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Miss Silver #29
Poison in the Pen
When the quiet village of Tilling Green is plagued by an outbreak of poison pen letters, and then a mysterious suicide, Scotland Yard dispatches Miss Silver to investigate.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
229 people are currently reading
712 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
162 books522 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 119 reviews
March 8, 2025
The first Miss Silver mystery
Poison in the Pen is the debut mystery of Miss Silver, a middle aged spinster in the line of Miss Marple. She is not as wise as Miss Marple and much more religious, so she was not as appealing to me as Agatha Christie's creation. The Christie books are better written with more knowledge of human behavior as well. I liked this though and read it quickly.
Poison in the Pen is the debut mystery of Miss Silver, a middle aged spinster in the line of Miss Marple. She is not as wise as Miss Marple and much more religious, so she was not as appealing to me as Agatha Christie's creation. The Christie books are better written with more knowledge of human behavior as well. I liked this though and read it quickly.
October 15, 2019
I am finding that I am not a fan of these Miss Marple knock-offs with harmless little old ladies keenly deducing about human nature.
This one is all shallow, spiteful women and nasty secrets. Not that the male characters are any nicer, they're just less important, because it is women whose reputations are so easily ruined by rumors.
I guessed the culprit from the start, and not because I'm good at solving mysteries.
This one is all shallow, spiteful women and nasty secrets. Not that the male characters are any nicer, they're just less important, because it is women whose reputations are so easily ruined by rumors.
I guessed the culprit from the start, and not because I'm good at solving mysteries.
April 6, 2021
I'm just not sure about this book!
A village setting with poison pen letters being sent around causing all sorts of upset, add in deaths, a called off wedding and you have yourself a perfect crime novel!
YET.......
I like the Miss Silver character, I've enjoyed other Wentworth books but this one honestly bored me.
It seemed to drone for ages and ages at the start and then rush towards the ending.
A disappointing 3 stars (sorry Miss Silver)
A village setting with poison pen letters being sent around causing all sorts of upset, add in deaths, a called off wedding and you have yourself a perfect crime novel!
YET.......
I like the Miss Silver character, I've enjoyed other Wentworth books but this one honestly bored me.
It seemed to drone for ages and ages at the start and then rush towards the ending.
A disappointing 3 stars (sorry Miss Silver)
June 20, 2022
Very good vintage mystery from PW. A contemporary of Agatha Christie, this book has a similar plot to The Moving Finger where anonymous letters have wrecked havoc on the village.
After two suicides have occured Miss Silver, a Miss Marple surrogate, is called in to solve the problem. Another death happens and previous suicides are now questioned as murders. The police and DI don’t come off too well in this book with their interpretations of the investigation.
Don’t get me wrong, if you like Miss Marple, you will probably like Miss Silver although she doesn’t have quite the same sense of humor as Jane aka Miss Marple. She at least has the same need for justice. The other characters and Patricia Wentworth’s sensibilities are flat and out hampered by Victorian sensibilities. Normally it’s charming, but listening to the dithering hemming and hawing here drove me crazy. Example: the girl that commits the second suicide is heard to say she knows who has been writing the poison pen letters and then is found dead. It’s assumed by all including the investigating officer that the girl committed suicide because she was reluctant to say who had done it. Is that really plausible? Luckily Miss Silver is there to point out an alternative option: MURDER/ Plus the horror of scandal seems to overcloud the need for justice with too many characters.
There is a half-baked romance where the number one swain comes back right before the heroine marries the number two. Village gossip abounds.
The narrator is Diana Bishop and she is excellent. Not excellent like Jim Dale where you feel like you have listened to a whole cast, but a clear, crisp voice that is a joy to listen to and so verrry British!
After two suicides have occured Miss Silver, a Miss Marple surrogate, is called in to solve the problem. Another death happens and previous suicides are now questioned as murders. The police and DI don’t come off too well in this book with their interpretations of the investigation.
Don’t get me wrong, if you like Miss Marple, you will probably like Miss Silver although she doesn’t have quite the same sense of humor as Jane aka Miss Marple. She at least has the same need for justice. The other characters and Patricia Wentworth’s sensibilities are flat and out hampered by Victorian sensibilities. Normally it’s charming, but listening to the dithering hemming and hawing here drove me crazy. Example: the girl that commits the second suicide is heard to say she knows who has been writing the poison pen letters and then is found dead. It’s assumed by all including the investigating officer that the girl committed suicide because she was reluctant to say who had done it. Is that really plausible? Luckily Miss Silver is there to point out an alternative option: MURDER/ Plus the horror of scandal seems to overcloud the need for justice with too many characters.
There is a half-baked romance where the number one swain comes back right before the heroine marries the number two. Village gossip abounds.
The narrator is Diana Bishop and she is excellent. Not excellent like Jim Dale where you feel like you have listened to a whole cast, but a clear, crisp voice that is a joy to listen to and so verrry British!
August 31, 2014
I have actually now read the majority of the Miss Silver books. Despite the comparison to Agatha Christie's Jane Marple books there is frankly no comparison. Although they were both written during
roughly the same time the Christie books are far superior. Her characters are much more realistic and fleshed out than Wentworth's. Her character's motives, methods and behaviors are much more realistic than any of Wentworth's.Miss Silver books are the "Harlequin" romance novel variety as they are written to a standard formula and a standard length.Even making allowances for the time they were written the characters are all weak. The females fall into one of three categories:women around 20 who are vapid, cry and faint at the drop of a head, indecisive,weak willed and generally annoying all round. Their actions are inexplicable to reader of average intelligence. Woman whose fiance dies in a shipwreck but is found rescued. She sees him on the street and obviously recognizes him and speaks to him. Does she tell him they are engaged? No. Why? She 'doesn't' know. She goes home crying and faints when she walks in the door. See what I mean? The second female character is always some upper class matron who worries that she has to deal with 'people who are not of our class' and lastly a conglomerate of fat,ugly,skinny,badly educated neighbours and servants with comic opera accents but who are terrible loyal to the 'mistress' and the 'master' and don't have a brain in their heads. The men are usually the police who have no real knowledge of human nature and have to be led by the nose by Miss Silver. The villains are very evil and it is quite satisfying when they are killed. I will give Ms Wentworth stars for fairly complex plots and good endings. But you know in the last 20 pages the person they are about to arrest is the wrong one and by the third to last page Miss Silver will have revealed the real killer. The books are a OK read which you can finish in a couple of hours. If you do decide to read the books make sure you keep an eye on her 'bog oak brooch'. One of her prized pieces of jewellery which changes description with each book. For example, one book it will have 'a tiny pearl' in the middle, the next one 'a large Irish pearl' the next 'three pearls' and so on.Given that she wrote over 55 of these books surely some editor somewhere should have noticed this.
roughly the same time the Christie books are far superior. Her characters are much more realistic and fleshed out than Wentworth's. Her character's motives, methods and behaviors are much more realistic than any of Wentworth's.Miss Silver books are the "Harlequin" romance novel variety as they are written to a standard formula and a standard length.Even making allowances for the time they were written the characters are all weak. The females fall into one of three categories:women around 20 who are vapid, cry and faint at the drop of a head, indecisive,weak willed and generally annoying all round. Their actions are inexplicable to reader of average intelligence. Woman whose fiance dies in a shipwreck but is found rescued. She sees him on the street and obviously recognizes him and speaks to him. Does she tell him they are engaged? No. Why? She 'doesn't' know. She goes home crying and faints when she walks in the door. See what I mean? The second female character is always some upper class matron who worries that she has to deal with 'people who are not of our class' and lastly a conglomerate of fat,ugly,skinny,badly educated neighbours and servants with comic opera accents but who are terrible loyal to the 'mistress' and the 'master' and don't have a brain in their heads. The men are usually the police who have no real knowledge of human nature and have to be led by the nose by Miss Silver. The villains are very evil and it is quite satisfying when they are killed. I will give Ms Wentworth stars for fairly complex plots and good endings. But you know in the last 20 pages the person they are about to arrest is the wrong one and by the third to last page Miss Silver will have revealed the real killer. The books are a OK read which you can finish in a couple of hours. If you do decide to read the books make sure you keep an eye on her 'bog oak brooch'. One of her prized pieces of jewellery which changes description with each book. For example, one book it will have 'a tiny pearl' in the middle, the next one 'a large Irish pearl' the next 'three pearls' and so on.Given that she wrote over 55 of these books surely some editor somewhere should have noticed this.
March 24, 2018
This was my second Miss Silver mystery - I read it for a classic crime project that I am working, based on Martin Edward's rather excellent The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. Poison in the Pen is mentioned in Chapter 6, Serpents in Eden, as an example of a mystery taking place in the countryside, which is why I selected to read it out of order.
This is the 29th book in the series. The only other Miss Silver mystery I've read was the first book in the series Grey Mask: A Miss Silver Mystery, which I did not like so well as this one. In Poison in the Pen, Wentworth relies on that trope of British mystery fiction, the Poison Pen letter, which was also used to such good effect by Christie in The Moving Finger.
I liked this one quite a bit better than Grey Mask. Miss Silver is an interesting character, and her relationship with Frank Abbot hints at an intriguing backstory. It still isn't up to the high standard of Agatha Christie, but is enough of a reasonably close approximation that I would definitely read more. I'm intimidated by the number of books in the series, though, and I'm not sure that I want to take on the Miss Silver oevre in its entirety!
This is the 29th book in the series. The only other Miss Silver mystery I've read was the first book in the series Grey Mask: A Miss Silver Mystery, which I did not like so well as this one. In Poison in the Pen, Wentworth relies on that trope of British mystery fiction, the Poison Pen letter, which was also used to such good effect by Christie in The Moving Finger.
I liked this one quite a bit better than Grey Mask. Miss Silver is an interesting character, and her relationship with Frank Abbot hints at an intriguing backstory. It still isn't up to the high standard of Agatha Christie, but is enough of a reasonably close approximation that I would definitely read more. I'm intimidated by the number of books in the series, though, and I'm not sure that I want to take on the Miss Silver oevre in its entirety!
January 15, 2020
The little village of Tilling Green is suffering from a poison pen epidemic, and the nasty letters have led to at least one suicide. Clearly, this can't go on. Miss Maud Silver, private investigator and one-time governess, is asked to investigate. She becomes a paying guest at Miss Wayne's quaint cottage, and soon meets most of the people in the area. But another death intervenes, and then a third. And it's clear to most people that the third death is a murder.
January 1, 2018
Funny, this is the first book in the series that actually gives a hint of what is to come between 2 of the characters. Now I'm wondering if the elusive and debonair Frank Abbott will finally succumb to some young woman's charms.
My final book read in 2017.
My final book read in 2017.
June 8, 2019
Comparable to an Agatha Christie mystery but takes some other turns than her novel about anonymous letters.
I kind of think it was "fuller" of thinks happening and the characters may have been a little more out there. There were a lot of possible subpects and victims which were described really interestingly, since there were quite a few I didn't even have the murderer on the rader anymore before the reveal.
I really liked it and will hopefully read more by Wentworth in the future.
I kind of think it was "fuller" of thinks happening and the characters may have been a little more out there. There were a lot of possible subpects and victims which were described really interestingly, since there were quite a few I didn't even have the murderer on the rader anymore before the reveal.
I really liked it and will hopefully read more by Wentworth in the future.
February 18, 2022
I had difficulty keeping the characters straight for about half the book. (Were there three characters named Maggie? Or did it just seem like it because of similar names and listening to this as an audiobook?) Regardless it was still a fun mystery.
May 13, 2023
I recently 'discovered' the writer Patricia Wentworth, and when I realised that she was a contemporary of Christie and supposedly wrote similar kind of mysteries featuring Mrs Grey, I was very excited. Definitely, they gave me the same feel as reading a Miss Marple mystery always gives me. A small, charming village; limited number of suspects who almost always know each other; and Mrs Grey herself - all these were tropes I know and have enjoyed immensely.
However, in the two books that I read, I found the plotting a little wanting. This one features a poison pen in a small village which leads to three deaths, quite like Christie's The Moving Finger, but I felt my interest waning towards the end of the novel. I had plans of reading the entire cannon, but I think that I will wait and read them sometimes in between other books when I want a change of pace.
However, in the two books that I read, I found the plotting a little wanting. This one features a poison pen in a small village which leads to three deaths, quite like Christie's The Moving Finger, but I felt my interest waning towards the end of the novel. I had plans of reading the entire cannon, but I think that I will wait and read them sometimes in between other books when I want a change of pace.
June 11, 2021
A classic village mystery based around poison pen letters and the deaths that follow. It starts off in a leisurely fashion and builds up a picture of gossipy rural life before gaining pace in the second half.
I've read a few of Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books and this fits the pattern of being a fairly entertaining read with a satisfactory conclusion, but featuring a culprit who is quite easy to spot.
I've read a few of Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books and this fits the pattern of being a fairly entertaining read with a satisfactory conclusion, but featuring a culprit who is quite easy to spot.
November 8, 2024
Really good mustery, with Miss Silver travelling to a small village, at the behest of the police, to find the writer of poison pen letters. Deaths follow, with clues and red herrings galore. There are several nicely done minor characters and the ending is quite satisfying.
July 18, 2024
2024: repeat late-night listen. I always think it's shame Wentworth doesn't gifted Frank with a love interest, again, of his own.
2021: late-night relisten. I’ve noticed that Patricia Wentworth has a character type she likes to use in quite a few Miss Silver mysteries; a woman that seems to be the beaten down underdog - some have a veneer of faux dithering sweetness while others are a nasty old spinster – and teetering on the edge of madness.
A good whodunit listen.
2020: Repeat listen, nearly two years to the date later. Listening in series order this round through. Thanks to lots of red herrings I could not immediately recall who'd dunnit; and, as I was just listening for enjoyment's sake, not to work out the mystery, as I was doing last time, I still really liked the mystery in 'Poison in the Pen' this time as well.
2018: I was in the frame of mind to enjoy a Wentworth styled mystery, so I did; and, she gave enough clues early on the books so I could work out “who’d dunnit”.
Extra detail: showcases adultery and a pending divorce. Lots of village gossiping/backstabbing in this one.
2021: late-night relisten. I’ve noticed that Patricia Wentworth has a character type she likes to use in quite a few Miss Silver mysteries; a woman that seems to be the beaten down underdog - some have a veneer of faux dithering sweetness while others are a nasty old spinster – and teetering on the edge of madness.
A good whodunit listen.
2020: Repeat listen, nearly two years to the date later. Listening in series order this round through. Thanks to lots of red herrings I could not immediately recall who'd dunnit; and, as I was just listening for enjoyment's sake, not to work out the mystery, as I was doing last time, I still really liked the mystery in 'Poison in the Pen' this time as well.
2018: I was in the frame of mind to enjoy a Wentworth styled mystery, so I did; and, she gave enough clues early on the books so I could work out “who’d dunnit”.
Extra detail: showcases adultery and a pending divorce. Lots of village gossiping/backstabbing in this one.
September 23, 2022
I wonder if people still send anonymous letters, or if they have vanished in these digital times?
The last I heard of one was in the early 90s. Poison pen letters are a staple of period cosy fiction, particularly real Golden Age cosies.
This is vintage Miss Silver, a deliciously cosy read to snuggle down into of an evening. Published in 1955 but reads much earlier, if you glide over the reference to one character's service "in the war, not the last one but the Great War" meaning 1914-18. If there was a weakness it was in that "Murder She Wrote" ending where the guilty party stands there and tells all at great length, followed by a completely unnecessary recap scene between Miss Silver and Frank Abbot. Plus the idea that one character goes on evening rambles with seven cats that follow faithfully at his heels there and back again. No, sorry. On a country night in summer, those seven cats would have vanished into the darkness to return sometime in the morning.
Having said that, I can easily imagine I will read this again sometime, which is not something I can say of all Miss Wentworth's output.
The last I heard of one was in the early 90s. Poison pen letters are a staple of period cosy fiction, particularly real Golden Age cosies.
This is vintage Miss Silver, a deliciously cosy read to snuggle down into of an evening. Published in 1955 but reads much earlier, if you glide over the reference to one character's service "in the war, not the last one but the Great War" meaning 1914-18. If there was a weakness it was in that "Murder She Wrote" ending where the guilty party stands there and tells all at great length, followed by a completely unnecessary recap scene between Miss Silver and Frank Abbot. Plus the idea that one character goes on evening rambles with seven cats that follow faithfully at his heels there and back again. No, sorry. On a country night in summer, those seven cats would have vanished into the darkness to return sometime in the morning.
Having said that, I can easily imagine I will read this again sometime, which is not something I can say of all Miss Wentworth's output.
October 6, 2023
Incredibly tedious. If you're new to Wentworth, please don't start here!
The characters were mostly two-dimensional, and there was no focus on any one character more than another, with the result that I didn't care about any of them. Even Wentworth's mandatory 'young couple in love' were little more than names. Frank Abbott and Randall March appear on the fringes, but don't really contribute anything. Both plot and culprit are obvious, and the story could never have reached novel length without endless repetition of the same conversations. I think it's the only Miss Silver novel where I kept flicking through to see how far I had to go before the end!
The characters were mostly two-dimensional, and there was no focus on any one character more than another, with the result that I didn't care about any of them. Even Wentworth's mandatory 'young couple in love' were little more than names. Frank Abbott and Randall March appear on the fringes, but don't really contribute anything. Both plot and culprit are obvious, and the story could never have reached novel length without endless repetition of the same conversations. I think it's the only Miss Silver novel where I kept flicking through to see how far I had to go before the end!
December 10, 2023
I regard Patricia Wentworths as comforting, hot-water-bottle books: a blend of a clever crime story with more than a little dash of romance too. Miss Silver is a retired, old-fashioned, governess-turned- enquiry agent and her skillset matches those of Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple
February 1, 2020
2 1/2 stars. It reminds me of an Agatha Christie or two. But for all that, it is a solid mystery and I should have guess who was the culprit but I didn't.
December 28, 2022
A new detective fiction author for me. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would like to read some more WEntworth fiction. It was rather confusing in the beginning with a number of different characters, but eventually they sorted themselves out and it all made a lot of sense by the end.
December 27, 2023
On the one hand this is not an interesting or well-planned book. On the other, it features a cat who fights crime. Really very difficult to know how to rate in such a case.
March 8, 2025
B–:
Really entertaining, but signposts the killer in a way that is, quite frankly, annoying. Miss Silver also seems pretty mean-spirited in this.
Really entertaining, but signposts the killer in a way that is, quite frankly, annoying. Miss Silver also seems pretty mean-spirited in this.
August 10, 2021
I don’t usually remember the murderer when I reread a mystery, unless it’s one of those mind blowing ones that are literally impossible to forget once you’ve read them. I first read this approximately 20 or 25 years ago, and I loved it. It was such a disturbing one that it really lingered, and so when I picked it up this time, I remembered who did it and was curious as to whether I would pick up any clues on this go around. I did, and I have to say, I enjoyed it this time just as much as I did the first time. It’s a brilliantly plotted mystery with a compelling villain, and I just really enjoyed the reread. The amount of Miss Silver in this installment would already make it a favorite, but I’m also a sucker for a good poison pen mystery, since the psychology is so interesting. I was very frustrated by Randall March in this one. He tends to try to exert police authority for no reason, when he KNOWS Miss Silver is nearly always right. And this time, his unwillingness to listen could have gone VERY badly. Hopefully next time he shows up, he’ll be a bit more of a good pupil. I’d highly recommend this to anyone.
August 20, 2023
convoluted plot
I almost stopped reading in the first chapter because the setting (who/what/where/when) was so contrived and artificial. There is also a major plot inconsistency where the murderer bemoans she’s not invited to a party then 3 pages later discusses (to the same person in the same conversation) how happy she is to have received an invitation…what?! Super irritating, but okay, maybe not a big deal —except in this case it is; because not attending the party is what gives her opportunity to commit one of the murders. So that’s a complete cock-up by the editor who should have caught a mistake like that. The book *does* get better, and the writing is pretty good, but the plot is a re-tread of every worn-out trope of poison pen mystery genre. Not terrible, but if you’ve read Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series it’s just too predictable to be really engaging. Final gripe: why do so many cozy writers refuse to write a respectable conclusion? Too many of these books just grind to a halt when the author reaches the necessary word count (at least that’s how it seems). It’s very unsatisfying.
I almost stopped reading in the first chapter because the setting (who/what/where/when) was so contrived and artificial. There is also a major plot inconsistency where the murderer bemoans she’s not invited to a party then 3 pages later discusses (to the same person in the same conversation) how happy she is to have received an invitation…what?! Super irritating, but okay, maybe not a big deal —except in this case it is; because not attending the party is what gives her opportunity to commit one of the murders. So that’s a complete cock-up by the editor who should have caught a mistake like that. The book *does* get better, and the writing is pretty good, but the plot is a re-tread of every worn-out trope of poison pen mystery genre. Not terrible, but if you’ve read Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series it’s just too predictable to be really engaging. Final gripe: why do so many cozy writers refuse to write a respectable conclusion? Too many of these books just grind to a halt when the author reaches the necessary word count (at least that’s how it seems). It’s very unsatisfying.
March 31, 2023
An outbreak of anonymous letters leads to deaths in a quiet English village. Miss Silver takes up residence to investigate…
Inevitably the detective story aficionado compares with Agatha Christie’s The Moving Finger. Christie is, of course, the more ingenious plotter, but Patricia Wentworth is excellent at depicting the quietly unsettling atmosphere of a village where anyone could be the secret writer, or driven to desperation by receiving a letter. The village types are well-drawn but all with just a hint of difference and an understanding of different points of view which makes them more than mere caricatures and evokes sympathy. Miss Silver’s compassion, as well as her steely determination to get at the truth, make her the perfect detective to uncover what really happened. My only complaint is with the central ‘young couple’ and the idea that the strong silent type who vanishes without a word is the perfect partner.
Inevitably the detective story aficionado compares with Agatha Christie’s The Moving Finger. Christie is, of course, the more ingenious plotter, but Patricia Wentworth is excellent at depicting the quietly unsettling atmosphere of a village where anyone could be the secret writer, or driven to desperation by receiving a letter. The village types are well-drawn but all with just a hint of difference and an understanding of different points of view which makes them more than mere caricatures and evokes sympathy. Miss Silver’s compassion, as well as her steely determination to get at the truth, make her the perfect detective to uncover what really happened. My only complaint is with the central ‘young couple’ and the idea that the strong silent type who vanishes without a word is the perfect partner.
September 19, 2018
29th book in the series. The little village of Tilling Green is harboring a very nasty person, a poison-pen writer who is sending notes to folks in town. Ugly, vicious letters, accusing them or their loved ones of horrible deeds. When one young recipient commits suicide, a friend of Miss Silver from Scotland Yard asks her to stay in the village as an undercover agent of sorts. These books are more about people than anything else, as Miss Silver solves her mysteries by listening to people (who easily find themselves unburdening themselves to her sympathetic ear), and by then anticipating their actions through her knowledge of human behavior, much like Miss Marple. A good story studying how gossip and innuendo spreads like wildfire, and how much damage one person with an evil bent and a pen can do.
September 27, 2020
In these later Miss Silver novels things feel very familiar. The characters are not so fresh, the settings are like other settings, the plot elements are recycled. Miss Silver is in this book from early on, here and there, knitting and listening and watching and thinking and quoting Tennyson.
The ending may surprise some, but I was not surprised, and even skimmed some of the long summing up of evidence and weighing of suspects to move along to an ending I expected.
We have a village setting, with the green, shop, pub, manor house, vicarage, etc. There are gossips, old mails, a vicar, cleaning and cooking and gardening workers, a few wealthy and many less wealthy persons. Some passive, some aggressive characters; givers and takers. Excluding the sometimes very, very long passages of dialog, it was an entertaining read.
The ending may surprise some, but I was not surprised, and even skimmed some of the long summing up of evidence and weighing of suspects to move along to an ending I expected.
We have a village setting, with the green, shop, pub, manor house, vicarage, etc. There are gossips, old mails, a vicar, cleaning and cooking and gardening workers, a few wealthy and many less wealthy persons. Some passive, some aggressive characters; givers and takers. Excluding the sometimes very, very long passages of dialog, it was an entertaining read.
February 9, 2022
A third read/listen to this Miss Silver whodunnit. Still a 4* from me, because I’m a sucker for this series of books, literate, well-written and plotted, comfortable, and with the dénouement a surprise each time! Straightforward, serious, but with just enough wry humour in the recurring and new characters to keep a smile returning time and again.,
‘An enjoyable Miss Silver whodunnit. Perhaps a little too much conversation between various pairs of characters in the second half, considering who might have 'dunnit', but a good cast of characters and suspects, and a surprising and exciting dénouement.’
The GR blurb:
'When the quiet village of Tilling Green is plagued by an outbreak of poison pen letters, and then a mysterious suicide, Scotland Yard dispatches Miss Silver to investigate.'
‘An enjoyable Miss Silver whodunnit. Perhaps a little too much conversation between various pairs of characters in the second half, considering who might have 'dunnit', but a good cast of characters and suspects, and a surprising and exciting dénouement.’
The GR blurb:
'When the quiet village of Tilling Green is plagued by an outbreak of poison pen letters, and then a mysterious suicide, Scotland Yard dispatches Miss Silver to investigate.'
August 26, 2020
In the tiny village of Tilling Green, all is not well. Someone is writing and sending a series of scurrilous and hateful poison pen letters. One girl has seemingly committed suicide over them. Miss Silver is sent in undercover by Scotland Yard to investigate. A wedding is abruptly called off at the last minute, and more bodies begin to accumulate.
Wentworth always does a good job on conveying the power, impact, and speed of gossip in an English village. However, she almost overdoes it in this installment: there is so much re-recounting of what version came from whom that the plotline begins to drag some. Still, I five her credit for a strong ending. Bonus points for describing the villain at the climax as a suddenly enraged ferret with its teeth out. What a great line!
Wentworth always does a good job on conveying the power, impact, and speed of gossip in an English village. However, she almost overdoes it in this installment: there is so much re-recounting of what version came from whom that the plotline begins to drag some. Still, I five her credit for a strong ending. Bonus points for describing the villain at the climax as a suddenly enraged ferret with its teeth out. What a great line!
December 13, 2025
Scurrilous anonymous letters cause a suicide in a small English village, but the letters keep on coming. Private investigator and former governess Miss Silver goes undercover to investigate at the request of a friend. I confess-not to the crime—but to enjoying the picture of life in an English village, with the squire in the big house, the vicar in the parsonage, and women's groups gathering to gossip and sew. Everyone knows everything about everyone, except who hides their deep malice and hatred under an everyday face.
Reread Sept. 2025
Reread Sept. 2025
December 18, 2017
Early Bird Book Deal | Fairly good, but anonymous letters are so unpleasant that they make the reading less enjoyable | I was a bit distracted at the beginning of this, so I never got too connected to the characters, and was a bit annoyed at having Jason and James, Maggie and Mettie to keep track of. Just as I don't often re-read Christie's The Moving Finger, because the spite of the letters is so ugly and nasty, there was much here I wanted to keep away from.
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