Secret Seven Mystery

The Secret Seven #9

by Enid Blyton

U «Sekretnoj semjorki» novoe delo. Papa Pitera i Dzhanet, prochitav zametku v mestnoj gazete, podkinul im ideju razyskat shkolnitsu, obvinjaemuju v krazhe deneg. Junye syschiki s entuziazmom nachinajut rassledovanie.

Genres: Childrens, Mystery, Adventure, Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Novels

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

See also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.

Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.

Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

See also her pen name Mary Pollock

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always used to wonder, after finishing each Secret Seven book, how two children born in the same family and living in the same environment become a polar opposite of each other. It is Jack and Susie who prompted me to think in such a way.

In this book, Susie is back with her usual mischief. The Seven deals with a case of a missing girl and missing money in this book.
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[Sandra Nedopričljivica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nastavite se družiti s Peterom, Janet, Jackom, Barbarom, Pam, Colinom i Georgeom.Zajedno, oni su Sedam tajanstvenih. Spremni su riješiti sve tajne, u bilo koje vrijeme. Jedna je djevojčica tajanstveno nestala i njena je obitelj izvan sebe od brige. Mogu li mali detektivi iz družine Sedam tajanstvenih slijediti tragove i naći djevojčicu ili će ih Susie, Jackova napasna sestra, preduhitriti?

[Shrav · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm 25 years old and I still enjoy The Secret Seven. Enough said.

[Noor · Rating 4 out of 5]

بيتر ، جانيت ، جاك ، جورج ، بام، بربارا و كولين مع كلبهم سكامبر يجتمعوا ثانية بمغامرة جديدة ... هذه المرة جاءت المغامرة من الاب الذي تولى أخبار صغيريه بيتر و جانيت بقضية فتاة اتُهمت بالسرقة و هربت من المدرسة و يفُترض انها شوهدت بالقرب من منزل جدتها لذا كانت تلك نقطة الانطلاق ... إختفاء متكرر للطعام ليلا وضعهم في حيرة من أمرهم خاصة و ان الشرطة تراقب مداخل منزل الجدة و لا يمكن للفتاة العبور بسهولة من أمامهم فيستمر الأمر على هذا الحال حتى وصول شقيقها جارلس من فرنسا حينها يتمكن بيتر من كشف خيوط القضية و يالها من مفاجأة تلك التي سيكتشفها !
إنيد بلايتون ، التي عُرفت بكونها مخترعة لشخصيات المغامرين الخمسة و التي تم تعريبها لاحقا بقلم الراحل محمود سالم ثم تم إضافة إعداد اخرى عربية تماما بقلمه ، نجدها في سلسلة المغامرين السبعة تمارس نفس الاسلوب الساحر مع اكتشافات الصغار و لكنها جعلت منهم سبع أشخاص و كلبهم و هي بذلك زادت في التحدي و مررت لنا فكرة مفادها ان الصغار بمنطقهم المشاغب مهما بلغوا من العدد فلهم من القدرة ما تمكنهم من صنع عالم جميل يمكن أن يتشكل للمرء من خلاله الرفقة الرائعة ...

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Secret Seven search for a missing girl
21 October 2014

Unlike many of the other Secret Seven books that I have read, this one pretty much launches straight into the adventure. The reason is probably because this one is a little more complex than a lot of the other adventures where Blyton seems to use the beginning as a sort of filler for a much shorter story (though as I think about the previous one, Three Cheers Secret Seven, the filler sets the scene for the adventure). Right from page one the Secret Seven are given a mystery by their Dad to solve, namely that a young girl has gone missing after some money was stolen from her teacher, and it is up to the Secret Seven to find her.
There is a further difference with this book as the mystery is public knowledge rather than them stumbling onto something that nobody else knows about. The police are also actively involved in attempting to find the girl (as is Susie when she discovers the mystery – which is interesting because Susie claims that she has solved it, but we never find out if she actually had solved the mystery, or was simply playing games as she is want to do).
It is difficult to know what to write about these books this far into the series because while they are not necessarily the same, it feels difficult to actually get all that much more out of the story without simply giving a synopsis (which I won't do because that would give too much away). However, I am not sure whether this is a book where I could really delve into the issue of youth homelessness and street kids. Mind you, it was written in 1957, and the impression that we get is that youth homelessness was something that wasn't really written about, or even discussed.
What we have here are upper middle class children solving mysteries in an upper middle class world. While most of them involve criminal elements piercing this world, and the children putting an stop to these nefarious deeds, so as to maintain the illusion of tranquillity in the world, we don't see much beyond this few characters. Even our run-away (who is innocent, but we suspect that anyway) is a member of the upper middle class, and what the Secret Seven are in effect doing is going out to clear her name (even though they don't realise it at first). Even while Susie may be annoying, she is still a member of this class, so while she may be spiteful and prone to playing tricks on the Secret Seven, there is still that element of goodness about her.
Thus, being a child and being immersed in such stories gives us the picture of a tranquil world that is only occasionally pierced by criminal elements. Here the children are allowed to not only run around their town and the surrounding countryside, but they are also able to confront and challenge the criminal element with no real danger. Even then, some of these elements have innocent purposes anyway, such as in Three Cheer's Secret Seven, where the criminal activity ended up having a noble purpose (and I won't say what that was because I didn't say that in my commentary of that book).
So, it is interesting contemplating on the world of Enid Blyton's mysteries because the the world seems to be a good world with good people that is only occasionally affected by bad elements. I guess that is one of the reasons why the older generation looks back at the bygone era and moans about how bad the world has become when in reality that bygone era was really only an illusion.

[Atharva Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secret Seven Book 9
*Secret Seven Mystery*
Enid Blyton does it yet again! I'm so glad to read this SS story as it does not have the monotonous robbery crimes, instead it has a sweet and a happy ending similar to the last one and the person who does a small crime is a juvenile and a jealous school girl. The secret seven do not exactly solve the complete mystery and it was just some kind of absent minded search for a trail but in the end Peter identifies our lost girl very well thanks to her brother Charles. Comparatively, this book was generously written with a brilliant beginning and a wonderful end. The interval was dull and consisted of blind search and pranks by Susie. Even the idea if horses and stable is entertaining. A wonderful and a unique read from the Secret Seven Mystery Series. Blyton delivers simple and original ideas. Nice Reading!

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei. Embora esta não seja uma das minhas coleções favoritas da autora, já que os personagens, sobretudo o Peter, não me cativam, foi um bom livro e um bom mistério, se bem que um pouco previsível.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5 year old son told me, after we finished reading this book tonight, that when he is ten he will find some friends and be the exciting eight. We are really enjoying reading this series together.

I particularly liked this one because I was surprised at the end. It follows the usual formula and I had worked out most of the mystery, but there was an extra twist that I didn't see coming.

[Inaya Mudgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The secret 7mystery is a story in which a runaway girl is found by the secret seven it took a lot of time but they found the girl it turns out that on the stable boy was just Elizabeth marry whelimina sonning

[C Riya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encontré este middle-grade en una caja de libros viejos de mi abuelo. Me hubiese gustado leerlo cuando era chica, pero aún así lo disfruté mucho.

[Mario A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading these still keeps me guessing until the end of the book. Enid Blyton's knows how to keep the reader engaged until the end, in this case the intended reader would be an early to late teen.

Took about an hour to complete it as a 29 year old with fair reading skills.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice instalment in the series this one, I'm gonna give it three stars. I've knocked a stars few off for being predictably misogynistic, added a few for being 'quintessentially british' and all that. I DID NOT give it stars for being heartwarming and making me feel all smiley inside... okay I did but not that many.

It's a very simple; the Seven go hunting for a girl who has run away after stealing some money from school. Perceptive reader that I am immediately doubts the validity of these reports of thievery, but I suspend my disbelief long enough for the seven to stumble into a mysterious stable boy who knows a little too much about the missing girl and IS CLEARLY A TRANSVESTITE. I'm very perceptive as I say, but all the twists to this book were very obvious. Maybe I should inhabit the mind of a child. I'm trying it now, oh so few responsibilities.

I love the leafy aesthetics of these books. In this one the seven visit Mrs Sonning who lives in Bramble Cottage on Blackberry Lane. So idyllic.

I don't love the continual sidelining of the female characters.
"'You always leave us out of these night adventures' complained Janet." Finally someone acknowledges what I have been pointing out all along! Oh Janet, you are so self aware. Just wait about forty years or so and feminism's gonna come along and Carol Ann Duffy will liberate you all. Hey maybe these stories are an extended, whimsical Carol Ann Duffy origin story. Who knew she had such picturesque roots.

[Maria Carmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always interesting to revisit this special ambiance of one's childhood...
One thing is true: In those days, people really had happier childhoods, closer to nature and enjoying a lot more freedom. On the other hand, youth did contribute to their families and surroundings, either by taking care of certain tasks, or by voluntary work. Some of this spirit would be quite welcome nowadays...
Not want to write any spoilers, let's just say that this is one of the most curious adventures of the Seven. Sometimes, the truth is in front of our eyes and we do not see it. Sometimes, the best way to be hidden is in front of everybody.
Cheers.

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon, 10 January 2020.

[Anagha S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enid Blyton is an all-time children's novel writer of mine. The entire Secret Seven series was always so entertaining & most of all, the food described in it makes me feel pangs of hunger as I read it because it's been written so well. Got back to this book after a long while and safe to say, Enid's lovely characters still make me smile.

[Manasa J]

I loved the plot twist. Usually I always see through the plot twist in these books but it is the first time I couldn't figure out where Elizabeth was hiding.

[Midnight Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ofcourse a bunch of kids found a missing girl. Completely logical 😄

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Secret Seven Mystery, the ninth instalment of Enid Blyton’s increasingly formulaic series, the Secret Seven once again find themselves investigating a case that, in the real world, would have been best left to the professionals. But of course, why leave things to competent adults when you can have seven children stumble their way through an investigation, somehow cracking a case that the entire police force can’t seem to handle?

This time, the mystery involves a girl named Elizabeth Sonning, who disappears from her boarding school after being falsely accused of stealing money. Naturally, the police are called in, but because Blyton can’t let the authorities outshine her young detectives, the Secret Seven quickly get involved. The police, we’re told, are doing what they can—staking out Elizabeth’s grandmother’s house, sending messages to Elizabeth’s brother Charles in France, and probably wishing the Secret Seven would stop sticking their noses in police business. But none of their formal efforts seem to bear fruit because, let’s face it, in Blyton’s world, police work is hopeless without a gaggle of children running around pointing out the obvious.

Elizabeth, proving she’s far cleverer than anyone in the Seven would give her credit for, cuts her hair short and pretends to be a boy named “Tom.” Because in the world of Secret Seven, no girl is ever expected to be resourceful enough to pull off such a disguise. Meanwhile, the police are busy staking out the wrong places and alerting Charles, who is dragged back from France for a family emergency that probably could have been solved by a single competent adult in the village.

Enter the Secret Seven—Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, and Colin—who, despite being less experienced than the police, feel absolutely certain they can do a better job of finding Elizabeth. They start poking around, sniffing out clues with all the subtlety of a dog in a butcher shop. Their ace detective work? They happen to notice a stable-boy named “Tom” at Warners, who doesn’t quite fit in. Of course, no one in the group immediately realises that “Tom” is Elizabeth in disguise because the Seven are too busy congratulating themselves on having spotted a mildly suspicious gas fire in their last adventure.

Peter—being the self-appointed Sherlock Holmes of this gang—finally begins to put two and two together after Charles arrives from France. Not because he’s a genius or anything, but because even he can’t ignore how much “Tom” resembles Charles. Yet, instead of suspecting something straight away, Peter dithers about in the usual fashion, letting Blyton stretch the story out for another few pages before the inevitable “aha!” moment finally arrives.

In a twist that’s less surprising and more groan-inducing, the Seven finally realise that Tom is Elizabeth, master of disguise. The fact that no one in the police force—or the Secret Seven, for that matter—figured this out sooner is a testament to just how little attention anyone in this story seems to pay. And when the truth does come out, it’s wrapped up with a neat little bow, as always. The real thief is revealed (not Elizabeth, of course), and she’s able to return home, her reputation restored, all thanks to a combination of police work and a bit of lucky child-detective meddling.

To add insult to injury, Peter and the boys, as usual, take all the credit for “solving” the case, while Janet and the other girls are relegated to roles more suited to minor bystanders than actual contributors. And, of course, Susie—who once again misses out on the action simply because she’s not part of the exclusive club. Perhaps the most glaring mystery in this series is why Blyton never gave Susie her own detective series; she’d surely outsmart Peter and his oblivious band in no time.

In the end, Secret Seven Mystery is a story where the police are baffled, the children solve everything (somehow), and the mystery is solved with all the subtlety and elegance of a sledgehammer to the head. As always, the Secret Seven emerge victorious—though by sheer luck rather than any real detective skill—and the case is wrapped up with a good old-fashioned Blyton ending: clean, neat, and utterly ridiculous.

[Shreyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Secret Seven Mystery' (The Secret Seven #9) by Enid Blyton.


Rating: 4.0/5.


Status: Definitely a first read. I don't recall reading this particular book during my childhood. [I had first read some of the Secret Seven books about 20 years ago. At present, I'm not sure which of these I had read earlier and which I haven't.]


Review:
It felt a breath of fresh air to have a Secret Seven book that doesn't follow the same monotonous plot revolving around robberies. The previous book did the same, but this book stepped it up by adding an element of mystery. And just like the previous book, it is good to read another satisfactory ending that doesn't end with arrests.

Need to add, the mystery about the identity of the missing girl was painfully obvious right from the moment Janet and George interview the stableboys. Despite it all, the book had me wondering about how did the girl enter her grandmother's house without anyone else noticing almost every night.

The middle part of the book was unnecessarily stretched thanks to Susie's antics. Most of the time it's Susie is just being petty, but sometimes I tend to think maybe the Secret Seven deserve it considering the way they have been treating her throughout the series. Nonetheless, it is obvious that she is resourceful and clever enough as compared to some of the Secret Seven members.



Disclaimer: Ratings reflect the enjoyability factor of these books considering they are intended mostly for children. Not to be compared with my ratings and reviews for books primarily intended for YA and adults.

[Shonel Teke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Secret Seven have a mysterious case to solve. Elizabeth Mary Wilhelmina Sonning is a young girl who was accused of stealing some money at school and has run away from home. While her granny is in tears, there are contradicting stories regarding her whereabouts.

So where has she really gone? Which story is true and which isn’t? And if she wasn’t the real thief why has she run away from home?

Enid Blyton weaves together a short and crisp tale of mistaken identities and the despair of a young and innocent child. Simple to read, easy to follow and with a trademark Blyton twist in the tale, this was one delightful book, reiterating why Enid Blyton’s books from the 1950s and 60s are relevant and fun even today.

So why am I (a 36 year old) even reviewing a children’s book? In the last few weeks, I was seized with an idea to introduce my 4 year old and 9 year old to the world of Blyton. I ordered about 18 books online and had them delivered, much to the boys’ excitement. Coincidentally, my elder fellow had picked up this Secret 7 book from his library just last week. I spent the whole of last evening reading aloud to the two of them, who were mildly surprised at my determination and pretty thrilled to have a late night while enjoying this fab book together.

Amazing, thrilling and exciting to try and guess the outcome – I had a brilliant time and so did the kids. Watch out for more reviews of children’s books in the coming weeks!

[Farseer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 9 in the series, and all my previous comments apply: this is an Enid Blyton mystery series in the style of the Five Find-Outers series, only the Secret Seven are written for even younger children, so they are simpler stories, involving less danger.

However, I think this is my favorite in the series so far. The mystery seems more likely, and closer to the normal interests of children (finding a girl that has run away after being accused of theft, rather than catching the usual gang of thieves). It also involves more investigating by the children. From the perspective of an experienced adult reader, the solution to the mystery is easy to spot, but that should not be a problem for the target audience. In any case, Blyton's writing is simple but always engaging for its audience.

We get more shenanigans with Susie in this one. The rivalry between her and the Secret Seven is always entertaining, and open to several opinions. Our protagonists take it for granted that she is awful, and she does do some obnoxious things here, although we don't know enough to decide whether she really is that obnoxious or whether she's acting that way in response to the Seven not letting her into their club.

[Sharvari K]

HI
JUST READ THIS BOOK CALLED AS SECRET SEVEN MYSTERY WHICH IS THE BOOK 9TH OF THE SERIES SECRET SEVEN. I READ THIS BOOK FIRST SO IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER IF YOU READ IT UN-ORDER-WISE. THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY THE CHILDREN'S FAVORITE AUTHOR OF ALL TIMES, ENID BLYTON AND IT IS GOOD FOR PRE-TEENAGE GIRLS AND BOYS. YOU CAN FIND THIS BOOK IN THE CORNERS OF YOUR LIBRARY OR IN A BOOKSTORE OR YOU CAN ORDER IT ONLINE AND YOU CAN ALSO READ IT ONLINE ON AN APP CALLED AS AMAZON KINDLE. YOU CAN'T READ BOOKS ON GOODREADS.
SECRET SEVEN IS A GROUP OF SEVEN KIDS WHO ARE ALWAYS SEEN SOLVING MYSTERIES. THIS TIME, PETER'S DAD, FOUNDS A 'MISSING KID' NEWS IN THE NEWS PAPER. AND GUESS WHAT? THE SECRET SEVEN ARE ON FOR SOLVING IT!! THERE ARE SO MANY MYSTERIES WHEN THEY TRY TO SNEAK INTO HOUSES ADDING AN EXCUSE THAT THEY ARE HERE FOR GIVING JUMBLES. AND TROUBLE FOLLOWS AGAIN!
THANK YOU

[Roman Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story about a girl who ran away from home when she was in school and people thought she had stolen stuff and that really happened. But I didn’t like the beginning because the mystery straight way happened in a flash. Then peter and Janet told their mother where Mrs Sonning the girl’s mother who really missed her. There was no best part of the book for me. An exciting part of the book was when they were in some bushes of Mrs Sonnings garden and spying if they could find the girl. The girls name was called Elizabeth who wasn’t Queen Elisabeth’s daughter. I think you should read this book because you will get surprised but I didn’t really get surprised.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mystery adventure for the seven upper middle class toffs of Peterswood to solve. the stories are fairly brief, but even then they have some padding in them to get to their length.
This one is better than some of the others, but again pretty average, and the characters are more annoying than in some of Blyton's other series. Anyway roll on towards number ten, and now 60% of the series is completed

[Jenna Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't take the slightly lower rating for this installment as I didn't enjoy reading it. It's more just out of a bit of frustration with a couple of points. Mostly, it was just a bit of a nothing-burger.

For one, I predicted the end right at the start because of the book's cover art.

Secondly, absolutely noone has the appropriate attitude considering this story is about a missing child.

[Sarah Lotfy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second Secret Seven book that I read. It's an interesting and exciting story. The end was so surprising for me but it was smart and impressive. The girl who ran away because she got accused of stealing her teacher\s money came back to her family and everything was fine.
I like the SS series even though it's about some kids solving mysteries but the series seems so exciting and well made.

[Abhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trying to enjoy the books that you read (and enjoyed) as a 10-year old version of yourself, requires you to go back in your mind in time to assume that child-like personality. In spite of that chore trying to dull my reliving of the past, the way this book ended deserved it 4 stars. I did not see it coming.

[Vinay Leo]

The Secret Seven series was the first “series” of Enid Blyton I came across, thanks to a book being passed on to me by my cousin. For a child, I think the series was fun. It made me want to explore the idea of forming secret clubs with badges and passwords and such. It is a box set I’ve acquired since then, and hope to reread soon.

[Saffron Mavros · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book series is meant for a younger age group, but thrilling and exciting nonetheless.

New plots, stunning escapes, and chilling mysteries keep you hanging on every word! And of course the descriptions of the elaborate meals that the seven have. Let's not forget the official "seven" meetings that each of us, deep down, wanted to be a part of, like those eavesdropping intruders.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars & 3/10 hearts. This was a particularly bewildering mystery. It involved a girl dressed as a boy, which I don’t like, but it had no euphemisms. I liked Charles, and there were some usually humorous parts!