Fool Errant

tags: Benbow Smith, espionage, mystery, romance

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Goodreads

Political intrigue and industrial espionage are brewing in Britain’s Foreign Office in this thriller from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries

On a dark, foggy night, Hugo Ross encounters a beautiful woman. She claims to be running away and begs Hugo not to tell anyone that he’s seen her. Before boarding her train, she warns him not to take the job he’s applying secretary to eccentric inventor Ambrose Minstrel.

The train pulls away, and the stunning stranger is gone. Desperate for employment, Hugo ignores her warning and takes the job. He’s barely moved into Meade House when a message from Loveday Leigh is He must leave immediately and burn the letter. When they finally meet again at Waterloo Station, Loveday is not the mysterious woman Hugo remembers.

Odd happenings continue, and he enlists the help of the esteemed Benbow Smith, an enigmatic figure connected to London’s Foreign Office. Soon Hugo is caught up in an undercover plot involving governmental intrigue, industrial espionage, and stolen military secrets.

With his own life on the line, how much is he willing to risk for his country? Fool Errant is the 1st book in the Benbow Smith Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Patricia Wentworth created 4 sleuths - Miss Silver, Frank Garrett, Ernest Lamb, and Benbow Smith (full name Benbow Collingwood Horatio Smith). I tried reading Ernest Lamb but I was a bit bored with the character. Benbow Smith is a better sleuth and eccentric yet sharp character. He rarely looks directly at the person he is conversing with. He looks at his feet, at the ceiling, or just on the left or right side, or above the head of the other person. Very strange but funny in a way. I love his equally odd and chatty pet parrot Ananias that spouts something like dark poems and utters a string of Spanish cuss words which the reader won't see. It is just described that he swore a load of Spanish swear words. 

In this first novel, there are only 4 in the series, he appears just twice. The story is more about the couple who prevented an international catastrophe. The young man is shy and stutters and the girl is silly and scatterbrained but they are actually very smart in sticky situations. The girl is running away from her cousin who is urging her to marry a man she is not attracted to. According to her, the man is very sentimental and he says her name in a treacly voice if treacle has a voice. She did not want to be "converted" and marry him in a treacly trance. 

Highly recommended.