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This is my second favourite of the series. See also my reviews about "Geheimnis um eine Efeuvilla" and "Geheimnis um eine giftige Feder". ( )

The eighth installment of Enid Blyton's fifteen-book Five Find-Outers and Dog series, in which a group of five British schoolchildren spend their holidays solving mysteries, The Mystery of the Invisible Thief follows Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, and Bets (together with Buster the dog) as they set out to catch the elusive thief behind a string of daytime burglaries. It's a race against time, as the Find-Outers are determined to beat their nemesis - local police bobby Mr. Goon - in solving the case.

Read as part of an ongoing project to familiarize myself with the work of Enid Blyton, who, although virtually unknown in the United States, is the sixth most popular author in the world, the Five Find-Outers and Dog is a highly formulaic mystery series. There's little suspense, as the solution to the "mystery" is usually immediately apparent, and the language is rather bland. That said, I can understand why these books are popular - they are entertaining, have a healthy dose of childhood humor, in which certain authority figures (like Mr. Goon) are safely ridiculed, and they "read" quickly.

I know that many educators credit series reading with building reading skills through repetition, and I imagine that Enid Blyton's work succeeds for that very reason. She provides her young readers with stories that are both familiar and new, encouraging them to keep reading more. ( )

Children's