Patricia Wentworth books

Lonesome Road (1993)

Rachel Traherne has a complicated life, thanks to the father who left her in charge of the family fortune, with orders to keep it out of unworthy family hands as she sees fit. Now almost middle-aged, her family keeps up a constant barrage of requests for funds, and considers her large country hou...

Out of the Past (1993)

James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea. The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the ugly old house and ...

The Chinese Shawl (1992)

I always think of Patricia Wentworth as "Christie lite," though I don't mean that as an insult. Wentworth is a good writer and writes good mysteries, but she's definitely second rank. She's not as good as Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Arthur Conan Doyle, or Erle Stanley Gardner. Her characters just...

The Gazebo (2007)

I am new to the Miss Silver mystery fan club, but I have read several of them in fast succession. Miss Silver mysteries are not great literature- they're not meant to be. They are fun and charming mysteries which can be read in a couple hours. Having read most Agatha Christie books I was thrilled...

Who Pays The Piper? (1974)

Lucas Dale is the brash new owner of King's Bourne, the house where Cathy O'Hara and her cousin Susan grew up. Mousy, nervous Cathy works for Dale as a social secretary, while Susan is waiting for her fiance Bill Garrick to make his mark as an architect so they can marry. Lucas Dale, however, wan...

The Blind Side (1991)

Ross Craddock was just the type to be murdered. The new landlord of Craddock house, he begins by giving eviction notice to his aunt Lucy. He threatens the doorman with dismissal. He makes a violent and unwelcome pass to his cousin Mavis. He is vindictive and spiteful and ends up dead. The suspect...

The Benevent Treasure (1997)

Invited to live with her two great-aunts, the Misses Cara and Olivia Benevent, Candida Sayle has no home of her own and accepts. But the offer takes on an eerie quality when the aunts recall the family legacy--the Benevent Treasure that brings death to all who touch it. When Candida becomes reacq...

Pilgrim's Rest (1996)

I've now read 19 of the 32 Miss Silver mysteries. This is the 10th in the series. They are all pleasant cozy reads, with different plots and new personalities for Miss Silver to observe and analyze, but other than giving a synopsis of the plot, it is hard to give a meaningful review of each one. ...

The Listening Eye (1997)

Paulina Payne is deaf, but is an excellent lip-reader. When she lip-reads two men discussing what sounds like murder, she seeks out Miss Silver for advice--but doesn't take it. Meanwhile, Lucias Bellingden's adopted daughter Moira has convinced him to let her wear Marie Antoinette's diamond neckl...

Wicked Uncle (1996)

Also published as Spotlight. When the menacing Gregory Porlock invites a group of unacquainted friends to his home, the house party takes on a sinister edge. The host himself is stabbed in the back, and it becomes clear to all that he was a blackmailer. But which of his unfortunate comrades woul...

Nothing Venture (1990)

"A British mystery classic from the renowned author of the beloved Miss Silver series. Due to his uncle's diabolical will, Jervis must marry within three months of his uncle's death, or the huge estate and vast fortune will go to his fiance, Rosamund. When Rosamund dumps him just two days before ...

Miss Silver Deals With Death (1991)

Meade Underwood believes her fiance drowned when their ship was torpedoed in the Atlantic, and is living in quiet grief with her aunt in an old Victorian mansion turned into eight flats. But Meade's story is only one of many; through the course of the book, we learn the stories of nearly all the ...

The Case of William Smith (2015)

Who was William Smith? And why was Mavis Jones so horrified to see him? For seven years William had worked as a woodcarver for the local toyshop, ignorant of his true identity. The war had robbed him of his memory, and no one expected him to ever find the answer. So when he took his work to Evesl...

Through the Wall (1998)

Most of Marion's relations would prefer her dead, and one of them will not stop at murder ... Classic crime in stunning new packaging.

Miss Silver Comes to Stay (1996)

Just when I think I've really delved into the Golden Age of mystery writing, that I've read a wide array of authors, and met the most important characters in the genre; I realize something very important, I'm only getting started. Patricia Wentworth and her knitting detective, Miss Silver, have p...

The Clock Strikes Twelve (1996)

The Paradine family has gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve. Alas, when the clock strikes twelve old Mr. James Paradine, the patriarch, is found murdered. Yet, he seemed to invite his demise when he accused a family member of disloyalty. Now, Miss Silver must unravel the mystery of troubled love...

The Catherine Wheel (2000)

Old Jacob Taverner's father had many siblings, and now Jacob is gathering some of their descendants at the old smuggling inn--the Catherine Wheel--that's been in the family since the 19th century. He claims he's in search of an heir, but he keeps asking the diverse relatives--most of whom had nev...

Eternity Ring (2000)

Mary Stokes discovers a dead body in Dead Man's Copse one evening but when she returns with a police officer it is no longer there. Miss Silver is baffled by this event and is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Poison in the Pen (1980)

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.

The Silent Pool (1992)

An actress who fears her life is threatened comes to Miss Silver for help Mrs. Smith is not the first woman who has come to Maud Silver, the genteel private detective, claiming that someone is trying to kill her. She tells a story of attempted poisoning, a shove down a flight of stairs, and a hou...

Outrageous Fortune (1990)

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 n...

The Case Is Closed (2005)

Miss Maud Hephzibah Silver made her first appearance in 1929, but readers who met her then had an eight year wait before they could meer her again, in 1937’s ‘The Case is Closed’.The story is engaging from the start: Hilary has stepped on to a train, after an argument with her fiancé, Henry, and ...

Latter End (1949)

Things had never been quite the same at Latter End since Lois had taken over. Suddenly life seemed to be an endless succession of bitter family rows - which Lois invariably won. When she is murdered, it is up to Miss Silver to discover her killer.

The Watersplash (2006)

Classic cosy crime from a master of the genre now in stunning new retro packaging

Fool Errant (1979)

Anna Where Are You (1991)

This was almost unbearably enjoyable; I really didn't want it to end. The combination of village personal drama with murder mystery is great, although of course I suspect I'd like it even more without the mystery."It is quite extraordinary how angrily you can dislike a persopn with whom you are i...

Grey Mask (2001)

Jilted at the altar by Margaret Langton, Charles Moray discovers that his would-be ladylove has become mixed up in a vicious kidnapping plot headed by a mysterious masked figure, and Charles turns to Miss Silver to uncover the truth.

Mr. Zero (1990)

Gay Harkwicke has had her fill of her giddy cousin's predicaments. But when Lady Sylvia Colesborough cries blackmail, Gay listens twice. A mysterious Mr. Zero has asked Sylvia to steal important government papers from her prestigious husband, Sir Francis, and from the Home Secretary. Otherwise, h...

The Girl in the Cellar (1992)

Miss Silver helps a woman with no memory reconstruct a terrible crime She awakes in a dark place. A young woman with a shattered memory, she knows neither who she is nor how she came to be in this abandoned house. All she possesses is a faint sense that someone is lying dead at the foot of the st...

Dead or Alive (1994)

On the day she plans to divorce him, Meg O'Hara's husband Robin--a handsome British intelligence agent--disappears, and Meg is left to find out whether he is alive or dead. Reissue.

Beggar's Choice (1994)

Car Fairfax had hit rock bottom. First, he was rejected for a job because his shoes were worn out. Next, he ran into Isobel, whom he had not seen for three lovelorn years. Finally, a stranger handed him a printed flyer that read: "Do you want to make 500 pounds? If you do and are willing to earn ...

The Fingerprint (1988)

When she found the body of her beloved Uncle Jonathan, Georgina's mind went blank. Instinctively, she stooped to pick up the revolver, thus becoming the prime suspect. For Georgina stood to inherit a large fortune when her uncle died - if he didn't decide to leave it to his adopted niece, the see...

Rolling Stone (1991)

A con man named Spike Reilly was dying an agonizing death in a Brussels hotel. Next door, the erstwhile sleuth and wanderer, Peter Talbot, was very much alive. And in a moment of brilliance and madness, Peter knew that he could adopt the dying man's identity and use it as his passport into a dang...

Ladies' Bane (1993)

Miss Silver travels to the country to investigate a young man who may be deceiving his wife No one has seen Allegra Trent since she got married. Her husband swept her off her feet and out of London, to a faraway town called Bleake. She has stopped writing letters, and her family has begun to wo...

The Alington inheritance (1966)

When 17-year-old orphan Jenny Hill discovers that she is the rightful owner of the Alington estate, she searches for the paperwork to prove it. When Jenny overhears her relatives plotting against her, she flees. It will take all of Miss Silver's wiles to cut this familial knot without getting hop...

The Coldstone (1974)

When young Anthony Colstone inherits Stonegate from his grandfather's cousin, he hardly expected to be haunted by death. Why had Sir Jervis wanted him to promise never to move the ancient megalithic stones and why did no one even know how many there were? Surely old Susan Bowyer knew--- she was n...

The Ivory Dagger (1996)

When Lila Dryden is discovered standing over the dead body of her irritating fiance with a dagger in her hand, Miss Silver is called in to investigate. What her patience and particular genius uncover is Lila's talent for sleepwalking, the return of her former lover, and the victim's entire staff ...

Red Stefan

“I’m afraid we’ve got to start off again. I want to get away before there’s anyone about.” “How are we going?” “I keep a sledge and a horse here. I’ve been up and down this way for years as Nikolai. I used to go round all these villages persuading people to go on to the Collective Farms. Did you ...

Walk with Care

How could this be Gilbert? It was Gilbert. Because his eyes met hers and changed for her. It was Gilbert. And with that the dark fell in.     Mr John Brown, who was Gilbert Denny, stepped forward and caught her in his free arm. Then he put the candle down on the stair behind h...

The Black Cabinet

It was a relief to get away. Earlier in the day it had been raining, but now no moisture fell, though the air seemed full of it.     Chloe was too preoccupied to notice the weather. Mrs. Mostyn Llewellyn’s look played hide and seek in her mind with the voice which had seemed f...

Fear by Night (2016)

They were coming up out of that hole in the floor. Where had they been, and what had they been doing down there? She tried to think how long they had been away. It is very difficult to measure time in the dark. She didn’t really know how long she had sat at the top of the stairs, because when you...

The Annam Jewel (2016)

He listened to Major Gaisford’s jovial and richly embroidered anecdotes, and duly admired the infant Jimmy. Mrs. Gaisford was very amiable. She had grown plump and placid, and she was disposed to smile upon Peter. “You must come and stay with us at Chark instead of now,” she said graciously. “I w...

Down Under

said Mr Smith. “What do you think about it all, Ananias?” The grey parrot sidled along his perch, bobbing a sleek head and repeating in a cooing whisper the words of a curse learned long ago in unregenerate foc’sle days. It was now forbidden, and Mr Smith reproved him, tempering his rebuke with a...

Hole and Corner (2016)

When Shirley had had to make a plan for escaping from the police all by herself it had been so sordid and frightening that she had felt as if she wasn’t ever going to be clean again—like falling into dirty water and not being able to get out, and not having any clean clothes to put on if you did ...

Touch and Go (2016)

Geoffrey Hildred went off to town with a good-humoured grumble about people who expected to have their business attended to on a Saturday. Miss Marina talked a great deal about the clinging damp, and urged them all individually and collectively to take plenty of wraps, to be sure not to sit on th...

Red Shadow (2016)

He restrained himself till then, because, even to his impatience, it did not seem a good plan to arrive at The Walled House in the middle of lunch. It probably wasn’t a good plan to arrive there at all. What he ought to do was to let old Rimington go down. Quite doggedly he admitted this and went...

The Dower House Mystery

asked Anne Miller. Julian had dined with them, and they had just bidden him good-night. Amabel had accompanied her guest into the room that had been Miss Georgina’s, and was lingering a moment before going to her own. “That door? It goes through into my room.” “Oh, that’s nice,” said Miss Miller ...

Will O’ the Wisp (2016)

Perrott’s letter next morning. She wrote: “DEAR SIR, “I have remembered something about a letter as may be the one you was asking for. Hoping this may be of service to you. “Yours obediently, “BEULAH PERROTT.” David took his car and went down to Fordwick. He was thankful for the need of action. T...

Run!

XVII There was a letter waiting on the mat when James got back to the Mews that evening. He hadn’t ever seen the writing before, and his heart gave a jump, because he guessed at once that it was from Sally. He ran upstairs, switched on the light, and sat down on the edge of the trap to read the l...

Weekend with Death (2016)

As they all passed through it, Sarah remembered how she had come this way in the dark, feeling before her with her hand, and how cold the great iron bolt had struck against her palm. The bolt was shot back now. It showed black against the oak of the old door. The Grimsbys must do some work in the...

Silence in Court

There was nothing to single it out. Yet it was a day whose shadow was to stretch a long, long way. No one in the house would ever see the date again without an inward shudder and recoil. It began pleasantly enough. Nora went off gaily to drive her general. Honor departed to pack parcels, and as D...

Blindfold

He drove fast, but his thoughts ran faster. He had got to get back, have something to eat, and be at 16 Varley Street by half past two to fetch Kay. Round this definite purpose those racing thoughts of his whirled like the grains in a sandstorm—hard, pelting, stinging thoughts over which he had n...

Devil's Wind

The Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars are far, And only the dark is near, And the dark may be full of the dream we crave Or full of the dream we fear.     When Richard Morton had fired the last shot in his revolver, he backed his horse against a high mud wall, and got out his s...

Dark Threat (2011)

A word came up to her here and there, and her hair rose on her head. Something had happened—something more. The words told her that, but they didn’t tell her what it was. She was left with a sense of horror and apprehension much greater than would have been produced by actual knowledge. Because a...

Anne Belinda (2016)

He drove slowly because he wanted to think. He wanted to stand away from his interview with Nicholas and get it in focus. At present it was so much out of focus as to appear monstrous. The one horrible word “thief” stood out like a deformity thrust right into the lens of the camera; he could see ...

Hue and Cry

said Candida when she came up to dress. “Are you all right?” Mally held on to the back of the chair she had been sitting in. She had unpacked Miss Long’s suitcases and laid out the contents of a very expensive dressing-case. Then she had sat down by the cheerful fire and fallen into a doze. She b...

Kingdom Lost (2016)

Ryven was talking to her son in the room which he had used as an office for the last four years. It was very plainly furnished, and the best chair—she had taken the best chair—was only moderately comfortable. The windows looked on a dingy street, and a perpetual hum and rattle came from the thoro...

Pursuit of a Parcel

In the nursery Antony remembered stress being laid upon the importance of getting out of bed with the right foot first. The problem, unsolved down to what press photographers call present day, was whether the word “right” in this context should be taken to mean the right of right or left, or the ...