Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth, for the #1949Club

In Miss Silver’s 15th outing, she just happens to be staying with a school friend when a murder takes place. Does she have precognition? I couldn’t help wondering what her fave, Alfred, Lord Tennyson would say about this. In Locksley Hall, his narrator says:

“For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be . . .”

Miss Silver’s vision is a very moral world view where right and wrong are clear. And even if she wasn’t expecting a murder, it saves a lot of time for the author to have the detective on site, plus an astute observer like Miss Silver will have already gathered a lot of information about the community.

Nearly 25 years ago, James Lessiter and Rietta Cray fell in love, but neither had any money and the relationship ended. He left Melling to make his fortune and Rietta stayed home, caring for an ailing parent and bringing up her orphaned nephew, Carr Robertson. Now, James’ mother has died, he has returned to administer her estate, and all the gossipy neighbors wonder if he and Rietta will get back together. Rietta’s bestie, Catherine, was jealous of James’ interest back then and would still be, except she has a bigger problem. She has been living in Mrs. Lessiter’s guest house with borrowed furniture and bric-a-brac, pretending it all was a gift – now James wants it back – and some has been sold. Carr also has a reason to dislike James so is the prime suspect when James is murdered. Can Miss Silver save the day when the local police think they have their murderer?

Patricia Wentworth can sometimes be predictable so I was delighted that Miss Silver Comes to Stay had a few surprises. In two books I have read recently, the reconciliation of former romantic partners is an important part of the plot, so I was expecting James to be the hero. In Grey Mask, Charles Moray left the country when his fiancée broke the engagement with no explanation, and he still loves her (she had the kind of reason that it was stupid not to share with him). In The Dower House Mystery, Amabel Grey had fallen in love with Julian but was already engaged and honored her engagement – once she is widowed, Julian returned, still single, if a bit hostile.

But Rietta has moved on and, among her admirers, is a kind-hearted and supportive vicar. And she reveals that she broke her engagement to James back in the day because he killed his dog, so of course there can be no question of reconciliation – in fact, there are several reasons by he deserves to be murdered (so to speak).

Another good surprise is the appearance of Chief Constable Randal March, a recurring character in Wentworth’s mysteries, although she will never admit this former student is her favorite:

Miss Silver rose to greet him with a good deal of pleasure. She could not even now look at the tall, personable man without recalling the frail, determined little boy who, after resisting all previous efforts at discipline, had by her own peculiar mixture of tact and firmness been guided into the paths of health and knowledge.

A funny thing in this book is the characters’ awareness that there are eavesdroppers on the telephone line: Miss Silver speaks French to Randal March at one point and Rietta speaks to her nephew in German. It would be funny if one of these carefully-conducted conversations were incomprehensible to its recipient. I am reminded of Surfeit of Lampreys where the family members discuss their murdered uncle in French, assuming Mr. Fox won’t understand them, but he’s been improving his mind with lessons and is fairly fluent, so it is just their friend Roberta who has no idea what they are plotting and reveals that she is out of the loop when questioned (this is a much better Ngaio Marsh than the one I read earlier this week).

This review is for the #1949Club, hosted by Simon at StuckinaBook and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, in which bloggers are invited to read and review books that were published in a chosen year. I’ve been trying to read all the Wentworths in order but had to skip a few to reach the right year. This is really good one with many plausible suspects, some slimy characters, and Miss Silver solving the murder when an annoying detective (not Randal) has jumped to the wrong conclusions.

Title: Miss Silver Comes to Stay
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publication: HarperCollins, trade paperback, originally published in 1949
Genre: Mystery/Series
Source: Personal Copy

Reading Miss Silver Comes to Stay also contributed to this challenge:

• Cloak and Dagger Challenge 2026