Hi there guys and dolls! Say, Thursday just crept up like that, and I’ve got a great Raves n Faves blog for you today. I can’t think of a better thing to do on the weekend than curling up with a great book or two in front of a fire on a wet or chilly day. Throw in a handsome fella and hot toddies and I’m in an indoor winter wonderland.

Have you met Miss Maud Silver? No? Then you should. She’s one of those still waters run deep kind of characters. As a former governess who’s a fine, upstanding woman now of a certain age, she’s unassuming and appears harmless. A perfect cover for her current career choice – private detective. (And personally, yours truly is just smitten with the covers…)

The series of thirty-two books was written by Patricia Wentworth, and are some of the best and underrated whodunits from the golden age of mystery fiction. Here’s the first five of them to get you started in publication order, just click on the title or cover to be taken to the Book Depository links for your purchasing pleasure.

The Miss Silver Series

GREY MASK – Furious at being jilted at the altar by Margaret Langton, Charles Moray left England behind him. Four years later he returns only to discover that a criminal gang has been using his house to plan a vicious crime. The target is the beautiful Margot Standing, who stands to inherit a considerable fortune. But the gang has other plans for her.
Charles is appalled to discover that Margaret Langton is one of the conspirators. How did she come to be involved? And who is the terrifying masked man who has her in his thrall?

THE CASE IS CLOSED – The Everton murder case has long been closed. The culprit has been charged with the murder of his uncle and has served a year of his sentence already. Or has he? The evidence against Geoffrey Grey is convincing but his wife believes in his innocence. And so does her young cousin, Hilary, who decides to solve the mystery herself. But when Hilary herself is nearly murdered she turns in desperation to her ex-fiance for help. He calls upon the services of Miss Silver to help solve another mystery, which she does in her own original style.

LONESOME ROAD – There were times when Rachel Treherne fervently wished that her beloved father had left his fortune to somebody else, so overburdened did she feel with the administration of her estate. And never more so than now for, although she was surrounded by relatives who depended on her, whom she loved and who must surely love her, there was no doubt in her mind that somebody was trying to kill her.Threatening letters could be ignored, odd tasting chocolates can be rejected but when snakes are left in her bed, Rachel is convinced that someone means here terrible harm. Her only chance of a future life lay with Miss Silver, and Miss Silver was well on the way to unmasking the murderer when they struck again.

DANGER POINT – The first wife died suddenly. Without Miss Silver’s help, the new bride may be about to meet a similar fate. Maud Silver, demure private eye, is on a train to London when a young woman in a state of shock bursts into her compartment. She is Lisle Jerningham, a newlywed with a fortune – which may be about to get her killed. Lisle explains that she fled her home in a hurry after overhearing a sinister conversation. Her new husband’s first wife died in an apparent accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now, he’s broke again – and she fears he is attempting to engineer a second convenient mishap. Whether the widower is bent on a second murder or his young wife is being paranoid, no one is clear. But if Lisle is in danger, it is up to Miss Silver to find out.

THE CHINESE SHAWL – Miss Silver must intervene when an age-old family feud returns with fatal effect. All London loves Tanis Lyle. A beautiful amateur who happened accidentally on a career in the theater, she has just finished filming her first motion picture. Though hardly beautiful, the young woman has electric charm, and seems to hypnotize all who meet her. This is the effect she has on Laura Fane, a distant cousin who has long heard rumors of the great beauty who, because of a long-standing family feud, she has never been allowed to meet. When Tanis’s life is cut short by an unknown hand, Miss Silver hunts for the killer. As she and Laura quickly learn, great beauty invites hate just as readily as it does love.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts. And don’t forget to give my Poppy Cove Mysteries a try if you haven’t already. 

Toodles, Barbara Jean