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The Miss Silver Mysteries Volume Three: The Clock Strikes Twelve, The Key, and She Came Back
A trio of World War II-era whodunits in the "ingenious [and] satisfying" mystery series featuring a British governess-turned-amateur-sleuth (The Scotsman).
Meet Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess and "little old lady who nobody notices, but who in turn notices everything" (Paula Gosling, author of the Jack Stryker mystery series).
The Clock Strikes Twelve A wealthy British family convenes in their manor house for New Year's Eve. But when their industrialist patriarch dies, it's up to prim Miss Silver to determine who rang in the new year with murder . . .
The Key A German Jewish scientist working for the British war effort is murdered, and his new formula has been stolen. Now Miss Silver must find the killer or risk an explosive disaster . . .
She Came Back Three years after everyone thought she died in France, Lady Anne Jocelyn returns to England. The lady may be who she claims to be, or perhaps she's a fraud--or even a Nazi spy. Only Miss Silver will be able to divine the truth.
Meet Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess and "little old lady who nobody notices, but who in turn notices everything" (Paula Gosling, author of the Jack Stryker mystery series).
The Clock Strikes Twelve A wealthy British family convenes in their manor house for New Year's Eve. But when their industrialist patriarch dies, it's up to prim Miss Silver to determine who rang in the new year with murder . . .
The Key A German Jewish scientist working for the British war effort is murdered, and his new formula has been stolen. Now Miss Silver must find the killer or risk an explosive disaster . . .
She Came Back Three years after everyone thought she died in France, Lady Anne Jocelyn returns to England. The lady may be who she claims to be, or perhaps she's a fraud--or even a Nazi spy. Only Miss Silver will be able to divine the truth.
- GenresMystery
820 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 27, 2018
201 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
162 books523 followersPatricia Wentworth--born Dora Amy Elles--was a British crime fiction writer.
She was educated privately and at Blackheath High School in London. After the death of her first husband, George F. Dillon, in 1906, she settled in Camberley, Surrey. She married George Oliver Turnbull in 1920 and they had one daughter.
She wrote a series of 32 classic-style whodunnits featuring Miss Silver, the first of which was published in 1928, and the last in 1961, the year of her death.
Miss Silver, a retired governess-turned private detective, is sometimes compared to Jane Marple, the elderly detective created by Agatha Christie. She works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott and is fond of quoting the poet Tennyson.
Wentworth also wrote 34 books outside of that series.
She was educated privately and at Blackheath High School in London. After the death of her first husband, George F. Dillon, in 1906, she settled in Camberley, Surrey. She married George Oliver Turnbull in 1920 and they had one daughter.
She wrote a series of 32 classic-style whodunnits featuring Miss Silver, the first of which was published in 1928, and the last in 1961, the year of her death.
Miss Silver, a retired governess-turned private detective, is sometimes compared to Jane Marple, the elderly detective created by Agatha Christie. She works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott and is fond of quoting the poet Tennyson.
Wentworth also wrote 34 books outside of that series.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 19, 2020
This trio of classic 1940's mysteries is catnip for those of us who just can't get enough of the unassuming but oh-so-clever Maud Silver. The setting for each novel is war-time England and the rationing, deprivation and fierce Nationalism is very present in these stories.
Wentworth's books all feature a chaste romance, and the reader can be confident that "love's young dream" will be rewarded. But, that adds to their charm, rather than detracting from it. Miss Silver is the reason we return to this series, not the crime, not the protagonists, but the fun of observing the very astute Maud Silver sort out the flaws in everyone's character and see things in a way that few of us succeed in doing.
The books are predictable in their own way, but that is why I return to them. I love her sense of justice. I love her pride in her intellect. And, I get a kick out of her relationship with the very charming young Scotland Yard detective who is an eager disciple.
(And, for those of you who have not read this series---on the surface she may sound like a clone of Miss Marple--but, she is far from it. She is not quoting memories of mean school girls who turn into Scarlet Women---she is quoting Tennyson and no matter who she keeps company with, she is undoubtedly the smartest person in the room.
Wentworth's books all feature a chaste romance, and the reader can be confident that "love's young dream" will be rewarded. But, that adds to their charm, rather than detracting from it. Miss Silver is the reason we return to this series, not the crime, not the protagonists, but the fun of observing the very astute Maud Silver sort out the flaws in everyone's character and see things in a way that few of us succeed in doing.
The books are predictable in their own way, but that is why I return to them. I love her sense of justice. I love her pride in her intellect. And, I get a kick out of her relationship with the very charming young Scotland Yard detective who is an eager disciple.
(And, for those of you who have not read this series---on the surface she may sound like a clone of Miss Marple--but, she is far from it. She is not quoting memories of mean school girls who turn into Scarlet Women---she is quoting Tennyson and no matter who she keeps company with, she is undoubtedly the smartest person in the room.
April 9, 2020
These are delightful mysteries whose real strengths lie in the author's ability to describe settings with their full emotional weight, especially wartime England, and to reveal the feelings of the characters. From a purely mystery-novel point-of-view, Miss Silver is like an intelligent reader: she doesn't as much gather information (though she does sometimes) as she sorts through what is presented to her, decides what is salient, and infers important conclusions from small bits of evidence.
August 6, 2020
Better than the first 6
These are wartime mysteries. Wentworth has gotten better. Not so many obvious red herrings and nicely flawed characters. In the last of the 3 (9th of the series), Miss Silver doesn’t appear until quite late, which kept me on tenterhooks to see how the author would manage to get her involved.
These are wartime mysteries. Wentworth has gotten better. Not so many obvious red herrings and nicely flawed characters. In the last of the 3 (9th of the series), Miss Silver doesn’t appear until quite late, which kept me on tenterhooks to see how the author would manage to get her involved.
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September 3, 2021The first book in this set, The Clock Strikes Twelve, kept me guessing till the very end. As usual in the Miss Silver books, she doesn't put in an appearance for quite some time. My only complaint was there were an awful lot of characters to keep track of--some even with the same surname. It would have been very helpful to have a chart of all of them!
The second, The Key, is also enjoyable, again set under the shadow of World War II. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but all in all a satisfying book.
The final one, She Came Back, is based on a very interesting--if somewhat improbable--premise. Like The Clock Strikes Twelve, there are a lot of characters and since they're mostly related, there are a lot of very similar names. Nevertheless, it eventually settles into a satisfying read. I'm even getting used to Miss Silver just wandering in from time to time!
The second, The Key, is also enjoyable, again set under the shadow of World War II. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but all in all a satisfying book.
The final one, She Came Back, is based on a very interesting--if somewhat improbable--premise. Like The Clock Strikes Twelve, there are a lot of characters and since they're mostly related, there are a lot of very similar names. Nevertheless, it eventually settles into a satisfying read. I'm even getting used to Miss Silver just wandering in from time to time!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2021
Do you love Miss Marple?
The first Maude Silver mysteries were written in the 1920's before Status Christie began writing her Miss Marple stories. It is anyone's guess why one series is revered and the other not known by the modern reader, at least not this reader. I am certainly enjoying reading about Miss Silver. You might to!
The first Maude Silver mysteries were written in the 1920's before Status Christie began writing her Miss Marple stories. It is anyone's guess why one series is revered and the other not known by the modern reader, at least not this reader. I am certainly enjoying reading about Miss Silver. You might to!
May 24, 2022
This is a review only of the last book “She Came Back”. I did individual reviews of the other books I’m this set. This was my least favorite. It was too quick and too violent. Miss Silver appeared at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way, but the solution was too quick, lots of descriptions of people and places and then sudden second murder, end.
February 10, 2020
Miss Silver has become one of my favorite characters
Hard to keep track sometimes of so many characters. But they all come together as the story develops. The end of her books always turn out to be very logical and satisfying
Hard to keep track sometimes of so many characters. But they all come together as the story develops. The end of her books always turn out to be very logical and satisfying
April 21, 2022
I'm actually pretty good at not guessing who did it, but these stories are too easy even for me, but I don't really mind that. I'm not in it for the puzzle, really, but for the characters, and these are lovely and well done. If you've run out of Agatha Christie novels, these are good runner up. :)
March 28, 2019
Read first story and wasn’t interested enough to proceed.
May 28, 2019
I particularly liked this set of three novels, which were written during WWII and include Nazi agents and espionage, plus the details of homefront life such as food rationing and clothing coupons.
March 22, 2020
Excellent
Three excellent mysteries. Miss Silver is one of my favorite detectives. Five stars for the first one, four for the second one and three for the last one.
Three excellent mysteries. Miss Silver is one of my favorite detectives. Five stars for the first one, four for the second one and three for the last one.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews