The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat

Reviewed on 5th February 2014

By the seventh mystery for the Five Find-Outers and Dog, Fatty has come to centre stage and Blyton uses him as the point-of-view character for almost the entire narrative. Approaching halfway through the series, it's finally reached the point where all the key elements are in place - clues, disguises, alibis - and it almost feels like the author has been building elements of the mystery story up one by one in the earlier books, taking the reader on a journey into the world of crime novels.

It's a great plot, and Blyton seems to feel comfortable enough with the format to introduce twists away from the norm to keep things interesting. The mystery itself is well written, and there are plenty of opportunities for a young reader (or listener) to spot clues before the characters.