The Mystery of the Strange Bundle

The Mystery of the Strange Bundle is a children's novel written by Enid Blyton and published in 1952. It is the tenth book of The Five Find-Outers mystery series.^[1]

Plot Summary

The Find-Outers (Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and Buster the dog) are desperate for a new mystery to investigate. While they wait, Fatty has been using his newly learned skill of ventriloquism for pranks, especially against his nemesis Mr Goon, the village policeman.

The gang discover that a house nearby had been ransacked and the tenant, Mr Fellows, is missing. The gang investigate and determine that Mr Fellows must have run away carrying a mysterious bundle while the burglar was breaking in.

Fatty, while in disguise, questions some night watchmen and discovers they saw Fellows that night. But just then Fatty is approached by Mr Goon who mistakes him for a suspicious stranger. To create a distraction Fatty throws a sack of rocks in the river saying it belongs to Fellows and escapes.

The next day Mr Goon attempts to retrieve Fatty's decoy sack but, unbeknownst to him, finds a different sack with dolls clothes in it. In fury he attacks Fatty for wasting his time and stuffs the clothes down Fatty's collar. This fracas is witnessed by the burglar.

When the gang examine the clothes they determine this must be the bundle Mr Fellows dumped in the river. They find a hanky in the clothing embroidered with the name Eurydice. Fatty deduces this must be clothing for a ventriloquist's dummy because Eurydice was famously a ventriloquist from ancient Greece. While they examine the clothes, Buster hides one of the dolls shoes in the shed.

The gang has a set back when the dolls clothes are stolen, which they presume is by the same burglar who ransacked Fellows home.

Once Inspector Jenks hears that Fatty has information on Eurydice he visits the gang to discuss what they know. He reveals there is a ventriloquist operating as a British spy called Mr Eurydice. The clothing is for his dummy and he has hidden secrets in them. They believe they contain a list of persons of interest. Although the clothes have been stolen, they find the shoe Buster had hidden earlier and this contains the vital list.

References

External links

• Enid Blyton Society page
• The Mystery of the Strange Bundle at Faded Page

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This page was last edited on 15 April 2024, at 11:40