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text 2020-03-31 16:30
Master tracking post: Patricia Wentworth

 

I pulled this from Wikipedia:

 

Miss Silver series

 

  • Grey Mask, 1928; Read 8/16/17
  • The Case Is Closed, 1937; Read 11/15/18
  • Lonesome Road, 1939; Read 11/30/18
  • Danger Point (USA: In the Balance), 1941
  • The Chinese Shawl, 1943
  • Miss Silver Intervenes (USA: Miss Silver Deals with Death), 1943
  • The Clock Strikes Twelve, 1944; Read 10/16/18
  • The Key, 1944
  • The Traveller Returns (USA: She Came Back), 1945; Read 3/13/19
  • Pilgrim's Rest (or: Dark Threat), 1946
  • Latter End, 1947
  • Spotlight (USA: Wicked Uncle), 1947
  • The Case of William Smith, 1948
  • Eternity Ring, 1948; Read 10/4/18
  • The Catherine Wheel, 1949
  • Miss Silver Comes to Stay, 1949
  • The Brading Collection (or: Mr Brading's Collection), 1950
  • The Ivory Dagger, 1951
  • Through the Wall, 1950
  • Anna, Where Are You? (or: Death At Deep End), 1951
  • The Watersplash, 1951
  • Ladies' Bane, 1952
  • Out of the Past, 1953
  • The Silent Pool, 1954
  • Vanishing Point,, 1953
  • The Benevent Treasure, 1953
  • The Gazebo (or: The Summerhouse), 1955
  • The Listening Eye, 1955
  • Poison in the Pen, 1955; Read 3/24/19
  • The Fingerprint (library), 1956
  • The Alington Inheritance, 1958
  • The Girl in the Cellar, 1961

Frank Garrett series

 

  • Dead or Alive, 1936
  • Rolling Stone, 1940

Ernest Lamb series

 

  • The Blind Side, 1939
  • Who Pays the Piper? (USA: Account Rendered), 1940
  • Pursuit of a Parcel, 1942

 

Benbow Smith

 

  • Fool Errant, 1929
  • Danger Calling, 1931
  • Walk with Care, 1933
  • Down Under, 1937

Standalone

 

  • A Marriage under the Terror, 1910
  • A Child's Rhyme Book, 1910
  • A Little More Than Kin (or: More Than Kin), 1911
  • The Devil's Wind, 1912
  • The Fire Within, 1913
  • Simon Heriot, 1914
  • Queen Anne Is Dead, 1915
  • Earl or Chieftain?, 1919
  • The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith, 1923. Serialised, Baltimore Evening Sun, 1925
  • The Red Lacquer Case, 1924
  • The Annam Jewel, 1924
  • The Black Cabinet, 1925; Read 3/13/19
  • The Dower House Mystery, 1925; Read 10/14/17
  • The Amazing Chance, 1926
  • Hue and Cry, 1927
  • Anne Belinda, 1927
  • Will-o'-the-Wisp, 1928
  • Beggar's Choice, 1930
  • The Coldstone, 1930
  • Kingdom Lost, 1931
  • Nothing Venture, 1932; Read 12/2/18
  • Red Danger (USA: Red Shadow), 1932
  • Seven Green Stones (USA: Outrageous Fortune), 1933
  • Devil-in-the-Dark (USA: Touch And Go), 1934
  • Fear by Night, 1934
  • Red Stefan, 1935
  • Blindfold, 1935
  • Hole and Corner, 1936
  • Mr Zero, 1938
  • Run!, 1938
  • Unlawful Occasions (USA: Weekend with Death), 1941
  • Beneath the Hunter's Moon, 1945
  • Silence in Court, 1947
  • The Pool of Dreams: Poems, 1953
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review SPOILER ALERT! 2020-03-31 14:17
Yes -- Still a Favorite
Miss Silver Comes to Stay - Patricia Wentworth,Diana Bishop

I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to revisit "Miss Silver" books because I've read almost all the books in the series at least once.  (There are only some five or so books left that I've yet to read for the first time.)  So I figured, I might just as well start my rereads with the very first "Miss Silver" book I ever read, even before Tigus got us all hooked on the entire series, to see how my first impressions hold up now that I've encountered Maudie a good many times.  And I'm happy to say that yes, this is definitely still a favorite installment.

 

Some quick comments:

 

* Miss Silver should have brought cough drops on her visit to her friend.  I mean, we all know those little meaningful coughs are an indelible part of her character, but jeez, she really can't open her mouth without beginning virtually every statement with one of them here.

 

* There are no less than two professionals who should have recused themselves from having anything to do with the matter (one of them on multiple grounds, at least one of which they're openly discussing, albeit not under the headline of a conflict of interests).  The story wouldn't be what it is without them (and their conflict), so obviously recusal can't enter into things from a writerly point of view, but I'd still at least have liked to at least see it addressed for what it is -- especially in light of the very active part that one of these persons takes in the action, which would be uncalled-for even under normal circumstances and is plainly inexcusable from a professional perspective here.  For however much I otherwise like the book, this is one of the reasons I'm withholding a higher rating.

 

* I love the fact that this book, for once, doesn't focus on Wentworth's panoply of young protagonists (strong and independent, TSTL, or otherwise), but rather, on middle-aged people.  There are a few twenty-somethings as well, but they are decidedly less interesting (and with one exception, also less important) than the real MCs, who are all in their 40s or above.  I wish Wentworth had focused on that age group in a few more of her books; she did it really well.  (I love the way how she creates characters anyway, but this book contains some of her strongest yet.)

 

* The plotting is rather well done here, too; similar to the way in which Agatha Christie might have done it, in fact.

(And to those who would accuse Wentworth of dropping the solution deus-ex-machina-style, having revisited the book I'll respond that there actually are enough clues spread throughout the book to allow you to at the very least form a suspicion as to the "who", "why", and "how", if not actually solve the case, applying the same sort of logic that Miss Silver does.  This is all the more true as, even though Wentworth applies a technique similar to Christie's, she does so somewhat less dexterously than Christie, so while it's very obvious which conflicts she is interested in and why she presents the story the way she does, not every reader will necessarily be taken in entirely.)

(spoiler show)

 

* Frank Abbott still remains my favorite policeman in the series.  Randal March is nice enough, but no dice compared to Frank -- whom even the profoundest respect for Miss Silver won't stop from making fun of her every so often.

 

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text 2020-03-29 17:56
Reading progress update: I've read 100%. - that was fun - let's do it again.
The Case Is Closed - Patricia Wentworth

That was a fun read.

 

I really liked Hilary (although she shows poor taste in men). She made the book for me.

 

Henry... well it would be nice to think that his kind has become extinct but I doubt it. What turned me off most was that his starting point was disbelief. It so narcissistic that you want to send him for counselling or just slap him.

 

I thought some of the scenes - the one where Hilary goes to Henry for advice, the fog on the road, the confrontation in the Glasgow flat - were very well done.

 

The plot was clever enough to keep my interest.

 

Some of the exposition creaked and some of the repetition of data suggested that Wentworth assumed her reader's had very poor memories. 

 

Miss Silver seemed to be a deus ex machina who coughs a lot and likes to knit in public but I'm interested in seeing more of her.

 

I had a good time doing this. Shall we do another one next weekend?

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review SPOILER ALERT! 2020-03-29 17:10
Reading progress update: I've read 100%.
The Case Is Closed - Patricia Wentworth,Diana Bishop
The Case Is Closed - Patricia Wentworth

Well, this was enjoyable.  As in some of Wentworth's other books, the mystery wasn't much to write home about (spoiler tags nevertheless, because at least one participant of the buddy read is still reading the book) --

 

the principal villains are known pretty much from the word "go", as is the way the whole thing was worked (there's one huge clue fairly early on which essentially gives the game away, and the false alibi is based on a trope that wasn't even new any longer when the book was first written); it's also clear that the fact that the guy currently languishing in prison is actually innocent of the crime; and so, too, in the "romance" compartment, it's being telegraphed literally from page 1 which one is the relationship we're following --

(spoiler show)

 

but at least Miss Silver makes more of an appearance than in book 1 (and she is decidedly more recognizable here as the character we know from later books than in book 1), and you can't help but love and root for Hilary, the female MC, and her "inner imp".  (The imp's poems had me laughing out loud -- every single one of them.)  Whatever made Hilary pick Henry, of all people, as her heart's desire beats me as much as everybody else in this buddy read; though I'll grant that he redeemed himself ever so slightly towards the end, and with liberal doses of frying pans and Hilary's imp I do see some hope for him ... he's just got learn to listen to his better / true instincts and not to what he believes others expect him to think and feel, and what therefore must be the "right" (i.e., socially acceptable) response.  (Incidentally, I loved how Diana Bishop in the audio version read the passages from inside Henry's head with an undeniably ironic subtext, thereby suggesting that Wentworth is mocking him for being the idiot he is.  This worked very well for me.)

 

Now having read the majority of the books in the series, I can also safely say I'm not a fan of "Wentworth does Gothic".  This book's "foggy road" episode was one of the better-executed examples, but I still wish she'd left "young heroine thoughtlessly puts herself in a sinister situation that she can't control (and which a wiser head would either have avoided or at least not entered alone)" behind at some point.  Unfortunately, that wasn't to be; almost every book of the series contains at least one example of this sort of thing.  So, unlike others in the buddy read, I'm not a fan of the "foggy road" episode.  Maybe if this had been the first book by Wentworth I read, I would feel different about it (and as I said, for what it's worth on its own, it's comparatively well done).  But as a recurring event in almost every book ... thank you, but no.

 

By and large, though, I enjoyed being back in Miss Silver's world -- I only missed Frank Abbott --, I still love how Wentworth creates characters, and this book is also a marked step up from Gray Mask; less reliant on tropes (even if some are still present), and for once, thankfully also devoid of TSTL females.

 

As a final side note, I wonder (have been wondering for a while) whether Wentworth ever heard from her contemporary / fellow mystery novelist and great-niece of Tennyson (the poet), F. Tennyson Jesse, on Miss Silver's unquestioning adoration of "Lord Tennyson".

 

(I already finished this book last night, btw, but life intervened earlier today, so I'm only getting around to posting my summary now.)

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text 2020-03-29 15:06
Reading progress update: I've read 62%.- well, that excitement was unexpected
The Case Is Closed - Patricia Wentworth

I’ve just read the incident on the fog-bound road. I thought that was well done and not at all what I was expecting. 

 

Hilary is the making of this novel. I love her imp and its rhymes.

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