Poison in the Pen

Patricia Wentworth

Aug 2011 · The Miss Silver Mysteries Book 29 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

Miss Silver comes to the aid of Scotland Yard when a village is turned upside-down by cruel anonymous letters: “A first-rate storyteller” (The Daily Telegraph).
 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.

Ratings and reviews

I found myself skimming through paragraphs because of the constant rehashing of events told by different people and the descriptions of chairs and curtains and bed spreads. Asides from that the mystery was pretty engrossing and with a twist you may not see coming- depending on the books you read.

About the author

DIVPatricia 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.
/div