A gardener’s death sends a country house into a frenzy, and a governess-turned-sleuth digs in to the case: “Miss Silver is marvelous” (Daily Mail).
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.
Patricia Wentworth (1878–1961) was one of the masters of classic English mystery writing. Born in India as Dora Amy Elles, she began writing after the death of her first husband, publishing her first novel in 1910. In the 1920s, she introduced the character who would make her famous: Miss Maud Silver, the former governess whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting served to disguise a keen intellect. Along with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Miss Silver is the definitive embodiment of the English style of cozy mysteries.