Miss Silver's Past


Book Description

Karel Leden works in the State publishing house in Prague, where you publish what the Party likes, or risk life and liberty. Then the beautiful, mysterious Lenka Silver arrives. Passions rise--and suddenly there is a murder. There are plenty of suspects, but all that is certain is that the affair is in some way connected to Miss Silver's past...




Who Pays the Piper?


Book Description

A blackmailing businessman turns up dead in this mystery featuring Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ernest Lamb, from the creator of the Miss Silver series. Lucas Dale always gets what he wants. And this time he wants another man’s fiancée: Susan Lenox. Never mind that she’s engaged to Bill Carrick, an up-and-coming architect without a farthing to his name. Cathleen O’Hara, Dale’s mousy social secretary, serves as the unwitting instrument of his plan, and a nasty blackmail scheme is set in motion. Soon, Susan has no choice but to break off her engagement and agree to marry Dale—until he’s found in his study with a bullet in his head. Scotland Yard is called in, and before long, Inspector Ernest Lamb and Detective Frank Abbott have a suspect: Carrick. But as Lamb and Abbott dig deeper, they discover others with means, motive, and opportunity, including the victim’s penniless former wife who was handy with a gun, and his American business partner who wanted the money Dale owed him. No one has an alibi for the time of Dale’s demise. And someone else will die before the price of murder is paid. Who Pays the Piper? is the 2nd book in the Ernest Lamb Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.




Grey Mask


Book Description

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.




Through the Wall


Book Description

Governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver takes on a murder case involving a surprise inheritance and a feuding family. Martin Brand always had a dark sense of humor. Surrounded by relatives he despised, he looked forward to the day when, dead and buried, he would no longer have to concern himself with them. As a last joke, he willed his entire fortune to a poor relation, and went to his grave a smiling man. After years of toil caring for her layabout sister, Marion Brand is shocked to learn her unknown uncle has left her his estate. Now, she can finally be happy. But claiming the riches isn’t so simple. Before long someone is dead—and it will be up to Miss Maud Silver to find the killer.




Fool Errant


Book Description

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 for: 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 hand-delivered: 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.




In the Balance


Book Description

His first wife died suddenly--and his wealthy new bride may be about to meet a similar fate . . . Former schoolteacher Miss Maud Silver is making her way back to London when, with a violent shudder of the train, a young woman is thrust into her compartment. She is beautiful, well dressed, newly married, and wealthy--which may be about to get her killed. In a state of shock, Lisle Jerningham explains that she fled her home in a hurry when she overheard a sinister conversation through the bushes. Her new husband's first wife died in an apparent accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now, he is broke again--and trying to engineer a second convenient mishap. Miss Silver is unsure whether the drama is real or a figment of Lisle's imagination--but if this frightened young lady is a target for murder, the killer will have to deal with the governess-turned-sleuth first. Starring a mature sleuth who "has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot", In the Balance is a classic British mystery (Manchester Evening News). "Miss Wentworth is a first-rate storyteller." --The Daily Telegraph "Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot." --Manchester Evening News "You can't go wrong with Miss Maud Silver." --The Observer Patricia Wentworth (1878-1961) was one of the masters of classic English mystery writing. Born in India as Dora Amy Elles, she began writing after the death of her first husband, publishing her first novel in 1910. In the 1920s, she introduced the character who would make her famous: Miss Maud Silver, the former governess whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting served to disguise a keen intellect. Along with Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, Miss Silver is the definitive embodiment of the English style of cozy mysteries.




The Ivory Dagger


Book Description

DIVWhen a broken engagement leads to murder, Miss Silver hunts for the killer /divDIVBill Waring went to America with a bright future ahead of him. In London he had a promising career and the love of a young beauty, Lila Dryden, and there were plans for marriage when he returned from overseas. But then a freak train accident puts their happiness on hold. Bill spends a month in the hospital, and when he finally makes it back to London, there is a still bigger shock awaiting him. Under pressure from a domineering aunt, Lila has become engaged to another./divDIV /divDIVShe and her new fiancé—middle-aged, charmless, and rich—are in the country for the weekend. Bill follows, determined to win back Lila’s heart. But when her new betrothed is stabbed to death, blame falls squarely on Bill, and only the brilliant, demure detective Maud Silver can clear his name./div




Dark Threat


Book Description

DIVMiss Silver visits the country to keep an eye on a friend who may be in peril/divDIV/divDIVIt is time for Judy to get out of London. Her sister and brother-in-law have just perished in an air raid, leaving her in charge of their four-year-old daughter, and Judy wants no more to do with death. She arranges for work in a piece of the countryside untouched by the war: a charming manor called Pilgrim’s Rest. But it may be that she has more to fear than the Blitz./divDIV /divDIVWhen she tells Frank Abbott of her plans, he warns her that strange things have been happening at Pilgrim’s Rest. The family patriarch is recently dead of mysterious circumstances, and his heir has just suffered a series of near-fatal accidents. He cannot sway Judy, for she needs the work. But he does convince the governess-turned-detective Maud Silver to follow Judy to the village, to be on hand in case country living turns dangerous./div




Mr. Brading's Collection


Book Description

DIVA collector enlists Miss Silver’s help when his valuable jewels attract criminal attention /divDIVHe cannot say why, but Lewis Brading is an uneasy man. A collector of valuable jewels, he has taken the utmost precautions to safeguard what is most precious to him. He houses his gems in a concrete annex, protected by a reinforced steel door, the latest security system, and his own watchful eye. No one has a key but himself and his assistant, and he doesn’t doubt that his servant will remain true. The man in his employ is a criminal, and if anything should happen to Brading or his gems, the police will look to him first./divDIV /divDIVAnd yet, he suspects something may be wrong. He consults Maud Silver, the demure detective, and she tells him to fire his assistant and send his collection to a museum. Ignoring her advice may be the last mistake Lewis Brading ever makes./div




Walk with Care


Book Description

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.