Böcker av Patricia Wentworth

New Year's Eve, 1940, is unusual for the Paradine family. Departing from tradition, James Paradine makes a speech that changes the course of many lives. Valuable documents have disappeared. A member of the family has taken them. The culprit has until midnight to confess and return the papers. A few minutes after twelve James Paradine is dead. It is left to Miss Silver to disentangle the threads that bind the Paradine family in a strange web of dislike, hatred and fear.

Nothing much ever seemed to happen in the sleepy village of Hazel Green apart from the occasional tea-party, spiced with local gossip. Until Maggie Bell went out one evening for a breath of fresh air and never came back. Could Maggie's disappearance be linked to security leaks at the nearby Air Ministry? Or is a sinister scheme being hatched closer to home? Miss Silver is called in to solve the mystery just as a second person goes missing ...

Martin Brand's relatives are furious that he's left his large estate to his niece, Marion, whom he had only met once. And Marion is upset that she has to share her new home with Martin's family. Then a body is found on the beach wearing her coat. Fortunately Miss Silver is on the scene.

It's nearing the end of WWII, and Michael Harsh has been working for the government on a secret project for years. Finally he is ready to hand over the formula. But the next morning he is dead. It looks like suicide. Only Miss Silver knows it's murder.

James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea. The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the old house and replaces it with a mounting tension, culminating in murder. Fortunately, Miss Silver is present to unravel the complex mystery and seek out the murderer amongst them.

For Althea Graham, suffering the whims of her malevolent invalid of a mother, the old family home is a prison. So when two strangely competitive offers for the Graham's house are made to her it suggests that house may hold some dark rewarding secret. Then old Mrs Graham is found murdered in the gazebo ...

Anne Jocelyn had been a beautiful, wealthy young woman. She had died three years ago. At least, that was what her husband Philip and the rest of the family had always thought. But then a woman calling herself Anne Jocelyn appeared and managed to convince everyone that she was the real Anne. Everyone, that is, except Miss Silver, whose suspicions are aroused by an apparently senseless murder.

They hoped he would never come back . . .Who was William Smith? And why was Mavis Jones so horrified to see him?For seven years William had worked as a woodcarver for the local toyshop, ignorant of his true identity. The war had robbed him of his memory, and no one expected him to ever find the answer. So when he took his work to Evesleys Ltd, why was his life instantly in danger?When William makes the frightening discovery that there are people determined not to let his memory return whatever the cost, Miss Silver is called in to investigate. But will she uncover their treachery before Mavis strikes again...?

There is a curse on the Benevents . . .Somewhere among the dust and cobwebs of the sinister Benevent Mansion lies the legendary Benevent treasure. But a terrible death has been prophesied for whoever uncovers it.When Candida Sayle is invited to visit her elderly maiden aunts, she dismisses such gloomy thoughts. But as Candida begins to discover the family's dark secrets she puts herself in grave danger.Thankfully Miss Silver has investigative skills of her own.

Charming men can be the most dangerous . . .Jenny is 18 when her guardian is killed and her wealthy relations the Forbes invite her to stay. Consoled by the affectionate attentions of their little girls and the charming elder son, she starts to find her feet again.Then she overhears a private conversation and realises she is in terrible danger. Terrified and bewildered, Jenny flees from the village, desperately hoping her enemies will forget all about her. But she's wrong . . .

A classic mystery novel from one of the mistresses of the genre.First she felt herself being pushed downstairs. Then there was the bowl of poisoned mushroom soup. Finally the tampered-with tablet amongst her sleeping pills was the last straw. Adriana Ford, famous actress and mistress of the house decided to call in Miss Silver. And Maud Silver, with impeccable logic, pointed out that the person who was trying to kill her must be a member of her own household.And then the murders started...

A classic mystery novel from one of the mistresses of the genre.Things had never been quite the same at Latter End since Lois had taken over. Suddenly life seemed to be an endless succession of bitter family rows which Lois, needless to say, invariably won.More than one person at Latter End found themselves stretched to the limit by Lois and her bullying, and it was only a matter of time before somebody snapped. It was unthinkable of course . . . but if anyone ever murdered Lois Latter, it would be very embarrassing to discover just how many people might have wished her dead.

James Cray was always a cruel man . . .When he was 21 James Lessiter told Henrietta Cray that he loved her before all things and so broke Catherine Lee's heart. But James has a side to him that most people do not see. When the engagement is broken off noone is sure why and Rietta refuses to explain.Twenty years later James returns to the village an extremely wealthy man. Rietta is still unmarried and Catherine is a penniless widow living in a cottage on the Lessiter estate.Trouble is inevitable, for Catherine has started to sell some of the valuable contents of the cottage to keep up a lifestyle she cannot afford but James has his suspicions and is looking forward to exposing her. He has always enjoyed seeing someone else suffer whatever the cost.

A classic mystery novel from one of the mistresses of the genre.Bill Waring, collecting his wits in hospital after a train crash, receives only one letter from Lila Dryden, his fianc e. When he discovers Lady Dryden, Lila's guardian, has pressured her into an engagement with Herbert Whitall, he is furious.Herbert Whitall is aggressive, with a cold-hearted possessiveness that expands past the bounds of his ivory collection he can't bear to lose. His employees hate him, Lila is terrified of him and it appears he has a hold on Lady Dryden.When a dagger in Whitall's collection becomes the instrument of his own death there are many suspects. Maud Silver must see that justice is done, not merely to punish the guilty, but to protect the innocent.

A witness who remembers nothing is in mortal danger.A young woman regains consciousness and finds herself on some cellar steps. At the bottom of the steps there is the corpse of a dead girl. She cannot remember who she is, what has happened or why she is there. Terrified and confused she manages to find a way out and as she flees she runs into Miss Silver, who offers to help her.A letter in her bag is the only clue to her identity. But by investigating what has happened to her will she find herself in danger? Can she trust the letter writer? And who is the girl in the cellar?

Murder on haunted ground . . .Mary Stokes was walking through Dead Man's Copse one evening when she saw, in the beam of a torch, the corpse of a young woman dressed in a black coat, black gloves, no hat and an eternity ring set with diamonds in her ear. But when she and Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott went back to the wood the body had vanished.This would have been mystery enough for Miss Silver to solve if a woman had not also reported that her lodger had gone out on Friday dressed in a black coat, black beret, black shoes and large hoop earrings 'set all round with little diamonds like those eternity rings.' She never came back...

When she found the body of her beloved Uncle Jonathan, Georgina instinctively stooped to pick up the revolver, thus becoming the prime suspect. Georgina stood to inherit a large fortune when her uncle died. But her uncle had a second secret will and the beneficiary is the wide-eyed ingenue Mirrie Fields. But there was also the puzzle of the missing fingerprint. It was the showpiece of Uncle Jonathan's collection. He had acquired it from a self-confessed murderer, who was still at large. When the old man was shot, the print had been torn from its album. Was the missing fingerprint the clue to the murderer's identity? Maud Silver is determined to find out.

The Catherine-Wheel had once been a home for pirates and smugglers, but now is looked like it was harbouring a murderer.There was a certain heavy air of intrigue and mystery emanating from the old inn high on the cliff top. The Catherine-Wheel had once been a home for pirates and smugglers, but now is looked like it was harbouring a murderer.It had begun with an advertisement in the paper requesting descendants of the late innkeeper, Jeremiah Taverner, to stay for a weekend at the inn. They had arrived, a mixed assortment, to the family reunion eager to discover the secrets of their ancestry. But one of them had been hideously murdered, bringing the inn's stormy past into frightening focus.Scotland Yard, already suspicious of dope smuggling in the area, sends Maud Silver to investigate before the fireworks start to fly.

The Everton murder case has long been closed. The culprit has been charged with the murder of his uncle and has served a year of his sentence already. Or has he?The evidence against Geoffrey Grey is convincing but his wife believes in his innocence. And so does her young cousin, Hilary, who decides to solve the mystery herself.But when Hilary herself is nearly murdered she turns in desperation to her ex-fiance for help. He calls upon the services of Miss Silver to help solve another mystery, which she does in her own original style..

Lewis Brading loves only one thing his collection of jewels. Not only are the gems extremely valuable but also every piece has a fascinating and bloody history attached to it. However Lewis is a frightened and difficult man who sees thieves around every corner. When he asks Miss Silver for help, she gives him some sound advice and turns him away. A few days later, she receives a letter from him, again asking for help. But it is too late. In the morning paper is the news of his murder. Lewis Brading loves only one thing his collection of jewels. Not only are the gems extremely valuable but also every piece has a fascinating and bloody history attached to it. However Lewis is a frightened and difficult man who sees thieves around every corner. When he asks Miss Silver for help, she gives him some sound advice and turns him away. A few days later, she receives a letter from him, again asking for help. But it is too late. In the morning paper is the news of his murder.