Miss Silver Comes to Stay

Miss Silver #15

by Patricia Wentworth

When James Lessiter returns to London to claim his family estate and is found bludgeoned to death, Miss Silver must investigate numerous suspects, including a jilted girlfriend, an angry husband, and a widow, to discover which suspect had the urge to murder. Reissue.

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

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

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]

This is such a lovely series for light entertainment and fascinating sleuthing. It is one I enjoy between reads that are more demanding, and Miss Silver’s stories are always refreshing to me.

In this, the 16th outing, Miss Silver goes to stay for a while with a friend she hasn’t seen for many years. In this village, many years ago when they were 18, two close friends from childhood Catherine and Rietta meet James Theodulph Lessiter at a dance. He has just turned 21. There is a history there, and a year or so later, James leaves the village and no-one hears from him again. Until now.

Catherine and Rietta are now 43 and James returns to the village a far richer man than when he left. Catherine’s and Rietta’s lives did not exactly go on “hold” all that time – they had their own romances and responsibilities that kept them close.

When a murder occurs, the entire village is affected. As they say: People will talk. They will talk whether they have anything to say or not. You can’t stop them talking, so you may as well carry on and not worry about what people will say.

As always, there are plots within plots in this novel and at one point I was only certain of a couple of people not being guilty. It was too easy to suspect everyone else – even though I knew that all but one would be a red herring.

In the end, all my strong suspicions were awash – and I never did suspect the person who committed the crimes. And yes – there was more than one crime to deal with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and it was easy to get lost in the story. I had several things going on and many time demands while reading this, yet each time I picked it up during a lull, I was swept right back into the story.

Great work, Patricia Wentworth! I appreciate every moment I was able to spend in your finely knitted story . . . much like the little outfits Miss Silver knits for the little ones of her many friends and previous clients while her mind pieces together all the bits of evidence until she arrives at the truth.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Patricia Wentworth series featuring that wonder of private investigation, Miss Maud Silver, can always be counted on to deliver a relaxing, comfortable reading experience. In today's mystery novel culture they are wonderful road trips down a small village street where you can be assured of hearing no profanity (surely there must be SOME, but it certainly doesn't stand out in my memory), of reading a description of murder couched in only the most oblique of phrases, and of knowing something lurking in the past will raise its ugly head to cause trouble in the present.

To be quite frank, the Miss Maud Silver novels are written to a specific formula. To say that I have read them all and continue to re-read them speaks volumes about how well Patricia Wentworth formulates her characters. You feel you know and understand these characters. There is something infinitely endearing to read about Miss Silver's high regard for her brooch pinned to her dress collar and the miniscule differences between her best and second best hat. These are added to other aspects of her personality which make me smile and feel soothed by the familiarity. On top of this, the mysteries are actually quite good and will give you a workout for your brain. Wentworth writes in the old style where words impress you and set the atmosphere. One example is when one of the characters is walking through a dark wood one night: "There was light enough when memory held so bright a candle." I think that style of writing is fabulous and so often lacking in modern novels.

This book was first published in 1951 and the story takes place after the end of World War II. There are some modern conveniences such as telephones and automobiles, but people are also still content with candles and bicycles. The world is in transition and this novel is a great place to begin watching Miss Silver untangle the motive and perpetrator of the murder which has its roots twenty years in the past. Once you read one, you will most likely want to read them all.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the mood for a Miss Silver mystery and this one fit the bill perfectly. Very enjoyable and more clever than I thought at first. I enjoyed the romances too.

[Nathan Eilers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is average. Wentworth is no master of prose, but neither is she terrible. Her mystery is sadly bereft of the usual suspense a murder mystery has because she eliminates too many suspects as she goes. Her protagonist isn't much. Miss Silver's main talent exists in getting people to trust her enough to tell he what's going on, which I suppose is a talent, but it puts her well below the Miss Marples of the world. She never really sleuths.

There were small annoyances in this one. I grew extremely weary of reading "Miss Silver coughed." Miss Silver is always coughing--sometimes in a meaningful way, and sometimes for no reason. Couldn't Wentworth think of a better distinguishing character trait for her title character? I guess she knits, too...

I see my review has been mainly negative to this point, so let me stress that for all the above faults, I never wanted to give up on the book, and some of the characters are likable. It has a decent end, but not the exciting, "One of the people in this room is guilty!" scenes that I enjoy so much. I don't discourage you from reading this one, and neither do I encourage you to read it. I probably won't read more Wentworth any time soon.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed my first foray into Miss Silver’s world and am looking forward to more. She and Miss Marple are definitely kindred spirits. And I had no idea whodunnit in this clever mystery!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely charming cozy mystery. The small English village setting and characters were perfectly done.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of tracking down the beginning of the series as I meant to, I read #16 because I'm at my mother's and she had it on the shelf. I doubt it makes too much difference, although I am curious now about this prior mystery that involved Randal Marsh and his sisters, students of Miss Silver's from her governess days. Randal is now grown up and a police detective. Miss Silver always seems to be drawn into these mysteries through various old friends or their distant relatives. And she always seems to stay with old connections so the title could be used for any of these mysteries.

A pleasant read, innocuous. Sometimes amusing in a quiet way.

there are virtues which are very well in the abstract, but which, encountered in the flesh, can be a source of extreme irritation.

[Tweety · Rating 4 out of 5]

The coziest of who-dunits!

With a cast of characters both likable, unlikable to downright hateful this little English house Mystery sets it's alongside the likes of Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer and other. There's a light romance, and plenty of busybody villagers who know how to eavesdrop.

I'm not doing a synopsis since its a mystery were the least said the better. But I can say that I just knew who had done it, I felt so sure and then, near the end I found out who it really was. If you can guess who the murderer is, you're much more intuitive than I am.

PG-G a very mild PG, I'm only marking it such since the murder was rather violent, but we don't ever get a close up of it. One or two swears, nothing else.

[smetchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently, I like cozy mysteries! Who knew? Typically they bore me to tears but these are different.

I started falling for the idea of this series when I saw one of the 40s-style covers on a friend's "currently reading" update. Then that friend started posting quotes from the books and I was completely taken in. Patricia Wentworth is a brilliant writer. But she doesn't try to bludgeon you with her brilliance. I've now read several of these and they are all lovely. They make me happy while I'm reading them and they end just right. The author doesn't jerk you around or try to make you feel miserable or anxious. Everything is prim and oh so English in a tea-and-cakes sort of way while just beneath the surface, all manner of smut is alluded to with a wink and a smile and a biting wit.

"Her name is Maud Silver. Louisa says she has solved many difficult cases besides being an extremely expert knitter."
The Benevent Treasure


"She wondered, as she always wondered about any new young man, whether he could dance. Such a lot of nice boys couldn't, and the boys that could weren't always the nice ones."
Miss Silver Comes to Stay

"It could have been Joseph. When had she ever heard him come or go? He walked like a cat - an admirable thing in a butler, but not if he used it to prowl in secret passages and come drifting through one's bedroom at dead of night."
The Benevent Treasure

"One bar of an electric fire burned on a hearth which had been built for better things. In front of it, with that air of despising his surroundings which is peculiar to his race, sat the cat Mactavish. He had just completed a meticulous toilet. His orange coat recalled the best Dundee marmalade. He looked down at the electric fire which he despised and waited for Felix or Penny to come and bone a herring for him. He had a passion for herrings, but he did not consider that either of the two older ladies was to be trusted in the matter of bones. A saucer of fish prepared for him by Miss Cassy had already been rejected."
Through the Wall

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

So you think you've got this one all figured out early in the story... HAH!

[Louise Casals · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un polar anglais divertissant et réconfortant comme un téléfilm du dimanche. L'héroïne élucide des meurtres en tricotant et tout le monde boit du thé à longueur de journée. Une excellente lecture de vacances.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She’s quite a famous detective.”

Miss Silver was examining the stand of post cards. She looked so much less like a detective than anything Rietta could have imagined that she was startled into saying,

“What does she detect?”

“Crime,” said Mrs. Voycey right into her ear.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ledbury is to Wentworth as Barchester was to Trollope, so there's no surprise when Miss Maud Silver, one-time governess turned private investigator, is visiting a school friend in the village of Melling just when the owner of the local manor returns after a two-decade plus absence. Unfortunately, one of the reasons James Lessiter returns, a rich man now, is to get revenge on those that he considers wronged him. His sudden death ensnares Rietta Cray and the nephew she's raised; it also traps Miss Silver's former pupil, the Chief Constable, who has fallen in love with Rietta. If you want an old-fashioned cozy with a guaranteed happy ending (for the nice people, at least!), Wentworth is your woman.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025: Late night, repeat listen.

2022: I like that Fancy Bell’s mum had a good relationship with her: it stood Fancy in good stead in this story.

2020: (Good collection of red-herrings which ensured I couldn't easily recall whodunit from my last listen through 2 years ago.)

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un bon roman policier "à l'ancienne".

[Sep · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Miss Silver books brings forward an old and favorite pupil of Miss Silver's, Randal March, who is now a chief constable. Randal is over 40. (One can only assume that Miss Silver was 20ish when she taught him.) He has fallen in love and his beloved is one of the suspects.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

New to me series that I'd like to go back and start at the beginning. Characters were interesting and I love the knitting!

Brit-tripping Nottinghamshire

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the fact that Miss Silver was in the story from the beginning in this entry in the series. Plus quite a bit with Randal Marsh :)

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good and I didn’t guess it!

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
When Miss Maud Silver comes to stay with an old friend, she doesn't count on being called on in a professional capacity to solve the murder of James Lassiter. 25 years ago, James Lassiter wanted to marry Rietta Cray, despite her cousin Catherine Lee's attempts to attach him. Alas, James went away penniless, Catherine married Edward Welby and Rietta was left to raise her sister's son Carr Robertson. When Edward died, he left Catherine with hardly anything to live on and she turned to her distant relative, Mrs. Lassiter, for help. Catherine was allowed use of the Gate House and some furniture. Now James Lassiter has returned a wealthy man, determined to sell the estate in tact but it seems as if some valuable items are missing. If only his mother had left some proof of her intentions and if only he could find it and prove Catherine stole from the estate. He's determined to get his revenge. Carr also returns to Melling with his new girlfiend, Fancy, a showgirl, cut in the same mold as his first wife Marjorie. Carr is determined to avenge Marjorie's death caused by a despicable man who left her high and dry. When Carr discovers the identity of the man, he's furious and when that man ends up dead, he becomes one of the prime suspects. The other prime suspect is his aunt, Rietta. No one is sure who did or didn't do it but the Inspector wants to see someone behind bars ASAP. His Chief Inspector intervenes and collaborates with Miss Silver to crack the case.

This mystery is less cozy than I expected it to be. Miss Silver is mentioned once at the beginning and then doesn't appear again until the middle of the novel. She's a professional detective, not a knitting needle toting granny (though she does knit her way through the mystery). The main character is in very real danger of being accused of the crime, as is her nephew. The whole mystery involves many complicated backstories. The red herrings kept me alert. I was certain I had figured out whodunnit but then something happened that changed the course of the mystery and I was proved wrong. I did guess, at that moment, who DID do it but not why. It was all very complicated. I stayed up late to finish the story to see where it all goes. A romance or two is thrown in for good measure.

None of the characters in the novel are appealing at first but I found myself liking Rienna and Carr and feeling sorry for Rienna. I hated Catherine for being a spoiled beauty who lied and manipulated the truth to get what she wanted. James Lassiter is also a very nasty character and I feel those two deserved each other. If you are sensitive about cruelty to animals, you may not want to read every word of this book. It was only a brief mention but enough to make me despise James. He's cruel and vindictive and deliberately hurts people.

I didn't really like the author's writing style. The story was told in a cold, detached manner. The romances have very little feeling, despite the two principals being passionate people. Miss Silver shows no emotion at all and there's a lack of liveliness and humor in the story despite being set in a quaint English village where everyone gossips. The book did remind me of Georgette Heyer's early mysteries so I guess this style must have been popular in the 30s and 40s. It just didn't appeal to me and I don't think I'll be reading any more Miss Silver novels.

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former governess-turned-detective Miss Silver is on a visit to an old school friend, who lives in a small village. When James Lessiter, a wealthy man, returns to the village after twenty years or so away—and shortly after has his skull bashed in—Miss Silver ends up investigating.

There are several people with solid motives, as well as opportunity. Rietta Cray, once Lessiter’s fiancée, to whom he had willed everything, and never got around to rescinding that will. Her nephew Carr, who had just discovered that Lessiter was the man with whom his late wife had eloped—and who had subsequently abandoned her, leaving her to die. There is also the fashionable Catherine, once sweet on Lessiter, who has been using underhand means to finance her expensive tastes, all at Lessiter’s expense…

I enjoyed this book a lot. Patricia Wentworth is a very good storyteller, and the tale is gripping. Just as I was thinking "this is what happened, this is the culprit"—she throws a googly and suddenly there's a twist I had not expected.

The characters are well-etched (and, like Georgette Heyer and Ellis Peters, Wentworth does a good job of incorporating a romance—or two—in the story. It’s not as if people fall in love; it’s just that people who are already in love, or once were in love, find the heart to express it, or to go back to that love). Among the characters, Rietta and Catherine, old friends but like chalk and cheese, come through especially vividly; but also well-portrayed are more secondary characters, like Allan Grover, Chief Constable March, and Inspector Drake.

That said, I did feel that the final deduction really came by way of a somewhat serendipitous encounter, not totally a bit of plausible brainwork on the part of Miss Silver. Overall, too, while I thought the story was very well-written and engaging, the sort of brilliant deduction I’ve seen in a lot of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple mysteries was missing here.

Despite that, I’d happily read more of the Miss Silver books, if any come my way: this was enjoyable. A page-turner, and thoroughly entertaining.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've now read 19 of the 32 Miss Silver mysteries. This is the 16th in the series. They are all pleasant cozy reads, with different plots and new personalities for Miss Silver to observe and analyze, but other than giving a synopsis of the plot, it is hard to give a meaningful review of each one. It does seem that each one has at least one really disagreeable character that either becomes the victim of murder or turns out to be the perpetrator, and in a way that makes them satisfying. Patricia Wentworth really knew how to make you dislike certain characters. It also seems that more often than not, blackmail is involved and more central to the crime than the other big motivators of greed and hatred. I particularly enjoy how the relationship between Maud Silver and the Scotland Yard man, Frank Abbot continues to develop.

Recently I viewed new presentations of a couple of Miss Marple stories on PBS Masterpiece Mystery and do think there are some similarities between Miss Marple and Miss Silver. It has been many years since I read the Agatha Christie mysteries, but I am finding that I really like Miss Silver, as a personality, better, and I think she is much more clever and subtle and not so doddering. I wonder why PBS has not done these mysteries, and if they did, who would they get to play Miss Maud Silver.

[Emmanuelle Maupassant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being an avid reader of Agatha Christie, I had high hopes for 'Miss Silver' - who is clearly inspired by the delightful 'Miss Marple'.

While her character failed to hold me, I largely enjoyed Wentworth's portraits of the main protagonists, and the writing was perfectly 'of its time', in the 'cosy mystery' style.

The theme of thwarted and lost love is one I am drawn to, so I was ready to settle to the story. Sadly, details failed to be sufficiently explored and I found my attention wandering about half way through. Moreover, I was often annoyed by the excessively 'baffled' manner of the police involved in solving the crime.

I know that Patricia Wentworth has a loyal following, so I must conclude that some of her other stories are more engaging than 'Miss Silver Comes to Stay'.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Miss Silver comes to stay with an old school friend in the peaceful village of Melling, she does not expect to be investigating a murder. But James Lassiter, the murder victim, had several enemies, and who but Miss Silver could find out which one did it? An added complication with this one is that her old pupil and friend, Randal March, is in love with one of the suspects. An enjoyable mystery with some good characters - I particularly liked Fancy Bell, the cheerful young woman who is somewhat out of her depth among the strong emotions aroused by the late James Lassiter. And it was not too easy to spot the murderer.

[Sandy Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Silver goes to visit an old school friend and gets involved in village life and a series of murders. (Of course). Randall Marsh, her old pupil, is the policeman called in and he has a personal interest in one of the subjects so it makes it a little hard for him. But Miss Silver, as can be expected, comes to the rescue, eliminating a lot of "hot suspects" until she reaches the real murderer. Confirmation comes from another witness as to the facts and the reasons but the deductive work is all Miss Silver's. This book has less of Miss Silver and more of the stories of the other characters in it -- but she comes in whenever there is a problem tobe solved.

[Lynne Tull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good mystery by Ms. Wentworth. I am glad that I decided to read Miss Silver mysteries. You will find them somewhat in the format of Agatha Christie Miss Marple mysteries. They are a good diversion from some current day fiction. I thought I had this one solved, but was surprised. If you think you have solved it, you might be in for a surprise, too. I think somewhere I had a brief thought about the murderer, but it escaped. Recommend.

[Andrea]

This has a good character set-up, though the resolution of the murder simply involves someone listening in on a conversation that makes clear the murderer.

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic golden age mystery by the deft writer Patricia Wentworth. Enjoyable characters and several not so nice suspects.

[Kidlitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like how Patricia Wentworth makes women very much the central characters in her books - the men tend to recede into the background. Some of the women are simple to the point of idiocy, others are complex to the point of incomprehension, but they are certainly players in the action. Miss Silver, with her fixation on her small material comforts and satisfaction in supporting herself nicely as a private detective is the most interesting of all. She is certainly not a hurried sort, in fact seems to spend so much time knitting or receding into the background one could wish she took a few more risks guessing who the baddie is before the villain tries to murder another character. But she does get there in the end and explains things nicely to the befuddled Inspector/Constable/Reader. On to the next!

[Anna Catharina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patricia Wentworth schafft es immer wieder, mich auf's Glatteis zu führen! Bis Seite 300 von 339 war ich zu 100% sicher zu wissen, wer der Mörder ist und dann kam doch alles ganz anders!