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Miss Silver #8
The Key
Michael Harsch's long years of work were nearly at an end. The following day he was looking forward to handing over his precious formula to the government. But the next morning he was in no fit state to hand over the formula - he was dead. It looked like suicide, but Miss Silver knew it was murder.
236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
307 people are currently reading
517 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Wentworth
162 books522 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 - 30 of 127 reviews
March 11, 2018
Right from the beginning of this novel, I felt the suspense. A man stands waiting for the lights to change so he can cross the street and catch his train home. (Is someone going to knife him? Shoot him? Run him down with a car?) He spots a sign for a tea room and, because he’s tired and feels in need of refreshment, off he goes. As he is going in and blinded by the bright light through the door, another man comes out. This man recognizes the first man and ducks into a store next door. Our first man thinks he’s seen a ghost – or maybe it’s just that he’s not feeling himself – and instead of resuming his quest for tea, he goes back out to an empty street. There is no sign of the person he saw, and he can’t even be sure as most of the man was in silhouette. He wearily continues on to the train – which he has now missed – but eventually he makes his way home.
A murder does get committed, and it does involve a key. Then a witness comes forward, Scotland Yard is notified, and there is an arrest. At the half-way mark of this book, Miss Silver is called upon for help by friends of the person arrested for the murder. As is her style, she quickly gathers evidence from people who would never say a peep to the police but who open up to Miss Silver’s listening skills. Then another murder is committed and the finger of guilt points in yet another direction.
Meantime, Miss Silver’s undisclosed theory of who committed the murders keeps building. At one point I thought maybe a leap of logic was too conveniently placed. However, at the end I could see that it wasn’t a leap of logic at all, but sound deduction based on facts. Of course it was! This is Miss Silver, after all.
Once again, Patricia Wentworth has written an entertaining and mystery-filled story with interesting characters. I love ‘watching’ Miss Silver work her magic on even the most uncommunicative people. Yes, she does employ some techniques to find out what she needs to know, but it is her sincere interest in people and what they are saying that creates the trust necessary for her to obtain the truth.
This has been a delightfully refreshing series from the beginning, and I look forward to continuing to read about Miss Silver’s detecting skills in the months ahead.
A murder does get committed, and it does involve a key. Then a witness comes forward, Scotland Yard is notified, and there is an arrest. At the half-way mark of this book, Miss Silver is called upon for help by friends of the person arrested for the murder. As is her style, she quickly gathers evidence from people who would never say a peep to the police but who open up to Miss Silver’s listening skills. Then another murder is committed and the finger of guilt points in yet another direction.
Meantime, Miss Silver’s undisclosed theory of who committed the murders keeps building. At one point I thought maybe a leap of logic was too conveniently placed. However, at the end I could see that it wasn’t a leap of logic at all, but sound deduction based on facts. Of course it was! This is Miss Silver, after all.
Once again, Patricia Wentworth has written an entertaining and mystery-filled story with interesting characters. I love ‘watching’ Miss Silver work her magic on even the most uncommunicative people. Yes, she does employ some techniques to find out what she needs to know, but it is her sincere interest in people and what they are saying that creates the trust necessary for her to obtain the truth.
This has been a delightfully refreshing series from the beginning, and I look forward to continuing to read about Miss Silver’s detecting skills in the months ahead.
March 26, 2024
Before a scientist can hand over a secret formula to the government, during WWII Britain, he is murdered!
Although his death is made to look like a suicide, Miss Silver is not fooled.
With a very large cast of suspects, Miss Silver has her work cut out for her.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
Although his death is made to look like a suicide, Miss Silver is not fooled.
With a very large cast of suspects, Miss Silver has her work cut out for her.
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
August 5, 2012
It's the 1940s. World War II is raging and a Jewish refugee in England is working on a substance that could give Britain an edge in the war. Michael Harsch has worked for years trying to perfect his work and now he's finally ready to turn it over to the War Office. He calls Sir George Rendal to let him know of the success and makes arrangements to turn his findings and all his notes over the next day. It's an appointment that he'll never keep. Harsch goes to the church to relax with music and is later found dead beside the organ. And a German pistol is found beside him. The door is locked and key is in his pocket. There are other keys--but they all seem to be accounted for. A coroner's jury brings in a verdict of "suicide while the balance of his mind was disturbed." But Harsch's friends don't believe it and Janice Meade calls in Miss Maud Silver to find out the truth. Miss Silver's years as a governess have given her plenty of insight into human nature--a skill that she turns to her advantage as a private detective.
While it is true that Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries tend to run on a certain formula--someone dies; either it's mistakenly called suicide or an innocent person is fingered as the culprit (sometimes both happen in quick succession in the same story); former client or former charge of the governess suggests bringing in Miss Silver; there is a young romantic couple (or two) who need things straightened out so they can live happily ever after; and the police repeatedly go down blind alleys while Miss Silver whips clues out of her knitting bag faster than she can knit one of her endless supply of socks, baby layettes, etc.--she has a knack of description and a grasp of character that make each outing seem fresh and new. She also has quite few tricks in her own bag. I changed my mind repeatedly on who the culprit was and just barely managed to settle on the correct one before Miss Silver did. It's always pleasant to be fooled for most of the book and then edge out the detective by a nose at the finish line.
This particular outing begins like a spy thriller--and there is always the possibility of enemy agents seeking to gain control of Harsch's discovery--but Wentworth never really takes us out of the cozy realm. The events are firmly lodged in the typical British villages with all the trappings and Miss Silver plays the part of the talkative older lady to the hilt. It's amazing how she shrewdly leads witnesses to produce evidence that the police would never be able to pry out of them with a crowbar. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to war-era Britain. A satisfying read and nicely plotted mystery for four stars.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.
While it is true that Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries tend to run on a certain formula--someone dies; either it's mistakenly called suicide or an innocent person is fingered as the culprit (sometimes both happen in quick succession in the same story); former client or former charge of the governess suggests bringing in Miss Silver; there is a young romantic couple (or two) who need things straightened out so they can live happily ever after; and the police repeatedly go down blind alleys while Miss Silver whips clues out of her knitting bag faster than she can knit one of her endless supply of socks, baby layettes, etc.--she has a knack of description and a grasp of character that make each outing seem fresh and new. She also has quite few tricks in her own bag. I changed my mind repeatedly on who the culprit was and just barely managed to settle on the correct one before Miss Silver did. It's always pleasant to be fooled for most of the book and then edge out the detective by a nose at the finish line.
This particular outing begins like a spy thriller--and there is always the possibility of enemy agents seeking to gain control of Harsch's discovery--but Wentworth never really takes us out of the cozy realm. The events are firmly lodged in the typical British villages with all the trappings and Miss Silver plays the part of the talkative older lady to the hilt. It's amazing how she shrewdly leads witnesses to produce evidence that the police would never be able to pry out of them with a crowbar. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to war-era Britain. A satisfying read and nicely plotted mystery for four stars.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.
January 4, 2020
In a small English town, a man stands waiting for the lights to change so that he can cross the street and catch his train home. He spots a tea room and, though he knows he will miss his train, he is tired and thirsty and so he goes in search of refreshment.
As he steps through the doorway he is dazzled by a bright light. A man passes him and he is sure that he has seen a ghost from his past. He turns on his heel, all thoughts of tea forgotten, but the man – the ghost – is nowhere to be seen.
He walks to the station, catches a later train and makes his way home.
The man who he saw recognised him, and that would have dreadful consequences.
The opening scene of this eighth Miss Silver novel is a lovely, suspenseful piece of writing, quite unlike anything I have found in any of Patricia Wentworth’s books before.
Michael Harsh died that night.
The inquest concluded that he had died by his own hand. Because he had lost his daughter and his wife, and because his work on the development of a new explosive was complete. A gun was found by his side at the church organ that he often played, the church was locked, and a church key was found in Michael’s pocket.
Sir George Rendel of the War Office disagrees with the verdict, because he knew the man, because he knew how hard he had been working, and because he died the day before he was to hand over his results. He had a young man in his department who had relations living in the the same village, and so he sent him down to make discreet enquiries.
It was soon established that Michael Harsh had been murdered, and that his murderer probably lived in the village. DCI Lamb and DS Abbott were assigned to the investigation and they made a swift arrest. Friends and neighbours were certain that they had the wrong man, one of them was acquainted with Miss Silver, and so she was invited to make discreet enquiries while she was the house guest of an ‘old friend’ ….
The plot that follows is both intriguing and entertaining, and it has it is enhanced by an interesting cast of characters. This is a wonderfully human drama – the possibility of a locked room mystery is dismissed early on and the espionage angle is understated – and that is good thing because that is what Patricia Wentworth did particularly well, and I am not sure that she would have been as good at those other things.
It was lovely to see Miss Silver doing what she does best – talking to people quite naturally and drawing things out of them that they might not have thought were significant, or that they might not have wanted to mention to the police – and the village setting was a nice change. I was also glad to see that she, the police and the other investigators work very well together – for though she might use her position as an elderly lady to her advantage she was never less than professional. And, of course, she knew that giving the police all of the credit and keeping her name out of the papers was the best thing she could do for her future career.
There is a romance in every book and the one in this book was nicely done, but a more complex relationship between two older characters, brought to light by the investigation and beautifully handled by Miss Silver, was rather more interesting.
The war time setting is nicely evoked, the tone is exactly right, and all of the things that regular readers might expect to find are present and correct.
I couldn’t work out who the murderer was for much of the book, but I did settle on the right person well before the end. That wasn’t a problem, because I read the Miss Silver books to watch her at work and to watch the different stories play out, not just to solve the puzzle.
(Ideally, every mystery I read would have an intriguing puzzle and engaging characters, but of a story has to be tilted one way I would always want it tilted towards the characters.)
I found much to love in this book, but I did think that the setting up was stronger than the playing out, and Miss Silver was present at the denouement rather than being the driving force behind it.
That is why I have to say that this is a strong entry in the series – not the very best but more than good enough for me to be eager to start the next book.
As he steps through the doorway he is dazzled by a bright light. A man passes him and he is sure that he has seen a ghost from his past. He turns on his heel, all thoughts of tea forgotten, but the man – the ghost – is nowhere to be seen.
He walks to the station, catches a later train and makes his way home.
The man who he saw recognised him, and that would have dreadful consequences.
The opening scene of this eighth Miss Silver novel is a lovely, suspenseful piece of writing, quite unlike anything I have found in any of Patricia Wentworth’s books before.
Michael Harsh died that night.
The inquest concluded that he had died by his own hand. Because he had lost his daughter and his wife, and because his work on the development of a new explosive was complete. A gun was found by his side at the church organ that he often played, the church was locked, and a church key was found in Michael’s pocket.
Sir George Rendel of the War Office disagrees with the verdict, because he knew the man, because he knew how hard he had been working, and because he died the day before he was to hand over his results. He had a young man in his department who had relations living in the the same village, and so he sent him down to make discreet enquiries.
It was soon established that Michael Harsh had been murdered, and that his murderer probably lived in the village. DCI Lamb and DS Abbott were assigned to the investigation and they made a swift arrest. Friends and neighbours were certain that they had the wrong man, one of them was acquainted with Miss Silver, and so she was invited to make discreet enquiries while she was the house guest of an ‘old friend’ ….
The plot that follows is both intriguing and entertaining, and it has it is enhanced by an interesting cast of characters. This is a wonderfully human drama – the possibility of a locked room mystery is dismissed early on and the espionage angle is understated – and that is good thing because that is what Patricia Wentworth did particularly well, and I am not sure that she would have been as good at those other things.
It was lovely to see Miss Silver doing what she does best – talking to people quite naturally and drawing things out of them that they might not have thought were significant, or that they might not have wanted to mention to the police – and the village setting was a nice change. I was also glad to see that she, the police and the other investigators work very well together – for though she might use her position as an elderly lady to her advantage she was never less than professional. And, of course, she knew that giving the police all of the credit and keeping her name out of the papers was the best thing she could do for her future career.
There is a romance in every book and the one in this book was nicely done, but a more complex relationship between two older characters, brought to light by the investigation and beautifully handled by Miss Silver, was rather more interesting.
The war time setting is nicely evoked, the tone is exactly right, and all of the things that regular readers might expect to find are present and correct.
I couldn’t work out who the murderer was for much of the book, but I did settle on the right person well before the end. That wasn’t a problem, because I read the Miss Silver books to watch her at work and to watch the different stories play out, not just to solve the puzzle.
(Ideally, every mystery I read would have an intriguing puzzle and engaging characters, but of a story has to be tilted one way I would always want it tilted towards the characters.)
I found much to love in this book, but I did think that the setting up was stronger than the playing out, and Miss Silver was present at the denouement rather than being the driving force behind it.
That is why I have to say that this is a strong entry in the series – not the very best but more than good enough for me to be eager to start the next book.
April 25, 2021
'The Key' was a pleasant surprise. The writing was so much better than in 'The Case Is Closed' which is the only other Wentworth/Miss Silver book I've read. It seems that seven years at a novel a year made a great impact.
'The Key' has a fairly solid plot which manages, in a low-key very-easy-to-believe way to combine small village intrigue with a murder made to look like a suicide and a Nazi plot to prevent the British government from getting its hands on a new weapon that has been developed by a Jewish scientist who fled Germany after losing his family. There's a clever little murder mystery and quite s sweet romance, a cast of well-drawn village folk and lots of plausible suspects.
World War II has become a popular era for historical fiction, much of which seems to me to be romanticised. I found it very refreshing to read a book that was published in 1944 and which does a wonderful job of depicting life in a small country village at that time. As it's a contemporary account, there was no need to explain how rationing affected people's social lives or the presence of evacuee children from London's East End in a small English village. All that is taken for granted and all the more credible for it. I also liked the matter-of-fact way that the possible presence of German spies is treated. There's neither hysteria nor melodrama just the acceptance of one more possibility that needs to be taken into account.
I enjoyed Patricia Wentworth's talent for description. She is able to capture the spirit of a place or a person in very few words.
I loved the initial description of the street in a small country town in the first chapter:
"Of the two roads, one runs as straight as a ruled line, set with pompous examples of Victorian shop architecture. The other comes sidling in on a crooked curve and shows an odd medley of houses, shops, offices, with a church and a filling-station to break the line. Some of the houses were there when the Armada broke. Some of them have put on new pretentious fronts. Some of them are no better than they should be from a cheap builder’s estimate. Taken as a whole, Ramford Street has a certain charm and individuality which the High Street lacks."
I felt that I'd seen that street. There's one like in many English towns even today.
The village that most of the action takes place in is so authentic, I feel it could have been set in one of the Somerset villages near me: Newton St Loe or Farrington Gurney. It's more than a good description of the village of the kind Christie might give, which always seemed to me to be 'a map to help you solve the puzzle'. This gets the feel of living in a village for generations so that each location is overlaid with memories.
Although this is a Miss Silver Mystery, Miss Silver herself doesn't show up until halfway through the book. I thought this worked very well. It allowed us to see the village and the first death through the eyes of people who know the place and the man who was killed. By the time Miss Silver arrives, the reader is in the same position as the people who asked for her help: waiting for Miss Silver to make sense of the information and find the truth.
In a book filled with colourful characters, Miss Silver stands out only for her ability to blend into the background and to make people comfortable in telling her things. She strikes me a less judgemental and more independent than Jane Marple. She's built a pleasant life, self-contained life for herself. She's well regarded by the police. She has no agenda other than arriving at the truth of a matter. She's an easy person to underestimate.
The romance between two of the young people, one who was close to the man who was killed and one who has been asked to look into the death on behalf of the government was handled with a light touch that worked well, although I did find the man, Garth, to be very patronising.
My favourite character was Garth's aunt, Miss Sophie. She is a kind, easy-going person who nevertheless is still very aware of what is going on around her and quite intolerant of rudeness. I loved Miss Sophy's love slap down style. When Miss Doncaster is slagging off Mrs Motram we get this exchange, starting with Miss Sophy:
"And do you know, I like Mrs Mottram. She is always so pleasant."
Miss Doncaster snorted. "She hasn’t the brain of a hen!"
"Perhaps not – but there are such a lot of clever people, and so few pleasant ones."
Now that's a put-down to savour.
This was a gentle, entertaining read. I'll be back for more Miss Silver later in the year.
'The Key' has a fairly solid plot which manages, in a low-key very-easy-to-believe way to combine small village intrigue with a murder made to look like a suicide and a Nazi plot to prevent the British government from getting its hands on a new weapon that has been developed by a Jewish scientist who fled Germany after losing his family. There's a clever little murder mystery and quite s sweet romance, a cast of well-drawn village folk and lots of plausible suspects.
World War II has become a popular era for historical fiction, much of which seems to me to be romanticised. I found it very refreshing to read a book that was published in 1944 and which does a wonderful job of depicting life in a small country village at that time. As it's a contemporary account, there was no need to explain how rationing affected people's social lives or the presence of evacuee children from London's East End in a small English village. All that is taken for granted and all the more credible for it. I also liked the matter-of-fact way that the possible presence of German spies is treated. There's neither hysteria nor melodrama just the acceptance of one more possibility that needs to be taken into account.
I enjoyed Patricia Wentworth's talent for description. She is able to capture the spirit of a place or a person in very few words.
I loved the initial description of the street in a small country town in the first chapter:
"Of the two roads, one runs as straight as a ruled line, set with pompous examples of Victorian shop architecture. The other comes sidling in on a crooked curve and shows an odd medley of houses, shops, offices, with a church and a filling-station to break the line. Some of the houses were there when the Armada broke. Some of them have put on new pretentious fronts. Some of them are no better than they should be from a cheap builder’s estimate. Taken as a whole, Ramford Street has a certain charm and individuality which the High Street lacks."
I felt that I'd seen that street. There's one like in many English towns even today.
The village that most of the action takes place in is so authentic, I feel it could have been set in one of the Somerset villages near me: Newton St Loe or Farrington Gurney. It's more than a good description of the village of the kind Christie might give, which always seemed to me to be 'a map to help you solve the puzzle'. This gets the feel of living in a village for generations so that each location is overlaid with memories.
Although this is a Miss Silver Mystery, Miss Silver herself doesn't show up until halfway through the book. I thought this worked very well. It allowed us to see the village and the first death through the eyes of people who know the place and the man who was killed. By the time Miss Silver arrives, the reader is in the same position as the people who asked for her help: waiting for Miss Silver to make sense of the information and find the truth.
In a book filled with colourful characters, Miss Silver stands out only for her ability to blend into the background and to make people comfortable in telling her things. She strikes me a less judgemental and more independent than Jane Marple. She's built a pleasant life, self-contained life for herself. She's well regarded by the police. She has no agenda other than arriving at the truth of a matter. She's an easy person to underestimate.
The romance between two of the young people, one who was close to the man who was killed and one who has been asked to look into the death on behalf of the government was handled with a light touch that worked well, although I did find the man, Garth, to be very patronising.
My favourite character was Garth's aunt, Miss Sophie. She is a kind, easy-going person who nevertheless is still very aware of what is going on around her and quite intolerant of rudeness. I loved Miss Sophy's love slap down style. When Miss Doncaster is slagging off Mrs Motram we get this exchange, starting with Miss Sophy:
"And do you know, I like Mrs Mottram. She is always so pleasant."
Miss Doncaster snorted. "She hasn’t the brain of a hen!"
"Perhaps not – but there are such a lot of clever people, and so few pleasant ones."
Now that's a put-down to savour.
This was a gentle, entertaining read. I'll be back for more Miss Silver later in the year.
November 19, 2023
Free download available at Faded Page.
3* Grey Mask (Miss Silver, #1)
4* The Case Is Closed (Miss Silver, #2)
4* Lonesome Road (Miss Silver, #3)
3* Miss Silver Deals With Death (Miss Silver, #6)
3* The Clock Strikes Twelve (Miss Silver, #7)
4* The Key (Miss Silver, #8)
4* She Came Back (Miss Silver, #9)
4* Pilgrim's Rest (Miss Silver, #10)
3* The Case of William Smith (Miss Silver, #13)
4* Eternity Ring (Miss Silver, #14)
4* Miss Silver Comes to Stay (Miss Silver, #15)
2* The Ivory Dagger (Miss Silver, #19)
4* Out of the Past (Miss Silver, #23)
3* The Benevent Treasure (Miss Silver, #26)
2* A Marriage Under the Terror
2* Beggar's Choice
4* The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith: A Golden Age Mystery
TR Danger Point (Miss Silver, #4)
TR The Chinese Shawl (Miss Silver, #5)
TR Latter End (Miss Silver, #11)
TR Wicked Uncle (Miss Silver, #12)
TR The Catherine Wheel (Miss Silver, #16)
TR The Brading Collection (Miss Silver, #17)
TR Poison in the Pen (Miss Silver, #29)
TR Devil's Wind
TR The Fire Within
TR The Black Cabinet
TR Danger Calling
TR Run!
3* Grey Mask (Miss Silver, #1)
4* The Case Is Closed (Miss Silver, #2)
4* Lonesome Road (Miss Silver, #3)
3* Miss Silver Deals With Death (Miss Silver, #6)
3* The Clock Strikes Twelve (Miss Silver, #7)
4* The Key (Miss Silver, #8)
4* She Came Back (Miss Silver, #9)
4* Pilgrim's Rest (Miss Silver, #10)
3* The Case of William Smith (Miss Silver, #13)
4* Eternity Ring (Miss Silver, #14)
4* Miss Silver Comes to Stay (Miss Silver, #15)
2* The Ivory Dagger (Miss Silver, #19)
4* Out of the Past (Miss Silver, #23)
3* The Benevent Treasure (Miss Silver, #26)
2* A Marriage Under the Terror
2* Beggar's Choice
4* The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith: A Golden Age Mystery
TR Danger Point (Miss Silver, #4)
TR The Chinese Shawl (Miss Silver, #5)
TR Latter End (Miss Silver, #11)
TR Wicked Uncle (Miss Silver, #12)
TR The Catherine Wheel (Miss Silver, #16)
TR The Brading Collection (Miss Silver, #17)
TR Poison in the Pen (Miss Silver, #29)
TR Devil's Wind
TR The Fire Within
TR The Black Cabinet
TR Danger Calling
TR Run!
March 21, 2016
"Because green changed to orange at just that time three people were to die, and the lives of four others were to be deeply and radically altered." - The Key
What a nice opening hook this was. I "bit", and was immediately drawn in to the story.
NOTE: This is pathetic, but I can't for the life of me remember who was the 3rd person to die. If anyone knows, please tell me. It's making me nuts!
Read
December 18, 2018I must have been tired when I read this, because by halfway through I couldn't remember who any of the characters were or keep track of which of them was where at what time. Plus there was the fact that the villagers quite happily apprehended the murderer themselves, only for Miss Silver to swan in afterwards, nod sagely and say she knew who it was all along, even though she hadn't actually done anything. Then everyone told her how clever she was. If that's how detecting works, then sign me up!
August 6, 2020
I have been reading my way through these books as available, some of which I'd read before, because so many people think that Miss Silver is really a great fictional detective. To me, she lacks something--a saving touch of humor, perhaps. But this one, one of the last on my list, was quite enjoyable. For one thing, it doesn't include a damsel in distress or her wrongfully accused suitor. There is a wrongfully accused suspect, but he's not the world's most sympathetic character. There are a lot of surprises and twists in this tale of a refugee scientist who is killed just as he completes his work on a valuable explosive that will help the British war effort in World War II. His friends are sure that he didn't commit suicide, but he's locked in a church when he's shot--and there are few keys, and those kept securely.
November 20, 2021
2020: Repeat listen. 3.5*
2021: Repeat-night listen. 4* The audiobook earnt an extra star this listen through. The Key definitely showcases prejudices of its era, where a German spy is the bad guy. It's always nice to remeet with people from Miss Silver's past successfully resolved cases, though the young woman in this one is not a favourite character.
2021: Repeat-night listen. 4* The audiobook earnt an extra star this listen through. The Key definitely showcases prejudices of its era, where a German spy is the bad guy. It's always nice to remeet with people from Miss Silver's past successfully resolved cases, though the young woman in this one is not a favourite character.
January 9, 2020
Set during WWII, this Miss Silver mystery involves a mysterious death, a new discovery important to the Allies, and a small English town where almost every inhabitant has a secret.
May 25, 2018
These are all of equally good quality, quite predictable in their broad strokes, full of twists and turns when up close. I am finding it interesting to realize that Miss Silver is always able to solve the mystery through interaction with the suspects and relying on the police for physical evidence. She prefigures Vera, from the British television series. Brilliant she may be, but sexism X ageism guarantees that she would never be employed by the police, o matter how many rings of logic she runs around them. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, she never disguises herself, because an aging spinster is already invisible and forgotten two moments after one turns away. She is harmless, so she is trusted. Unlike any other detective, her name never makes it into the paper, so she can move from one case to the next as a cypher. Her superiority of intelligence and social sense makes her perfect for this insider role, but interestingly, she is always outside of power. So, who is she most like? Perhaps Easy Rawlins, the African American detective of fifties socially segregated LA.
February 6, 2017
Not the best one she's ever written. Plot seemed to be devised around war time propaganda and felt like she's churned it out for the war office without taking any real pleasure in it and didn't devise her usual twists and turns. I couldn't really theories who it was because the answer to the puzzle kind of came out of nowhere.
April 8, 2019
an excellent read! if the beginning was dark and then a tiny bit slow, by the middle of the book I couldn't put it down. The ending was truly suspenseful.
I don't think people should call this a "cozy" mystery - that seems to me to under-rate it. it is an extremely well written mystery that happens to take place in a cozy village.
I don't think people should call this a "cozy" mystery - that seems to me to under-rate it. it is an extremely well written mystery that happens to take place in a cozy village.
November 6, 2014
Pleasant, slightly uneven mystery involving Nazi agents in a small town. Unlike most British mysteries of this period, I found most of the characters moderately likeable. This is my first Miss Silver story and I plan to pick up one of the earlier installments eventually.
December 19, 2021
The 4 stars aren't really for the (serviceable) mystery, they're for what you learn about the place (rural England) and time (1943 or 44).
Most important: in Chapter 1 we meet a Jewish scientist who fled Germany in '38 or '39. His family wasn't able to come with him and his wife died of exposure (after being turned out of the house in winter) while his daughter died in a concentration camp. DO NOT BELIEVE anyone who tells you "they didn't know about the Holocaust" before WWII ended. Anyone who could add 2+2 knew, and Wentworth is the proof. And it's not as though she knew a lot about Jews or anything--when he dies, he's buried in the CofE churchyard. She just knew enough to recognize what should have been obvious.
Another example: the incidental picture of, not *desperate* but matter-of-fact rural poverty, with people living in very *clean* hovels with no indoor plumbing. And not trusting the police or other authorities one bit: they don't *lie*, but they won't volunteer any information no matter how obviously useful in catching a murderer.
The friend who turned me on to Miss Silver said:
Most important: in Chapter 1 we meet a Jewish scientist who fled Germany in '38 or '39. His family wasn't able to come with him and his wife died of exposure (after being turned out of the house in winter) while his daughter died in a concentration camp. DO NOT BELIEVE anyone who tells you "they didn't know about the Holocaust" before WWII ended. Anyone who could add 2+2 knew, and Wentworth is the proof. And it's not as though she knew a lot about Jews or anything--when he dies, he's buried in the CofE churchyard. She just knew enough to recognize what should have been obvious.
Another example: the incidental picture of, not *desperate* but matter-of-fact rural poverty, with people living in very *clean* hovels with no indoor plumbing. And not trusting the police or other authorities one bit: they don't *lie*, but they won't volunteer any information no matter how obviously useful in catching a murderer.
The friend who turned me on to Miss Silver said:
One of the draws that puzzle mysteries in particular have is the importance of daily minutiae. Clues are in the tiny details, and if you're not to telegraph which ones are important, you have to include lots of tiny details, so there's a lot more of the texture of specific times and places in mystery than any other genre - including "realism." Screw universality; mystery is all about the particular! You really can't do better, trying to catch an atmosphere, than to read mysteries set in the time and place of your setting. You can learn all about bomb shelters and air raids in the history books, but mystery writers tell you about people carrying their own saccharin tablets when they go to tea, and the ghastly choices of yarn colors available when you have ration cards to get it, and how many times people reused their tea leaves. Miss Silver gives her choice of yarn every bit as much careful attention as she does witness testimony, because outfitting Ethel Burkett's growing family in wartime is every bit as important as catching spies and murderers.
December 1, 2022
Michael Harsch has been working on a secret project for the last five years. He has finally finished it and will be handing it over to the government in the morning.
On his way home he crosses paths with a man who looks like someone from his past, but he isn’t too sure. Harsch feels it is the man but doesn’t stop to speak to him.
Harsch enjoys evening walks in the village he lives in and also has a key to the church where he plays the organ at some point in his evening walks. The next morning he is found dead at the organ. A gun is nearby and the door is locked. Because Harsch lost his wife and daughter by the Nazis, and still misses them greatly, the verdict is suicide due to his sadness over the loss of family.
Sir George Pendel of the War Office feels different, since the results of Harsch’s work was to be turned over to the War Office that morning. An investigation is ordered. Major Garth Albany is sent to investigate. Albany has an aunt in the village, so it gives him a cover in hopes of getting information from the locals.
Albany finds a number of possible suspects among the village residents. Chief Detective Inspector Lamb and Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard are sent down for extra power. The two officers arrest one of the suspects and charge them with murder.
Village residents feel there is a mistake and call in Miss Silver to find the real killer. Being an unassuming, dowdy, older lady, people find her non-threatening and are not afraid to talk with her. What they don’t realize is there are years of experience of acute observation of different personalities. She is able to sort the red herrings out and get to the real truth of the case and the real murderer. She also has a close friendship with DS Frank Abbott.
The Miss Silver mystery series runs along the lines of Christie’s Miss Marple. An enjoyable read.
On his way home he crosses paths with a man who looks like someone from his past, but he isn’t too sure. Harsch feels it is the man but doesn’t stop to speak to him.
Harsch enjoys evening walks in the village he lives in and also has a key to the church where he plays the organ at some point in his evening walks. The next morning he is found dead at the organ. A gun is nearby and the door is locked. Because Harsch lost his wife and daughter by the Nazis, and still misses them greatly, the verdict is suicide due to his sadness over the loss of family.
Sir George Pendel of the War Office feels different, since the results of Harsch’s work was to be turned over to the War Office that morning. An investigation is ordered. Major Garth Albany is sent to investigate. Albany has an aunt in the village, so it gives him a cover in hopes of getting information from the locals.
Albany finds a number of possible suspects among the village residents. Chief Detective Inspector Lamb and Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard are sent down for extra power. The two officers arrest one of the suspects and charge them with murder.
Village residents feel there is a mistake and call in Miss Silver to find the real killer. Being an unassuming, dowdy, older lady, people find her non-threatening and are not afraid to talk with her. What they don’t realize is there are years of experience of acute observation of different personalities. She is able to sort the red herrings out and get to the real truth of the case and the real murderer. She also has a close friendship with DS Frank Abbott.
The Miss Silver mystery series runs along the lines of Christie’s Miss Marple. An enjoyable read.
December 22, 2017
"Miss Doncaster eyed him with the dislike which her features were so well qualified to express. She had the long, sharp nose and reddish eyes of a ferret, and the thinnest lips that Garth had ever seen. The fact that she never opened them far enough to allow anyone to see her teeth had given rise to a legend which had terrified his infancy. It was said, and was possibly still believed amongst the young of Bourne, that she had real ferret's teeth, and that if she caught you alone after dark almost anything might happen."
"Miss Silver was knitting briskly, the sock revolved. She said, "I cannot take any case with such a condition attached to it. It is beyond my province to attempt the proof of either innocence or guilt. I feel obliged to make this perfectly clear. I can only take a case with the object of discovering the truth. Sometimes this truth is at variance with the client's wishes and hopes. As Lord Tennyson so aptly says - "Oh, hard when love and duty clash!" But once I have undertaken a case I can be swayed by duty alone, and that duty must always be the discovery of the facts. They may be unexpected, they may be unwelcome. They may deepen a tragic situation instead of relieving it. I say this to every client."
"Miss Silver was knitting briskly, the sock revolved. She said, "I cannot take any case with such a condition attached to it. It is beyond my province to attempt the proof of either innocence or guilt. I feel obliged to make this perfectly clear. I can only take a case with the object of discovering the truth. Sometimes this truth is at variance with the client's wishes and hopes. As Lord Tennyson so aptly says - "Oh, hard when love and duty clash!" But once I have undertaken a case I can be swayed by duty alone, and that duty must always be the discovery of the facts. They may be unexpected, they may be unwelcome. They may deepen a tragic situation instead of relieving it. I say this to every client."
June 22, 2018
In The Key by Patricia Wentworth, it is 1944, and the German- Jewish scientist Michael Harsch is working hard to complete his special secret weapon to win the war. Just as he announces that it is completed and makes an appointment to hand it over to a British government official, he decides to go to the church to play the organ, his method of relaxing. After all, with the completion of Harschite, the death of his wife and daughter five years earlier at Nazi hands is weighing on him. When Harsch hasn’t returned home late that night, Janice Mead, the secretary of Professor Evan Maddock, who sometimes helps Garsch, goes to check on him, only to find him dead of a gunshot with a gun lying six inches from his hand.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
April 5, 2019
I got these books as a set of three, so althougn this is number eight in the series, it is the second Miss Silver for me. Already I am seeing a apattern that I like very much: she develops an excellent storyline with problems and memorable characters on its own, then brings in Miss Silver later in the book to help guide the authorities to the proper solution--and help some couple who deserve to be together that we are all rooting for to find happiness, while bad guys get justice. And as these are British novels of the wartime or shortly thereafter, we learn about a culture of ration cards, and Nazis make excellent enemies. I will enkjoy working my way through this series of classical detetective novels written by the woman who along with Agatha Christie really helped establish the formula.
This has the setting of a small English village, with the death of a mild mannered scientist in the Church initially ruled a suicide, but government officials suspect murder to get secret plans for a vauable weapon that could win the war for Germany. Who did the killing? Are those plans safely tucked away? Sounds like a job for Miss Silver!
This has the setting of a small English village, with the death of a mild mannered scientist in the Church initially ruled a suicide, but government officials suspect murder to get secret plans for a vauable weapon that could win the war for Germany. Who did the killing? Are those plans safely tucked away? Sounds like a job for Miss Silver!
Read
March 3, 2022Picked up a couple Miss Silver mysteries at an op shop, so this was my first read.
Wentworth's observations are witty and cutting as Christie's, but she tends to have a little more . . . let's call it charity, or affection, for her secondary characters. Which is not a disparagement on either writer.
The case hinged a bit more on assumptions not just of human nature, but human *reactions* - IE exactly how a person would respond when seeing the silhouette of a long-removed nemesis in a darkly lit bar - and I'll check out the next one before I see whether that's a pattern or just how this one leant, but there were plenty of other details.
Could've used a map at one point, too.
But the prose was wildly enjoyable, and she lets her characters have a little romance and a lot of comeuppance as well, which is fun.
Wentworth's observations are witty and cutting as Christie's, but she tends to have a little more . . . let's call it charity, or affection, for her secondary characters. Which is not a disparagement on either writer.
The case hinged a bit more on assumptions not just of human nature, but human *reactions* - IE exactly how a person would respond when seeing the silhouette of a long-removed nemesis in a darkly lit bar - and I'll check out the next one before I see whether that's a pattern or just how this one leant, but there were plenty of other details.
Could've used a map at one point, too.
But the prose was wildly enjoyable, and she lets her characters have a little romance and a lot of comeuppance as well, which is fun.
December 25, 2023
Scientist Benjamin Hersch is murdered shortly after completing work on an important invention that may help the war effort. Mr Madoc, another scientist who shares the same premises, is arrested for Hesch’s murder, but his assistant Janice Meade is convinced he is innocent. So when she hears about the remarkable Miss Silver, she naturally calls her in to solve the mystery. This is a very good mystery with a varied cast of characters (I particularly like the giddy Mrs Mottram) and lots of twists and turns. One of Miss Silver’s most challenging cases.
March 10, 2019
Excellent if dated cozy, classic mystery
December 2, 2020
An enjoyable Miss Silver mystery that tries hard to make you suspect almost every character in turn
December 28, 2022
A bit slow. Not as good as the earlier books.
September 26, 2019
Read another edition in 2012 and my review is on that copy.
April 25, 2021
The Key by Patricia Wentworth was this month’s pick for a side-read to an ongoing project of the Appointment with Agatha group on Goodreads. In addition to the monthly Agatha Christie novel, the group reads other Golden Age Mysteries on the side.
The Key was not my first Wentworth. By now I am fairly familiar with the author and with her main sleuth – Miss Silver. This particular story was a lovely mystery set during the Second World War that seemed to focus on solving the puzzle of who was where when.
As much as I enjoyed the book, only a few hours after finishing, I had to re-read the ending because I couldn’t remember the motive.
Something just was not working for me with that ending. I mean, it was action-packed and interesting, but – like Christie’s The Big Four (the group’s main read this month) – it was a bit too movie dramatic for me.
The Key was not my first Wentworth. By now I am fairly familiar with the author and with her main sleuth – Miss Silver. This particular story was a lovely mystery set during the Second World War that seemed to focus on solving the puzzle of who was where when.
As much as I enjoyed the book, only a few hours after finishing, I had to re-read the ending because I couldn’t remember the motive.
Something just was not working for me with that ending. I mean, it was action-packed and interesting, but – like Christie’s The Big Four (the group’s main read this month) – it was a bit too movie dramatic for me.
March 3, 2017
Miss Silver to the rescue—again.
June 17, 2017
This was my first reading of the Miss Silver series. I learned a new word (or rather an old word)...forrader, which means 'further ahead'. The writing is very good, awfully wordy at times, but typical of those times. That's why I like reading stories written in the 20s through 40s. The lifestyle was in some ways simpler but more formal, more polite, more appreciative of what they had and made more so because of what they didn't have. This story takes place in a village in England during WW2 when there was food rationing as well as saving of metals, paper, and other hard to find commodities. The story is a little naive in that two pretty sharp police inspectors still need Miss Silver to arrive to figure it all out. Not too different from Miss Marple of Agatha Christie's mysteries. Patricia Wentworth was part of a group of popular women mystery writers which included Agatha Christie. I'll be reading more of the Miss Silver stories.
May 29, 2019
Fairly average English village WW2 mystery, with no real surprises for me; despite a slight late twist, I was focussed on the culprit from quite early on.
Miss Silver patiently listens to everyone and elicits much from a few well chosen questions. Her skills outshine easily those of Lamb and Abbott of Scotland Yard.
The background is well-done, with many plausible connections to pre-war Germany among the village inhabitants and the characterisation is better than in many 1940's detective novels.
Very easy reading for a rainy afternoon or at bedtime. Not too taxing- or very exciting.
Miss Silver patiently listens to everyone and elicits much from a few well chosen questions. Her skills outshine easily those of Lamb and Abbott of Scotland Yard.
The background is well-done, with many plausible connections to pre-war Germany among the village inhabitants and the characterisation is better than in many 1940's detective novels.
Very easy reading for a rainy afternoon or at bedtime. Not too taxing- or very exciting.
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