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Outrageous Fortune
A man is in a hospital in Sussex. He was shipwrecked when the Alice Aiden, the coastal boat heading to Glasgow encountered a thick fog. This man lost his memory, he can’t say who he is but keeps talking in his sleep about a Jim Randall or Jim Riddel. The nurses advertise on the radio that a man named Jim Randall or Jim Riddel has been found; if anyone knows him, they can pick him up. Nesta Riddel hears the message and decides to go and fetch him, especially when she realizes that he relentlessly mentions the eight emeralds that she and her accomplice Jim Riddel have stolen from the rich New-Yorker Elmer van Berg. The robbery has been making the headlines for a few weeks as Elmer was shot by the thief and is in a coma. A few days after the injured man has left the hospital with Nesta, Caroline shows up there, explaining she thinks the man could be her cousin Jim Randal.
Who is that man? Where are the stolen emeralds? Will Elmer van Berg wake up?
Who is that man? Where are the stolen emeralds? Will Elmer van Berg wake up?
231 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1933
144 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
196 books524 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 32 reviews
June 24, 2021
Caroline is pretty feisty for a Wentworth "heroine". I rather enjoyed this vintage mystery, it made for gentle, easy late-night reading.
I was pleased that Caroline wouldn't have to spend too much longer living with Pansy Ann.
Some kissing between the main characters.
I was pleased that Caroline wouldn't have to spend too much longer living with Pansy Ann.
Some kissing between the main characters.
June 10, 2009
Author Patricia Wentworth (pseudoniem of Dora Amy Elles) penned this crime fiction novel in 1933. A very minor obstacle of the book is getting acquainted with the writing style of that era. I also thought it was interesting that the book's main character, Caroline Leigh, adamantly pursues a relationship with a cousin, Jim Randal. The story is entertaining to solve who stole the seven green emeralds and who shot Elmer Van Berg.
June 27, 2020
I am usually very generous to Patricia Wentworth's books. They are not the most brilliantly plotted of Golden Age detective stories, but I love to immerse myself in her cosy yet Gothic 1920s-1950s world. However, some of her stories are a little lacking in intellectual rigour - generally the earlier adventures before she created her detective Miss Silver - and this is one of those.
As with so many of these early light romances, the mystery, such as it is, centres around that convenient device of someone losing their memory. In this case, it is Jim, who is rescued from a fishing-boat shipwreck, carried to a local village hospital, and finds himself claimed by hard-headed harridan Netta who says he is her husband, possibly because he keeps blurting out inconvenient truths about stolen emeralds.
It's easy for any PW aficionado (but really for anyone, hence not a meaningful spoiler) to see that nice but slightly naive Jim cannot possibly be married to career criminal Netta . In case we were not sure enough, we are quickly introduced to his 'cousin' Caroline. (All PWs depend heavily on vague cousinships which allow heroines to live virtually unchaperoned and enjoy close bonds with a variety of young men based on some hazy family connection.)
Caroline is young, pretty, innocent and conveniently unoccupied - she lives with her 'cousin' Pansy and presumably they both have a private income, as neither of them ever make any attempt to get a job of any sort. They are both 'cousins' to Jim and both harbour dreamy thoughts about him, even though they haven't seen him for many years. They are horrified to realise he may have been caught up in the fishing-boat shipwreck and when a radio message is broadcast about an unknown survivor, Caroline heads to the hospital to try and identify him but arrives there too late.
The mystery gathers pace from here. Jim is trying to work out who he is and why Netta has claimed him as her husband. Caroline is trying to find him. We learn that there has been a robbery involving an emerald necklace and a very cliched rich American couple named the Van Bergs.
The details here are not well worked out at all and this is often a feature with these earlier light romances. It's almost as though Miss Silver took a firm hand with her creator in the later books, coughed, and mildly remarked that logic and intelligence must be applied, resulting in a superior product. Broadly, I would say that while I defend PW's books very affectionately, this isn't one of the better ones, so probably only for real PW completists.
As with so many of these early light romances, the mystery, such as it is, centres around that convenient device of someone losing their memory. In this case, it is Jim, who is rescued from a fishing-boat shipwreck, carried to a local village hospital, and finds himself claimed by hard-headed harridan Netta who says he is her husband, possibly because he keeps blurting out inconvenient truths about stolen emeralds.
It's easy for any PW aficionado (but really for anyone, hence not a meaningful spoiler) to see that nice but slightly naive Jim cannot possibly be married to career criminal Netta . In case we were not sure enough, we are quickly introduced to his 'cousin' Caroline. (All PWs depend heavily on vague cousinships which allow heroines to live virtually unchaperoned and enjoy close bonds with a variety of young men based on some hazy family connection.)
Caroline is young, pretty, innocent and conveniently unoccupied - she lives with her 'cousin' Pansy and presumably they both have a private income, as neither of them ever make any attempt to get a job of any sort. They are both 'cousins' to Jim and both harbour dreamy thoughts about him, even though they haven't seen him for many years. They are horrified to realise he may have been caught up in the fishing-boat shipwreck and when a radio message is broadcast about an unknown survivor, Caroline heads to the hospital to try and identify him but arrives there too late.
The mystery gathers pace from here. Jim is trying to work out who he is and why Netta has claimed him as her husband. Caroline is trying to find him. We learn that there has been a robbery involving an emerald necklace and a very cliched rich American couple named the Van Bergs.
The details here are not well worked out at all and this is often a feature with these earlier light romances. It's almost as though Miss Silver took a firm hand with her creator in the later books, coughed, and mildly remarked that logic and intelligence must be applied, resulting in a superior product. Broadly, I would say that while I defend PW's books very affectionately, this isn't one of the better ones, so probably only for real PW completists.
November 18, 2021
Stolen emeralds! Amnesia! A delightful heroine! What's not to love?
My review: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
My review: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
January 5, 2019
Emeralds. A plot to steal them. An attempted murder. A better title for this mystery story would be "Outrageous Plot Contrivances": a man with amnesia who has a name almost identical with another; the two men happen to meet stranded on a ledge following a shipwreck; the second man just happens to be the brother of a former housekeeper of the first; and on and on. This is the third Wentworth novel I've read and it's pretty thin, albeit the basic plot is engaging. She is, however, far from an economic writer. Much of this narrative is made up of inconsequential padding which I assume she intended as red herrings, but which the perceptive modern reader would call fluff. As with her other novels I've read, she goes in for amateur detectives or characters caught up in crimes against their will. She also devises plot-lines that can only be characterized as "courtship while sleuthing": a young couple who, in the course of their detective work, realize they love another, immersing the reader in sloppy mush. Not Wentworth's strongest effort.
May 12, 2012
Gentille alternative aux diaboliques enquêtes d'Agatha Christie, j'ai trouvé dans ce roman de Patricia Wentworth tous les ingrédients nécessaires pour un bon polar sans violence ni agressivité inutiles. Certes, il y a de grosses ficelles et on peut reprocher que l'intrigue soit parfois cousue de fil blanc mais qu'importe ! Le suspense est réel et les personnages, principaux comme secondaires, sont tous aussi attachants et charmants les uns que les autres. Bien sûr, ce n'est pas le polar de l'année, les amateurs de sensations fortes passeront leur chemin et préféreront la poursuite du diamant vert à travers une jungle colombienne inhospitalière mais pour ma part, j'ai adoré le charme désuet de la campagne anglaise ! Un véritable délire british comme je les aime, à déguster avec une bonne tasse de thé !
January 21, 2020
Masterful Mystery
Patricia Wentworth is a master of the mystery genre. This stand-alone novel is just as thrilling and complicated a murder as any.
Patricia Wentworth is a master of the mystery genre. This stand-alone novel is just as thrilling and complicated a murder as any.
April 4, 2019
An unconscious man lies in a hospital bed after a shipwreck. He wakes to not remember anything but talks in his sleep of a string of emeralds. When his wife shows up to collect him, they hand him over without any questions, but later another woman arrives. She says he is her cousin, on his way to visit after years overseas. And he isn’t married.
Jim can’t remember much, but he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t have married the awful Nesta.
It’s all complicated by the similarity of the two names: Jim Randal and Jim Riddell.
The owner of the emeralds has been shot and is lying at death’s door. Each memory Jim remembers makes it more likely he met with the victim on the night.
Can Caroline find him and can they both solve the mystery and evade the police and the real robbers?
***
Not bad but very much a work of it’s time with some slang; lots of blazing, rather, and spiffing. Plus povs from minor characters.
Caroline’s first cousin once removed, Pansy, would make me nuts.
3 stars
Jim can’t remember much, but he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t have married the awful Nesta.
It’s all complicated by the similarity of the two names: Jim Randal and Jim Riddell.
The owner of the emeralds has been shot and is lying at death’s door. Each memory Jim remembers makes it more likely he met with the victim on the night.
Can Caroline find him and can they both solve the mystery and evade the police and the real robbers?
***
Not bad but very much a work of it’s time with some slang; lots of blazing, rather, and spiffing. Plus povs from minor characters.
Caroline’s first cousin once removed, Pansy, would make me nuts.
Miss Arbuthnot had been christened Ann, but preferred to be called Pansy. She sketched a little, and gardened a little, and painted a little on china. She also wrote minor verse and belonged to a society under the rules of which all the members read one another’s compositions. Caroline called it The Vicious Circle.(pp. 37-38).
3 stars
June 13, 2021
Just comparing ages of author Wentworth, 56, at the time of publication, 1933, and Robert Howard, 27, when the Conan tale I just read, 'A Witch Shall Be Born,' was written & published. Further astounds me of Howard's ability.
About this novel: This would be outstanding as a short story. Instead it is a far too drawn out tale that rewinds too much of the story over and over again. Thus, the book is repetitive. I lost interest in the mystery element, mostly due to there being only one real point to be clarified and that was pretty obvious to me. The ending was little surprise.
The writing is, otherwise, well done. The Caroline character is very well written. Writers, today, scribbling their Valley Girl characters should take note. I found only Caroline the interesting character and best flashed out. The others were written more for effect and rather empty.
Bottom line: i don't recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.
About this novel: This would be outstanding as a short story. Instead it is a far too drawn out tale that rewinds too much of the story over and over again. Thus, the book is repetitive. I lost interest in the mystery element, mostly due to there being only one real point to be clarified and that was pretty obvious to me. The ending was little surprise.
The writing is, otherwise, well done. The Caroline character is very well written. Writers, today, scribbling their Valley Girl characters should take note. I found only Caroline the interesting character and best flashed out. The others were written more for effect and rather empty.
Bottom line: i don't recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.
December 17, 2022
I wouldn't say this was typical of Patricia Wentworth's stories, but it did share some similarities, especially to the Dower House Mystery, in that it was a bit more of a slow-burn, and once again there were some confusing names (two Carolines, two Jims -- the two Jims were necessary to the plot, but the two Carolines had very little to do with each other and so were unnecessarily confusing). That said, Wentworth also once again presented us with a few delightful characters, namely the heroine, her roommate, and . . . her car. Yes, even the car had a distinct and vital role in the story. In summary, a good, if not slow plot with a mildly uneventful denouement, a few confusing names, and a few lovable characters.
June 19, 2024
This was the first I've read by Wentworth, and I definitely hope to read more.
From pretty much the first page I was intrigued by this golden age mystery. I really enjoyed the time period, the writing style, and the characters were interesting.
I think there were a few questions I still had at the end and characters who I thought were going to have more to do with the mystery then they did, but overall, it was a super fun read and hard to put down.
From pretty much the first page I was intrigued by this golden age mystery. I really enjoyed the time period, the writing style, and the characters were interesting.
I think there were a few questions I still had at the end and characters who I thought were going to have more to do with the mystery then they did, but overall, it was a super fun read and hard to put down.
August 25, 2024
I've read all the Miss Silver mysteries, and I'm working through the author's non-series books. This is one of the best, to me. The hero and heroine aren't annoyingly dim, the crime is fairly uncomplicated and believable, and there's plenty of suspense. There are also some touches of humor.
Admittedly, there is a case of amnesia, but it is at least brought on by a blow to the head rather than b e ing inexplicable.
Admittedly, there is a case of amnesia, but it is at least brought on by a blow to the head rather than b e ing inexplicable.
August 11, 2019
Murder tale with plenty of fog, mistaken identities, purposely confused identities, amnesia, missing emeralds, the hero who thinks he might have done it, the heroine determined to clear him, and a clever and strong-willed villainess. The outcome is never in doubt, but the way they get there is the question.
Read
February 9, 2022Another mystery by Wentworth with an interesting premise--a man with amnesia who's apparently been in a shipwreck wakened in a hospital by a disagreeable woman claiming to be his wife. Finding himself implicated in an attempted murder and facing increasing threats from the woman and others, this book takes many twists and turns right until the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2018
Free | No suspense, but a good period piece | The main reason Wentworth's books never get above 3 stars for me is that they're so obvious. But these early ones are not plots that have been done to death, and sometimes it's nice to know it's all going to be alright in the end.
August 25, 2019
I didn't like this one as much as the other Wentworth books I have read so far, mainly because there were just way too many coincidences, although the author did a great job of making all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. 2 1/2 stars.
October 18, 2020
Kissing cousins, a mystery having to do with amnesia, jewels, mistaken identity, a determined young woman, a world-wise young man, career criminals, a shipwreck. There is lots of padding in this one, so I skimmed much of it. Really, it could have easily been a short story.
April 13, 2024
This is more of a rom crime than a mystery. The mystery is more what string of coincidences and derringdo will clear our handsome protangonist than it is whodunit.
Still, this moves along very nicely if can ignore some amazingly classist attitudes by the rentier class towards the proletariat.
Still, this moves along very nicely if can ignore some amazingly classist attitudes by the rentier class towards the proletariat.
January 11, 2019
Entertaining
This was a nice cozy book with a predictable ending. Well written and an easy read but not just the best book of this author
This was a nice cozy book with a predictable ending. Well written and an easy read but not just the best book of this author
March 19, 2019
Enjoyable murder mystery, good paced, classic read.
May 6, 2020
I liked the idea behind this one a lot, and it is written well.
July 8, 2020
An excellent classic Wentworth mystery with a heroic heroine, stolen jewels, a questionable marriage, a shipwreck, and, of course, amnesia. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
September 24, 2020
Outrageous Fortune is the 2nd book I've read by Patricia Wentworth. It's a mystery noir & an entertaining read.
December 17, 2020
Un thriller où le personnage amnésique mène l enquête. Pas de miss silver mais une charmante cousine et une ambiance de chasse aux trésors.
February 6, 2021
A man wakes up in the hospital after a shipwreck. He is accused of robbing and shooting a man. Jim and Caroline must piece together what really happened. I enjoyed the book.
March 26, 2023
There's just no good way to use amnesia as a plot device.
July 29, 2024
A thriller about a man who has lost his memory, but is certain he can't be the criminal it appears he is. Well-plotted and attention-holding.
April 15, 2019
Lol Patricia Wentworth. Your work has not aged well.
Wentworth valiantly writes in the style of Heyer, Sayers, and Christie even though she can't measure up to them in any fashion. Her mysteries are convoluted and illogical, her characters are often vapid and illogical, and her prose style is so densely stuffed with phrases popular in 1930's Britain that it is actually very difficult to read. This is pulpy schlock fiction of the golden mystery era that undoubtedly sold well at the time but has now passed unregretfully into oblivion. It makes you consider which of today's fashionable but poorly-written reads will embarrass us in the future.
This novel's mystery revolves around amnesia, the perennial classic ailment to drive up tension. The mystery hinges on a series of coincidences so astounding that it is laughable. Due to a six-week gap in memory, the main character is led to believe that he married a woman he despises, turned criminal, invaded the house of a friend, and shot him in order to steal his wife's priceless emerald necklace. The timing, his own flashes of memory, and the fact that he finds the emeralds in his own house all lead him to suspect that this is true. As it turns out, though, a person with his same initials who knows all the same people and was on the same boat as him and who had personal connections with the murder victim and Jim's own house was the actual murderer, and all of these very superficial similarities contrived to point to Jim being the killer.
The reveal of the mystery is so dumb and unpredictable that it isn't even worth trying to solve it. Wentworth does not shine in her mysteries; she shines in her characters. She had a gift for writing young, bubbly British 20-somethings. Her two protagonists in this novel, though often idiotic, were nonetheless charming. They were fun to watch and the ending was satisfying. It isn't a terrible read, and it gets me right in the nostalgia, but I can see why she is a forgotten author at this point.
Wentworth valiantly writes in the style of Heyer, Sayers, and Christie even though she can't measure up to them in any fashion. Her mysteries are convoluted and illogical, her characters are often vapid and illogical, and her prose style is so densely stuffed with phrases popular in 1930's Britain that it is actually very difficult to read. This is pulpy schlock fiction of the golden mystery era that undoubtedly sold well at the time but has now passed unregretfully into oblivion. It makes you consider which of today's fashionable but poorly-written reads will embarrass us in the future.
This novel's mystery revolves around amnesia, the perennial classic ailment to drive up tension. The mystery hinges on a series of coincidences so astounding that it is laughable. Due to a six-week gap in memory, the main character is led to believe that he married a woman he despises, turned criminal, invaded the house of a friend, and shot him in order to steal his wife's priceless emerald necklace. The timing, his own flashes of memory, and the fact that he finds the emeralds in his own house all lead him to suspect that this is true. As it turns out, though, a person with his same initials who knows all the same people and was on the same boat as him and who had personal connections with the murder victim and Jim's own house was the actual murderer, and all of these very superficial similarities contrived to point to Jim being the killer.
The reveal of the mystery is so dumb and unpredictable that it isn't even worth trying to solve it. Wentworth does not shine in her mysteries; she shines in her characters. She had a gift for writing young, bubbly British 20-somethings. Her two protagonists in this novel, though often idiotic, were nonetheless charming. They were fun to watch and the ending was satisfying. It isn't a terrible read, and it gets me right in the nostalgia, but I can see why she is a forgotten author at this point.
July 31, 2008
Enjoyed this light mystery. Characters were interesting and the story moved quickly to a climactic ending.
August 25, 2013
A fun read, though it rankled me that the villainess was repulsive mostly because she was competent and a "boss."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews