PATRICIA WENTWORTH – The Alington Inheritance. Maud Silver #31. Lippincott, US, hardcover, 1958. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hardcover, 1960. Reprinted several times, including Perennial, paperback, 1990 (shown).

   A Miss Silver mystery, even though she doesn’t appear until about halfway through, and even though who did it is known even before he’s decided to do it. No mystery at all, in other words. The background is what’s important here, and watching Miss Silver at work once again.

   At stake, not surprisingly, is ownership of the Alington estate. The family relationships that are involved are frustratingly vague at first, but once established, they are the key to solving the case. Wentworth in this book is especially good at portraying children and gossipy old women. In terms of the setting, the story could have easily taken place in 1928 as well as 1958, when it was published.

PostScript:   I don’t know how relevant this fact is, but it may interest you to know that this is the first book by Patricia Wentworth that I’ve ever been able to read. Since Miss Silver is always listed among the names of the great detectives of the so-called Golden Age, I’ve always felt I should at least have read one of the cases she was involved in. And yet, in spite of all my good intentions, I’ve always quit after a chapter or two.

   This time was different. I found myself reading on, almost in spite of myself, fusty old ladies and all. Will I read another, you ask? The truth is, you’ll know the answer to that almost as soon as I do.

— Reprinted from Mystery*File #23,, July 1990. (slightly revised).


Bibliographic Notes:   This was #31 of 32 Miss Silver novels, and it was written when the author was 80 years old. The first was Grey Mask (Hodder, 1928). It was quite a long career for the character. I do not know how old she was when she started.