen known collectively as The Five Find-Outers and Dog. The series ran for eighteen years, from 1943 to 1961.
This is a list of 762 books by Enid Blyton (1897–1968), an English children's writer who also wrote under the pseudonym of Mary Pollock. She was one of the most successful children's storytellers of the 20th century.
The Mystery of the Invisible Thief is a novel written by Enid Blyton. It is the eighth in the popular The Five Find-Outers children's mystery series. It was published in 1950.
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters was the fourth book in Enid Blyton's The Five Find-Outers children's mystery series. The novel was published in 1946 by Methuen and illustrated by Joseph Abbey.
The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage is the first in the Five Find-Outers series of children's mystery novels by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1943 and continues to be frequently reissued.
Five on a Hike Together is the tenth novel in the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1951.
Five Have a Mystery to Solve is the 20th novel in the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1962. As the penultimate novel in the Famous Five series, it follows the usual formula of finding secret passages, drinking ginger beer, hunting treasure, and foiling evil-doers.
The Mystery of the Hidden House is the sixth in the series of Five Find-Outers children's mystery novels by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1948 by Methuen and was illustrated by Joseph Abbey.
The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat, published 1949, is the seventh novel in the Five Find-Outers children's mystery series written by Enid Blyton.
The Mystery of the Missing Man, published 1956, is the thirteenth novel in the children's mystery series The Five Find-Outers, written by Enid Blyton and originally illustrated by Lilian Buchanan.
The Mystery of the Vanished Prince, published 1951, is the ninth novel in the Five Find-Outers series of children's mysteries, written by Enid Blyton.
The Mystery of the Strange Messages is a children's mystery novel written by Enid Blyton and published in 1957. It is the fourteenth book in the Five Find-Outers series featuring Fatty, Pip, Larry, Daisy, Bets and Buster the Scottie dog, as well as Mr Goon and his nephew Ern.
The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is a children's mystery novel written by Enid Blyton and published in 1952. It is the tenth book of The Five Find-Outers series.
The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage is a 1954 children's mystery novel written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Treyer Evans. It is the twelfth book in the Five Find-Outers series.
