Sid and PerceвЂ™s antics are brought in, and with it some laughs, though they themselves donвЂ™t make an appearance. On the foodmeter, this one was average, there was food, plenty, but not overflowing. There was disguising of course, though only once, and actual investigating by all the findouters. The solution was among the more interesting ones and was rather enjoyable. Bets this time has some good ideas but one major clue comes from Ern and his attempts at writing porвЂ™try (I always forget that all his poetry begins with вЂThe Poor OldвЂ™ or вЂPore OldвЂ™ пЃЉ) and Ern indeed has a very active role in this one, helping the findouters and Fatty when he is needed the most, and proving himself brave, loyal, and clever.

Of course, it was him that put together everything at the end. The mystery was one of the more interesting ones with as I said a little more complicated than it seems at first and it was fun to see how Fatty worked the whole thing out. The opening was different from the usual (one or the other of the children having to be received from the station, holidays with nothing to do)вЂ•this one begins with Goon puzzling over the anonymous notes and takes off from there. While the updated text, as I said, was jarring, the story itself was interested. GrrrrвЂ¦.ДЄpart from the edition, Blyton herself made a bit of a mistake in this one, with Mrs Trotteville claiming that sheвЂ™s been living in Peterswood from nineteen years, when she and her family only moved here in book 2 of the seriesвЂ•and if it were indeed nineteen years since then, our findouters ought to have been in their thirties now пЃЉД«ut anyway, now finally the story itself. A third change that stood out was all the references to вЂfat boyвЂ™ which is what Goon does call Fatty are changed to вЂbig boyвЂ™вЂ•this I get why it was changed but for one, it wasnвЂ™t used in the sense that it is understood today (something else that children today canвЂ™t understand, apparentlyвЂ•if we go by the changes), and two, it was meant to be nasty, which вЂbig boyвЂ™ simply doesnвЂ™t convey. Such pointless changes simply ruin the book for me, it loses its sense of time and place, which is part of its value. For instance, Fatty always called his parents вЂmotherвЂ™ and вЂfatherвЂ™вЂ•which has been changed here to вЂmummyвЂ™ and вЂdaddyвЂ™вЂ•why? Do children today not know what вЂmotherвЂ™ and вЂfatherвЂ™ means, or is it so hard to understand that perhaps in the past, people addressed their parents differently? Elsewhere вЂdaily womanвЂ™ becomes вЂcleaning ladyвЂ™вЂ•again something that neednвЂ™t have been changed, anyone can easily look it upвЂ•isnвЂ™t that the point of books (or one of the points, at any rate) that you learn new thingsвЂ• new words/expressions, new things about other places and cultures, about your own culture/ country, about the past. Totally my fault, but somehow, I bought a new edition (2011) of this one, something I actively avoid doing usually, and every change they madeвЂ•pointless in my view (except may be one, but even that didnвЂ™t make sense) jarred. Like in the Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage, Ern takes on a more active role in this one and does himself proud.Д«efore I get to my reactions to the actual book itself, I have to rant about the updated eds. And so the Findouters start off on another exciting mystery, this one with plenty of hidden secrets and also more to it than first meets the eye. Goon too soon realises that it wasnвЂ™t the findouters who are playing a trick and enlists ErnвЂ™s helpвЂ•actually hires him to help. Goon immediately suspects Fatty and goes to warn off the findouters but this turns out to be a blessing in disguise for our five who have no case to solve (as usual) in the holidays.

Nobody is seen leaving the notes but they appear all over GoonвЂ™s house. The notes are anonymous and composed of words/letters cut out of newspapers and magazines. This time though, the target is not random people around Peterswood but a certain Mr Smith against whom they are directed and Mr Goon to whom all the notes are addressed.

This is the second of the findouters cases to involve mysterious letters, the first being the Mystery of the Spiteful Letters.

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