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Miss Silver #14
Eternity Ring
Mary Stokes was walking through Dead Man's Copse one evening when she saw, in the beam of a torch, the corpse of a young woman dressed in a black coat, black gloves, no hat and an eternity ring set with diamonds in her ear. But when she and Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott went back to the wood the body had vanished. This would have been mystery enough for Miss Silver to solve if a woman had not also reported that her lodger had gone out on Friday dressed in a black coat, black beret, black shoes and large hoop earrings 'set all round with little diamonds like those eternity rings.' She never came back...
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
493 people are currently reading
537 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
161 books519 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 123 reviews
August 31, 2018
Miss Silver is the one person Frank Abbot looks up to and respects the most even though he often feels like a schoolboy again in her august presence. While he is on a visit to his family in Deeping, their evening is interrupted abruptly by a young woman screaming murder – literally. Although he is on holiday, Frank gives the local police a hand trying to find the body the young woman claims she saw.
Frank’s cousin Cicely has left her husband, Grant Hathaway, and is staying in the same house as Frank but refuses to talk with anyone about her personal affairs. She, along with everyone else in the village, wonder how such a thing could happen in Deeping.
When Frank returns to London he tells Miss Silver about the mysterious murder with no body and adds some local colour that has surfaced as well. Then he gets a call from his boss CD Lambe that Scotland Yard have been asked to sort out this so-called murder as other circumstances have come to light.
They eventually discover the body of the murder victim and trace that story all the way back to France during the war. Then a second murder takes place and there are murder suspects everywhere, including Cicely’s husband. Every suspect seems to have motive and opportunity – and shares some form of guilt.
Miss Silver’s services are requested by Cicely. She has to know the truth no matter what the fall-out might be in her already perilously perched relationship with her husband.
Patricia Wentworth’s writing is, as always, in fine form. She is able to weave several storylines together to form a cohesive bond with her plot and her characters are always interesting and well thought-out. This is a relaxing and enjoyable mystery series and I recommend it to anyone who might enjoy reading great stories that are well told in-between heavier reads.
Frank’s cousin Cicely has left her husband, Grant Hathaway, and is staying in the same house as Frank but refuses to talk with anyone about her personal affairs. She, along with everyone else in the village, wonder how such a thing could happen in Deeping.
When Frank returns to London he tells Miss Silver about the mysterious murder with no body and adds some local colour that has surfaced as well. Then he gets a call from his boss CD Lambe that Scotland Yard have been asked to sort out this so-called murder as other circumstances have come to light.
They eventually discover the body of the murder victim and trace that story all the way back to France during the war. Then a second murder takes place and there are murder suspects everywhere, including Cicely’s husband. Every suspect seems to have motive and opportunity – and shares some form of guilt.
Miss Silver’s services are requested by Cicely. She has to know the truth no matter what the fall-out might be in her already perilously perched relationship with her husband.
Patricia Wentworth’s writing is, as always, in fine form. She is able to weave several storylines together to form a cohesive bond with her plot and her characters are always interesting and well thought-out. This is a relaxing and enjoyable mystery series and I recommend it to anyone who might enjoy reading great stories that are well told in-between heavier reads.
March 10, 2020
DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE AND HER PEERS
BOOK 58 - 1950
"My God, you're hard!"
"You asked for it."
Just wanted to start this review with a highlight of this book, an exchange between a married couple.
CAST - 2 stars: There are over 35 people in this story. And there is no reason for most of them to be in this book. Maggie Bell listens to neighbors talk on the phone, as there is an old style party line. Does she hear too much? She is 29 and had an accident at 12 years old, so about all she can do is lay around and listen to gossiping. I'd love to have seen her play a bigger part, she is the most interesting character here and is the only reason I'm giving this element 2 stars.. About Maud Silver, Private Detective: She knits for 200 (of 254 pages) and only on page 203 says she'll take the case. Then, on page 205, "Miss Silver continued to knit. From her tightly netted fringe to her beaded slippers, she presented a perfect picture of the elderly English spinster, whose means, like her ideas, are strictly limited, and her position in the social scale such that she may quite safely be ignored or taken for granted." Makes one appreciate Miss Marple, that's for sure! The action, though, really ramps up on page 206 when "Miss Silver knitted." Take Wentworth's advice and simply ignore Silver: I'm not even sure why she is in this story.
Here's some dialogue you'll probably want to memorize:
Miss Alvinia: "It was the - blood - "
Miss Silver: "Dear me!"
Miss Alvinia "It was on the scullery floor-"
Miss Silver: "Dear me! There was blood on the scullery floor?"
A few lines later-
Miss Alvinia: "Oh, yes! Oh dear-it was so horrid. I mopped the floor and - oh, it was dreadful! The cloth was all-red! Not the the sort of red that would come off the bricks, but blood. Oh dear, oh dear. You can't make any mistake about blood, can you?"
Personally, and this is just me, but yes, you can. You can mop it up before Scotland Yard arrives to examine the crime scene. IF it was this author's intention to partially author a send up of this genre, she did a good job.
ATMOSPHERE - 3 stars: There is a creepy old house, natch. And it has a secret panel, of course. And dark steps lead to...a dead body. There are small towns like Deeping, not to be confused with Deepside. And Abbotsleigh. Tomlin's Farm provides us with Mary Stokes, who sees too much, and you can bet your entire 401K that either 1) she'll be fine and live happily ever after or 2) be killed in the next few chapters. Did I mention the blood on the scullery floor? I did like the atmosphere here: the small towns of England, the men returning from WW2, a pub called The Bull, a lovely set of earrings, stolen jewelry, housekeepers sneaking around, lodgings (no apartment buildings in 1950 I suppose), etc. But it's that party line that provides many of the clues. You'd be surprised at how people will say just any ol' thing...wait, those party lines are much like social media today.
CRIME(S) - 3: This is my first Wentworth and I thought she did a good job setting up the crime scenes and creating a good mystery to solve. You may solve it early. My guess was a character from Scotland Yard: Sargent Frank Abbott who suspiciously has tea for no reason at all (!) with the nutty Vinnie, other than to ask lots of questions. After all, he's the character most awake and relatively smart in this book. And I can't say he isn't the killer.
INVESTIGATION - 2 stars: Even though Miss Silver knits throughout the book, there is Chief Inspector Lamb of Scotland Yard and Constable May, the latter 2 asking the pertinent questions. And Sargent Abbot grilling over tea.
RESOLUTION - 2 stars: Everything is wrapped up nicely. But for me, the romance is a little ...hard... at times to believe. A flower arrangement arrives in the last chapter and the last line is in French...just a bit too much. And Maggie Bell? Wentworth seems to forget about her.
SUMMARY: 2.4. This author might be, at times, satirizing this genre. Then again, the mystery is pretty good. And! oh! there! are! lots! of! exclamation! marks! so that you'll know to get excited. I'll try one more at least by this author.
BOOK 58 - 1950
"My God, you're hard!"
"You asked for it."
Just wanted to start this review with a highlight of this book, an exchange between a married couple.
CAST - 2 stars: There are over 35 people in this story. And there is no reason for most of them to be in this book. Maggie Bell listens to neighbors talk on the phone, as there is an old style party line. Does she hear too much? She is 29 and had an accident at 12 years old, so about all she can do is lay around and listen to gossiping. I'd love to have seen her play a bigger part, she is the most interesting character here and is the only reason I'm giving this element 2 stars.. About Maud Silver, Private Detective: She knits for 200 (of 254 pages) and only on page 203 says she'll take the case. Then, on page 205, "Miss Silver continued to knit. From her tightly netted fringe to her beaded slippers, she presented a perfect picture of the elderly English spinster, whose means, like her ideas, are strictly limited, and her position in the social scale such that she may quite safely be ignored or taken for granted." Makes one appreciate Miss Marple, that's for sure! The action, though, really ramps up on page 206 when "Miss Silver knitted." Take Wentworth's advice and simply ignore Silver: I'm not even sure why she is in this story.
Here's some dialogue you'll probably want to memorize:
Miss Alvinia: "It was the - blood - "
Miss Silver: "Dear me!"
Miss Alvinia "It was on the scullery floor-"
Miss Silver: "Dear me! There was blood on the scullery floor?"
A few lines later-
Miss Alvinia: "Oh, yes! Oh dear-it was so horrid. I mopped the floor and - oh, it was dreadful! The cloth was all-red! Not the the sort of red that would come off the bricks, but blood. Oh dear, oh dear. You can't make any mistake about blood, can you?"
Personally, and this is just me, but yes, you can. You can mop it up before Scotland Yard arrives to examine the crime scene. IF it was this author's intention to partially author a send up of this genre, she did a good job.
ATMOSPHERE - 3 stars: There is a creepy old house, natch. And it has a secret panel, of course. And dark steps lead to...a dead body. There are small towns like Deeping, not to be confused with Deepside. And Abbotsleigh. Tomlin's Farm provides us with Mary Stokes, who sees too much, and you can bet your entire 401K that either 1) she'll be fine and live happily ever after or 2) be killed in the next few chapters. Did I mention the blood on the scullery floor? I did like the atmosphere here: the small towns of England, the men returning from WW2, a pub called The Bull, a lovely set of earrings, stolen jewelry, housekeepers sneaking around, lodgings (no apartment buildings in 1950 I suppose), etc. But it's that party line that provides many of the clues. You'd be surprised at how people will say just any ol' thing...wait, those party lines are much like social media today.
CRIME(S) - 3: This is my first Wentworth and I thought she did a good job setting up the crime scenes and creating a good mystery to solve. You may solve it early. My guess was a character from Scotland Yard: Sargent Frank Abbott who suspiciously has tea for no reason at all (!) with the nutty Vinnie, other than to ask lots of questions. After all, he's the character most awake and relatively smart in this book. And I can't say he isn't the killer.
INVESTIGATION - 2 stars: Even though Miss Silver knits throughout the book, there is Chief Inspector Lamb of Scotland Yard and Constable May, the latter 2 asking the pertinent questions. And Sargent Abbot grilling over tea.
RESOLUTION - 2 stars: Everything is wrapped up nicely. But for me, the romance is a little ...hard... at times to believe. A flower arrangement arrives in the last chapter and the last line is in French...just a bit too much. And Maggie Bell? Wentworth seems to forget about her.
SUMMARY: 2.4. This author might be, at times, satirizing this genre. Then again, the mystery is pretty good. And! oh! there! are! lots! of! exclamation! marks! so that you'll know to get excited. I'll try one more at least by this author.
August 16, 2016
3 1/2 stars
The narrative was a bit clumsy at the onset of this one. Unfortunately, the author got prosy. But even though the story had a shaky start, the author soon ceased writing such excessively flowery descriptions and redeemed herself in the end.
The narrative was a bit clumsy at the onset of this one. Unfortunately, the author got prosy. But even though the story had a shaky start, the author soon ceased writing such excessively flowery descriptions and redeemed herself in the end.
September 18, 2013
Frank Abbot is present when a distraught girl appears claiming to have seen a man dragging the corpse of a young woman. The corpse is wearing a very distinctive earring which looks like a diamond eternity ring but the second earring appears to be missing. It is not Frank's case and he was only there are the time because he was staying with his uncle and aunt. He is puzzled and asks his friend Miss Silver to come and stay and see if she thinks the girl is lying.
What follows is an intriguing mystery which may or may not involve Frank's cousin Cicely and her estranged husband, Grant Hathaway as well as many of the neighbours. It is thanks to Miss Silver that the missing corpse is eventually discovered but not until another murder has taken place and there are even more suspects in the frame.
I think this is one of Patricia Wentworth's best Miss Sliver mysteries featuring as it does her working in harmony with the police and making best use of her ability to fade into the background and be overlooked just when an intelligent listener is needed. It is an interesting study in character and motivation written to an extremely high standard and with some excellent dialogue and a very good plot.
What follows is an intriguing mystery which may or may not involve Frank's cousin Cicely and her estranged husband, Grant Hathaway as well as many of the neighbours. It is thanks to Miss Silver that the missing corpse is eventually discovered but not until another murder has taken place and there are even more suspects in the frame.
I think this is one of Patricia Wentworth's best Miss Sliver mysteries featuring as it does her working in harmony with the police and making best use of her ability to fade into the background and be overlooked just when an intelligent listener is needed. It is an interesting study in character and motivation written to an extremely high standard and with some excellent dialogue and a very good plot.
April 6, 2014
I have so many books in my house; I probably have over 700 unread mysteries, yet sometimes it is difficult to know what to read and I just grab anything. (I like getting through the unread mysteries because then I can give them away which is my ultimate goal for most of the books in the house.) Anyway, I read this book in desperation. I say it like that, because I already knew that I didn't like Wentworth's Miss Silver. But, over the years, various people have said to me how much they like her, and I am doing a monograph on cozies and she kind of fits, so I thought, maybe I'm wrong! Maybe they are terrific. They aren't. Her stupid little cough still grates. I hate her knitting. I don't think she is incredibly clever. She isn't as interesting as Miss Marple. The only thing I like about the books (or a few things): she does do fem jep suspense decently (though at the same time I hate to say that I thought Cis deserved to be killed a few times for stupidity). I also really love seeing little snapshots of England after the war. Other than that, Miss Wentworth, I'm done. I've read 3, I didn't like them, and I see no reason why that will change.
November 17, 2015
One of the later Miss Silvers and, in my opinion, one of the best. A complex tale, full of twists and turns, I had indeed worked out the murderer - only to be convinced, mid way through, that I was wrong! The writing is succint, and it throws into high relief our tendencies to judge -- mainly erroneously - on appearance. A masterly denoument that shows how superficial mouthings of love can be - and the difference when it is the real thing. If you want to be thrown, puzzled and confused, then this is for you. One caveat, however, I shall never be a fragile hyacinth supported by a strong bowl of metal. But then, we can't be everything....
September 27, 2022
This was a harder one to find but is referenced so frequently in Wentworth's books that I was especially eager to read it!
December 2, 2023
Oh dear - 😅 - another Saturday spent with Miss Silver when I really should have been doing other things!
September 22, 2019
Miss Silver is not my favorite detective--a little of her is amusing, but the constant Tennyson grows a little tiresome--but I've decided to re-read some of her books. Frank Abbott is visiting some of his numerous relatives when a young woman bursts into a tea party with a tale of having witnessed a man dragging a corpse. When police investigate, there's no sign of a corpse or of drag marks. Frank isn't sure what happens, but he asks Miss Silver to visit, too, and see if she thinks the girl is lying. A second murder seems to answer that question, but also seems to incriminate Frank's cousin's estranged husband. Since Wentworth usually manages to combine her mystery with some fem-jep, you'll be keeping an eye on the cousin, too.
February 9, 2019
This trollop Mary Stokes, who is no better than she should be, with her airs and attitude, comes running from the woods, bursts into a house where Sargeant Abbott is having tea with his aunt, screaming murder. She alleges that she saw a man in Dead Man's Copse carrying/dragging a dead lady wearing an eternity ring earring (one of them is missing). ((Miss Silver alighted from the car and looked about her at Dead Man's Copse. The thought which immediately sprang to her mind was that it was very well named. She had never seen a gloomier wood or driven over a rougher track, and it did not surprise her at all that the place should be very little frequented. Something about the lie of the land and the way the road dipped to this hollow made the place even darker than it should have been.))
Mary gets hysterical and faints after relating her tale. Abbott gets to the spot in the wood but there is no trace of any crime at all. The only sign is Mary's running footprints. Of course, Mary is not well liked in the town. In fact, Frank's Aunt Monica doesn't like her at all. 'I think she's a snake in the grass,' said Monica Abbott. Frank gets Miss Silver to come down and assist in trying to figure out if Mary is telling the truth. Frank's interview with Mary is smashing! With a few leading questions given in with cynical smile, he shows what she really is and it is awesome! Well, Mary Stokes does not tell the entire story, (she had a secret lover and they met in an abandoned house deep in Dead Man's Copse), perhaps she wanted to blackmail the perp. Well, she ends up dead, with a broken neck. Now that there's an actual body, the investigation gets underway. I enjoyed it.
Mary gets hysterical and faints after relating her tale. Abbott gets to the spot in the wood but there is no trace of any crime at all. The only sign is Mary's running footprints. Of course, Mary is not well liked in the town. In fact, Frank's Aunt Monica doesn't like her at all. 'I think she's a snake in the grass,' said Monica Abbott. Frank gets Miss Silver to come down and assist in trying to figure out if Mary is telling the truth. Frank's interview with Mary is smashing! With a few leading questions given in with cynical smile, he shows what she really is and it is awesome! Well, Mary Stokes does not tell the entire story, (she had a secret lover and they met in an abandoned house deep in Dead Man's Copse), perhaps she wanted to blackmail the perp. Well, she ends up dead, with a broken neck. Now that there's an actual body, the investigation gets underway. I enjoyed it.
January 12, 2018
Lt. Frank Abbott asks Miss Silver to come to the country to visit his family, because wierd things are happening. A young woman claims she saw a dead body in the woods, and while she definitely had a frightening experience, there is no body and she is keeping something back. Frank's cousin left her husband of three months and will tell no one what caused the split.
In a small village, the local gossip hotline has grist for their mill.
The romance in this one, if that is what it is supposed to be, is too soap opera for me. The cousin mopes around making sure everyone knows how miserable she is, but won't speak to a friend or her mother about what happened. This is what happens in the soaps, troubles are caused by Olympic level jumping to conclusions and lack of communication.
The murderer is so obvious from about 1/3 of the way throu...not the most enjoyable read.
If you did not know it from other books and common sense, at least here you learn why blackmailing a murderer is a bad idea. They have already killed at least once...duh.
In a small village, the local gossip hotline has grist for their mill.
The romance in this one, if that is what it is supposed to be, is too soap opera for me. The cousin mopes around making sure everyone knows how miserable she is, but won't speak to a friend or her mother about what happened. This is what happens in the soaps, troubles are caused by Olympic level jumping to conclusions and lack of communication.
The murderer is so obvious from about 1/3 of the way throu...not the most enjoyable read.
If you did not know it from other books and common sense, at least here you learn why blackmailing a murderer is a bad idea. They have already killed at least once...duh.
May 20, 2016
Take an English village with the usual large cast of characters, add a mysterious unhappy marriage, and throw in the discovery of the body of an unknown woman for a typically complicated Wentworth plot. But, there is an endearing dachshund, Bramble, and Miss Silver quickly puts everything back in order.
“Miss Cicely brought her real nice books, and not the improving kind neither. Maggie had a sharp eye for being improved, and an impenetrable armor against it. She liked the age-old success story—the barefoot boy who sells papers in the streets and becomes a millionaire, the girl who starts so plain that nobody will look at her and ends up a raving beauty or a duchess. She liked a good murder, with all the corpse’s friends and enemies suspected in turn…”
“Bramble was very funny when he ran. His ears flopped, and every now and then he did a sort of spy hop which extended his view. There might be rabbits, there might be birds, there might be another cat….”
“Miss Cicely brought her real nice books, and not the improving kind neither. Maggie had a sharp eye for being improved, and an impenetrable armor against it. She liked the age-old success story—the barefoot boy who sells papers in the streets and becomes a millionaire, the girl who starts so plain that nobody will look at her and ends up a raving beauty or a duchess. She liked a good murder, with all the corpse’s friends and enemies suspected in turn…”
“Bramble was very funny when he ran. His ears flopped, and every now and then he did a sort of spy hop which extended his view. There might be rabbits, there might be birds, there might be another cat….”
January 6, 2022
2021: repeat late-night listen. The young wife in this book, is, still, one of my less liked Wentworth ‘heroines’, she has been crafted as a rather immature self-centred brat who refuses to talk to her new husband about an upset that has occurred… the murder mystery seems to revolve around this issue.
3* 2020 repeat listen: Cecilia is not a favourite and I still think her husband deserved someone who didn't channel selfish, immature, brat.
I found the mystery more interesting this listen through so that gifted the story with an extra half star. ( Last listen through it languished at 2.5*)
3* 2020 repeat listen: Cecilia is not a favourite and I still think her husband deserved someone who didn't channel selfish, immature, brat.
I found the mystery more interesting this listen through so that gifted the story with an extra half star. ( Last listen through it languished at 2.5*)
April 26, 2017
A good average Miss Silver Mystery.
Mary Stokes discovers a dead body in Dead Man's Copse one evening but when she returns with a police officer it is no longer there. Miss Silver becomes involved by this event and is determined to get to the bottom of it.
She does, of course - in the nick of time.
Mary Stokes discovers a dead body in Dead Man's Copse one evening but when she returns with a police officer it is no longer there. Miss Silver becomes involved by this event and is determined to get to the bottom of it.
She does, of course - in the nick of time.
December 23, 2007
A great old mystery by Patricia Wentworth featuring a disappearing body & estranged young newlyweds. Miss Silver sorts everything out nicely, as always.
January 1, 2014
A good read. Glad to know she has so many in the series- and most are on a shelf at my mother's house so lots of reading at hand.
June 3, 2015
Another good book from Pat Wentworth.
July 26, 2016
Holy cow! What a ride!
So many twists and turns. great writing. Amazingly drawn characters. Had to stay up to finish. Red herrings galore right till the end.
So many twists and turns. great writing. Amazingly drawn characters. Had to stay up to finish. Red herrings galore right till the end.
March 29, 2020
3.5 stars. Not sure how much detecting Miss Silver did, but I think she knitted at least 2.5 baby jackets.
June 10, 2020
Quite a lot of misogyny directed towards the two dead women in this book - but at least the murderer gets caught without killing himself, and, although the male love interest patronises the female love interest at every opportunity, he manages not to grip her so hard it bruises!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2020
Great read
You go from confused and wanting to get information about why the main couple is separated, to wanting desperately to know who the murderer is.
And we get some more background and information on Frank Abbott's family history, which is fascinating and clarifying in more than one way.
I am so glad Patricia Wentworth wrote these books all those years ago.
You go from confused and wanting to get information about why the main couple is separated, to wanting desperately to know who the murderer is.
And we get some more background and information on Frank Abbott's family history, which is fascinating and clarifying in more than one way.
I am so glad Patricia Wentworth wrote these books all those years ago.
May 11, 2019
Bezaubernd
May 1, 2024
Nice cozy
December 30, 2019
I've now read 19 of the 32 Miss Silver mysteries. This is the 14th 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.
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.
September 27, 2022
Nothing can go wrong in any of Miss Silver's investigations.
Free download available at Faded Page.
3* Grey Mask (Miss Silver, #1)
4* The Case Is Closed (Miss Silver, #2)
4* Lonesome Road (Miss Silver, #3)
3* Miss Silver Deals With Death (Miss Silver, #6)
3* The Clock Strikes Twelve (Miss Silver, #7)
4* She Came Back (Miss Silver, #9)
3* The Case of William Smith (Miss Silver, #13)
4* Eternity Ring (Miss Silver, #14)
4* Miss Silver Comes to Stay (Miss Silver, #15)
2* The Ivory Dagger (Miss Silver, #19)
4* Out of the Past (Miss Silver, #23)
3* The Benevent Treasure (Miss Silver, #26)
2* A Marriage Under the Terror
2* Beggar's Choice
4* The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith: A Golden Age Mystery
TR Danger Point (Miss Silver, #4)
TR The Chinese Shawl (Miss Silver, #5)
TR The Key (Miss Silver, #8)
TR Pilgrim's Rest (Miss Silver, #10)
TR Latter End (Miss Silver, #11)
TR Wicked Uncle (Miss Silver, #12)
TR The Catherine Wheel (Miss Silver, #16)
TR The Brading Collection (Miss Silver, #17)
TR Poison in the Pen (Miss Silver, #29)
TR Devil's Wind
TR The Fire Within
TR The Black Cabinet
TR Danger Calling
TR Run!
Free download available at Faded Page.
3* Grey Mask (Miss Silver, #1)
4* The Case Is Closed (Miss Silver, #2)
4* Lonesome Road (Miss Silver, #3)
3* Miss Silver Deals With Death (Miss Silver, #6)
3* The Clock Strikes Twelve (Miss Silver, #7)
4* She Came Back (Miss Silver, #9)
3* The Case of William Smith (Miss Silver, #13)
4* Eternity Ring (Miss Silver, #14)
4* Miss Silver Comes to Stay (Miss Silver, #15)
2* The Ivory Dagger (Miss Silver, #19)
4* Out of the Past (Miss Silver, #23)
3* The Benevent Treasure (Miss Silver, #26)
2* A Marriage Under the Terror
2* Beggar's Choice
4* The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith: A Golden Age Mystery
TR Danger Point (Miss Silver, #4)
TR The Chinese Shawl (Miss Silver, #5)
TR The Key (Miss Silver, #8)
TR Pilgrim's Rest (Miss Silver, #10)
TR Latter End (Miss Silver, #11)
TR Wicked Uncle (Miss Silver, #12)
TR The Catherine Wheel (Miss Silver, #16)
TR The Brading Collection (Miss Silver, #17)
TR Poison in the Pen (Miss Silver, #29)
TR Devil's Wind
TR The Fire Within
TR The Black Cabinet
TR Danger Calling
TR Run!
November 2, 2017
I’m currently in the midst of what I think is bronchitis so I spend a good chunk of the night awake because I can’t stop coughing. The Miss Silver mysteries are ideal companions for this state: they’re interesting enough that I am always eager to read more, but cozy and mild-mannered enough that when I start to (finally) get back to sleep, I can put them away. Also, let’s hear it for everyone not being a serial killer as is all too much the case in more modern mysteries. Most of Patricia Wentworth’s killers are spurred by greed, jealousy, or blackmail: the eternal motivations!
I didn’t like this one quite as much as some of the others because the plot relied way too much on people just not TALKING to each other, which, you know, if you love someone, you might give them a chance to explain themselves. On the other hand, no one writes as charming dachshunds (yes, you read that right!) as Wentworth, and Bramble was a hoot. And super dachshundly. (Disclosure: I grew up with a lovely dachshund and have always adored the breed.)
I didn’t like this one quite as much as some of the others because the plot relied way too much on people just not TALKING to each other, which, you know, if you love someone, you might give them a chance to explain themselves. On the other hand, no one writes as charming dachshunds (yes, you read that right!) as Wentworth, and Bramble was a hoot. And super dachshundly. (Disclosure: I grew up with a lovely dachshund and have always adored the breed.)
September 15, 2013
My first novel by this author. Reminds me of Miss Marple. The fact that it was written in 1948 helps me understand its tone. I found it modestly entertaining, more color at first than story. Not sure what the point was with the "crippled" girl who listened in on the phone calls. Perhaps to keep the story from being solved with a few phone calls as some characters preferred not to chat on the phone knowing that they were being listened in on. I'd read others of her mysteries as they do remind me of the comfort-food type stories of Miss Marple and Poirot.
April 24, 2020
I have to laugh every time i see this cover. This is an old book, first published in 1948, and I realize they probably didn’t want to spend a lot of money on making an ebook. But they should have found an illustrator who knew that a ‘torch’ in British English in the 20th century means a flashlight. It’s hilarious to see the woman walking through a forest carrying a flaming brand.
August 6, 2010
Not my favorite Wentworth novel to date. A woman finds a body, reports it, and then the police find no body. Miss Silver comes to investigate. I found some of the characters rather unlikeable in this one and so I tended to skip a lot of repetition.
It's still quite good at description and atmosphere, though, so even though the mystery wasn't great, the mood was well done.
It's still quite good at description and atmosphere, though, so even though the mystery wasn't great, the mood was well done.
October 19, 2017
This was all right, fairly predictable but it did take me a little while to decide on which of the possible suspects was the villain. In terms of the rest of the story, Wentworth really likes married people who are estranged due to misunderstandings, doesn't she?
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