Source: Purchased
Description: To the innocent visitor the picturesque village of Greenings would appear to be a haven of tranquility. But every place has its secrets and beneath the calm surface lurk hidden resentments and dangerous passions. When a man is found lying face down in a nearby watersplash, the verdict is death by misadventure. But Miss Silver happens to be in the neighbourhood and she suspects foul play...
Genre: Mystery - Classic
My Impression: Miss Silver is frequently compared to Christie's Miss Marple and this is definitely one that shows why. Miss Silver is staying with a friend who of course is a Vicar's wife in a small English village where two mysterious deaths have just happened to take place. But Miss Silver is not there by accident. A somewhat chance encounter led a young woman to confide in Miss Silver. When the young woman refuses to take Miss Silver's advice and is soon found dead Miss Silver can't help but become involved. However, there is a lot of setup before Miss Silver is pulled into to the story and almost half the book has gone by before we see her.
My Impression: Miss Silver is frequently compared to Christie's Miss Marple and this is definitely one that shows why. Miss Silver is staying with a friend who of course is a Vicar's wife in a small English village where two mysterious deaths have just happened to take place. But Miss Silver is not there by accident. A somewhat chance encounter led a young woman to confide in Miss Silver. When the young woman refuses to take Miss Silver's advice and is soon found dead Miss Silver can't help but become involved. However, there is a lot of setup before Miss Silver is pulled into to the story and almost half the book has gone by before we see her.
I really loved the characters in this book. I especially loved Emmeline, Edward's stepmother. She pretty much ignores what she wants to ignore and enjoy hanging out with her cats of which she has 11. Susan Wayne is a good Wentworth heroine with plenty of common sense and the scenes between Susan and Emmeline were usually very funny. The mystery wasn't quite as strong unfortunately. While the whodunnit kept me guessing there were a lot of details that were glossed over or not fully fleshed out. Why I do know the who, the why, and the how there are several issues I wanted a bit more clarification on and that kept this book from being a total winner for me.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course!
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy Christie's Marple books I think you would enjoy most of the Miss Silver books.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy Christie's Marple books I think you would enjoy most of the Miss Silver books.
I love this cover, and the mystery sounds great! Nice review.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to tackles some of these classic mysteries some day.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of the relationships and the humour. One day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great setting. I love the cover too, looks like 1940s glamour!
ReplyDeleteI really need to try this author. :)
ReplyDelete