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Barney Mysteries #3
The Ring-O-Bells Mystery
When Roger, Diana, Snubby and Barney go on holiday to Ring O' Bells village, they are eager to explore the secret passage in Ring O' Bells Hall. Is it really a dead end as they have been told, or does it follow the route marked on the old map they find?
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
31 people are currently reading
318 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,136 books6,320 followersSee 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
February 18, 2021
Kenapalah bab penyelesaian tu dipendekkan sebegitu rupa? Sampai tak tahu apa sebenarnya yang terjadi 😑😑.
Ps - serba salah pula nak bagi rating sebab terjemahan ni sebenarnya tak menggambarkan cerita asal.
Ps - serba salah pula nak bagi rating sebab terjemahan ni sebenarnya tak menggambarkan cerita asal.
January 22, 2023
Pretty good cosy vibes! I feel like enid books get characterised as a bit jingoistic but it's just kids eating sandwiches and being nosy which is relatable. I liked the mystery element but the criminal gang's motivations were just totally absent. Enid, people aren't just "kidnappers". Why were they kidnapping people? I guess it doesn't matter really. Anyway, it was a fun little time for sure.
January 11, 2022
So wie ich es in Erinnerung hatte. Eine spannende Jugendgeschichte, mit sympathischen Charakteren und interessanten Geschehnissen. Auch super zum Vorlesen geeignet.
December 8, 2014
I read this one with my 11 year old daughter.
She found it very mysterious and exciting and she really liked it.
Not the best book ever she told me, but good :)
She found it very mysterious and exciting and she really liked it.
Not the best book ever she told me, but good :)
August 30, 2023
This book was fun to read but a bit confusing.
February 7, 2021
07 Feb 2021
Plot: Three kids on recuperating vacation team up with circus boy and monkey to investigate mysterious sounds.
1. There are a lot of themes/scenes in here that I appreciated. The legend of the bells and how it's utilized and toes in with the story, the and the kids going around piecing together information from all of the old people in the town.
2. Unfortunately, that's not enough to make up for Diana being singled out to not participate in the adventures because you know- she's a girl. It's WAAAY more obvious and less subtle in this book than in any of the others and that really messed with my enjoyment.
3. The mystery also felt pretty meh, but that could be because the last one involved and it's hard to top that. The was a nice touch. And as always the animals were a delight.
4. Diana is always very upset about Barney being in trouble this is why I shipped them when I was a kid and was way more into shipping than I am now.
Subjective (2 stars) v Objective (3 stars): It's not bad, but the combination of bog-standard mystery and increasing sexism makes it a disappointment in comparison to earlier volumes.
Plot: Three kids on recuperating vacation team up with circus boy and monkey to investigate mysterious sounds.
1. There are a lot of themes/scenes in here that I appreciated. The legend of the bells and how it's utilized and toes in with the story, the and the kids going around piecing together information from all of the old people in the town.
2. Unfortunately, that's not enough to make up for Diana being singled out to not participate in the adventures because you know- she's a girl. It's WAAAY more obvious and less subtle in this book than in any of the others and that really messed with my enjoyment.
3. The mystery also felt pretty meh, but that could be because the last one involved and it's hard to top that. The was a nice touch. And as always the animals were a delight.
4. Diana is always very upset about Barney being in trouble this is why I shipped them when I was a kid and was way more into shipping than I am now.
Subjective (2 stars) v Objective (3 stars): It's not bad, but the combination of bog-standard mystery and increasing sexism makes it a disappointment in comparison to earlier volumes.
June 8, 2018
SUPERB JOURNEYYYY!
October 17, 2018
it was so good
May 28, 2017
These are called Barney Mysteries but every title starts with an R. Barney is a boy who previously was in a circus but now he's traveling Great Britain with his monkey Miranda looking for his father. Roger & Diana, brother and sister, and their cousin Snubby, are sent to a quiet little village called Ring 'O Bells to recover from the flu. There they discover that something suspicious is going on in the ancient hall there. They sleuth to learn what the mystery is. This book is an exciting read for kids with mystery and danger galore.
I enjoy the R mysteries.
I enjoy the R mysteries.
December 31, 2020
I don't think any seasoned Blyton reader will be surprised by the shock reveal of the secret passage's destination; it's the well, it's always the well! Overall the plot to this book was pretty predictable, but I was thoroughly won over by the picturesque setting of Ring O' Bells and the general atmosphere that Blyton creates in this book. From the tales of phantom bells that ring by themselves, right down to the random array of fairy tale characters who inhabit the village; Mother Hubbard, Red Riding Hood and, I kid you not, a woman called Fanny Tapp.
March 17, 2020
Do kids these days still run about undetected in the middle of the night solving crimes and apprehending criminals with guns? If the snowflake generation could start nosing about then maybe the world would be a safer place ;)
Blyton delivers the usual : a rambling story where not much happens, and yet a full and entertaining book for adults and children is accomplished.
Blyton delivers the usual : a rambling story where not much happens, and yet a full and entertaining book for adults and children is accomplished.
January 10, 2021
This third ‘Barney’ mystery might easily have been written during a languorous English summer. The rustic idyll shines warmly from its pages and the adventure unfolds slowly, picking up pace only in the concluding chapters. A pleasant read enlivened by chaotic animals.
July 31, 2021
Ring’O’Bells village seems straight out of a fairy tale, with villagers who look just like Old Mother Hubbard and Little Red Riding Hood. The legend says that the bells in the tower ring when danger threatens - and when they do, Barney and his friends find themselves in a very real adventure.
The first three Barney books all have secrets in old country houses at their heart. In the first, a house has been abandoned after being requisitioned during the war, and has an atmosphere of overgrown melancholy. The second gives us old houses which have accumulated collections over the years, only accessible to those who have the right connections. Here the local country house has been turned into a show home, disconnected from the traditions of the family who owned it and with something impersonal about it, although anyone who pays can walk in.
In this book the fairytale quality of the village only just stops short of being ridiculously twee. There’s a sense of history, its vagueness part of the muddled way it’s handed down by old villagers. The mystery doesn’t come till late in the book, and as with the others we’re shown that there is real, modern danger which children are better out of. The family theme comes out in the nice blending of plot and character in Barney’s hitchhiking across the country to meet up with his friends again, and his sense of the value of a family as somewhere you can relax and be teased.
Two annoying things: Diana is singled out for domestic chores and being told by Barney to stay out of the climactic exploit - though can we explain this away by picking up on the hints of their mutual, very age appropriate, appreciation? And the continuity is irritating: the last book took place at the start of Easter holidays, and at its end the children’s mother says that Barney can stay with them till the end of the holidays. This book is at the end of the Easter holidays, and yet it seems as if they have been apart for weeks. Is it a whole year later? It doesn’t feel like it. Surely it would have been easy to have set up something that kept this book more naturally following on from the last one.
The first three Barney books all have secrets in old country houses at their heart. In the first, a house has been abandoned after being requisitioned during the war, and has an atmosphere of overgrown melancholy. The second gives us old houses which have accumulated collections over the years, only accessible to those who have the right connections. Here the local country house has been turned into a show home, disconnected from the traditions of the family who owned it and with something impersonal about it, although anyone who pays can walk in.
In this book the fairytale quality of the village only just stops short of being ridiculously twee. There’s a sense of history, its vagueness part of the muddled way it’s handed down by old villagers. The mystery doesn’t come till late in the book, and as with the others we’re shown that there is real, modern danger which children are better out of. The family theme comes out in the nice blending of plot and character in Barney’s hitchhiking across the country to meet up with his friends again, and his sense of the value of a family as somewhere you can relax and be teased.
Two annoying things: Diana is singled out for domestic chores and being told by Barney to stay out of the climactic exploit - though can we explain this away by picking up on the hints of their mutual, very age appropriate, appreciation? And the continuity is irritating: the last book took place at the start of Easter holidays, and at its end the children’s mother says that Barney can stay with them till the end of the holidays. This book is at the end of the Easter holidays, and yet it seems as if they have been apart for weeks. Is it a whole year later? It doesn’t feel like it. Surely it would have been easy to have set up something that kept this book more naturally following on from the last one.
April 2, 2018
Coming after a truly excellent second book in the series, The Ring O’Bells Mystery is also the work of Enid Blyton at her best. It is inferior to the previous book in one sense: It isn’t as funny. Of course, The Rilloby Fair Mystery is the funniest Enid Blyton book I have read so far. Snubby and Great-Uncle Robert are just hilarious together.
This book is not so funny, but in all other aspects it’s near perfect. The children are sent to a small idyllic village called Ring O’Bells to finish recovering from a nasty bout of flu. The general mood of the story, the descriptions of the village and of the natural surrounding are so appealing that they fill me with cheer. It’s truly a feel-good atmosphere. It reminds me of Five Go Off in a Caravan, where the preparations and start of the caravan holiday also seemed full of possibility and enjoyment.
Then there’s the village itself, full of legends and old tales, with striking and colourful characters. The adventure is also very exciting, with some memorable moments like Barney ringing the bells to ask for help. There are also many of the usual elements of Blyton’s adventures, the secret passages… There’s even a cover illustration that’s kind of a spoiler, since it shows where the other end of the secret passage is. Oh, well…
The plot has some small holes, as often happens in these children adventures. For example, once they discover the kidnapped person, the children do not go straight to the police. A reason is given for that, but it did not seem very convincing. It’s really to allow for the exciting ending.
But all in all this is an excellent book, very well-rounded. The setting, the pre-adventure part, the adventure itself… everything works.
So far this has been a very enjoyable series. The first book was fine, but the second and third are among Blyton’s best. Now I’m looking forward to the fourth book, which is regarded by many as the best of the series.
This book is not so funny, but in all other aspects it’s near perfect. The children are sent to a small idyllic village called Ring O’Bells to finish recovering from a nasty bout of flu. The general mood of the story, the descriptions of the village and of the natural surrounding are so appealing that they fill me with cheer. It’s truly a feel-good atmosphere. It reminds me of Five Go Off in a Caravan, where the preparations and start of the caravan holiday also seemed full of possibility and enjoyment.
Then there’s the village itself, full of legends and old tales, with striking and colourful characters. The adventure is also very exciting, with some memorable moments like Barney ringing the bells to ask for help. There are also many of the usual elements of Blyton’s adventures, the secret passages… There’s even a cover illustration that’s kind of a spoiler, since it shows where the other end of the secret passage is. Oh, well…
The plot has some small holes, as often happens in these children adventures. For example, once they discover the kidnapped person, the children do not go straight to the police. A reason is given for that, but it did not seem very convincing. It’s really to allow for the exciting ending.
But all in all this is an excellent book, very well-rounded. The setting, the pre-adventure part, the adventure itself… everything works.
So far this has been a very enjoyable series. The first book was fine, but the second and third are among Blyton’s best. Now I’m looking forward to the fourth book, which is regarded by many as the best of the series.
March 20, 2024
Way back in 1984, I had seen this book in a distant cousin’s collection when we visited them. I yearned to read it at that time, but obviously couldn’t borrow her book. And the Barney series books were not to be found in the bookstore where I lived, nor were they in our school library collection nor the local one. Thanks to Amazon, I finally bought it for my son a few years back and finally got to read it now, after 40 years!
The book was quite delightful and funny. The village is straight out of a children’s storybook with Mother Hubbard, Red Riding Hood, ding dong bells and wells. The criminals are one dimensional and what is the exact nature of their crime is not mentioned – kidnapping whom and for what? Just kidnapping a cop and dumping him in a secret passage sounds silly. But then, this book is meant for children and therefore grown-ups have to suspend disbelief in this case. Loony and Loopy's antics are funny and aptly described by Blyton.
What I got to learn was that blue eyed people are exemplary paragons of flawless and virtuous human beings and green eyed women are witches. And after reading this, I’m yearning to have an English Tea complete with scones, jam tarts, buttered buns, cheese, marmalade, orangeade and what not.
The book was quite delightful and funny. The village is straight out of a children’s storybook with Mother Hubbard, Red Riding Hood, ding dong bells and wells. The criminals are one dimensional and what is the exact nature of their crime is not mentioned – kidnapping whom and for what? Just kidnapping a cop and dumping him in a secret passage sounds silly. But then, this book is meant for children and therefore grown-ups have to suspend disbelief in this case. Loony and Loopy's antics are funny and aptly described by Blyton.
What I got to learn was that blue eyed people are exemplary paragons of flawless and virtuous human beings and green eyed women are witches. And after reading this, I’m yearning to have an English Tea complete with scones, jam tarts, buttered buns, cheese, marmalade, orangeade and what not.
May 31, 2024
Three stars is a compromise—this is definitely for children, not for children and adults like children's literature classics (there isn't the poetry of 'Wind in the Willows'; the zen philosophy of 'Winnie the Pooh'; or the mythical dimension of Narnia). It's like an oral story by a storyteller: allowed to ramble but then picking up to exciting sequences, with the storyteller occasionally intervening, suggestions of anticipated mystery or characters introduced who are obviously up to no good, lots of emphasis (gosh! all those exclamation marks!), and gags that will make the class laugh (funny names, Snubby always hungry etc.)
Two moments seemed inspired by Treasure Island (Barney aloft who threatens the baddies climbing up (like Jim and Israel Hands), and the boys opening the door and finding themselves in the room with the baddies (like Jim arriving in the stockade to find it taken over by the pirates)).
It's safe middle-class southern England with the one girl, Diana, staying at home and not participating in the final adventure.
A good book to read aloud to children; a good independent read for children 7–11; an easy read for adults who want to recapture some of the innocent pleasure of adventure stories enjoyed as children. But just entertainment, no more.
Two moments seemed inspired by Treasure Island (Barney aloft who threatens the baddies climbing up (like Jim and Israel Hands), and the boys opening the door and finding themselves in the room with the baddies (like Jim arriving in the stockade to find it taken over by the pirates)).
It's safe middle-class southern England with the one girl, Diana, staying at home and not participating in the final adventure.
A good book to read aloud to children; a good independent read for children 7–11; an easy read for adults who want to recapture some of the innocent pleasure of adventure stories enjoyed as children. But just entertainment, no more.
September 1, 2021
Classic, great mystery in this amazing series (which I used to think of as the "R" mysteries because of the first letter of all the titles.
I re-discovered that secret tunnel!
The mystery takes half the book to get going. The first half is all eating and enjoying friends and exploring new places!
I re-discovered that secret tunnel!
The mystery takes half the book to get going. The first half is all eating and enjoying friends and exploring new places!
September 13, 2021
A old childhood favourite book of mine, religiously re-read at the start of the summer holidays every year.
Does it add up today as an adult? Obviously I read it with different eyes, but it's still a fun adventure where some children go to a sleepy village and get embroiled in an adventure, simply by going around a guided tour of Ring O'Bells Hall.
How I wished then... And perhaps now too...
Does it add up today as an adult? Obviously I read it with different eyes, but it's still a fun adventure where some children go to a sleepy village and get embroiled in an adventure, simply by going around a guided tour of Ring O'Bells Hall.
How I wished then... And perhaps now too...
January 8, 2026
I am pleased to have started this new to me series, though I started it right in the middle. That's the problem with older series. They can be difficult to locate the beginning. Anyway, I agree that the ending was rather vague as another reviewer mentioned, the beginning and middle were the best but it's well worth the read.
September 1, 2020
Great story!! Mungkin kalo bagian komplotannya lebih dieksplor bisa menarik banget dan naik rating bukunya, bukan novel anak-anak lagi hehe. Suka juga disini level 'berbahaya'nya lebih meningkat dari 2 buku sebelumnya.
March 21, 2017
Love this old-fashioned mystery.
July 15, 2018
Truly adventurous journey... although predictable for an adult, i gave it away considering it’s meant for children...
September 7, 2018
Jadi kangen, pengen liat suasana jadul :)
August 18, 2019
A total classic. Takes children back to at time when they had freedom to go on adventures.
February 5, 2020
... reading with my 11 year old daughter...
This one was probably the best out of all mysteries.
This one was probably the best out of all mysteries.
May 29, 2020
Very enjoyable and atmospheric adventure (it can hardly be called a mystery). Less humorous wit, but made up for my the slightly 'other-world' elements of the book.
March 20, 2021
A rather flat and muddled mystery. Unclear exactly what the crime is or the motivation.
March 30, 2021
Nostalgic af, loves it
January 25, 2023
Amazing ending!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews