Miss Silver

The first of the classic mysteries featuring governess-turned-detective Miss Silver, who investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.   Never one for the heroic, Charles's first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice. Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Silver, a onetime governess who applies her reason to solve crimes and face the dangers of London's underworld.

When a new clue arises in a long-closed murder inquiry, Miss Silver fights to free an innocent man Marion Grey is growing used to the idea that her husband will never leave prison. After the horrors of a very public trial she is almost able to find relief in her resignation. But when new evidence suggests her husband may be innocent after all, she hires a professional-Miss Silver-to clear his name.  It begins with a chance encounter on a busy train, when a friend of Marion's meets a half-mad woman who claims to know something of the Grey case. With her is a man who disappeared during the trial, and may know something that could see Marion's husband set free. Who is he, and where has he gone? To find out, the demure detective Miss Silver must track him down before becoming a victim herself.

A terrified young woman asks Miss Silver for help unmasking someone who has threatened her life Rachel Traherne does not want to meet Maud Silver. She does not want to tell her that someone has threatened her life, because she does not want that dreadful fact to be true. But see Miss Silver she must, for the stout, old-fashioned detective is the only person in London who may be able to keep her safe. Rachel has been receiving threatening letters about her deceased father's fortune. The first two letters were vague; the third said simply, "Get ready to die."   Since then she has been nearly killed three times: first by a flight of sabotaged stairs, second by fire, and third by a box of poisoned chocolates. She fears it may be a family member, jealous of her inheritance and willing to kill to get it. But who could it be? Miss Silver is going to find out.

Miss Silver attempts to save a young girl from her murderous husband   Maud Silver, demure private eye, hardly has time to finish one adventure before another demands her attention. She is making her way back to London when, with a terrible jerk, her train thrusts a young woman into her compartment-a beautiful woman in a state of shock. She is Lisle Jerningham, a newlywed with money-which may be about to get her killed.   Lisle fled her home in a hurry when she overheard a sinister conversation through the bushes. Her new husband's first wife died of an accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now broke again, he may be trying to engineer a second convenient mishap. Lisle has already survived one attempt on her life, but only Miss Silver can help her make it through the next.

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.

Miss Silver investigates a case of blackmail in an apartment house Vandeleur House was great once. The home of a prominent court painter, its ballroom and parlors hosted the brightest of the Victorian era. Now divided into eight flats, it is an apartment building whose glorious façade conceals a nest of diabolical intrigue.   There is Maude, a young woman who was crossing the Atlantic when her steamer was struck by a Nazi torpedo. She survived; her husband did not. Then there's Ivy, a sleepwalking maid with a curious past. And last there is Mrs. Underwood, a snobbish woman dreadfully embarrassed that she is being blackmailed by another resident. And all that drama in just one flat. There are many secrets in Vandeleur house, and it will take the full force of gentlewoman detective Maud Silver's intuition to unravel them.

Miss Silver investigates the murder of a great British industrialist Though they share a manor house, the Paradines are not close, and their patriarch does nothing to discourage the petty jealousies that divide wealthy families. A cold figure, James Paradine prefers work to his relations, but on New Year's Eve he convenes the household. Valuable plans have been stolen from his office, and only one person could be to blame. He knows the culprit's name, and gives the thief until midnight to come forward. By midnight, James Paradine is dead.   Was it the thief who killed him, or could it have been someone else, acting on different motives entirely? The local constables are baffled, and it is left to prim detective Maud Silver to out the murderer.

The murder of a government scientist demands the attention of Miss Silver Michael Harsch's life has never been easy. A German Jew, he fled his country when Hitler came to power, escaping the concentration camps by the skin of his teeth. His wife and daughter were not so lucky, and he vowed revenge on the Fuhrer through science. He set to work on a marvelous new explosive that, in the hands of the British army, could silence the German guns forever. But on the eve of his great triumph, the scientist is struck down.   The government asks Miss Silver, the dowdy detective, to help solve the murder and recover the valuable explosive. Was Harsch killed by a half-mad opponent to the war effort, or was it one of Hitler's undercover agents who pulled the trigger?

A noblewoman seems to come back from the dead, and Miss Silver must help verify her identity Anne Jocelyn has been dead for some time. She and a friend were killed trying to escape the first German assault on France; her husband, Phillip, survived to bring back her body for burial, after which he joined the war against the monsters who slaughtered his wife. That was three years ago, and now Anne Jocelyn has returned to England.   Looking and talking exactly like Phillip's wife, she insists that he mistook her friend's body for her own, and buried it by mistake. After three years hiding from the Nazis, she has finally escaped to come back to him. He doesn't believe her, but she doesn't care. As far as she's concerned she is Anne Jocelyn, and the dead woman's riches are her own. Only the brilliant Maud Silver will be able to divine who should be believed.

Miss Silver visits the country to keep an eye on a friend who may be in peril It is time for Judy to get out of London. Her sister and brother-in-law have just perished in an air raid, leaving her in charge of their four-year-old daughter, and Judy wants no more to do with death. She arranges for work in a piece of the countryside untouched by the war: a charming manor called Pilgrim's Rest. But it may be that she has more to fear than the Blitz.   When she tells Frank Abbott of her plans, he warns her that strange things have been happening at Pilgrim's Rest. The family patriarch is recently dead of mysterious circumstances, and his heir has just suffered a series of near-fatal accidents. He cannot sway Judy, for she needs the work. But he does convince the governess-turned-detective Maud Silver to follow Judy to the village, to be on hand in case country living turns dangerous.

Miss Silver investigates an unhappy family whose brightest beauty has just been poisoned Lois has always dreamed of being a Latter. The Latter brothers are both so attractive-nearly as handsome as their stately manor, Latter End. After she spoils her relationship with one brother, she succeeds with the other, winning his heart with her good looks and the sizeable fortune she had won in her first marriage. But even after they've wed, she never quite fits in with the family. Still, she hardly expects them to kill her.   But that's just what the psychic Memnon warns her of: poison. She laughs it off and so does everyone else, but then, like clockwork, she is dead. The police call it murder. The weapon? Poison, of course. It is a tantalizing case, complicated by the bitterness that infests Latter End, and only the brilliant Maud Silver, once a governess, now a detective, is up to the challenge.

Miss Silver investigates the murder of one of Britain's most powerful men   Dorinda Brown takes a job working for the wealthy Porlock family on a whim, and quickly finds it to be the hardest position she has ever had. The father, Gregory, is a charming tyrant-just the sort of man her aunt always warned her about. His wife is an overfed fool, entirely blind to the defects of her despicable son, and unsympathetic to the pain he causes his governesses.   All that Dorinda can stand, for she needs the job. But when murder comes to the Porlock house, it brings along much more unpleasantness. There is a question of blackmail, first of all, and a shocking realization about Dorinda's past. All told, it adds up to a frightful mystery-the sort that only Miss Maud Silver, the governess-turned-detective, can solve.

An amnesiac Holocaust survivor steps into a mystery that only Miss Silver can solve William Smith is not sure what his name is, but he doubts it's William Smith, the name the Nazis gave him when he wandered out of one of their hospitals in 1942, to be herded, along with so many others, into one of their nightmarish camps. They did their best to kill this man without a name, but he survived because a man with no identity has nothing to fear.   Now, the war over, he is back in England, ready to make a new life. But even a man with no past cannot escape history. William Smith is about to find himself enmeshed in a terrifying mystery, which only Maud Silver, the staunch, old-fashioned detective, can solve. He may yet learn his name, but it could cost him his life.

A young woman's violent murder shocks a quiet village, and Miss Silver comes to investigate In Deeping, a village so tiny that its residents share a common phone line, gossip is the chief amusement. Scotland Yard inspector Frank Abbott has family there, and thinks it a charming spot for a vacation until the country quiet is broken by a cry of "Murder!"   A young German woman, recently come to town, has been making vague threats about recovering something that was stolen from her. She disappears for a weekend, and a woman of her description is seen brutally murdered on a country road. But when Inspector Abbot goes to see the body, the corpse has gone. He takes the peculiar case to Miss Silver, the brilliant amateur detective, and she agrees to investigate the small town where gossip turned fatal.

On vacation in a tiny village, Miss Silver investigates a murder with a decades-old motive The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary-exactly the sort one finds in just about every cozy English village-and to a certain person they might even appear boring. But to Miss Silver, people are always interesting. It has been some years since she gave up work as a governess to become a detective, and her interest in people has served her well. She comes to Melling on vacation-a long postponed visit to an old school chum-but Miss Silver's business is murder, and her vacations never last long.   The town's prodigal son has returned, wealthy and without nostalgia for the village of his birth. He intends to sell his manor house and be done with Melling forever. But Melling has not finished with him.

When a complicated inheritance case turns deadly, Miss Silver suspects an entire family An advertisement appears in the newspaper, asking for genealogical information from descendants of a certain Jeremiah Taverner, who died in long-ago 1888. It looks like an ordinary notice by a curious scholar, but the question is not nearly as simple as that. The man behind the ad is a Taverner himself: estranged, wealthy, and looking for a suitable relation to name in his will.   The case grows complicated quickly, for there are many who bear the name, several illegitimate relatives aside. Old feuds reemerge now that there is a whiff of money in the air, and the extended family converges to squabble over the cash. It is not long before there is one less Taverner, and Miss Silver, the genteel detective, is called in to find out who put the knife in his back.

A collector enlists Miss Silver's help when his valuable jewels attract criminal attention He cannot say why, but Lewis Brading is an uneasy man. A collector of valuable jewels, he has taken the utmost precautions to safeguard what is most precious to him. He houses his gems in a concrete annex, protected by a reinforced steel door, the latest security system, and his own watchful eye. No one has a key but himself and his assistant, and he doesn't doubt that his servant will remain true. The man in his employ is a criminal, and if anything should happen to Brading or his gems, the police will look to him first.   And yet, he suspects something may be wrong. He consults Maud Silver, the demure detective, and she tells him to fire his assistant and send his collection to a museum. Ignoring her advice may be the last mistake Lewis Brading ever makes.

When a broken engagement leads to murder, Miss Silver hunts for the killer Bill Waring went to America with a bright future ahead of him. In London he had a promising career and the love of a young beauty, Lila Dryden, and there were plans for marriage when he returned from overseas. But then a freak train accident puts their happiness on hold. Bill spends a month in the hospital, and when he finally makes it back to London, there is a still bigger shock awaiting him. Under pressure from a domineering aunt, Lila has become engaged to another.   She and her new fiancé-middle-aged, charmless, and rich-are in the country for the weekend. Bill follows, determined to win back Lila's heart. But when her new betrothed is stabbed to death, blame falls squarely on Bill, and only the brilliant, demure detective Maud Silver can clear his name.

When trouble starts at a newly inherited estate, Miss Silver must intervene Uncle Martin always had a dark sense of humor. Trapped for years in his manor taking care of relatives he despised, he looked forward to the day when, dead and buried, he would no longer have to concern himself with them. As a last joke, he willed his entire fortune away to a poor relation, and went to his grave a smiling man.   After years of toil, Marion Brand is shocked to learn that her unknown uncle has left her with an estate. Now she will no longer have to break her back to care for her layabout sister; she can finally be happy. But her attempt to take charge of the estate quickly becomes messy. When a body turns up, it is only the steel-trap mind of Maud Silver that can sort out the family strife.

Miss Silver searches for a lonely young woman who has disappeared Anna Ball has disappeared. For a year she has moved from one job as a nanny to another, unable to settle or make friends. After just a month with her last family, she walks down the road, steps onto a bus, and is never seen again. No one notices she has gone.   Almost no one. There is one woman who cares about Anna: a long-ago school pal named Thomasina, with whom she would trade a weekly letter. When the letters stop, she panics, knowing that if she doesn't help the girl, no one will. She seeks out Maud Silver, the kindly spinster detective, and asks for her help. A lonely girl has disappeared without a trace, and Miss Silver smells a whiff of murder in the air.

A gardener's death sends a country house into a frenzy, and Miss Silver swoops in to set things right Edward Random returns to Deeping a forgotten man. Although raised in the village's manor house, he is no longer wealthy-the result of a quarrel with an uncle, which left him out of the old man's will. For years Edward's name has not been spoken in the town, save for wild rumors that he had gone to prison for dueling, decamped to the Orient, or had simply died of mysterious circumstances. In fact, he is in good health, ready to start life where he left off, money or no money.   But the old family feud stands in his way, and the situation at the manor house grows vicious in the wake of the under-gardener William Jackson's death. Did he drown by accident, or was he murdered? Only Maud Silver, the demure but brilliant detective, can say for sure.

Miss Silver travels to the country to investigate a young man who may be deceiving his wife No one has seen Allegra Trent since she got married. Her husband swept her off her feet and out of London, to a faraway town called Bleake. She has stopped writing letters, and her family has begun to worry. Allegra's husband is a strange man, consumed with the dream of owning a ramshackle medieval estate, and he intends to use his new wife's money to do it. Why he wants to live there no one knows, but Josepha Bowden does not want his castle to become her goddaughter's prison.   She asks the help of Maud Silver, the former governess who now makes a living using her reason to unravel the intricacies of murder. There has been no killing in Bleake, but if Miss Silver doesn't intervene quickly, there could be one soon.

A desperate man's quest for money leads to murder, and Miss Silver hunts for the killer Carmona is lucky not to marry Alan Field. Charming though he may be, the young man is a rascal, and though her heart breaks when he disappears on the eve of their wedding, she is surely much better off. By the time she learns that Alan has decamped for South America, she has already given her heart to a more deserving suitor.   Several years later, Alan reappears-desperate for money and as charming as ever. An author is writing a biography of Alan's late father, and it is up to the prodigal son to go through his father's letters. He finds a bundle of scandalous correspondence, and begins to form a plan. It begins as blackmail, but quickly spins out of control. By the time the first body appears, the prim detective Maud Silver is already on the case.

An actress who fears her life is threatened comes to Miss Silver for help Mrs. Smith is not the first woman who has come to Maud Silver, the genteel private detective, claiming that someone is trying to kill her. She tells a story of attempted poisoning, a shove down a flight of stairs, and a house full of relatives who might want to push her out of the way. Miss Silver is intrigued, not least because this is not Mrs. Smith. Despite her attempt at a disguise, the detective recognizes the woman as Adriana Ford, the grand dame of the London stage. Mrs. Smith was a ruse; the attempts on her life are quite real.   There is soon a body at Adriana's country estate, but it is not the actress who has been killed. Fully interested, Miss Silver travels to the house, where she learns that the actress is not the only one who tells lies.

Miss Silver investigates a disappearance in a village near a top-secret government research facility Jenny Maxwell is a bright young child. After an automobile accident leaves her barely able to walk, she retreats into a world of fantasy, devouring novel after novel of steamy romance. Now she has begun to write, and for a twelve-year-old she shows great promise. After she sends her work off to a publisher, the house sends a representative to meet the young woman and guide her.   But the stories she tells him are hardly fictional. Trapped in her room for hours at a time, Jenny hears all. She knows about the young woman who disappeared from town, and about the strange young man who works at the nearby military research center. What sounds like harmless gossip could actually be a grave threat to national security-one which only private investigator Miss Silver is capable of unearthing.

A young woman goes to the country to reconnect with old relatives, and stumbles on a murder only Miss Silver can solve   An orphan of the Second World War, Candida Sayle has gotten so used to life with her guardian that she never considered that she might have a family somewhere. When her guardian dies, a letter appears from an unheard-of aunt, informing Candida that it is time for her to return to the Benevent family fold. The young woman ventures to the country, and finds a strange pair of spinsters who spend their days obsessing over family lore and its rumors of a long-lost Italian treasure.   Bizarre though it is, the environment comforts Candida-as do the attentions of her aunt's handsome young secretary. But her vacation goes off the rails when death strikes the house, and the brilliant detective Maud Silver joins the party to investigate the possible murder. The Benevent family history is about to get a dark new chapter.

Miss Silver searches for the killer of an oppressive old woman Althea Graham might have had a life of her own, had it not been for her mother. But when her father died she inherited her bitter, temperamental parent along with the house, and she has borne that burden ever since. She nearly escaped once, but her engagement to Nicholas Carey caused her mother to fall into illness, convincing Althea to keep living with her until the sickness claimed her life.   That was five years ago, and Mrs. Graham is as fit as ever. Althea's gloom lifts when Nicholas returns, and it appears that love may bloom again. Mother clings as tightly as ever, of course, but Althea has hope once more. Then murder comes to their household, and the young woman's last chance at happiness is dashed forever-unless Maud Silver, the gentlewoman detective, can save the day.

A deaf woman learns something she shouldn't, and she asks Miss Silver for protection Paulina Paine was buried under her house during the Blitz. She spent twenty-four hours trapped underneath the rubble, where the silence was absolute as the grave, and only after she escaped did she realize that the bomb that spared her life had taken her hearing. With difficulty, she learned to read lips-an invaluable skill that may soon get her killed.   She is at an art gallery when, quite by chance, she spies an interesting conversation across the room. Without meaning to, she eavesdrops, and learns of a shocking plan to commit a most fearsome robbery. She doesn't know what to do until she learns that, after she left, the two men asked after her, and learned about her special talent. Now only the demure detective Maud Silver can halt the robbery and save Paulina's life.

A series of cruel letters upends life in a small village, and Miss Silver searches for the anonymous scribe It is through her friend Frank Abbott, of Scotland Yard, that Miss Silver first learns of the anonymous letters. A widowed cousin of his, living in a small country village, is being tortured by an unknown author who insinuates that the young woman's husband may not have died of natural causes. It is a case of the kind of cruelty that is all too common in the countryside, and the governess-turned-detective listens with only polite interest.   Then the first death comes. Another target of the letter-writing campaign, tortured by the threats to reveal her darkest secrets, drowns herself in the manor-house pond. The Yard sends Abbott to unmask the sinister letter-writer, and he brings Miss Silver along as an undercover agent, masquerading as a tourist as she attempts to stop the next death before it happens.

Miss Silver joins a friend from Scotland Yard to investigate a suspicious suicide Frank Abbott's vacations never last very long, and his trip to Field End is no exception. He has hardly enjoyed a moment of Jonathan Field's hospitality before tragedy strikes. A niece ventures into old Jonathan's study at night to ask him a question, and finds him stone cold with a revolver by his hand. An obvious suicide, it seems, but Inspector Abbott is not so sure.   He asks his friend Maud Silver, the brilliant detective, for assistance. She agrees it must be murder. But who is the killer? Assisting their investigation is the dead man's strange habit of fingerprinting all who come to visit. But there are fingerprints all over the house, and solving this murder will require Miss Silver's particularly delicate touch.

When a question of inheritance turns fatal, Miss Silver searches for the killer Jenny has never been one to feel sorry for herself. The illegitimate child of a wealthy man and a statureless woman, she has been an orphan since before she can remember. It is a hard life made bearable only by the kindness of her guardian, an old woman named Miss Garstone, who has always treated Jenny as her own. Struck down by a motorist, "Garsty" dies, whispering to Jenny that her parents were actually married, and she is the rightful heir to the Alington fortune.   Miss Garstone was not the only one who knew the secret, and as Jenny grieves, her wealthy cousins work to protect their fortune. When the quiet conflict turns deadly, governess-turned-detective Miss Silver is the only one who can unravel the perplexing family saga.

Miss Silver helps a woman with no memory reconstruct a terrible crime She awakes in a dark place. A young woman with a shattered memory, she knows neither who she is nor how she came to be in this abandoned house. All she possesses is a faint sense that someone is lying dead at the foot of the stairs. Horrifyingly, she is correct. In the cellar lies a young woman, her body broken, her head split, her life undone by a revolver's shell. The amnesiac flees and finally has a stroke of luck: She meets Maud Silver.   A dowdy governess turned daring detective, Miss Silver sees immediately that something is wrong. She comforts the confused young woman, and coaxes out of her what little story she can tell. The memory of the body sets Miss Silver on a fantastic adventure-the last written by Patricia Wentworth, and one of the most thrilling of them all.

Three cozy mysteries in the "timelessly charming" historical series featuring a retired English governess who finds a second calling as a detective (Charlotte MacLeod). Meet Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess and little old lady who nobody notices, but who in turn notices everything. Dark Threat: Judy Elliot leaves war-torn London for a job as a maid in the peaceful countryside. But something's not right at the house known as Pilgrim's Rest. Fortunately Miss Silver is skilled at shedding light on deadly secrets . . . Latter End: Wealthy Mrs. Lois Latter thinks she has everything, but that doesn't stop someone from giving her poison. And with the late matron's long list of enemies, Miss Silver has her work cut out for her . . . Wicked Uncle: Gregory Porlock didn't become one of Britain's most powerful men by following the rules. But when he's found with a knife in his back, the game is over. Now Miss Maud Silver must deduce who's playing dirty.

Three mysteries featuring governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver. Retired governess Maud Silver is about as unlikely a sleuth that Scotland Yard has ever seen-but her unassuming manner only helps her unravel their most mystifying cases. Miss Silver Comes to Stay: While visiting an old school chum in the rustic town of Melling, Miss Silver soon finds that its bucolic charm hides undercurrents of murderous vengeance. When Melling's prodigal son returns with a lot of money and a long-held grudge against the town, he intends to sell his manor house and be done with Melling forever. But this cozy English hamlet isn't finished with him . . . and it may be about to finish him off. Mr. Brading's Collection: Jewel collector Lewis Brading leaves little to chance, housing his gems in a concrete annex protected by the latest security system and his own watchful eye. But he still suspects something might be wrong. He consults Maud Silver, who tells him to send his collection to a museum as soon as possible. Ignoring her advice may be the last mistake Brading ever makes . . . The Ivory Dagger: Bill Waring had a promising career and the love of a young beauty-until a freak train accident puts him in the hospital for a month. When he gets out, he is stunned to learn that his beloved has become engaged to another. Determined to win her back, Bill follows her and her charmless new fiancé on a weekend in the country. When her new betrothed is stabbed to death, blame falls squarely on Bill-and only the brilliant, demure Maud Silver can clear his name. These charming British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting belie a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The first three novels in the classic Miss Silver Mysteries introduce Patricia Wentworth's beloved British governess-turned-sleuth. In The Grey Mask, Miss Maud Silver investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. Strangely, he finds his family estate unlocked and sees a light in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.   Charles's first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice: Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Silver, a former governess who applies her reason to solving crimes and facing the dangers of London's underworld.   In The Case Is Closed, Miss Silver fights to free an innocent man when a new clue arises in a long-closed murder inquiry. Marion Grey is growing used to the idea that her husband will never be released from prison, especially after the horrors of the very public trial. But when new evidence suggests her husband may be innocent after all, she hires a professional-the inimitable Miss Silver-to clear his name.   In a chance encounter on a busy train, a friend of Marion's meets a mysterious man who disappeared during the trial, and who may know something that could set Marion's husband free. But who is he, and where has he gone? To find out, the demure detective Miss Silver must track him down-or risk becoming a victim herself.   In Lonesome Road, a terrified young woman asks Miss Silver for help unmasking someone who has threatened her life. Rachel Traherne has been receiving menacing letters about her deceased father's fortune. The first two letters were vague; the third said simply, "Get ready to die."   Since then, Rachel has nearly been killed three times: first by a flight of sabotaged stairs, second by fire, and third by a box of poisoned chocolates. She fears the culprit may be a family member, jealous of her inheritance and willing to kill for it. But who could it be? Miss Silver is going to find out.   These charming traditional British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting disguise a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The British governess-turned-sleuth continues her witty, inquisitive ways. Retired governess Maud Silver has discovered an entirely new calling: private detection. And though she may seem an unlikely sleuth, Scotland Yard needs her more than ever in this charming series. The Case of William Smith: William Smith isn't sure what his name is, but he knows it isn't William Smith. That was the name the Nazis gave him in 1942, when he was sent to die in one of their nightmarish camps. Now the war is over and he's back in England, ready to start over. But even a man with no past can't escape history. And if Miss Silver can figure out his true identity, his enemies are going to finish what they started. Eternity Ring: Det. Sgt. Frank Abbot thought he'd spend a quiet holiday at his family's estate. Instead, he hears wild tales of a man dragging a murdered girl into the woods. Naturally, he calls his friend, Miss Maud Silver, to take a look. But when no one can locate the body of the rumored victim and the sole witness suffers a broken neck, the only thing Miss Silver knows for sure is that the pastoral peace of this town masks something far more sinister. The Catherine Wheel: When a wealthy man named Taverner places a newspaper ad looking for distant relatives to add to his will, several possible relations appear from all over England. But with the scent of money in the air, old feuds reemerge and the extended family squabbles over the cash. It's not long before there is one less Taverner, and Miss Silver is called in to find out who put the knife in his back. These charming British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting belie a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Retired governess and teacher Maud Silver has found a new calling: private detection. With her knitting needles and fondness for Tennyson, she may seem an unlikely sleuth, but Scotland Yard would be lost without her. In the Balance: On a train back to London, Miss Silver meets a frightened new bride. Lisle Jerningham has fled her home after overhearing a seemingly sinister conversation. Her husband's first wife died in an apparent accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now he's broke again. Will he attempt a second convenient mishap? The Chinese Shawl: Actress Tanis Lyle may lack professional training, but her natural charisma seems to hypnotize all who meet her. The rising star has just finished filming her first motion picture. Unfortunately, it will turn out to be her last. Who did Tanis fail to charm? The answer could lie with a distant cousin and a long-standing family feud. Miss Silver Deals with Death: In wartime London, the once grand Vandeleur House has been divided into flats, its glorious façade now concealing a nest of intrigue. When one inhabitant reports she's being blackmailed by another, Miss Silver is brought in to sort out the suspects from the residents, which include a woman who lost her fiancé after their ship was struck by a Nazi torpedo and a sleepwalking maid with a curious past.

Retired governess and teacher Maud Silver has a new profession: private detective. And though she may seem a kindly and demure pensioner, she can solve crimes right alongside the best Scotland Yard has to offer in this charming series. Out of the Past: Alan Field is a charming, handsome young man with a predilection for causing trouble and breaking hearts. But when he learns that an author is writing a biography of his late father, it's up to Alan to go through his father's letters-where he finds a bundle of scandalous correspondence and forms a plan. It begins as blackmail and ends with a dead body. And that's where Miss Silver comes in. The Silent Pool: Actress Adriana Ford is afraid-and with good reason. Someone is trying to kill her. So she goes to Miss Silver for help finding out who wants her dead. It could be anyone: a stalker, an obsessed fan, even her own family. Then, a body is found at Adriana's estate, and Miss Silver travels to the countryside where she learns that Adriana may not have been telling her the whole truth-and that the truth may get her killed. Vanishing Point: Jenny Maxwell is a bright, young disabled child who writes stories of fantasy. But they are only barely fictional. Trapped in her room for hours at a time, Jenny hears all. She knows about the young woman who disappeared from town, and about the strange young man who works at the nearby military research center. What sounds like harmless gossip could actually be a grave threat to national security-one which only Miss Silver is capable of unearthing. Benevent Treasure: As a WWII orphan, Candida Sayle has never considered that she might have a family somewhere. Then she receives a letter from an unheard-of aunt, inviting Candida to rejoin the Benevent family. The young woman ventures to the country, and the environment comforts Candida-as do the attentions of her aunt's handsome young secretary. But her vacation goes off the rails when death strikes the house, and the brilliant detective Maud Silver joins the party to investigate the possible murder. These charming traditional British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting disguise a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

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.

Marvelous retired governess and teacher Maud Silver may seem like a kindly old soul. But with her keen mind and spritely demeanor, she's Scotland Yard's secret weapon against crime. Through the Wall: After years of toil caring for her layabout sister, Marian Brand is shocked when her unknown uncle leaves her his entire estate. Now, she can finally be happy. But her uncle made a lot of postmortem enemies when he cut them out of his will, so claiming the riches will make them her enemies, too. Before long someone is dead-and it's up to Miss Maud Silver to find the killer. Death at the Deep End: Anna Ball was never one to put down roots. For the past year, she moved from one job as a nanny to another, unable to settle or make friends. Then one day she simply vanished. The only one who noticed she was gone is an old school friend who seeks out Miss Silver for help. A lonely girl has disappeared without a trace, and Miss Silver smells a whiff of murder in the air. The Watersplash: Edward Random returns to the town of Greenings after years away, trying to start his life anew. But an old family feud stands in his way, and the situation at the Random manor house grows vicious in the wake of under-gardener William Jackson's death. Did he drown by accident, or was he murdered? Only Miss Silver can say for sure. Ladies' Bane: No one has seen Allegra Trent since she got married and moved to the faraway town of Bleake. For years she put off visits from her family again and again, and then stopped writing at all. Then, suddenly, Allegra urges her sister to come visit. At first, Ione is puzzled, but upon her arrival she suspects that ominous forces are at work. When an unexpected death occurs and her worst suspicions are confirmed, Miss Silver is the only one who can uncover the truth. These charming traditional British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting disguise a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.