Miss Seeton Sings

Miss Seeton #4

by Heron Carvic

When a flood of perfectly faked banknotes hits the market, retired art teacher Miss Emily Seeton, Scotland Yard’s famed ‘MissEss’, is chosen to investigate a respected Geneva bank. Somehow, the forger is also mixed up in the theft of valuable paintings, so it’s ‘set an artist to catch an artist’.

But Miss S. is new to air travel – surely the names Geneva and ‘Genova’ must be the same place? Bamboozling both the crooks and the police who vainly try to keep tabs on her, innocently humming the fraudsters’ musical password, she trips gaily along the dangerous trail.

Serene amidst every kind of skulduggery, this eccentric English spinster steps in where Scotland Yard stumbles, armed with nothing more than her sketchpad and umbrella!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Humor, Audiobook, British Literature

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Heron Carvic (21 January 1913-9 February 1980) was a British actor and writer who provided the voice for Gandalf in the BBC Radio version of The Hobbit, and played Caiphas the High Priest every time the play cycle The Man Born To Be King was broadcast.

As a writer he created the characters and wrote the first five books featuring retired art teacher Miss Emily D. Seeton, a gentle parody of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Further books nominally in the Miss Seeton series were then written under two other pseudonyms. Roy Peter Martin as "Hampton Charles" wrote three novels which were all released in 1990. Sarah J. Mason, writing under the name of Hamilton Crane, then took up the series writing 14 books in all, some of which are still in print.

Reviews

[Deborah Whipp · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is written much differently from the other Miss Seeton books. It's perspective is much more detached than the previous books in the series and Miss Seeton goes around wreaking havoc and in a more Inspector Clousseau fashion. Still enjoyable, but not quite as fun.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourth in the Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton mystery series set in 1960s England.


My Take
Having some idea of what to expect from Miss Seeton's wake, I was thoroughly prepared to enjoy myself as MissEss swans about Europe...totally unknowing of the actions unfolding in her wake.

I did enjoy Haley's cant:

This could be the chummie...let's have a dekko at her; probably the cod's ma or auntie. ...The cod'd had what looked like a bit of a barge-in with the city type. Anyway the cit'd sheared off and the cod'd scarpered, so he couldn't be the chummie unless…"



I do love how everyone misinterprets Miss Seeton's innocence as a very knowing cover for her sweet, little old lady appearance. She's a point-and-shoot and with everyone trailing along after her, it's no wonder that the bad guys just fall by the waysides...or in the pit! Oh lord, then there's her "French": "Je suis so sorry" and "...je suis afraid la porte est locked". She can come across as such a befuddled sweetie and does so right in her sense of justice and truth.

And Scotland Yard is right...Miss Seeton simply notices everything around her: Mr. Mantoni's tie and his humming, the briefcase, features that no one can disguise from an artist.

It's a bit Keystone Kops as the bad guys are foiled again and again. The assassination attempts. The misconceptions on the part of the criminals, the police, the bankers, the spies. Such a lovely conversation about art at the exhibition which reveals another sort of undercover about the Duke of Belton's missing artwork and introduces Miss Seeton to a very useful lady, Mme de Brillot. That jewel theft just seems downright common after everything else…

Oh lord, and then Delphick's vision of MissEss in ostrich plumes, hat, handbang and umbrella at the Folies Bergere! Wait'll he gets a load of her inspiration for a new nudie show in Paris! "Left luggage" will forever after carry a slightly different connotation for me, from now on. Urk…!

Oh, no…only Aunt Em could come home "...clutching a dish with the joint already on it and...serve it up to customs."


The Story
Miss Seeton has been seconded by the Foreign Office to investigate counterfeit pounds being deposited at the Banque du Lac in Geneva, Switzerland. The action truly starts at Heathrow when Miss Seeton awaits her plane with Mantoni at the same table absorbing his psyche, compounding his paranoia, and being recognized by an undercover copper.

When Delphick finds out, he's blown away. Miss Seeton? Discreet? Better check to see if she has her brolly with her...she's a right menace with that weapon of mass destruction! Let alone she's a well-meaning but naive old lady who's never been out of the country!

It seems someone is depositing large quantities of forged notes at the Banque du Lac and M. Telmark as well as the Bank of England are very concerned. London believes MissEss' talent of setting criminals off could be most useful; her reputation has become rather visible and her sudden switch to the flight to Genoa, Italy sets Tolla's doom in motion.

And, really, it is Mr. Penrood's fault for abandoning MissEss at the airport.


The Characters
Miss Emily Seeton, a.k.a., MissEss due to a computer error at New Scotland Yard, is on retainer with the police drawing her psychic IdentiKits. She has retired from teaching and now lives at her cottage Sweetbriars in Plummergen, Kent. When she isn't jaunting about the continent.

Superintendent Delphick, a.k.a., the Oracle, and his Detective Sergeant Bob Ranger are both with Scotland Yard. Yes, Ranger is still seeing Anne, Dr. Knight's daughter. Detective Constable Haley from the Fraud division; Commander Conway and Inspector Borden are also with Fraud. Assistant Commissioner Hubert Everleigh has become a believer.

Lord Gatwood is the governor of the Bank of England; Jonathan Feldman is his second-in-command. Mr. Fenn is the head of Special Branch. Mr. Estevel, with the Treasury, seems to have been involved in some dodgy doings. Mr. Oblon from the FO is quite upset by Miss Seeton's complete irresponsibility: getting in car crashes, drinking, singing in a public trattoria! Heavens.

Miss Vanda Galam just happens to, somewhat pushily, befriend Miss Seeton. Good thing! Mme Mélie de Brillot has quite a few skills hidden behind her very cosmopolitan façade.

M. Karl Telmark is the head of the Banque du Lac based in Geneva, Switzerland. Heracles Stemkos is a shipping millionaire with a naughty wife, Natalie Stemkos, engaged in hanky-panky with his secretary, Anatole Librecksin. Mousha is Stemkos' director of personnel. On the outside. She ends up enjoying a lovely shopping spree with Miss Seeton.

Elio Mantoni, a.k.a., Alberti, is a smalltime forger who fancies himself as a painter. And his fate is set once Miss Seeton comes near. Xerxes Tolla leads this little band of crooks using his diplomatic cover as insurance. Thrudd Banner is a reporter who has received a tip that hanging about Miss Seeton can pay off in spades. Thomas ffloey seems a bit of a young has-been and works at the consulate.

Lilianne is Librecksin's French mistress. Cyril and Cecil are the Les Cyrcil twins, English, and a pair of actors at the Casino de Paris who know a good thing when they haul her out of her onstage coffin.

The inhabitants of Plummergen receive a brief mention in this installment.


The Title
It's Rimmsky-Korsakov's Star of India that Miss Seeton Sings, or, rather, hums and completely throws the bad guys off their stride!

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing. As a short story or novella this would have been entertaining. As a novel it dragged. Mishaps and misunderstandings are amusing once or twice but repeated use of the device becomes boring in a novel. Farce is a genre that works in theatre or film and I could see this as successful in film or television - a female equivalent of Mr Bean.

Miss Seeton was regarded as a parody of Miss Marple. Marple’s strength is her insight and wisdom deriving from her close observation of human behaviour in a small-world setting. Miss Seeton’ “super power”, to use contemporary terminology, is her artist power of observation and depiction - to see and draw what is going on in human interactions and behaviours. In this book it extends to the reverse - capacity to deconstruct a painting. The skill, however, does not transfer to awareness of what is going on around her, nor to self-awareness.

Unfortunately, in my view, Carvic does not here explore Miss Seeton as a character, but rather delights in the chaos created as a result of her involvement. To this reader, that has limited appeal.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022 bk 253. The best so far. Without consulting Miss Seeton's Scotland Yard contacts, the treasury department and others whisk our favorite village elder off to Geneva, Switzerland - but it is Miss Ess after all - and she ends up in Genoa, Italy after fingering a suspicious artist at the airport. This case of international counterfeiting, espionage, and swindling leaves Interpol, the Surete, Italian police, and the British Treasury department with their heads scratching as they attempt to figure out how Miss Ess can help them - and learning that she can help them in her own unique way. Miss Seeton is not so much dimwitted, but bewildered at life in countries where she doesn't speak the languages - she knows something is happening, but isn't quite sure what as her minders work to keep her safe.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the same joke over and over - MissEss misunderstands - but it somehow works!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous books. Some really odd and campy parts that detracted from Miss Seeton’s character.

[Cary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always fun, but also macabre so be aware, Miss Seeton is called to Switzerland to help with forgeries. She has no knowledge, no understanding, cry her police handlers, but the bank is not going to let facts get in the way!

Somehow, she manages to muddle her flustered way solving, not just one, but many crimes, and bringing down an art fogerty empire.

Hurrah for Miss Seeton! Except, it's all fortuitous accidents and her crowd of backups.

[Andrea]

Possibly the most ridiculous so far, but still very entertaining.

Note: this volume includes positive trans rep (unusual in the 1970s), but warning that it falls into the category of tragic trans.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counterfeit banknotes are flooding the English countryside alarming the Foreign Office Over the objections of Scotland Yard, the FO decided to send Miss Seeton to investigate a Geneva bank. While waiting for the plane Miss Seeton hear's a song and the-the words and melodies stays with her. It happens to be the criminal's password. Miss Seeton mistakes Genoa plane and flies to Italy. She has the police of three countries looking for her as she sings her way across Europe. The police of all the countries and the criminals organization are looking for her. Miss Seeton has no idea why she is going to meet the banker. This story has more than enough turns to confuse the everyone. I am looking forward to the next book.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from Farrago through NetGalley for an honest review. I would like to thank them for this opportunity to read and review the book. The opinions expressed are my own.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Seeton has never travelled by air but she has been called in to investigate some expertly forged bank notes which are threatening to destabilise the British economy and is being sent to Geneva.

But the inexperienced Miss Seeton gets mixed up between Geneva and Genova and she ends up in Italy. There follows a chase across half Europe as the police forces of various countries attempt to keep track of her movements.

This is a very amusing mystery with plenty of funny incidents in which Miss Seeton's innocence and unworldliness carries her through and confounds the criminals. Armed with her innocuous appearance, her brolly and her sketchpad Miss Seeton has become Scotland Yard's secret weapon known as 'MissEss' due solely to a computer error.

This is one of the few comedy crime series which actually works and the plot is interesting the situations are at times laugh out loud funny. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 2 out of 5]

Phyllida Nash's narration is exemplary, as usual.
Miss Seeton Sings is more violent than the other Miss Seeton book I’ve read. A character is ruthlessly dismembered in the bath and then distributed around Paris in suitcases – oh, and Miss Seeton unknowingly brings the victims forearm home inside a wedding present for young friends. Then the brief foray into a naked stage show, that Carvic has a concussed Miss Seeton participating in, dragged this far-fetched tale right down into a farce for me.

[Janka H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do think that to enjoy this series one must accept the premise: that the retired teacher is naive and too innocent for her own good - yet has an innate instinct to observe the truth in her sketches. While I do accept the sketch part, I have yet to meet a teacher unexperienced in life!
This installment also does not work for me because of the environment - while the British village where Miss Ess resides and its inhabitants are charming, the Continental Europe characters do not have that appeal.

[Wendy Theriault · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was very convoluted a little hard to follow for about the first half. But by the second half, it had become the usual farce we’ve come to expect. A storm swirling all about the unflappable Miss Seeton. I simply don’t understand why Masterpiece hasn’t picked up some of these books.....the visuals are simply priceless.

[Yorky Caz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was just all over the place didnt have the same feel as the other books. Boring and bizarre.

[Alyssa Skinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was, by turns, very exciting and dreadfully boring.

[M Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

The appearance of Miss Marples with the investigative skills of Inspector Clousseau and the luck of Mr. Bean. How these books haven't been made into a comedy TV series is beyond me.

[Ka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sad to say it took me until book #4 to grasp what I like about these books and why I don't care that the main character is sometimes portrayed as clever and intuitive, and other times ridiculously dense and silly... it's because she's not just the main character, but also, the main plot device.

This book was so over the top with the silly nonsense that I finally figured it out though. I had somehow got all the way through the completely silly Italian section of the story and was in Geneva, reading a scene where Miss Seeton is picked up from the airport by an incompetent ambassador, and the car is then tailed to her hotel by: the local police, the criminals, the press, a government ageny, and an actual spy, and possibly some other party I've forgotten... None of whom know about one another, although the final 2 no doubt are aware of all the others. The idea of this silly motorcade proceeding down the street with all parties attempting to be discreet and casual was so ridiculous that I finally realized that the charm of this series is not that the main character is some kind of super sleuth old granny in some kind of Agatha Christie sense... The series has much more in common with Naked Gun, Mr Bean, or Inspector Gadget.

She is in some ways actually much more competent than other "heroes" of the bumbling crime-solver genre, though... it's just that she is not a detective. She's a drawing teacher. It's shown in a number of scenes that when it comes to either teaching kids, or perceiving things as an artist does, she's perfectly capable. Furthermore, she is good-hearted, honest, and kind, and I appreciate those qualities in a fellow human. Sometimes she can be rather dense about the motivations of others, in that she perceives other people's actions in a positive light by default... but this is something I myself also do (to the consternation of my bf, an anxious and suspicious type), so I can hardly fault her for it.

I did notice that in each book, there would inevitably be a horrible gruesome murder scene. I feel like the original author, Mr Carvic, must have just really loved describing horrible gory murder scenes and so despite the light tone overall, there are also descriptions of dismembered bodies or whatever. I'm sad that this seems to be the last audiobook available (other than the newest book, but since there are like 15 novels in between them I don't necessarily want to jump right to it, especially since it also has a different author). I don't really have the time to read a novel in the more standard way right now, so although I'd love to listen to the next in the series (which I believe is the final one by the original author?), I guess I'll have to wait.

[Greg Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firstly I'll mention that I listened to the audiobook read by the incomparable Phyllida Nash; what a pleasure she is to listen to and I must say her French was in general amazingly good! Well, what apparently started as a fun parody of Miss Marple, in my opinion spun out of control in this novel. Not sure why a decision was made to have Miss Seeton jetting all over like an international spy, but I do wonder if perhaps the idea of exciting international "research trips" lured our author. I didn't feel the storyline made sense for Miss Ess. I'm all for "suspending belief" when I read a book, but the idea that everyone thinks of her as being a brilliant international spy has been stretched beyond the realm of credibility.

The first Miss Seeton book I read was "Miss Seeton Draws the Line", which was sort of like a cross between Miss Marple and Mary Poppins, with a touch of Maisie Dobbs and her magic powers. This book brought up a mishmash of Inspector Clouseau, Austin Powers, un soupçon of Boris and Natasha, and an unbelievably naive Miss Marple. Still with her magic drawing powers, of course. I guess the 60's were a time of cold war spy thrillers, and many authors were influenced by the genre.

I felt the result was interminably long and overly complicated; not much chance of character development as it was mostly jumping on planes, dodging spies / bullets... and of course speaking yards and yards of Italian and French. I suppose possibly to justify the lovely research trips. I really had to ask for strength, and persevere to get to the end of a book which just just tried a bit too hard to be clever.

I'm not giving up on the series yet, but I do hope Mr Carvic pulled his horns in a bit for his next novel; there is only so long you can spin out a parody before it starts to pall. I'll admit one thing, however, Mr Carvic's depiction of "England" rising up (umbrella first) out of the golden coffin had me laughing hysterically out loud. For the next book, I'm hoping for more humour, and less umbrella wielding super hero.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happily awarding this entry 4 stars, it’s maybe the best of the series so far. Heron Carvic wrote 5 of these before his demise and it will be surprising indeed if the writers chosen to carry Miss Seeton’s career forward can match the level of his work.
There are any number of mysteries featuring sleuths, witting or un-, “of a certain age” including Christie’s Miss Marple, Mrs Pollifax, Simon Brett’s Mrs. Pargeter (more on the other side of the legal curtain!), and of more recent times Jeanne Dams’ Dorothy Martin. I like them all, but damn me if Miss Seeton isn’t the best. Carvic established a milieu in which the humor and slapstick reach effervesently high levels, and the unwittingness of our heroine is nonpareil. There’s still a plot and a resolution to each case, but one can’t help reading from page first to page last with a smile attached to one’s face.
Miss Seeton, you’re the bomb!
Here, investigatory and regulatory forces in Switzerland, having heard of Miss Seeton’s impressive “detectival” skills, importune British counterparts to send her to Geneva to assist them in a sensitive case. The Brits are willing, even though they themselves remain uncertain of how exactly Miss Seeton does it all, and because there may be a connection to a recent tidal wave of counterfeit British currency coming across the Channel. Things begin to go off-script from the start when Miss Seeton somehow ends up in Genoa Italy rather than Geneva Switzerland and multiple contingents of Keystone Kop-ish police counterparts scurry to affix blame for the several mishaps anywhere but on their own doorsteps. With her usual unconscious acuity Miss Seeton quickly begins to bring light to the activities of the wrongdoers, whose efforts at retaliation blow up (almost literally) in their faces, and although they manage to flee to Paris, Miss Seeton and her handlers follow them there and, after additional plot turns and hijinks, all is made right again. Entirely entertaining and satisfactory!

[Virginia Tican · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank God she was on assignment abroad (a first time for her) away from the village of Plummergen because I have had just enough of her innocent actions being misinterpreted by those annoying... meddling... slanderous... pathetic... and 'somebody should wring their necks' Nuts. Our lovable blundering spinster was particularly requested and not without upsetting English foreign relations with Switzerland's Banque du Luc (and sundry other European countries) because of English notes forgeries mostly from transactions on a well~known Greek tycoon's account... just as well, as his affairs need looking into. For it was the fault of the media that Miss Seeton's unconsciously earned fame had also caught the foreign press' attention... and as fact was not more dramatic and sensational then fantasy, she (with her ubiquitous and 'constantly being replaced' umbrella) had become a super crime~buster. As far as she knew, she was to draw something in order to help the bank. Her 'sitter' (a bored young man from the Foreign Office) left her sitting with, unbeknownst to her, an Italian art forger and a well~endowed cake~eating Italian lady at the airport awaiting her flight to Geneva. Upon departure, and her sitter nowhere in sight... would you lay odds that she went to Genoa instead of Geneva? in the company of her friend, the masterful cake~eating lady? And so started her flight to foreign parts... another Hilarious adventure, encounters with some colorful characters, ruthless villains plus a traumatized superstitious forger convinced that his Nemesis' other name was Seeton... and a memorable yet tragic operative ~ Vee.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

When there is trouble and Scotland Yard needs assistance, they call on Miss Emily D. Seeton, a retired art teacher, who seems very innocent and unknowing while all the time getting involved in solving cases.

At least that seems to be the premise in the series of Miss Seeton mysteries created by British actor and writer Heron Carvic. And apparently, Carvic created Seeton as a parody of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Needless to say, Miss Seeton is a most singular character. Unlike Miss Marple, she rarely knows what she is supposed to do and seemingly just inadvertently causes actions that lead to the bad guys being thwarted.

That is indeed the cases as the retired art teacher, armed with sketch pad and umbrella gets called out to help a respected Geneva bank that has discovered a rash of fake banknotes. Well, right from the get go, she goes off the rails, er ... game plan. Miss Seeton board a wrong plane and into the midst of an Italian artist who hands off a bag of counterfeit notes. Things go from bad to worse from then on, even as they set her her assigned way, only to get even deeper. At times she's followed by the bad guys, the police, secret service and journalists — all trying desperately to find out what she is doing and why.

It's a very funny bit of whimsy seeing this retired and retiring elderly spinster trying to figure out herself what she should be doing and yet getting the best of every situation. Fun, easy and a relaxing bit of cozy like mystery; definitely a treat!

[Ian Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and other "Miss Seeton" books by Heron Carvic fall into that genre of the innocent civilian who by chance and mischance become ensnared in criminal goings on. Miss Seeton is a properly brought up lady who lives he life according to the rules she was taught as a girl, so if she gets involved in a situation which would ring warning bells for many people, Miss Seeton will very likely be in there somewhere telling someone that that is not a nice or polite thing to do or be doing and he or she should stop it straight away. The police groan when they hear that she is in trouble again, but she has an uncanny ability, using her art training, to sketch what she saw but to include extra information which the perceptive police detective officer can interpret and use.

High class literature these books are not, but they are well written, and good fun.

After Heron Carvic's death the Miss Seeton books were continued by other writers, but I did not think that the one such book that I sampled came up to the standard of the originals.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to explain the character of Miss Seaton or the series of misadventures, mistakes, and accidents that have her totally unaware of what is going on and all the criminals (and law officers) around her sure she knows everything that is going on--criminals trying to kill her and officers trying to protect her? And how the havoc that follows her around somehow manages to solve crimes, some of which she doesn't even know about. These books are not really mysteries--they are comedy of errors which somehow manage to come out okay, leaving the reader laughing, giggling, and wondering how they got here.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foreign Adventures for a Nice Old Lady

This was another great read about the sweet MissEss, now innocently recruited to solve an international banking scandal. The chaos ensues and criminals fall over themselves!
This was a little bit like two stories merged together. I felt like the story was wrapped up and should have been in denouement when the second part began. But we all crave MissEss adventures and they gave us a little more instead! I enjoyed the new supporting characters in the story- as Bob Ranger and Delphick were not invited on her European adventure.

[Tracy Mecum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besr Miss Seeton Yet

Can't wait for the next one. This was such a fun book with travel to Italy, Switzerland and France. She even appears in a nudie show in Paris! Through it all, she remains our Miss Seeton, leaving havoc behind her and trapping every murderer, thief and art dealer in her wake. She unflappably remains the retired art teacher and insists the bullets fired and the narrowly missed traffic accidents could not be aimed at her. I enjoyed numerous giggles and outright laughter while reading this book. Hope you enjoy it too.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening to this book is far more satisfying than reading it. Earlier installments were rather tedious due Carvic's love affair with the ellipse. It was too much work to figure out the references. The narrator makes the book easier to understand.

This particular story was delightful. It used to be very easy to wind up on the wrong plane, and Genova and Geneva are often mistaken for each other. The comedy of errors that ensued, with Miss Seeton ignorantly always one step ahead of disaster, was entertainment itself.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first two Miss Seeton mysteries Picture Miss Seeton and Miss Seeton Draws the Line. So much so that I gobbled up the rest of the books by Heron Carvic to squirrel away when I needed to read something guaranteed to make me laugh. Unfortunately, book three (Witch Miss Seeton) is where the series began to unravel. The author began bringing in multiple plot lines, many more characters, and the humor that I loved so much devolved into farce. As you can tell by that last sentence, I don't really care for farce, humor being so subjective.

In Miss Seeton Sings, not only are there multiple plot lines and many more characters, Miss Seeton and her lethal umbrella aren't even in her English village anymore-- and her execrable French only had the power to make me smile a time or two. No, Miss Seeton does her best work in her village.

Although it was amusing to see how she and her umbrella escaped death time and again, I began getting angry with Scotland Yard and the other police agencies who just turned her loose and left her completely in the dark. I know there's some humor in there somewhere that completely escaped me, but I'm not going to worry about it.

I will say that, if you are a lover of farce, this is the book for you. If you're not, you might want to leave it alone.

[Bette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Seeton goes to Switzerland because an important banker had heard of “The Battling Brolly” and wanted to have Scotland Yards best detective on the case of the forged currency. But Miss Seeton doesn’t stop there she is off to Spain, Italy and France.

As I keep saying this series makes me smile but if you look and listen carefully there are issues discussed that are talked about in politics today.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

(from long-ago DorothyL post)
This had been on my TBR shelf a loooong time (third floor shelves two houses back). If you think the TV Miss Marple is ditsy, try Miss Seeton. It was amusing, mostly, sad in one part (and there was a character who was way ahead of [pronoun's] time) -- and the one thing I really minded was that there seemed to be a bit of the old British-style "dark skins bad" attitude -- but it's hard to judge from just one book. I may try another. Some day.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got through about 70% of this book and decided that I would waste no more time on it. I've really enjoyed the previous Miss Seeton books but this takes off in a totally different direction with none of the action in the quiet little English village. Miss Seeton is whisked all around Europe, never really sure what's going on and I'm just as confused as she was. The whole thing is ludicrous with too many odd characters and very little of Miss Seeton.