Cover by Mary Gernat, 1966
What a cover! How could The Mystery of Banshee Towers be anything other than a novel bathed in its creator's wise control of character, plot, structure and action. Well, forget that. The last book in the remarkable series isn't anything like as good as any of the others. It needs the efforts of committed illustrators and commentators to bring it to life.
Cover by Jason Ford, 2003
No disguises for Fatty. No Peterswood as such (just glimpses into the Hilton and Trotteville households). No Goon to contend with (he is a shadow of his normal self and doesn't even give chase to Banshee Towers). So what gives? Enid's daughter Imogen would have used the phrase 'pre-senile dementia' about her mother by this time. Nowadays we would say it was Alzheimer's Disease. However, let's not focus on that.
Before I have my say, what do other commentators think?
Robert Houghton at the Enid Blyton Society writes: 'I myself felt an air of sadness pervading this book. It has a strange feeling to it that I can't explain. Gone are the finely detailed scenes of slapstick humour as seen in the other books. Gone is the wonderfully mysterious atmosphere, the piles of amazing clues that used to be such fun to find out. The Mystery of Banshee Towers seems to be written to a formula; it is tired and lifeless, with only very occasional flashes of humour, which is often severely strained, such as in the closing pages. Instead, we have a plot that is similar to a Famous Five book but without the thrills and spills that make them such special books.'
Keith Robinson's review on enidblyton.net begins: 'Enid Blyton should have quit at Mystery #14, The Mystery of the Strange Messages. There's something about The Mystery of Banshee Towers that makes me shake my head in dismay. Previously I had Spiteful Letters pegged as the weakest story, at least in terms of plot and realism, but now it seems like a work of art compared to Banshee Towers. The plot in this story is silly to say the least, and riddled with holes. There are also odd gaffs in the continuity of the series that make me think this book was written by someone who should have retired from writing a year or two before.'
And it ends by making telling point: 'Is there anything good to mention about this book? Er...not really. It's easy to make concessions for tiny slips-ups and questionable plot elements when the rest of the book is enjoyable, but Banshee Towers has far too many annoyances for me to see past. A very sad end to the series, I think. I'll finish with something Ern said to Fatty, which was "You're a friend, you are—and I can't say more than that, can I?" To which Fatty replies, "...I bet I'll say the same about you someday, Ern!" Is Ern not presently a friend then?'
OK, let's get to work. Let's either explain away this débacle or build something positive from it.
The preceding Mystery of the Strange Messages was written in 1957, the year Gillian got married, when Enid herself turned 60. In the following six years, Enid wrote six Secret Seven books, five Famous Five books, but only one Find-Outers book. The Find-Outers book she wrote in that period was 1961's Mystery of Banshee Towers, so one has to conclude she was struggling to hit the rich, high notes of humour, drama and pathos found throughout the series. For all we know, she began and gave up on several more Find-Outers books. Though it wasn't that she was finished as a writer. When dealing with the simpler Secret Seven books, Enid could still come up with satisfying stories that the reader could sense the writer's involvement in. Indeed, Fun For the Secret Seven, the final Secret Seven book, written in 1963, a touching tale concerning an old farmer and an ancient horse, twice suggests that Peterswood was the place in which the Seven operated. A tribute, of sorts, to the Find-Outers.
I'm going to go straight for a chapter-by-chapter description and critique, so that we know exactly what we're dealing with when we say The Mystery of Banshee Towers. Here goes:
1. OFF TO MEET OLD FATTY
Bets tells us that Fatty is in Warling, a two-hour bus journey from Peterswood, but that he's expected to arrive that morning. She's looking forward to another Mystery and cites both Pantomime Cat and Vanishing Prince, the 7th and 9th Mysteries. After cleaning their room, Bets and Pip go to the Daykins' house and together the four Find-Outers meet the bus. They then identify a fat boy who is carrying a basket that they think holds Buster. But it's a cat that appears when the boy confronts the four over them repeatedly calling him 'Fatty'. Fatty was on the upper deck of the bus and has been following the others, he now greets them and invites them round to his shed for an afternoon Meeting.
A thin opening, which weakly echoes the start of The Mystery of Holly Lane. Enid forgets to tell us which school holidays it is. And she ends the chapter talking directly to the reader in a sentimental way that is a device more commonly used in the Secret Seven books.
2. DOWN IN FATTY'S WORKROOM
Bets and Pip turn up at Fatty's shed which still has a crocodile skin on the wall, and an old tiger-skin on the floor. An oil stove is providing heat, so it's not the summer holidays. Buster and Fatty have put on weight, according to Fatty. None of the Five seem to want to look for a Mystery. They decide to go exploring instead and Banshee Towers is mentioned along with several other local attractions. Ern turns up and tells the Find-Outers that he's staying with Goon.
By not looking for a Mystery to solve, and to go exploring instead, the Find-Outers risk turning into the Famous Five. Fatty mentions in passing that Bets will not have to send lovely spring days in Museums. So, one deduces, it is the Easter holidays.
3. BINGO - AND BUSTER!
Ern has a dog locked up at Goon's, so they all go and meet this Bingo. Goon lives in a house that's separate from the police station which contradicts what was said repeatedly earlier in the series. Bingo bolts from the shed when given the chance.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
Goon calls in Ern, so the Find-Outers go in search of Bingo. After finding him, Bingo and Buster go off for another run while the Find-Outers go to the bun shop and eat.
I have to say there is a lot of (fairly boring) dog action in this book. And at this stage the Find-Outers are in cruise-control with nowt happening in terms of character development or plot interest. I have to say that I didn't notice tis as child. SEduced by the cover every time I pick dup the book, I was fooled into thinking this book was as satisfying as all the others that said 'Enid Blyton' on the cover.
4. MR GOON LOSES HIS TEMPER
Ern stays at Goon's house and does housework. When Goon comes home at 5.30, they bicker. The Five turn up and Goon ends up tripping over a dog. Goon is angry and Fatty tells Ern to come with them. Ern is going to stay in Fatty's workroom until his family are clear of measles.
5. FATTY IS A REAL FRIEND
Fatty borrows a camp-bed from his mother so that Ern will be able to sleep in comfort. They all have two votes for the places they want to visit, and Banshee Towers is one of the two places that gets most votes. Ern voted for Banshee Towers because he's keen on Sea Pictures, the main attraction there. Fatty is called to supper by the dinner gong and the others go off to their homes, leaving Ern alone in the shed. Fatty brings him down a plate of fried fish, mashed potatoes and greens, so he's ok. In fact, he's loving it.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
The chapter ends with Enid's voice intruding once again: 'Goodnight, Ern and Bingo. You're quite safe, though Somebody has peeped in at the window, and knows you are there! Don't worry: it was only the black cat next door - and she fled as soon as she saw Bingo! Sleep tight!'
So ends the flaccid introductory phase of this Mystery.
6. OFF TO BANSHEE HILL
In the morning, Ern gets fed again by Fatty, first, and then Bets. Ern fetches his bike from Goon's without incident, and then they are all enjoying the spring ride. Ern starts a poem but can't think of an ending. The road takes a winding trail up Banshee Tower, too steep for Bets to cycle up at one point, so Ern wheels her bike for her.
Cover by Timothy Banks, 2017
7. INSIDE BANSHEE TOWERS
The guy selling tickets is gruff. But Bets is immediately taken by the pictures. A stormy sea, the waves rising high, the spray flying. Fatty tells the others that the painting Bets has admired is called 'The Fury of the Storm' and was painted a hundred years before. It sounds like a JMW Turner to me. Turner being the Victorian master of seascapes. He's even done one that features Ern and dog.
Painting by JMW Turner
The children realise that a group of students from a School of Art are copying the paintings. In addition there is a Frenchman doing the same thing, but much more competently. Ern takes a little too much interest in what the Frenchman is doing and the man loses his temper, drawing a line of paint across Ern's face.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
The others are not so interested in the paintings as are Bets and Ern, and Larry's thoughts turn to lunch. It's raining outside so they go behind a settee to eat. When visitors sit on the settee, Fatty decides that they must hear the banshee wail, which clears the room of the visitors.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
Then the 'real' banshee is heard, scaring the children.
The above illustration is by Eric R Parker. It's from the magazine June, which published The Mystery of Banshee Towers in 18 weekly parts running from March to July, 1961, prior to the book itself being made available by Methuen, with Lilian Buchanan illustrations, in August of the same year.
June being a weekly magazine for girls. Gone are the days when Enid published her books in her own magazines, Sunny Stories and Enid Blyton's Magazine, which stopped in 1951.
8. A STRANGE DISCOVERY!
As they wander back through the building, they meet again the French artist, carefully rolling up the picture he's been painting. (Surely he wouldn't be doing that until it was both finished and dry). Then Ern recites another of his unfinished poems, which Fatty finishes in style. This is motif from earlier in the series, where it crops up with much more energy and style. Then they hear the dogs barking from behind a big old fireplace. They have to lift a trap-door to let the dogs in to the room and a secret passage is revealed.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
Larry reckons the dogs must have found the entrance to the tunnel on the way up the hill, and made their way into Banshee Towers that way. The turnstile man nearly catches the Find-Outers but the trap-door is shut before he enters the room. When he does come in, the Find-Outers are on hands and knees looking for a shilling that Fatty says he's dropped.
9. HOME AGAIN - AND A GOOD LONG TALK
Back in Fatty's shed they discuss the wailing of the banshee and the mysterious tunnel. They seem to have a mystery on their hands. Goon knocks on the door looking for Ern, who escapes out of the window and hides in a bush, while Fatty talks to Goon.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
Lilian Buchanan's drawing of Fatty and Goon is superior to Eric R. Parker's in just one respect. The fatness of both Fatty and Goon is registered. In Parker's illustration, Fatty, looking like the slimmest boy in Petersood, surprises Goon, slimmer of the year.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
On gaining entry to the shed, Goon has a good look round but doesn't see the camp bed (for goodness sake!)
10. BANSHEE TOWERS AGAIN!
Next morning Ern and Fatty cycle to Banshee Towers again, Fatty because he thinks there is some mystery, Ern in order to look gain at the wonderful sea pictures. Fatty finishes off another of Ern's poems, much to Ern's admiration. He would gain my admiration if he was wearing disguise, intent on fooling a few people, but he's not. At Banshee Towers Fatty established from the turnstile man that the Banshee only wails on Thursday, because that' the day that calamity came to the Lord of Banshee Towers. The Frenchman is there again, carrying rolled up painting that he hurries off with. And the owner of Banshee Towers, an Austrian called Englers is there as well. While Fatty goes off to talk to Englers, Ern looks again at the painting he loves. But he notices something very strange that he needs to tell Fatty about.
11. ERN'S QUEER DISCOVERY
Englers tells Fatty that the pictures are from Count Ludwig, a cousin of his, who has a famous collection in Austria.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
At this point, Ern interrupts and Fatty has to go off and listen to Ern explain that a tiny red boat, which he'd admired yesterday, is missing from the painting. Fatty reckons that the Frenchman must have painted the boat out. Fatty decides he wants to look down the trap-door again, so they go to the Armour Room and Erns stands watch as Fatty opens it.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
However, the three suspicious-seeming men are still around, and Fatty doesn't learn anything new about that side of the mystery. They fetch the dogs from the shed they've been waiting in and cycle home, with Fatty having set up a Meeting of all the Find-Outers for the next day.
This whole second trip of Fatty and Ern's to Banshee Towers achieves very little except identify the missing boat in the painting. Surely Goon should have been on their tails. Knowing that a crime was afoot.
12. AN INTERESTING TALK AND A GOOD IDEA
In Fatty's shed, Bets has to describe the picture with the little red boat so that they know that Ern is right in what he's noticed. Fatty reports that the boat hasn't been painted out, there are no marks or erasures on the canvas. Larry suggests that both Bets and Ern have got the painting mixed up with another, but Ern insists that is not the case. Daisy suggests they all return to Banshee Towers to look around for the little boat. This time the cycle journey only takes a single paragraph. But here I'll introduce the cover of a German edition. The peculiar thing about which is that it's a blue boat that's referred to, rather than a red boat.
1st German edition published by Erika Klopp Verlag in 1964, illustrated by Egbert von Normann with the title Mystery of the Blue Boat
All the same, a marvellously evocative image, so let's have some poetry celebrating Ern and Fatty's blossoming friendship:
Ern: "The long and winding road
That leads to your door…"
Fatty: "Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to your door."
At the top of the hill, The Find-Outers come across a sign outside Banshee Towers that says 'CLOSED FOR TEMPORARY REPAIRS'. There are lots of pipes around and it's assumed there is a plumbing problem.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
They decide to search for the tunnel entrance that the dogs used during their first visit, and soon they find the tunnel and disappear into the hillside.
13. UP THE PASSAGE - AND A QUEER FIND!
In a scene straight out of a Famous Five book, the Find-Outers make there way through the tunnel, with Fatty in the lead. Three of them have torches, which is pretty well organised of them considering they didn't plan to explore the tunnel. Just before the top, in a large space, they come across a piece of machinery, a deflated balloon and chair. This is the banshee wailing machine, and by turning a wheel, Fatty sets it going. The noise is unsettling. The Find-Outers climb up and out of the tunnel via the trap-door. Ern and Bets lead the others over to the relevant sea picture and confirm that it's the correct picture, but that the boat is simply not there.
Cover by Lilian Buchanan, 1961
They hear noise and flee back to the Armour Room. The Find-Outers get back into the tunnel, except for Fatty and Ern who are trapped.
14. PRISONERS - NOW WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Engler finds Fatty and Ern. He thinks they got in via an open window. He is furious, and tells the boys they are going to be tied up and left in the building without food or drink for two or three days. (Crikey!) Engler then instructs the turnstile man, Flint, to tie them up…
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
…while Engler goes to see 'Poussin'. This seems to be the nick-name of the French painter. Enid uses the name three times in one page, and then forgets about it. Poussin the famous French painter didn't paint seascapes anyway. JMW might have been a better nick-name. Joseph Mallord William Turner being almost as much of a mouthful as Frederick Algernon Trotteville. But then Turner wasn't French, so let it stand.
From the floor, Fatty hears a knife cut some material and a brush slapping over some surface. Fatty manages to stand up and makes a note of two number plates that he can see from the window. They are able to cut the cords that tie their wrists thanks to a curious old knife that is hung on the wall as an exhibit. In other words, the attempt to restrain the boys is stunningly inept. Next, Fatty lets himself out of the room by employing a trick he's used twice before, using a sheet of paper to catch the key when it's pushed from the lock, and dragging the sheet of paper - with the key - into the room via the gap under the door.
15. FATTY DOES A LITTLE DETECTIVE WORK
Fatty realises that an original paintings must have been cut from its frame and a copy pasted into the space. In the office, he finds a list of art galleries and also the Paris address of Francois Henri Ortalo (no longer referred to as Poussin). It's pretty obvious what's been happening, but Fatty only very slowly puts it together and Ern seems none the wiser by the end of the chapter.
16. A HORRID SHOCK!
Fatty and Ern get back to Fatty's home before the others.
Illustration by Eric R. Parker, 1961
In fact, Larry has had puncture, and Fatty and Ern passed them on the hill coming down without realising. Anyway, they are all together in the shed when Mrs Trotteveille tells Fatty he's got a phone call. It's Chief Inspector Jenks, who has received a complaint from Engler about Fatty. The Chief is not as respectful of Fatty as he usually is, but at least Fatty manages to tell him that he knows Engler is a crook, so the Chief decides to come over and visit. He arrives at the shed and the conversation continues. It's been mentioned before that Jenks's rank keeps changing, that he rose to be Superintendent. But it doesn't surprise me that's he's been demoted to Chief Inspector or even Inspector, his behaviour is so doltish in Banshee Towers.
17. FATTY SOLVES THE MYSTERY!
Fatty tells PC (ha!) Jenks about the little red boat and the copied paintings. It's all very laborious and repetitive, however skilfully illustrated.
.
Illustration by Lilian Buchanan, 1961 and Eric R. Parker, 1961
The Chief (so called) concludes that although Engler never sends his cousin back the original pictures, the cousin never complains about getting back the copies, therefore must be a poor judge of art. I'll second that. Fatty suggests that the original pictures are smuggled out of the gallery via the lead pipes, but I don't see why they even have to bother doing that. There's a bit about number plates. JBL stands for Jolly Bad Lot. POR has been recalled thanks to Pair of Rogues. And the inspector's own car is VGF 888. Which Fatty has remembered via 'Very Good Fellow'.
18. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT OLD FATTY IS UP TO
Goon is then brought up to speed by Jenks at the police station. (No need for Goon to hear the explanation alongside the Inspector as he has done nothing wrong this time, so there is no humiliation to heap on his head.) Goon even thinks he should be nicer to the Find-Outers next time, as they seem to do a lot of good work! Goon approaches Fatty's shed in order to congratulate them all. Fatty has avoided what he assumes to be trouble from Goon, by escaping out of the window, and gives a banshee wail from the garden, which scares Goon who falls down into a bed of mint. When Mrs Trotteville tells the Find-Outers about this, they all find it hilarious.
Oh, stop, please, Enid. And she did stop.
So what would Enid have done, in her prime, to liven up this Mystery?
A photo shoot from October, 1962, inspires me to speculate as follows…
We're in that part of The Mystery of Banshee Towers when the Find-Outers are back in Peterswood following the first visit to Banshee Towers. Instead of going straight back up the hill the next day, Ern and Fatty decide to have a look round the exhibition of paintings and drawings by Joseph Abbey that celebrate the opening of Peterswood's police station. Only they go in disguise as Noddy and Enid Blyton. Here we see them on the High Street of the village, keeping half an eye open for Goon.
Ern reckons Fatty's disguise is amazing. To think that a teenage boy could make himself look like a 65-year-old woman with just the help of a handbag, wig, hat, gloves, pearls and high heels.
"Don't forget the foam-breasted jacket and skirt," says Fatty.
"It looks so natural! I had completely forgotten it wasn't what you normally wear."
Inside the cells-cum-gallery, Ern and Fatty look around. They come to the first exhibit, a triptych called Where the Hell are My Burmese Knives?:
Where the Hell are My Burmese Knives? by Joseph Abbey and Duncan McLaren, 2020
"What do you think?" Asks Fatty.
"I think it's funny. Though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just Uncle Theo's sticky-out bottom."
"I can tell you who doesn't think it's funny."
"Who?"
"Big-Ears, my first husband."
And Ern bursts out laughing, I assume, at the anagram.
"Let's see what we have next. Oh, a sequence of paintings that show just how repetitive Joseph Abbey was as an illustrator."
"What do you mean, Fatty?"
"Just look, Ern. Has someone glued your uncle's right hand to his ear?"
What the Hell is Going On? by Joseph Abbey and Duncan McLaren, 2020
"I think I get it," says Ern. "This is a celebration of what you and the Find-Outers have done over the years."
"It's a celebration of what Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and I did while Goon stood about wondering where his Burmese knives were. And not forgetting your good self, who was involved in Hidden House, Vanished Prince and…help me out here, Ern."
"The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage. "
"What do you think of the next piece?"
"I don't understand it."
Where the Hell is Banshee Towers? by Joseph Abbey and Duncan McLaren, 2020
"What don't you understand?"
"Everyone knows where Banshee Towers is."
"Everyone except Goon."
"Oh, I see. My uncle is an idiot."
"Not quite. Big-Arse is the idiot."
Again Ern bursts out laughing. What's not to laugh at? Ern's on top of the world. Fatty has put him there, fair and square.
As they leave the police station-cum-art gallery, Ern asks Fatty what he has in his handbag.
"Can't you guess?"
"Nope."
"A pot of red paint and a paint brush."
"Really? But why?"
"Look behind you."
"Fatty, that is amazing."
"No, it's just a little red button, or four. The sort that are always turning up on useless men's tunics"
Where the Hell did these Red Buttons Come From? by Joseph Abbey and Duncan McLaren, 2020
"Honestly, you are the funniest and most brilliant friend a boy could possibly have."
"And you, truly, are my friend. Now let's get out of here before Goon gets back. Remember, we're off to Banshee Towers this afternoon."
"Banshee Towers!"
"This afternoon!"
"Crikey!"
Acknowledgements:
Internal illustrations from The Mystery of the Banshee Tower are taken from the Cave of Books on the Enid Blyton Society website, which is the work of Tony Summerfield.
The Getty photos from 1962 are used without permission but with the forbearance, I hope, of the copyright holder.