Out of the Past

Miss Silver #23

by Patricia Wentworth

James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea. The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the old house and replaces it with a mounting tension, culminating in murder. Fortunately, Miss Silver is present to unravel the complex mystery and seek out the murderer amongst them.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Historical Fiction

267 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Patricia Wentworth--born Dora Amy Elles--was a British crime fiction writer.

She was educated privately and at Blackheath High School in London. After the death of her first husband, George F. Dillon, in 1906, she settled in Camberley, Surrey. She married George Oliver Turnbull in 1920 and they had one daughter.

She wrote a series of 32 classic-style whodunnits featuring Miss Silver, the first of which was published in 1928, and the last in 1961, the year of her death.

Miss Silver, a retired governess-turned private detective, is sometimes compared to Jane Marple, the elderly detective created by Agatha Christie. She works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott and is fond of quoting the poet Tennyson.

Wentworth also wrote 34 books outside of that series.

Reviews

[Jaline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Abbott says, “I shall be off by an early train, so I thought I had better come and pay my respects tonight and let you know how the Cordozo affair has panned out.”

Miss Silver thinks, ‘Really, these modern expressions! Derived, of course, from the gold-mining industry, and in its way expressive, but one could hardly approve it.’

I had to laugh because Miss Silver reminds me of myself at times like this: occasionally jumping on my high horse or a soap box in defense of the English language. Ha! On the other hand, I am also known to make up new words here and there and tweak the noses of those who don’t like the way I place my participles, or would like to see less (or more) adjectives and/or adverbs.

And then there is Miss Silver’s love for Lord Tennyson’s poetry. I have only read bits here and there, but any reader of Miss Silver’s investigative adventures can attest to her mind-expanding Tennyson quotes. I have wondered if she memorized all of his works in their entirety because she can present one of his quotes for nearly every eventuality.

There are a couple of very good Tennyson quotes in this novel, although I decided not to include any in my review because they could be construed as spoilers!

I like how this novel starts off as a family saga where we learn a great deal about the family and their closest friends. As we move into present time, the story expands to include several friends of the family as house guests. The overflow go to stay in the large rooming house next door where Miss Silver and her favourite niece are enjoying a pleasant holiday.

One person who is connected to most of the others in the story turns up like the proverbial bad penny, three years after everyone was sure the person was settled and happy elsewhere. The malice starts small, and always with a smile . . . and then grows in increments until it mushrooms into a big canopy that covers nearly everyone in the two households containing owners and guests.

Then, like dominoes going down, a suspect list for murder takes its toll on the inhabitants of the two dwellings. Nerves are stretched tight, and no-one knows for certain who they can trust. Somehow, Frank Abbott and Miss Silver need to right those dominoes, examine each one carefully and find out who the culprit is before they are driven to strike again.

A great story, a great plot, and keen insight into each of the book’s characters can be found here. I enjoyed this one a lot!

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the Past (Miss Silver, #23) by Patricia Wentworth.

This has to be my favorite Miss Silver to date. All the characters are introduced to the reader with their past lives in detail and how they relate to the others. Excellent mystery and I might add may be compared to any of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books.

Carmona is staying at the estate left to her husband James by his late father. They had been married a short time however, Carmona had been engaged to another man who left her at the altar and drifted off to south America without a word. Three months after that deplorable experience she married James.
Suddenly Alan Field appears at the door with no other explanation other than he's decided to pay everyone a visit. Mr. Field does really care that not everyone is thrilled to see him or to welcome him back. He apparently has other motives for his trip to pay his respects to his old "chums". That motive would be money and he is bound and determined to get as much as he can even if that means blackmail.

So enjoyed this Miss Silver and can highly recommend it to any mystery lover.

[Andrea]

This features one of the most deserving victims in the entire series.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

His eyes travelled to Esther Field. She really hadn’t changed a bit. He supposed she never would, the soft-hearted, muddle-headed old thing. He felt quite fond of her as he remembered how easy it had always been to get round her. Neither of the Trevors was in evidence. Esther’s maid had told him they would be there – ‘Such a nice party, Mr. Alan. Mrs. Field was ever so pleased about it. Colonel and Mrs. Trevor, and Lady Castleton – quite a reunion as you might say, not to speak of meeting old friends we used to see when we went down to Cliffton regular every summer. The only pity is Major Hardwick not being there.’ Somehow, he felt, they would be able to do very nicely without James Hardwick. And without the Trevors too. Maisie was all right – she might even be useful – but old Tom had always given him a pain in the neck. Adela Castleton – no, on second thoughts, Adela might be worked into the game. It would be tricky, of course, but he could do it – oh, yes he could do it. And to play a tricky game well was half the fun.

Alan is blackmailing quite a number of people with no remorse or compunction. No wonder he is murdered!

‘But, Alan, Mr Murgatroyd wouldn’t be buying the letters. People don’t do that when they are writing a biography.’
‘Quite right – they don’t. But there might be money in it all the same,’
‘I don’t see how.’
‘You will, all in good time. You see, I’ve got to have money. One can’t, unfortunately, get on without it. And as it is, I’ve got a chance of a really good thing. If it comes off, I’ll be made for life and no more trouble to anyone. But I’ve got to have a sprat to catch my whale with.’

The evening was over, and whatever happened or didn’t happen, no one could make them live it through again. It had begun with an impression of approaching storm – dark clouds coming up from a long way off and brooding overhead. They had come, they had hovered, and they had passed. There had been no explosion.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Field was charming, handsome, and--ruthless. He would have preferred that last word to be rich, but he was murdered in the midst of his latest attempt to achieve wealth without working. Blackmail was, he thought, much easier. Not one but two ex-fiancees were in the area, one of them the now-married woman he left at the church when he fled to South America. Fortunately, Miss Maud Silver is at a nearby boarding house, taking a short holiday with her niece. Only she can put the pieces together and finger an unsuspected murderer before there's a third tragedy.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty average Miss Silver outing. Not the most intriguing of plots or selection of characters and it lacked some of the sparkle of the other books in the series.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
Le début était très introductif mais une fois le meurtre commis on veut plus le lâcher
J’ai adoré le style d’écriture (même si c’est traduit de l’anglais), c’était descriptif mais pas trop et on voit que ça a été écrit il y a un certain temps :)
Bref je lis jamais de roman policier alors que j’adore les films/séries policières donc évidemment j’ai adoré et je vais essayer d’en lire plus à l’avenir !!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good older whodunnit.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Hardwick was Carmona's second choice as a husband. She doesn't fully realize what a lucky escape she has had until her charming ex-fiance Alan Field turns up at their seaside house party and starts blackmailing her friends right and left. Fortunately for all the people suspected of murdering him, Miss Silver is staying in the same boarding house Alan was.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just arrived from Finland through BM.

A story where there are too many suspects of a murder crime, which calls for revenge, betrayal and blackmail.

This is the 23rd book of Miss Silver series and reminds me the famous detective women created by Dame Christie - Miss Marple. These old ladies, who nobody notices, are the key personages who are able to solve very entangled murder mysteries.

[John Frankham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed again in 2019.

Six people have very strong motives to murder a rotter who has come back into their lives after jilting his fiancée and disappearing for three years. He needs money, and blackmail is his method. Luckily Miss Silver is staying at a boarding house close to the mansion where most of the 'cast' are living/visiting.

A good average Patricia Wentworth whodunnit.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When Miss Maud Silver goes to the Channel coat for a short holiday with her niece, she hardly expects to become involved in the murder of Alan Field, a young ne'er-do-well who has just returned from South America after a three-year absence. When Field's body is found in the Hardwicks' beach house, they and their guests are all logical suspects. Several of the individuals on the scene -- an indistinct wife, a taciturn and strong-willed widow, and a jilted former lover -- all have sufficient motives for murder. Inspector Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard enlists the aid of Miss Silver, who, armed only with her knitting needles and years of long experience in observation of human nature, makes some startling deduction and reveals the culprit to the authorities."
~~back cover

I've adored the Miss Silver series ever since I discovered it years ago. The basics: elderly spinster who solves mysteries in English villages or small towns, seems a duplication of Miss Marple. Imho, Patricia Wentworth's characters and plots have much more depth than the Miss Marple series, especially Miss Silver -- you can imagine her as your maiden aunt with no trouble at all. I think I have every Miss Silver book, and one of these days I'm going to treat myself to a lovely binge of reading them all again -- in order.

[Keesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guessed the murderer in this one about 3/4 of the way through the book!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant divergence in my reading. I was reading all of these in order and then took a hiatus. This came across my desk, and it was pleasant to go back to Wentworth and Miss Silver.

[Helen Sews-Knits · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as earlier books, too many characters, not enough substance. It’s a 2 for wentworth which would be a 3 for other writers.

[Katie Hilton]

A young man returns from a mysterious disappearance of three years. He joins a house party and proceeds to try to blackmail most of the guests. Then he is murdered, and there are two many suspects. Miss Silver sorts out the situation.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free | Unusual for Wentworth, in that all the young lovers are married from the start. | I sometimes wonder what the experience of reading cozy mysteries is for those who aren't as familiar. I don't often get to wonder who the murderer is, and I'm curious to know whether it's more enjoyable to be surprised. In this case it seemed so clear from the moment it was written that she raised her hand to her lips, as opposed to explicitly saying that she took her sleeping pills. Why such an independent woman would request help to her bedroom, if not for a witness, I couldn't figure. /. Fairly reasonable red herrings, though, and no men physically assaulting women in the name of "love", so one of her better efforts.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021: 4* This listen through I was back to focusing more on Carmona & James, and, Miss Silver. Working on effecting a third murder, the murderer remains the same; selfish, ruthless, and, manipulative.

2020: 3+* I liked the story less this time than my first listen through, I guess because the murderer was as selfish, ruthless, and, manipulative underneath as Alan Field blatantly was.

2018: 4* The murder victim certainly set himself up to be dun-in and it was good to see that Carmona dodged a bullet when he ditched her at the altar all those years ago. Lots of red-herrings, but Wentworth gave me just enough clues to be able to work out who the murderer was before Miss Silver started to clue drop.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Field has been out of England for three years. On his return, he descends on the seaside resort where several old acquaintances are staying, and proceeds to wreck havoc. Handsome, charming, and thoroughly unscrupulous, he blackmails several people,and upsets one or two others apparently just for the hell of it. It will come as no surprise that he is soon murdered, the only question is by whom? Fortunately Miss Silver happens to be staying in the same resort, and is able to help the police with their enquiries. This is quite an entertaining mystery, with some interesting characters, though as with many of the Miss Silver stories it isn’t too difficult to spot the murderer.

[Annabel Frazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic Miss Silver mystery, set in a rambling country house by the seaside, with a victim everyone wants dead, a collection of suspects (some more likeable than others) and an array of motives.

I always cherish the period detail of these books and worry less about the plot. For instance, in this book, I marvel at the constant insistence by every character on how ghastly the house is - frightful, far too big, an awful millstone that James Hardwick, who has inherited it, should get rid of as soon as possible. "We'll certainly never want to live in it," he says cuttingly. To me, the house sounds lovely - huge, rambling, old, and right by the sea. You find this appalled attitude to big country houses throughout Agatha Christie and Patricia Wentworth - clearly social changes made living in these houses challenging for their owners but reading these books, it's a marvel that there are any of these lovely houses left. Thank goodness for the National Trust.

The murder plot, if I am honest, is slightly less successful. There are a few flaws in logic which I will have to discuss inside spoiler brackets. Alan Field may be a ruthless blackmailer but his presence at the hotel where Pippa Maybury registered with a man not her husband (before thinking better of the escapade) is clearly sheer coincidence, which is irritating. More problematically, how did Alan first meet Darsie, the faded beauty who runs the seaside guesthouse close to the Hardwick house? Alan grew up with his stepmother's niece Carmona (PW family relationships are always convoluted), whereas the Hardwick house belonged to Carmona's husband James's family. James never met Carmona until he was in his twenties and there is no suggestion that the families lived near each other. So how come Carmona's childhood playmate Alan had a fling with a girl living so close to James's family seat? It's an odd and irritating coincidence.

While in spoiler mode, I found the murderess underwhelming, disappointingly. Lady Adela Castleton is cold and ruthless but there's nothing much to get hold of there. She has none of the richness of character of, say, Lois Latter in Latter End.

The central romance (there is always one in a PW) is interestingly understated. James Hardwick fell in love with Carmona at first sight, only to find her set on marrying wastrel Alan. There is then a mysterious gap before we find Carmona married to James and wonder how that came about. When Alan returns to the scene, there's a hint here and there that James may be a slightly sinister, controlling figure, who is not right for Carmona. It's rare in a PW novel for the hero's motives to be left in doubt like this - usually it's cosily clear from the start that hero and heroine are meant for each other and just need all the obstacles cleared away for them. In this book, there's a slightly cool and neutral tone, even at the end when they should live happily ever after. It's intriguing and slightly disconcerting.

Overall, this is a solid and entertaining entry in the Patricia Wentworth canon, if you like this sort of thing, which I do.

[Italo Italophiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The expected Wentworth interesting beginning, doesn't let the reader down. Miss Silver enters the story earlier than usual, as a neighbor to the events that unfold. The omniscient narration is there as in the other Miss Silver books, giving us insight into the innocent and the evil. We have a murderer and a blackmailer, as in many of the books.

The evil is very evil in this book, and it seems inconceivable that people let the evil remain in their midst for so long, and didn't send it packing. But people do inexplicable things in Wentworth books. There is even a woman who treats her husband inexplicably after he saved her from someone she knows is horrid.

I have noticed another odd thing in the Wentworth books, that the police always tell suspects who gave evidence against them. That seems so risky as to be incompetence, setting up witnesses to be threatened or worse. She does it again in this book. Weird. And there is always lots of people's “natural color draining away”.

The setting is a beachfront home, much like in a previous book in the series, and there are interesting lines like this one: “It doesn’t do to think of these old sad things, does it? One needs all one’s courage for the present.”

As with so many of the books' murders, they might as well happen in the middle of freeway, considering how many people go by at the time. Oh, well, it was an entertaining and inoffensive read. But it is high time for Inspector Frank Abbott to find a woman!

[Virginia Tican · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Field was a very handsome self~centered, hedonistic, amoral and vindictive man who was always in need of money and that was why he was then marrying his stepcousin... but a better offer came his way considering the bulk of his bride's money was put in Trust for her children and given his impatient avarice he took the money and left her on the altar to be humiliated then sailed off to South America without even sending word that he was jilting her and spared her the public embarrassment. After an absence of three years, he was back in England having spent all the money he received in exchange for not going through with the wedding. Given his ruthless greed for money, he resorted to blackmail... and at Cliff Edge, the Hardwicks' hideous white elephant of a house, he found his victims. Cliff Edge was his former fiancée's husband's, James Hardwick's, inheritance. Then there was also Sea View, a boarding house run by Field's former lover, whom he got with child and then abandoned for Carmona Hardwick neé Leigh whom he also left. There was also another angle of a treasure map that was supposedly in the possession of a South American who disappeared shortly after he arrived in England. Guess who would get killed in this prose.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of my 'do I really want to keep this?' rereads.

Not the worst Wentworth, but a long way from her best. Alan Field, the murder victim is satisfactorily evil, and some of the suspects are good, but I found the dénouement very far-fetched. And the murderer's behaviour was so out of character that their identity was pretty obvious long before the end - so obvious that one wonders why Miss Silver didn't step in earlier. Also, the behaviour of the heroine is implausible. Before her marriage to James Hardwicke, Carmona was engaged to Alan, who jilted her on what should have been their wedding day. When Alan turns up again, he tells Carmona that James paid him several thousand pounds to jilt Carmona, thus leaving her free for James to marry instead. Carmona is understandably devastated by this news, but as soon as Alan is murdered, she's quite happy to put it all behind her and carry on living happily ever after with James. I found it really unbelievable that any woman could simply brush off the knowledge that her husband had basically bought her!

And no, I don't want to keep this one!

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maude Silver and her niece have gone for a short vacation on the Channel coast. Instead of an enjoyable time, Miss Silver finds herself involved in a murder.

Alan Field had just returned from South Africa after a three year absence. A handsome, smooth talking man, who could charm anyone and had for years. The problem with him was his ability to charm money from wealthy ladies and never pay it back. Many people knew of this flaw, and when his dead body was found there was quite a list of suspects.

The case is assigned to Inspector Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard, as he is already investigating the murder of Field’s “business partner.” When Abbott learns of Miss Silver’s vacationing in the same area as the murder, he knows he will have excellent help in getting information towards solving Fields’s murder, if not the other victim’s murder.

Miss Silver’s capacity for observing people and making astute analysis of them has come in handy in other cases. This one will be the same.

The various people connected to the case may have secrets, but Miss Silver will unravel them as neatly as she does her ball of yarn as she knits.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is 23rd in the series and is rather average fare with familiar characters and issues for a Miss Silver whodunit. The setting where the killing occurs is in the beach tent on the sands below the ugly and foreboding old large home on the cliff by the sea. The victim is deliciously evil, having left one character pregnant and another at the altar years ago before he disappeared. Now he's back, blackmailing a number of the house guests as well, and ending up with a knife in the back, stabbed in the moonlight. Of course, just about everybody in the book passed in or by that tent in the possible killing timeframe. So who did it? And will they kill again to keep the secrets secret? Luckily, Miss Silver is knitting away, at the boarding house next door. What would Frank Abbott do without her?

[Franziska Self Fisken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent plot with several murder suspects. Well drawn likeable characters and some convincingly portrayed baddies. Some excellent prose (see below).
After re-reading this only 3 years later, I've suddenly realised that the murder victim reminds me quite vividly in his heartlessness of my own handsome, charming, superficially likeable brother.
"One of the women to whom the domestic hearth is not only the centre but also the boundary of their interests."
". ... leave that hot knitting of yours behind. It is really quite unendurable to see you martyrising yourself with that conflagration of crimson wool."

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My final Miss Silver book! I finished the series, all 32 books! I wish now I had read them in order. The books build up Miss Silver’s world and reference previous cases so it would have been better to read in order. Oh well!

The formula for this story is different than the usual structure. Instead of the murder happening at the very beginning and the reader slowly finding out the motives of all the different people, the murder doesn’t happen until about midway through the book. The reader gets to follow along with the characters and see why the motives for murder happen. You aren’t hearing about it second hand from Abbott or Miss Silver.

I guessed the murderer fairly quickly. I normally don’t. It was fine though, because I couldn’t figure out how the killer could get caught. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the setting. I liked that Miss Silver was in the book a lot. It was a good book to end the series on - a high note.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hervé39, Babelio
Je ne connaissais pas Patricia Wentworth, j'ai lu ce livre dans le cadre du challenge solidaire. Je ne pense pas lire à nouveau un de ses romans.
Autant j'apprécie de temps en temps retrouver Agatha Christie, autant l'écriture, l'atmosphère, les personnages de cette auteure m'ont laissé de marbre. Peut-être est-ce dû au fait que j'ai découvert le meurtrier assez tôt et donc que, malgré tous les suspects potentiels, il n'y a pas eu de surprise alors que ça n'a jamais été le cas avec Agatha.
Miss Silver m'a paru un peu fade et effacé. Désolé pour les inconditionnels, ça se lit mais personnellement je trouve que ça a mal vieilli, après ce n'est que mon opinion.

[Anna Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remembered why I enjoy the Miss Silver mysteries. Love the period and the atmosphere. Love Miss Silver. I haven't read any of these in a really long time, but I was surprised that I knew the murderer before the murder was committed, and I'm bemused that Miss Silver is so professional about her work. I think I confuse her with the slightly more cuddly Miss Marple, which is a personal problem, not an actual critique!

Loved it, and I'm excited that I've been buying them as they become available, for just in case, because I have so many books to enjoy in this series!

[Teri-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a favorite. The heroine is one of those weak people who just lets everyone decide things for her and spends lots of time worrying and feeling lost. She's surrounded by folks who are either unlikable or so stoic you don't get to know them. There were some complications I kept expecting that never arose, and then at the end a sort of "miracle" occurred in a side story line that didn't make much sense. All in all, disappointing, as I've enjoyed some others in this series.