In this classic British mystery starring a sleuth who “has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot,” Miss Silver investigates a case of marital murder (Manchester Evening News). Lois has always dreamed of being a Latter. The Latter brothers are both so attractive—nearly as handsome as their stately manor, Latter End. After she spoils her relationship with one brother, Lois succeeds with the other, winning his heart with her good looks and a sizeable fortune from her first marriage. But even after they’ve wed, she never quite fits in with the family. Still, she hardly expects them to kill her. When the psychic Memnon warns her of murder by poison, Lois laughs it off and so does everyone else, but then, like clockwork, she’s dead. The weapon? Poison, of course. Only the brilliant governess-turned-detective Miss Maud Silver can solve this tantalizing case complicated by the bitterness that infests Latter End.
A governess tries to protect a wealthy teenage orphan targeted by a killer in this mystery by the author of the Miss Silver series. “No one can take a mother’s place.” But Sarah Trent is determined to try. She has just been engaged as governess to seventeen-year-old Lucilla Hildred, whose mother and stepfather were killed in a car accident. Lucilla’s father died in the war, and his younger brother, Maurice, has been missing since 1918. Uncle Maurice’s disappearance isn’t the only mystery at the Red House. One night Sarah is awakened by a frightening noise. Something flings itself against her window and she hears the sounds of claws against glass. Then Holme Fallow, the estate where Lucilla was born—and where no one has lived since the war—is burgled. The only clue as to the culprit is a set of muddy footprints. Next someone tampers with the brakes on Lucilla’s bicycle, and she stumbles over a baluster rail. It’s soon clear to Sarah that someone is trying to kill the orphaned teenager, sole heir to Holme Fallow. Is it visiting American John Brown? Lucilla herself, playing a dangerous game? Or has someone else been patiently waiting for the perfect moment to strike? No matter the perpetrator, a ghost from the past could change everything. Patricia Wentworth, beloved creator of Miss Silver, crafts a puzzling mystery replete with twists, turns, and multiple suspects.
Assumed dead, Lady Anne Jocelyn meets varying degrees of welcome when she returns from Occupied France to her old life in England. Though her husband Sir Philip is not overjoyed to see her, he agrees to a trial reunion. But a murder raises his doubts, and then a second and third send Miss Silver to a curious consideration of life after death.
An innocent English governess goes on the lam with a detective hot on her heels in this thrilling mystery by the author of the Miss Silver novels. In six months, Marion “Mally” Lee will wed the dashing Roger Mooring and become mistress of Curston, his family estate. Determined to enjoy her freedom before she becomes a married woman, Mally impulsively accepts a position as governess to the young daughter of a shipping magnate. But when she arrives at the Peterson townhouse in London, Mally has the strangest urge to flee. Sir George Peterson, whose wife left him for an itinerant artist, is an enigma. His sister, Lena Craddock, is nice enough, but Mally’s young charge, Barbara, hates Lena’s nephew, Paul, with a passion. When Mally is suddenly branded a thief and spy after valuable papers and a priceless diamond pendant disappear, she does the only thing she can: run away. With her fiancé believing the worst of her and private investigators hot on her trail, Mally goes on the lam, feeling like a fugitive from justice. But she’s stumbled upon a dangerous criminal conspiracy led by men desperate to get back the missing documents before a critical encrypted message is decoded.
Benbow Smith investigates the suspicious death of a prominent political figure and a mysterious letter in this thriller from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries Rosalind Denny, the American-born widow of the under secretary for Foreign Affairs, is still grieving for her husband. Eighteen months ago, Gilbert Denny threw away a happy marriage and a promising political career by ending his life. But Rosalind doesn’t believe that Gilbert’s drowning was a suicide. In London, Foreign Office agent Benbow Smith is visited by Bernard Mannister, a distinguished member of parliament and president of the British Disarmament League. A confidential letter that could destroy lives and disrupt the precarious balance of Western power is missing. Mannister, like Denny and others before him, is being driven from public service—but why? With an intriguing cast of characters, including a talking parrot, a sleepwalker, and a psychic, Walk with Care is both a top-notch historical thriller and a revelatory glimpse into the inner workings of British intelligence. Walk with Care is the 3rd book in the Benbow Smith Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
A high society house party in the country sets the stage for blackmail, sabotage, illicit passion, and murder in this witty, classic British mystery with a touch of political intrigue The last thing London debutante Gay Hardwicke wants is to become involved in another one of her cousin’s messy jams. But Lady Sylvia Colesborough is in over her head this time: She claims she’s being blackmailed by the mysterious Mr. Zero. If she doesn’t steal important government papers from the safe of her politically connected husband, the distinguished Sir Francis, her gambling debts will be exposed. Gay’s reluctant attempts to help Sylvia backfire when a murder raises the stakes—and Gay’s boyfriend, Algy Somers, becomes the prime suspect. Enlisting the aid of her society friends, Gay races to clear Algy’s name and catch a cagey killer before her own days are numbered.
Governess-turned-detective Miss Silver investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime. Never one for the heroic, Charles’s first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice. Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Maud Silver, a onetime governess who applies reason to solve crimes and face the dangers of London’s underworld.
In the English countryside, a man is caught up in an intricate web of greed and murder, in this mystery from the creator of Miss Silver The nightmare begins when James Elliot gets lost on a dark, foggy country road. When he stops at a house to ask for directions, a woman rushes out and tells him to run. Seconds later, shots are fired. After they escape the unknown shooter, Aspidistra Aspinall says she’s an orphan and has no idea who’s after her. She tells an incredible story about a dying aunt and a priceless diamond necklace. When they meet again at the home of James’s cousin, she goes by the name Sally West. But her terror is all too real: Someone is after her inheritance and is willing to kill for it. Soon after, a dead body turns up, but James may have been the intended target. Now he must unravel a brilliantly orchestrated scheme of avarice before a cunning killer claims one last victim.
CLASSIC GOLDEN AGE MYSTERY PERFECT FOR FANS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE The first wife died suddenly. Without Miss Silver's help, the new bride may be about to meet a similar fate 'Ranks with the best of the golden-age detectives' Daily Mail Maud Silver, demure private eye, is on a train to London when a young woman in a state of shock bursts into her compartment. She is Lisle Jerningham, a newlywed with a fortune - which may be about to get her killed. Lisle explains that she fled her home in a hurry after overhearing a sinister conversation. Her new husband's first wife died in an apparent accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now, he's broke again - and she fears he is attempting to engineer a second convenient mishap. Whether the widower is bent on a second murder or his young wife is being paranoid, no one is clear. But if Lisle is in danger, it is up to Miss Silver to find out. 'A first-rate storyteller' Daily Telegraph 'You can't go wrong with Miss Maud Silver' Observer 'Miss Silver is marvellous' Daily Mail 'Better than Miss Marple' Mary Stewart 'A particular favourite' Andrew Taylor 'Miss Wentworth's plot is ingenious, her characterization acute, her solution satisfying' Scotsman 'Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot' Manchester Evening News
The acclaimed author of the Miss Silver mysteries serves up a compelling tale of spies, lies, and murder. Meg O'Hara's Irish spy husband disappears on the day she asks him for a divorce. The Foreign Office says he's dead, but the maple leaf with the word ALIVE outlined in pinpricks tells a different story.
CLASSIC GOLDEN AGE MYSTERY, PERFECT FOR FANS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE When a blackmailer is stabbed at his own celebration, Miss Silver must find the guilty party 'Ranks with the best of the golden-age detectives' Daily Mail When the menacing Gregory Porlock invites a group of unacquainted friends into his home, no one is quite sure what to expect. But after the host himself is stabbed in the back it soon becomes clear to all that he was a blackmailer. Every person in his house has something to hide, and many have good reason for wishing Porlock ill. It is up to Miss Silver to see through the lies and determine which guest made certain the party was really over. 'A first-rate storyteller' Daily Telegraph 'With her gift for spinning an intriguing story, leavened by a young romance, Wentworth never disappoints and often, as here, exceeds expectations' Daily Mail 'You can't go wrong with Miss Maud Silver' Observer 'Miss Silver is marvellous' Daily Mail 'Better than Miss Marple' Mary Stewart 'A particular favourite' Andrew Taylor 'Miss Wentworth's plot is ingenious, her characterization acute, her solution satisfying' Scotsman 'Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot' Manchester Evening News
Love and deception intertwine as a man searches for a woman believed to have drowned five years earlier Seven years ago, childhood friends and distant cousins Eleanor and David Fordyce fell in love and became engaged. But their families, thinking them too young for marriage, conspired to keep them apart. David was sent to America to study architecture; Eleanor left for India, where she married Cosmo Rayne. Now a widow, Eleanor returns to England, more ravishing than ever. But rumors—of a husband’s infidelity and nightly beatings—have followed her home. And David is harboring secrets of his own. When he sees a message in the newspaper, he confides in Eleanor. Is it possible? Is Erica Moore, his young wife who died at sea, still alive? And if so, why hasn’t she contacted David herself? The answers may lie with Folly March, a spirited nineteen-year-old who makes up stories and takes pleasure in playing pranks. Beloved British crime writer Patricia Wentworth plunges readers into a world of lies, romance, and mystery as David’s search leads him across London on a winding journey to a shocking truth.
Governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver unravels a tangled web of marriage, mystery, and murder in the English countryside No one has seen Allegra Trent since she got married. Her husband, Geoffrey, swept her off her feet and out of London to a faraway town called Bleake, consumed with the dream of owning a ramshackle medieval estate known as “Ladies’ Bane.” Why he’s so determined to live there no one knows, but Allegra postpones visits from family again and again, and then stops writing letters at all. Her family has begun to worry when suddenly her sister, Ione, finds herself not merely invited but positively urged to come. At first, Ione is puzzled, but upon her arrival she suspects that ominous forces are at work in the house. Then an unexpected death occurs, and her worst suspicions are confirmed. Miss Silver might appear harmless, but the former governess knows her way around a murder. As a private investigator, she’s solved many cases among London’s upper class and has earned “her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot” (Manchester Evening News).
An English spy saves the life of a woman with a deadly secret in this gripping tale of espionage from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries British operative Stephen Enderby is in Russia on a mission of the utmost secrecy when he spies a woman in the freezing cold, standing on the parapet of a bridge. Her name, she tells him, is Elizabeth Radin. Her husband , Nicholas, was recently executed for being a counterrevolutionary. Forbidden to leave the country, she thought the only way out was to take her own life. At the risk of blowing his cover, Stephen convinces the beautiful English widow to come with him to a safe house. His mission compromised, his only hope is to continue his impersonation of a Russian peasant, with Elizabeth posing as his new bride. But she hasn’t told him everything. Before Nicolas died, he revealed the formula for a groundbreaking aeronautical invention that Elizabeth committed to memory. The Russians want the formula—and will stop at nothing to get it. A fast-moving novel of political intrigue featuring an impassioned socialist revolutionary named Irina, Red Stefan paints a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Russia.
A woman will do anything to save the man she loves—even marry another—in this compulsively readable tale of political intrigue set in England and Soviet Russia Ten days ago, Jim Mackenzie was arrested and sentenced to death, accused of engaging in counter-revolutionary activities. The Scottish political prisoner expects to die at the end of a Bolshevist bullet today. Instead, he’s given an unexpected reprieve. His life is now in the hands of his fiancée, Laura Cameron. On the day Jim is to be executed, Laura receives a visit from an engineer named Basil Stevens, who offers her the chance to save the man she loves. One of Laura’s distant relatives has died, leaving her the sole heir to his successful engineering combine. All she has to do is marry Stevens, whose real name is Vassili Stefanoff, and elect him to the board of directors, and her beloved Jim will go free. As Laura’s bargain with the devil thrusts her into grave peril—and the key to a top-secret invention falls into enemy hands—it’s now up to Mackenzie to save the woman he loves from having to make the ultimate sacrifice.
The heiress to a vast fortune is targeted in this page-turning novel from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries Ann Vernon is lunching at the Luxe when she overhears two people talking about someone who must be gotten out of the way. She has no idea that she’s that very someone! Against the advice of her boyfriend, Charles Anstruther, whose marriage proposal she’s just rejected, Ann accepts a position as secretary to an elderly woman. She accompanies Mrs. Halliday and her son, Jimmy, on a cruise, where she meets handsome, charming Gale Anderson. After a few days, the Emma puts in anchor at Loch Dhu, a remote Scottish island marked by sharp rocks, heather, and steep cliffs. Suspecting something is not right about Ann’s employers, Charles begins an unofficial investigation. He travels to Loch Dhu, only to discover there’s no way to get on the island. As the days count down to a wealthy man’s death, steps are taken to eliminate Ann before she can inherit the estate of Elias Paulett, the great-uncle she’s never met. And once the final piece of a monstrous scheme is set in motion, not even the man she loves may be able to save her. Kirkus Reviews hails beloved British crime writer Patricia Wentworth’s Fear by Night as “well done and full of creeps.”
The death of an American multimillionaire has a profound—and dangerous—effect on a young Englishwoman in this novel of romantic suspense William Ambrose Merewether altered his will just before his death, leaving his millions to descendants of his cousin Jane Lorimer, who may or may not still be alive. But the legacy hinges on one nonnegotiable condition. Across the channel, Shirley Dale struggles to make ends meet working for Mrs. Huddleston, a wealthy, self-indulgent woman who rarely leaves her house. Everything is fine, relatively speaking—until Shirley finds herself in possession of someone else’s purse. Then she’s accused of stealing sixpence and a valuable diamond brooch from her employer. Who is framing her and why? Terrified of being arrested, she flees to the rural village of Emshot, where her only surviving relative lives. But Shirley is confronted with an unwelcome surprise when she arrives at Acacia Cottage. With her freedom at stake, she turns to the only person she can trust: Anthony Leigh, Mrs. Huddleston’s nephew. But Anthony has every reason not to trust her. As a sinister plan gathers momentum, Shirley must clear her name and unmask the culprit before she loses her liberty and possibly her life. The author of the Miss Silver Mysteries spins a web of romance and mystery in this absorbing novel.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.