''Five Go to Mystery Moor'' (published in 1954) is a popular children's book written by

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

. It is the thirteenth novel in the '' Famous Five'' series of books.

Plot

George and her cousin Anne are spending their holiday at Captain Johnson's

Riding School An equestrian facility is created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use, they may be known as a barn, stables, or riding hall and may include commercial operations descr ...

, where George has a rivalry with another tomboy named Henrietta, who prefers to be called "Henry". Anne's brothers Julian and Dick come to join the girls and initially mistake Henry for a boy, much to George's chagrin. The children encounter a group of

gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

determined to visit a desolate place called Mystery Moor. An elderly

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

tells the children how gypsies, in the past,

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

d a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

run by a family of sand miners, causing most of the family to mysteriously disappear when the moor was covered by a thick mist.

The Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures ...

follow the gypsies to the moor and discover they are involved in receiving

smuggle Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

d American banknotes, which are later revealed to be

forgeries Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

from France. George and Anne are taken prisoners and held in a cave, but are rescued by Henry and a boy from the riding school, William. A gypsy boy named Sniffer assists their escape, and George promises to reward him with a red bicycle and living in a house with a family.

Characters

*1. Julian *2. Dick *3. Anne *4. Georgina ("George") *5. Timmy (George's dog) *6. Henrietta ("Henry") *7. Sniffer *8. Liz (Sniffer's dog) *9. Captain Johnson *10. Mrs. Johnson *11. William *12. The Gypsies (including Sniffer's father)

References

External links

Enid Blyton websiteEnid Blyton Society page
1954 British novels Hodder & Stoughton books Famous Five novels 1954 children's books {{1950s-child-novel-stub