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Miss Silver #18
Through the Wall
Most of Marion's relations would prefer her dead, and one of them will not stop at murder ...
Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
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528 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
196 books525 followersPatricia 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
January 31, 2019
Marian Brand is lost in deep thought as she takes the train homeward from a meeting she had been summoned to with a lawyer. A very wealthy uncle she had not been aware of left her a large legacy and a large house. On her journey home, she meets Richard Cunningham, a very successful writer. Only, they are under the train, saved by a ditch in a bad train crash with a couple of hours to talk together until they are rescued.
This is another entertaining mystery with Miss Silver once again the one who figures out who did what, lays a trap for them, and the truth comes to the fore.
The house that goes with Marian’s legacy is a divided house, in more ways than one. It is huge, with four bedrooms on either side of a dividing wall with doors that are locked on one side and bolted on the other side. Both sides also have their own kitchens and several drawing rooms and sitting rooms. Marian’s sister is frail, so this seaside home is perfect for her. Unfortunately, she married a fellow who feels the world, and now Marian, owes him sufficient funds so he doesn’t have to strain himself with a job.
The relatives on the other side of the house are two older women, along with the young man and young woman who have lived there since Marian’s uncle unofficially took them in. There are other characters as well, and again – these various characters and their personalities stand out as singular. They are all shades of human – good, bad, and everywhere in-between.
The question is – are appearances completely deceptive? Are the bad people redeemable and the good people not what they appear? I had narrowed down my own suspects to two – and as it turns out, one of them was definitely not redeemable even beyond my imagining. Psychopaths rarely are, even though they can put up an innocent and/or pleasant appearance, or their personality oddities can be passed off in other ways.
As always, this series is a nice refreshment after heavier reads. I even enjoy the light romances that crop up in the novels as they are soft-pedalled and rather sweet. Besides, if it weren’t for the babies that result from these romances, Miss Silver would not have any knitting to do as she gently draws out information from the people involved in her future cases.
This is another entertaining mystery with Miss Silver once again the one who figures out who did what, lays a trap for them, and the truth comes to the fore.
The house that goes with Marian’s legacy is a divided house, in more ways than one. It is huge, with four bedrooms on either side of a dividing wall with doors that are locked on one side and bolted on the other side. Both sides also have their own kitchens and several drawing rooms and sitting rooms. Marian’s sister is frail, so this seaside home is perfect for her. Unfortunately, she married a fellow who feels the world, and now Marian, owes him sufficient funds so he doesn’t have to strain himself with a job.
The relatives on the other side of the house are two older women, along with the young man and young woman who have lived there since Marian’s uncle unofficially took them in. There are other characters as well, and again – these various characters and their personalities stand out as singular. They are all shades of human – good, bad, and everywhere in-between.
The question is – are appearances completely deceptive? Are the bad people redeemable and the good people not what they appear? I had narrowed down my own suspects to two – and as it turns out, one of them was definitely not redeemable even beyond my imagining. Psychopaths rarely are, even though they can put up an innocent and/or pleasant appearance, or their personality oddities can be passed off in other ways.
As always, this series is a nice refreshment after heavier reads. I even enjoy the light romances that crop up in the novels as they are soft-pedalled and rather sweet. Besides, if it weren’t for the babies that result from these romances, Miss Silver would not have any knitting to do as she gently draws out information from the people involved in her future cases.
December 7, 2011
If you enjoy reading mystery novels of the "cozy" genre, like those by Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, you'll love this book. But to me, this novel, published in 1950, exemplifies everything I dislike about the cozy genre.
Things I dislike about the cozy genre of mystery novels (with apologies to the many people who enjoy these books):
1. It's actually a romance novel -- though a very prim romance novel -- disguised as a mystery. (Note: if my library copy had come with the cover shown above, I probably would have known this wasn't the book for me. Sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover).
2. The intelligence of the pre-WW2 mysteries has been replaced by sentimentality, and the author focuses less on the puzzle and more on "characterization", which usually means coming up with some quirky locals to try to differentiate this book from all others just like it.
3. Because it's a sentimental romance disguised as a mystery, you can usually narrow down who-done-it within the first few chapters: there will be a sweet young couple, modest and moral, with a budding romance. One, or both, will be framed or appear guilty due to circumstances. They will spend a large chunk of the text selflessly protecting each other from being found out, even though they know the other isn't guilty. As soon as you meet the young people in love, you can be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that they are not the culprits, just suspects.
4. Even though the novel is sure to have a twist or two way at the end, you can usually figure out who did in the first chapters once you've narrowed down that it isn't our young lovers or the other stock characters outlined below. Key rule: no one you like (or who likes our young lovers) is the murderer.
Other stock characters:
A. The eccentric rich person, disliked by many people; often ends up as the victim
B. A rude, immoral, loud, beautiful, flamboyant, possibly famous "red herring"; often a house-guest or relative of above rich person; often ends up as the main suspect until the twist at the end. Although the police suspect our young lovers, you the readers are supposed to suspect this person. Don't.
C. The devoted servant, usually quirky. This person may also be a primary suspect. However, if he/she is devoted to our young lovers, then he/she is not the perpetrator.
D. The surprisingly well-educated detective/police chief, whom the whole class-conscious cast of characters is surprised to find so educated (good characters either like him or are awed by him; bad characters can't stand him). He is often a kindly advocate for our young lovers. This character solves the mystery unless there is an amateur sleuth (see F). Amateur sleuth always trumps well-educated detective.
E. The pig-headed police officer (underling to above detective/chief) who bullies and pesters and suspects our young lovers. He is a foil to our well-educated detective (or amateur sleuth) because he is always several steps behind in seeing or understanding the clues.
F. An alternative (or addition, as in this novel) to our well-educated detective is the unlikely amateur sleuth with unconventional sleuthing methods. This person does not look like a detective (eg, an old lady), so he/she is able to get the scoop and make our pig-headed police officer look stupid. Also always an advocate for our young lovers.
G. A cat. Oh, I really hate it when cozy novels include a quirky cat in their panel of characters. This novel is especially gruesome because said cat is a good judge of characters (eg, likes our young lovers). You can be certain that the murderer is among the people our cat dislikes.
5. These are novels for people who see the world in black and white. Good and evil are very clearly differentiated, and good always triumphs (okay, I like that aspect of the mystery genre). Romantic love always triumphs too -- the final scene is our young lovers reunited and happily planning a future together (which I wouldn't mind if the romance were secondary to the plot, which it isn't; this novel has some nauseatingly sappy passages). If the murderer is completely unrepentant (eg, is "caught in the act" when the detective sets a trap [often recreating the scene of the crime]; is angry and/or violent when caught), he/she will be carted off to jail. But if the murderer is at all repentant or had a difficult past that explains his/her action or in any other way might pull at your heart-strings, then: (1) our amateur sleuth might let them escape to America or in some other way avoid punishment by distancing self, (2) the detective or the amateur sleuth might knowingly allow the murderer to kill himself/herself thus avoiding jail/death penalty or other exposure, or (3) the murderer is killing himself/herself as his/her identity is being revealed, thus making it impossible for our saddened detective/amateur sleuth to step in and prevent this sobering but just end to a bad life.
Things I dislike about the cozy genre of mystery novels (with apologies to the many people who enjoy these books):
1. It's actually a romance novel -- though a very prim romance novel -- disguised as a mystery. (Note: if my library copy had come with the cover shown above, I probably would have known this wasn't the book for me. Sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover).
2. The intelligence of the pre-WW2 mysteries has been replaced by sentimentality, and the author focuses less on the puzzle and more on "characterization", which usually means coming up with some quirky locals to try to differentiate this book from all others just like it.
3. Because it's a sentimental romance disguised as a mystery, you can usually narrow down who-done-it within the first few chapters: there will be a sweet young couple, modest and moral, with a budding romance. One, or both, will be framed or appear guilty due to circumstances. They will spend a large chunk of the text selflessly protecting each other from being found out, even though they know the other isn't guilty. As soon as you meet the young people in love, you can be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that they are not the culprits, just suspects.
4. Even though the novel is sure to have a twist or two way at the end, you can usually figure out who did in the first chapters once you've narrowed down that it isn't our young lovers or the other stock characters outlined below. Key rule: no one you like (or who likes our young lovers) is the murderer.
Other stock characters:
A. The eccentric rich person, disliked by many people; often ends up as the victim
B. A rude, immoral, loud, beautiful, flamboyant, possibly famous "red herring"; often a house-guest or relative of above rich person; often ends up as the main suspect until the twist at the end. Although the police suspect our young lovers, you the readers are supposed to suspect this person. Don't.
C. The devoted servant, usually quirky. This person may also be a primary suspect. However, if he/she is devoted to our young lovers, then he/she is not the perpetrator.
D. The surprisingly well-educated detective/police chief, whom the whole class-conscious cast of characters is surprised to find so educated (good characters either like him or are awed by him; bad characters can't stand him). He is often a kindly advocate for our young lovers. This character solves the mystery unless there is an amateur sleuth (see F). Amateur sleuth always trumps well-educated detective.
E. The pig-headed police officer (underling to above detective/chief) who bullies and pesters and suspects our young lovers. He is a foil to our well-educated detective (or amateur sleuth) because he is always several steps behind in seeing or understanding the clues.
F. An alternative (or addition, as in this novel) to our well-educated detective is the unlikely amateur sleuth with unconventional sleuthing methods. This person does not look like a detective (eg, an old lady), so he/she is able to get the scoop and make our pig-headed police officer look stupid. Also always an advocate for our young lovers.
G. A cat. Oh, I really hate it when cozy novels include a quirky cat in their panel of characters. This novel is especially gruesome because said cat is a good judge of characters (eg, likes our young lovers). You can be certain that the murderer is among the people our cat dislikes.
5. These are novels for people who see the world in black and white. Good and evil are very clearly differentiated, and good always triumphs (okay, I like that aspect of the mystery genre). Romantic love always triumphs too -- the final scene is our young lovers reunited and happily planning a future together (which I wouldn't mind if the romance were secondary to the plot, which it isn't; this novel has some nauseatingly sappy passages). If the murderer is completely unrepentant (eg, is "caught in the act" when the detective sets a trap [often recreating the scene of the crime]; is angry and/or violent when caught), he/she will be carted off to jail. But if the murderer is at all repentant or had a difficult past that explains his/her action or in any other way might pull at your heart-strings, then: (1) our amateur sleuth might let them escape to America or in some other way avoid punishment by distancing self, (2) the detective or the amateur sleuth might knowingly allow the murderer to kill himself/herself thus avoiding jail/death penalty or other exposure, or (3) the murderer is killing himself/herself as his/her identity is being revealed, thus making it impossible for our saddened detective/amateur sleuth to step in and prevent this sobering but just end to a bad life.
August 23, 2017
I love a good old fashioned mystery with a genteel older lady detective, and this one ticks all the right boxes. Miss Silver is gentle, although not a push over, and the main characters are nice people you are pleased to see get ahead, while the nasty people are truly nasty. In addition there is a sweet romance. This one features a young woman who has struggled all her life, supporting herself and her ailing sister, along with the sister's actor husband. Suddenly she finds she has inherited the fortune of an uncle she did not know, along with his house and the relatives he has been supporting for years. Fortunately the house was originally two houses, and can be split once again by locking a few doors, so the importunate relatives are at least not living in her half of the house. Sadly, that doesn't keep murder from entering the scene, but with Miss Silver's help, the murders are solved and most everyone lives happily ever after. This is one of a long series featuring Miss Silver, but if this one is anything to go by, they can be read independently, so I'll be looking for more of them.
April 11, 2018
Marian Brand, who has been working hard to support her mopey sister and her ne'er do well brother in law, has a very...interesting day. First, she finds out she has inherited a house, some unpleasant relatives, and an income of about £2000 per year. Then, her train crashes, and she spends 2 hours trapped in the wreckage with a fellow passenger.
Weeks later, she moves into the house, with the unpleasant relatives, who are all angry she got the house and the cash. Her brother-in-law is also pissed that his wife was left nothing. All these people are aware that if Marian dies, half her income will go to mopey Ina, and half will go back to the family.
Felix, one of the Brand family, is crazed with jealousy over a very pretty singer, who is being blackmailed. Penny, who is only distantly related to the family, is eating her heart out with love for Felix and resentment of Helen and how badly she treats him. And there's the matter of the blackmail.
It's quite an unhappy house, due to all the envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness in the air. Murder is inevitable. Luckily, Miss Silver is nearby, ready to come to the rescue.
Weeks later, she moves into the house, with the unpleasant relatives, who are all angry she got the house and the cash. Her brother-in-law is also pissed that his wife was left nothing. All these people are aware that if Marian dies, half her income will go to mopey Ina, and half will go back to the family.
Felix, one of the Brand family, is crazed with jealousy over a very pretty singer, who is being blackmailed. Penny, who is only distantly related to the family, is eating her heart out with love for Felix and resentment of Helen and how badly she treats him. And there's the matter of the blackmail.
It's quite an unhappy house, due to all the envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness in the air. Murder is inevitable. Luckily, Miss Silver is nearby, ready to come to the rescue.
March 10, 2018
Better than average Miss Silver, with two romances and two suitably unpleasant murderees and one very nasty murderer. Add a dash of blackmail, an interesting old house, a large inheritance and as Miss Silver says, a dangerous brew of "hatred- jealousy-spite- wounded affection-resentment-deep unhappiness", and you have a most enjoyable afternoon's reading.
3.5stars.
3.5stars.
November 26, 2019
I really enjoyed this, so it would have a much higher rating from me - - except
February 6, 2022
Only a four because of sappy romance element in an otherwise strong mystery.
January 12, 2020
Marian Brand leads a dull, hardworking life, supporting her fragile sister (and the sister's freeloading husband) without complaint. Then two exciting things happen: She learns she's an heiress, and she's almost killed in a train accident that also introduces her to best-selling author Richard Cunningham. Her previously unknown uncle has left her his money and his house, which is also full of resentful relatives she never knew. When she moves herself and her sister down to Cove House, she also finds that an acquaintance of her brother-in-law is already a house guest there. Fortunately, Cunningham knows of Maud Silver, who is in the area with her vacationing niece, and asks her help when murder strikes at Cove House.
June 18, 2015
A fairly twisty mystery embedded with red herrings. Hard working Marian Brand is the sole heir to her late uncle's estate. There is a lot of money 1950 style (2000 pounds a year!) and a house. The house used to be two houses and was neatly joined years before. By the locking of a few doors, it has again become two houses.
Sadly, all of the other possible and disappointed heirs are in one half. Marian, her sister and her sister's lazy husband move into the other one, but who to trust? Fortunately, Marian has met Richard Cunningham in the most romantic train wreck ever.
Blackmail and murder abound, but Miss Silver is on the scene. This book is unique in that there is an appearance of Miss Silver's favorite niece, Ethel Burkett and Ethel's daughter, Little Josephine.
Sadly, all of the other possible and disappointed heirs are in one half. Marian, her sister and her sister's lazy husband move into the other one, but who to trust? Fortunately, Marian has met Richard Cunningham in the most romantic train wreck ever.
Blackmail and murder abound, but Miss Silver is on the scene. This book is unique in that there is an appearance of Miss Silver's favorite niece, Ethel Burkett and Ethel's daughter, Little Josephine.
June 1, 2024
I've been on a Miss Silver kick this year; I like her better than Miss Marple. I always thought Miss Silver was a rip off of Miss Marple but they were first published around the same time - Miss Silver in January 1928 and Miss Marple in a short story published in December 1927. I find the similarities odd - elderly knitting spinster who lives in a rural village and solves crimes -but I don't see how, based on publication dates, that Wentworth could have cribbed the character. It's a mystery! LOL
I enjoyed the closed circle setting and the fact that the servant was one of the suspects. A lot of Christie books discount the servants, like that it isn't feasible they could commit murder. I enjoyed the beach setting as well, and the post WWII references about the struggle to buy food and to retain servants and to buy new clothes.
At first I thought Wentworth was telling the reader who the killer was and that the book would be more about how the crime is solved, but then more murders happen and I had no idea who the real killer was. The romances I could do without, but I do appreciate how those relationships humanize the characters and make them less like figures on a chess board.
I've already got my next Miss Silver to read picked out!
I enjoyed the closed circle setting and the fact that the servant was one of the suspects. A lot of Christie books discount the servants, like that it isn't feasible they could commit murder. I enjoyed the beach setting as well, and the post WWII references about the struggle to buy food and to retain servants and to buy new clothes.
At first I thought Wentworth was telling the reader who the killer was and that the book would be more about how the crime is solved, but then more murders happen and I had no idea who the real killer was. The romances I could do without, but I do appreciate how those relationships humanize the characters and make them less like figures on a chess board.
I've already got my next Miss Silver to read picked out!
February 15, 2021
In most ways, this was a typical novel from the Golden Age of crime fiction, a style which I always find fun and comforting, but there were a few things things that bugged me. My main issue with the book was the surprising number of typos. I usually try to turn off my translator/editor mode when reading for fun, but when there are as many as two mistakes in a single page of a small paperback, it becomes distracting. I also found the characters rather dull. The best character in this book was actually Mactavish the orange Persian cat. He was the king of the house, and his opinion of people mattered. I wish there were more scenes with him; that alone would have been worth an extra star. And this book also confirmed a tendency I’ve noticed in Wentworth’s books: the romance element takes away from the mystery. Any potential couple (and there is always at least one) cannot be the murderers, as they must live happily ever after at the end. So in this book, four suspects were removed from the equation almost from the start. Once victims start piling up, the pool of suspects is reduced to almost nothing, so there is not much left for the reader to guess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2019
Another reliable Miss Silver mystery. Marian has inherited a duplex house on a scenic cliff overlook at the beach, a home filled with relatives she doesn't know that could have it all if she was dead. Some complications: she is in a terrible train wreck as the book begins, but Richard Cunningham gazed upon her in a meaningful way that changed both their lives just before the accident occurred. She also has a lazy, drunk brother-in-law, an actor who sponges off her feeble younger sister, and a radio singer shows up who us used to manipulating men to get her way. When a corpse is found on the beach, how fortuitous that Miss Silver was visiting her niece just down the road. (A useful lesson here: if you constantly knitted outfits for all your relations' youngins, you might get invited on beach holidays too!)
October 23, 2021
How in the world do I rate this book? If you asked for a quiet mystery, no violence, nice old lady detective, English country house-style, you'd be thinking of this book The MCs are likable, the setting is well drawn, there's an unexpected will, blackmail, house near cliffs by the sea, unrequited love and murder. What more could a reader want? Well, perhaps a surprise here or there, something out of the ordinary or unusual. Something to make the book stand out from all the others just like it. That isn't here, unfortunately. So, though I enjoyed the few hours it took me to read this, in the end it simply blends into the background. Enjoyable, but nothing more. 2.5 stars
January 11, 2019
I have read several Miss Silver stories...similar to Miss Marple, very wise, low key, intelligent. This one was an interesting one. I do have a problem with the title though. I think it should be called either "The Door" or "The Door in the Wall". It was an interesting concept and the characters were interesting. Their behavior was very much like human nature. As I came to the end I was not sure who the murderer was going to be. I thought probably the one least likely, but I was wrong. The subtle clues were there though.
May 5, 2025
‘You asked me to come here this afternoon because you wanted me to see these people. Shall I tell you what I saw? Hatred - jealousy - spite - wounded affection - resentment - deep unhappiness. These things are not to be played with. They are dangerous.’ That was Miss Silver’s judgement on the ill-assorted group staying at the house by the sea. And for one of them, the danger proved fatal…
All of the relationships in this book are at once very ordinary, deeply convincing and a little bit frighteningly distorted. Several of the characters seem to be auditioning for Women Who Love Too Much, while others seem incapable of real feeling. The seaside town, the house and the beach itself alternate between being ridiculously everyday and deeply sinister. It is this way of showing the dark undercurrents of everyday life, especially for women, with one ghastly marriage in particular, that gives Wentworth’s books their emotional resonance. Even if this book rings the changes on familiar things, it still makes for a good read.
All of the relationships in this book are at once very ordinary, deeply convincing and a little bit frighteningly distorted. Several of the characters seem to be auditioning for Women Who Love Too Much, while others seem incapable of real feeling. The seaside town, the house and the beach itself alternate between being ridiculously everyday and deeply sinister. It is this way of showing the dark undercurrents of everyday life, especially for women, with one ghastly marriage in particular, that gives Wentworth’s books their emotional resonance. Even if this book rings the changes on familiar things, it still makes for a good read.
December 30, 2019
Number 19 out of 32 Miss Silver mysteries, this one has a rather unique setting of a house with duplicate wings, joined together by a door on each level of the house that is locked on one side and bolted on the other (a little like those doors in hotels/motels which can be opened if two rooms are to be used as a suite). Once again Patricia Wentworth has created characters that you like and characters that you don't like. Blackmail comes into this one, as it does in many in this series, but the who-done-it is more of a surprise in this time.
I'm working my way through the entire series, enjoying them all so far, but liking this one a little more. Diana Bishop, who narrates the audiobooks I've been listening to does a good job, and it's nice to have Miss Silver presented with a consistent voice.
I'm working my way through the entire series, enjoying them all so far, but liking this one a little more. Diana Bishop, who narrates the audiobooks I've been listening to does a good job, and it's nice to have Miss Silver presented with a consistent voice.
November 4, 2017
I discovered Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries several years ago and was hooked from the beginning. The books were written in the earlier part of the 20th century and are based in England. There is always a murder involved and family strife as a rule. Miss SIlver, a retired schoolteacher, with her knitting always close at hand comes in to solve the crime. It's a more homespun type of writing than Agatha Christie but if you like this type of English noir, I recommend this book and all in the series for a great whodunit.
November 13, 2007
When Marian unexpectedly comes into an inheritance and moves into the home of her recently deceased uncle, she find that danger awaits her - perhaps from one of her newly found relatives. Luckily, she has made a new friend who seems to be trustworthy, a writer named Richard Cunningham and he asks Miss Silver to get involved.
August 10, 2007
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes light english mysteries. The Miss Silver mysteries are in my home collection, and whenever I am feeling down I find her stories to be a help. Even though I may know "who done it" I enjoy her characters. In this book a poor young woman suddenly inherits a home and a fortune and a pack of jealous relatives.
April 21, 2016
Another good Patricia Wentworth (not a Miss Silver novel). While formulaic, she writes in the style/formula of Agatha Christie. Plot and all subplots satisfactorily resolved. We, Americans, like those happy endings! LOL. P. Wentworth keeps you guessing as to "who done it" til the end. The author starts revealing clues to help the reader put it together for a timely resolution.
February 18, 2016
For the historical mystery reader.
There is Miss Marple and then there is Miss Silver. I have always found Miss Marple to be judgmental and kind of harsh. Miss Silver on the other hand is very kind.
There is mystery with romance (not for Miss Silver), suspense and the history of a by gone age. I have read all of the books and loved them all.
There is Miss Marple and then there is Miss Silver. I have always found Miss Marple to be judgmental and kind of harsh. Miss Silver on the other hand is very kind.
There is mystery with romance (not for Miss Silver), suspense and the history of a by gone age. I have read all of the books and loved them all.
August 10, 2016
Don't know if I'm less critical of an audiobook, or if this one is just better than my previous Miss Silver, but I really enjoyed this book, although, just like the last book, Miss Silver's entrance seemed like the most forced of happenstances. Will definitely look out for more Wentworth, all the same.
July 9, 2017
Reminiscent of the formidable Miss Marple...
Without being an insipid clone.
I am very interested in reading more of Miss Silver's insights into human nature and in becoming acquainted with more of the characters who inhabit her world.
Without being an insipid clone.
I am very interested in reading more of Miss Silver's insights into human nature and in becoming acquainted with more of the characters who inhabit her world.
January 4, 2018
A very good Miss Silver mystery. A young woman inherits a fortune and house from an uncle she didn't know. The house is inhabited by a collection of distant cousins, several of whom are angry that they weren't remembered in the will. Murder ensues, but Miss Silver untangles the situation.
April 26, 2018
Patricia Wentworth is at her best when writing the Miss Silver mysteries. She rescues the tale from being merely a love-story disguised as a mystery by adding in observations on human behavior, as well as a touch of (sometimes inadvertant) humor.
March 16, 2017
Love the Miss Silver mysteries.
October 17, 2025
My favorite of the series! The male love interest is merely a cipher, but the remaining characters are vividly and compassionately sketched.
March 15, 2018
Love
Love her and love her stories. Can't wait to read more of her stories. Wish I lived in that time period and had a friend like Miss Silver
Love her and love her stories. Can't wait to read more of her stories. Wish I lived in that time period and had a friend like Miss Silver
March 28, 2018
As usual,a good book
I always enjoy reading a Miss Silver mystery and this was no disappointment . Could not quite figure out who the murder was until the end.
I always enjoy reading a Miss Silver mystery and this was no disappointment . Could not quite figure out who the murder was until the end.
August 30, 2018
All the very best parts of a Miss Silver mystery. And not too much coughing!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews