The Riddle That Never Was

Barney Mysteries

by Enid Blyton

Katie and Nick idolise their Uncle Bob - he's a private investigator and solving riddles is their favourite thing to do. So when he comes to visit, Nick and his friend Mike invent their own mystery for him, which bizarrely starts to come true and leads to a scary adventure at the hands of local bandits.

Originally titled The Mystery That Never Was.

Genres: Childrens, Mystery, Fiction, Adventure, British Literature, Middle Grade, Crime

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

See 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

Reviews

[Madhuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book after reading that it was banned in a couple of countries for controversial reasons that Blyton was xenophobic, racist and sexist. Read this book from the most unbiased side of me but didn't find anything problematic. Haters can hate, Enid Blyton's legacy will live on forever.

3/5 stars for me as the plot got a bit slow midway in comparison to her earlier works (Find-outers etc.)

[Phoebe Bird · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished woo. Bit confused about storyline and ending but it was good!

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok so firstly WTF is the description of this book on Goodreads? Mine is about Nicky and his best friend Kenneth and Nicky's Uncle Bob and two girls (one is Ken's sister) that they try to keep out of it but can't.

And it's standard Blyton mystery complete with swarthy foreigners, a dog, a series of caves in the cellars of a ruined tower and mysterious lights in the night (never really explained). It's not a very demanding read, not very surprising, sort of keeps the sexism and racism light and easy to ignore. I've read much worse and when I was eight I probably would have thought this was brilliant.


I've also (with the benefit of my four decades and a bit) read much, much better even in primary school books. But people still seem to like Blyton for some reason. So whatever I say, I anticipate someone will want to read this.

[Astrid Lim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate it when I can't find an exact cover in Goodreads for the book I read, and this series is one of them. This is the second installment of the Young Adventurers series, Nick and Katie. The mystery is fun and the characters are good- although not as memorable as the other Blyton's kids. But the simplicity of this series is actually refreshing. And I absolutely love their new covers!!!

[Armeen Iqbal]

This was a really good book. to be honest I never liked any of the books that I bought and it ended up being on my bookshelf just for show case but the adventure in this book was amazing. it felt like I was live in the adventure. looking forward for the next book in the series.

[Jen Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jolly good fun!

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sort of story that would have benefited from being a bit longer, leaving more time to add to the mystery and the characters. I however found it's shortness a mercy, by the time I reached the end I do not think I could have stood much more.

The Mystery That Never Was is built on a great idea; some kids make up a mystery to give their out-of-work detective uncle something to do, and end up stumbling into a real-life adventure. But the whole thing was pretty badly executed, dull and predictable. You've got a problem when the best part of your narrative is the dog's habit of nicking everyone's slippers.

[Michelle Wiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the copy of this book that I have just finished, but as close as I can get. My copy was published in 1976 and was about Nicky and his Uncle Bob with Ken, Penny and their cousin Winnie who lived next door. It is the same story, but with different main characters in it.

It was another enjoyable story that took me back to my childhood.

[Omkar Deshmukh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a 3.2 stars form me, I love the mystery series of Enid Blyton but this ridlle series book was kind of predictable because by the name too! I knew that there fake mystery is going to turn into real so there was also kind of boring parts in the books, but it surely was a easy book meant for children and had a great time reading it.

[N Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two different versions of this book. I read the one with Nicky, his best friend Kenneth, Kenneth's sister Penny, and Penny's friend Winnie. It's a fast-paced adventure story with curious kids, treasure, a plucky dog, and plenty of ginger beer! An easy, fun read.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often listed in appendage to the Barney Mysteries (perhaps due to Dunlop’s illustrations), in terms of characters and plot this simple one-off is much more like a Secret Seven adventure. The young protagonists invent a mystery... only to find it coming true!

[Liasanya Leseratte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine nette detektivgeschichte aus der Rätsel um.. Reihe. Ich kenne nur die Version mit Diana, Robert, stups und Barney. Sowie den beiden Tieren lümmel und miranda. Ganz nette Geschichte für grundschulkinder, ansonsten etwas vorhersehbar.. die 5 Freunde Reihe ist eindeutig besser.

[K.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicky and his friend make up a mystery for Uncle Ben to solve while he is on holiday and feeling down. Little do they guess that their fake mystery will turn out to be real!

[Fatema · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greattttt

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable short story, but rehashes loads of Blyton plot points, which makes it a bit bland for someone who has read many of Blyton's works.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enid Blyton classic , two children , a dog and a mystery to solve.

[Étienne de Vignolles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far-Left shitfvcks will try to tell you this is racist, or some other commie garbage, but it is just a normal kids' novel where the baddies are bad, and the goodies are good.
Classic Enid Blyton.

[Srishti · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is funny when the boys make up a story but is not funny when they are kidnapped. It is a must read book for Blyton fans.

[Batool · Rating 4 out of 5]

SWEET!!!!!!

[Wedyan16]

cool

[Jaskaran Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first part of the series was amazing but this one was an average book . It didn't had a good story

[Jaskaran Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a very good story in comparison to the first part

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing!!!! just amazing!!! and wonderful and all the nice words in the world can describe this book and the others that are in the series.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not our favorite Blyton book, but still a light, fun read-aloud.

[Swati Roy]

Veeeeeeeeeery niiiiiice book! Enid Blyton books are alwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwyays nice!!

[Batool · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool