After one or two short stories, Miss Seeton first appeared in a full-length novel in 1968 - fifty years ago! Heron Carvic wrote his books “in the present” and their settings moved forward from 1968 to 1975. It was only to be expected that things would change in the lives of the series characters.

The main developments for Heron Carvic were Bob Ranger's marriage, and promotion for both Superintendent Delphick and Chief Inspector Brinton (Odds On Miss Seeton shows how confusing this can be for an author).

Sir Humphrey Everleigh points out in Miss Seeton Draws the Line that our heroine is “a catalyst”, with the result that while others might change “Miss Seeton may, almost certainly will, remain the same”, as indeed she has. This hasn’t, however, prevented me from developing and creating other characters in the series.

For example:
— Ashford's busy police station needed more than a handful of CID and a few uniformed coppers! My intention was for Sergeant Mutford just to take charge of the front desk, but over time he has come to think he runs the whole station.
— Heron Carvic’s interest in the village gossips had centred on the Nuts, but he allowed Mrs Flax to speak in one book; he mentioned both Mrs Scillicough and Mrs Spice, and Hampton Charles added Mrs Skinner and Mrs Henderson. As well as introducing Mrs Newport, and giving Emmy Putts a mother (Clarrie) who works in Brettenden's biscuit factory, I've offered all the gossips more definite roles, and created a rivalry between Mrs Skinner and Mrs Henderson over the church flower rota.
— Heron Carvic made us all familiar with the George and Dragon as Plummergen's pre-eminent hostelry, but he never mentioned the name of the landlord. I decided that he was Charley Mountfitchet, and that he couldn't run a pub with only Doris (Heron Carvic) and the unreliable Maureen (Hampton Charles) to help him. If Charley was a bachelor, who did the cooking? He now has a wife, Bertha, who is busy behind the scenes but makes no personal appearances.

Now consider the following characters: Flora Bannet, Mrs Benn, Mr Baxter, Colonel Windup, Mr Welsted, and Delilah Dawkin. Many of these names are mentioned in several books. It’s true that some of them are dead, but the thing they all have in common is that they are spoken of, but seldom (if ever) speak themselves. Admittedly, Mrs Benn had a few exchanges with others in the Harper & Row edition of Picture Miss Seeton but she hasn’t spoken since the Popular Library paperback of that title back in 1977.

That’s series characters for you!

With just over a month to go before publication of Watch the Wall, Miss Seeton, I’ve released the fourth Miss Seeton quiz for you to test your memory at https://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/112....