Patricia Wentworth--born Dora Amy Elles--was a British crime fiction writer. 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.
I've read a few Miss Silver mystery novels many years ago. Recently, all the 32 Miss Silver book series became available to borrow, eBook or Kindle, from the library. I started reading them from the beginning and have so far finished 10 books. I have given them 3 up to 5 stars.
Miss Silver doesn't always "solve" the mystery. She doesn't even appear until over halfway into the novel unlike Agatha Christie's Poirot or Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael or Dorothy L. Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey. Readers might not like Wentworth's Miss Silver but I do like her quiet character over Miss Marple, and the stories that are more focused on the protagonists and antagonists are always interesting.
I read these in order the past few months. They are short novels, between 300 to 400 pages. Look for them in Hoopla if your local library has the service. These novels are a better reads than the latest books Amazon is giving for free. The Amazon First Reads for 2020 and up to the present are all dull and not worth a second of your time.
1. Grey Mask
2. The Case Is Closed
3. Lonesome Road
4. In The Balance
5. The Chinese Shawl
6. Miss Silver Deals With Death
7. The Clock Strikes Twelve
8. The Key
9. She Came Back
10. Pilgrim's Rest
