Implausible but entertaining story about four children who are, for obscure reasons, packed off to stay with their father's unpleasant half-brother. His large house in Cornwall turns out to have other guests - an exiled Ruritanian dictator and his henchmen - and the tower that they are forbidden to approach seems to contain not a gardener suffering from typhoid, but a crying child. Being plucky English kids, they of course engage in clandestine investigations, involving one of the girls climbing around the ivy and dodging armed sentries, wearing tights laboriously dyed with stolen ink. (Why, when the boys have the sensible names of John and Edward, are their sisters called Sorrel and Wish?!) MB 11-5-2021 ( )

Confusion and discrepancies abound. Title page: Cover illustration by Edward Mortelmans. Back cover: Cover illustration by Gordon Crabb. In either case, it is not very good. Imprint: Published 1970 by Mayflower Books; reprinted 1974. Second imprint: First published by J. M. Dent 1940; Dragon edition published by Atlantic Book Publishing Co. 1968. Imprint: Copyright Enid Blyton (!). This appears (?) to be boilerplate mistakenly copied over from other Dragon books, where many Blyton books appear.) A terrible book, very Blight-y. ( )

Charming intrigue about four siblings who are confined to their unknown uncle's estate on summer holidays. It turns out he is hosting a dictator and has kidnapped a young king. Now all they have to do is escape and get the king rescued! ( )