The Fingerprint - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Fingerprint by Patricia Wentworth

Rating: Really Liked It! (4 Stars)
Source:   Purchased

Description:  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. But Uncle Jonathan had a second secret will and the beneficiary is the wide-eyed, seemingly innocent Mirrie Fields.

But there was also the puzzle of the missing fingerprint. It was the showpiece of Uncle Jonathan's collection and he enjoyed telling the story of how he had acquired it from a self-confessed murderer, who was still at large. When the old man was shot, the print had been torn from its album.

Was the missing fingerprint the clue to the murderer's identity? Maud Silver is determined to find out.

Genre: Mystery - Classic

My Impression: I really think the later Miss Silver books are the strongest and this is a great example of that.  This isn't my favorite of the last few but it is still an incredibly and readable mystery with an interesting mix of lead characters.

Georgina is a character I've seen several times in previous Miss Silver books.  She is classy and composed.  She feels things deeply but has a hard time expressing it and tends to go very pale.  Mirrie is a bit different.  She's manipulative and grasping but I took me awhile to decide if she was mean on top of it all.  There are two love interests and it's hard to tell how things are going to work out until the very end.

Miss Silver is pulled in when she visits Monica Abbott who is not only a cousin of Detective Inspector Frank Abbott but also a dear friend to Georgina.  The mystery of the fingerprint as well as the mystery of who shot Jonathan Field was well explained and though bits are a bit obvious it was still an entertaining read from beginning to end.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  I'm almost done with the Miss Silver books and will be sad when I'm finished with them all though luckily I still have more Patricia Wentworth to read.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy Miss Marple books I think you would enjoy this one though I think The Listening Eye or Poison in the Pen might be a bit better.