Danger Point aka In the Balance by Patricia Wentworth

If you are experiencing a crisis, running into Miss Silver on the London train is most fortuitous. In her kind, decisive way, she asks the young woman what is wrong.

“I came away in a hurry.”

“Why?” said Miss Silver.

“They said he was trying to kill me,” said Lisle Jerningham.

Miss Silver betrayed neither surprise nor incredulity. It was not the first time she had received a similar confidence. It was in fact her professional business to deal with such confidences.

“Dear me,” she said – “and who is supposed to be trying to kill you?”

Lisle Jerningham said, “My husband.”

Lisle does have some reason for concern. Her husband’s first wife, also an heiress, died under mysterious circumstances, and she herself recently escaped drowning. As a newlywed, she has been living in her husband’s cherished home, Tanfield, with Dale; his cousin, Rafe, and his recently widowed cousin, Alicia. The estate is a money pit, besides which Lisle finds it dark and intimidating, so she was relieved when her trustee has not allowed her to use capital to support it. When she overhears one of Dale’s friends speculating that Lisle was married for her money and wondering if she too will experience an accident, she is frightened and wonders if her husband can be trusted.

As Miss Silver often says (although not in this book), quoting Tennyson, “And trust me not at all or all in all.”  But Lisle is too traumatized to trust anyone and passes up the opportunity to hire her own detective and returns to Tanfield. She is not one of my favorite Wentworth heroines as she is too passive and is always on the verge of fainting. However, there are several things that are interesting about this fourth book in the series.

Miss Silver returns home but continues to worry about Lisle, who by now has made and canceled an appointment with her. She decides to travel down to Ledlington, near Tanfield, where Randal March, for whose family she was once the governess, is now the Police Inspector. Recently, they worked together on “the affair of the poisoned caterpillars.” I have seen other references to this case and always assumed that once I read the series in order, I would come across it. This time I tried to find the answer online and found others had also speculated but determined Wentworth just referred to it for color. 

Gossip plays a big part in Wentworth’s books. Miss Silver can coax information out of anyone when she pulls out her knitting, and she uses this skill to get background about her cases. But malicious gossip can also be upsetting and when Lisle overhears a jealous ex-flame of Dale’s speculating about her, she is devastated. A stronger personality would laugh it off or hire Miss Silver but Lisle is so afraid she cannot do anything but wait. Dilly, dilly, come and be killed, as the nursery rhyme goes. Is the murderer someone close to her or, conveniently, the recently sacked employee?

I prefer the books where Miss Silver plays a bigger part but I like her relationship with her former pupil, Randal March. At one point, she makes an astute guess, and he is astonished, saying, “I am always expecting you to whip out a broomstick and ride away.” While she does not approve of such levity, she does enjoy showing off her knowledge! 

In the Balance was the U.S. title buy my copy was published as Danger Point. This is my ninth book for Carol's Cloak and Dagger Challenge.

Title: Danger Point aka In the Balance
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publication: Coronet, paperback, originally published in 1942
Genre: Mystery/series
Source: Personal copy