The Mystery Of The Burnt Cottage: My Review

Hello, this is my review of the Enid Blyton book "The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage". I was searching through a bookstore recently and this book piqued my interest, as It was a "mystery" book.

I then bought it. The book has just about 216 pages and 19 chapters (An average of around 11-12 pages per chapter) and it took me 3 days to complete it. It piqued my interest for a reason! I was satisfied and did not regret buying the book.

To review this book, I will make a summary of chapter 1, give my thoughts on the characters, from chapter 1, give it ratings on different categories and calculate the final score. 

I will not summarize other chapters. You'll have to read the book yourself to know the twist at the end! without further ado, start the reading!

Introduction

To start off, let me show you a part of what's written in the back of the page. "Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pup, Bets and Buster the dog turn detectives when a mysterious fire destroys a thatched cottage in their village."

Through that, we can discover 5/6 main characters (depending on if you consider the dog one) and all of their names, along with the topic of the story/book.

Chapter 1

Larry Daykin (Larry) and his sister Daisy spot a fire at night nearby. They decide to go to the place where they see the fire. They discover their friends Pip and Bets. Turns out they also came to see the fire!

They realize it's Mr Hick's nearby cottage that he uses for work! When they come closer, they see the police have already arrived, with their local policeman Mr Goon shouting at men to spray water. Mr Goon spots them and says "Clear orf, you! Clear orf!"

He always says that to children when they come near a crime scene. Later, they find one of their neighbours who lives in the hotel, they dislike him because he "knows everything". Turns out, he also has a dog Buster who will be important later.

Mr Hick finds out about the incident sometime later and he is furious, he is determined to find the culprit who set his cottage on fire.

Together, those 4, the kid and the dog all become the detective group called "The Five find-outers and the Dog".

My thoughts on every character

Pip is one of the main characters and his full name is Philip Hilton. He is not dumb but he's not the smartest of the bunch.

Bets is another one and her full name is Elizabeth Hilton. She's the youngest, she doesn't know much so she's just in the five find-outers so she gets some credit.

Larry is the first character we're introduced to, the oldest and probably the smartest one. He is supposedly the leader and his full name is Laurence Daykin.

Daisy is the 2nd and her full name is Margaret Daykin. She often helps Pip or Larry find clues.

Frederick also known as Fatty is disliked by the others except Bets. He is described as plump, well-dressed, and thinks very well of himself. His full name is Frederick Algernon Trottville and he is called Fatty due to his weight but also the initials for his name "F.A.T".

Category Ratings and Overall

Story: 9.2/10

It had an interesting plot, a variety of personalities throughout the characters, an intriguing topic and an interesting genre. However, the plot twist at the end of the book brought it up from a 7 to a 9!

Entertainment: 8.4/10

I wasn't really bored while reading the book. It kept me engaged throughout and I enjoyed it whenever some information was revealed. Overall fun and intriguing.

Character Development: 7.3/10

They went from disliking Fatty to not disliking him as much. Fatty was offended at the start by his nickname but then he got used to it. Bets learned some stuff too. Overall pretty average

Creativity: 8.1/10

It was a creative way of teaching that in the real world, you can't trust anyone. Ultimately the plot twist at the end carries it to this rating.

Overall: 8.2/10

I calculated the overall, and this is the result. The 7.3 and 9.2 even it out. This is definitely a solid book by Enid Blyton and you should get a copy.

If you are looking for a nice book to start learning your English, or to entertain you, certainly read this book and enjoy it throughout. Bye, and I'll see you on my next blog!