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pencils's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
melissa_who_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed this one - a murder by mistake. The only thing was ... I expected the first death to be wrapped up with the other, and it was left there, an "accident."
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
A bit different from many of the Miss Silver books, but very enjoyable.
lileuw's review
2.0
I loved reading this book, it was a quick read and it was a really nice story. But then I finished and started thinking about it, and I realised that this is not my favourite Patricia Wentworth, if anything, I believe it’s the one I dislike the most.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
david_megginson's review against another edition
3.0
One of Wentworth's last novels. There's a lot of repetition, and it seems like an early draft that should have gone through a couple more rounds of editing to tighten it up.
Interestingly, the novel reveals the murderer's identity right away, so it's a bit more like Columbo, watching how the characters in the novel figure out something that the reader already knows.
Interestingly, the novel reveals the murderer's identity right away, so it's a bit more like Columbo, watching how the characters in the novel figure out something that the reader already knows.
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
3.0
I would give this book more of a 3.5 stars than a plain 3.
lileuw's review against another edition
2.0
I loved reading this book, it was a quick read and it was a really nice story. But then I finished and started thinking about it, and I realised that this is not my favourite Patricia Wentworth, if anything, I believe it’s the one I dislike the most.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
rosalita923's review against another edition
4.0
A young woman grows up in an English village knowing that she is the illegitimate daughter of the heir to the wealthy Forbes family. Sadly he is killed in World War II before he can marry her (comparatively) lower-class mother. When the mother dies giving birth to Jenny, the child is brought up by her parent's old governess, who cares for her with much love and affection. But when the governess is felled by a hit-and-run accident, she manages before she dies to whisper to Jenny that her mother and father really were married — making Jenny the heiress to the Forbes estate and not the poor relation who is condescendingly offered a job looking after the family's young children. But Jenny has to wonder: Is it true about her parents? How can she prove it? And who else knows the truth — and what would they be willing to do to make sure it stays a secret?
Maybe it's because we are approaching the end of the Miss Silver series (this is the penultimate book) but I found myself thoroughly enjoying this entry. It's true that there really isn't much of a mystery here; it's quite clear early on who the villain is, and the victim sadly is not one of the patented Wentworth "they had it coming" variety. But Jenny is an appealing main character, and the obligatory romance is not as eye-rollingly silly as they sometimes are in this series. And who could fail to be charmed by young ruffian Dicky Pratt, who turns out to hold the key that Miss Silver, in concert with her willing acolyte, Detective Inspector Frank Abbott, needs to unlock the solution?
Maybe it's because we are approaching the end of the Miss Silver series (this is the penultimate book) but I found myself thoroughly enjoying this entry. It's true that there really isn't much of a mystery here; it's quite clear early on who the villain is, and the victim sadly is not one of the patented Wentworth "they had it coming" variety. But Jenny is an appealing main character, and the obligatory romance is not as eye-rollingly silly as they sometimes are in this series. And who could fail to be charmed by young ruffian Dicky Pratt, who turns out to hold the key that Miss Silver, in concert with her willing acolyte, Detective Inspector Frank Abbott, needs to unlock the solution?
lileuw's review against another edition
2.0
I loved reading this book, it was a quick read and it was a really nice story. But then I finished and started thinking about it, and I realised that this is not my favourite Patricia Wentworth, if anything, I believe it’s the one I dislike the most.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
Now the story itself isn’t bad, it’s interesting, a murder happens and it was supposed to be Jenny that should’ve been killed, but someone else dies. What we need to remember is that Jenny is 18 years old and lives what happens to be her aunt. But then BOTH her cousins want to marry her? One for love reasons, the other one because he’s a gigantic ass. I know it was normal to marry your cousin in that time, and still is in some countries, but still… Jenny always lived in this village and never met anyone, she doesn’t go to school and she is an au pair to her family, because she can get along with the children that her aunt never wanted.
The more I think about this book, the more problematic it is. Children get neglected in it, Jenny who is still a girl deals with multiple traumatic experiences in her life but seems FINE throughout the book????
The story is quite improbable too. Jenny leaves her family to safe herself, than meets her 3rd cousin she never met on the road at 12 am at night and she just jumps into his car and they leave to his place. For someone who wants to save her life, she’s making the most stupid mistake in her life doing that.
Also, Miss Silver doesn’t appear in the book up until three quarters in. I’m here for the detective work, not all the trivial stuff around it???
I don’t know, I liked reading this book, but it’s so problematic and there is so much insta-love that I just don’t want to like this book anymore? If you want to read the whole Miss Silver series, read it by all means, otherwise, don’t. Just pick a different Miss Silver because this one is just too problematic and it’s annoying.
belovedsnail's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0