Lonesome Road

Miss Maud Silver, governess-turned-sleuth, follows a trail of poison-pen letters to save an heiress from a murderer.

 

The plate over the bell at London’s Montague Mansions reads “Miss Silver, Private Enquiries.” Despite having an appointment, Rachel Treherne hesitates. Even as a young woman, Rachel always had a steady head on her shoulders; it’s why her late father, Rollo Treherne, named her the sole trustee of his considerable fortune. So Rachel fears she may be overreacting to the anonymous letters she’s received threatening her life.

 

After he struck oil in America, Rollo Treherne became a very rich man, but he never forgot the poverty he knew as a child. In his will, he entrusted his younger daughter with the task of ensuring his vast wealth would benefit only worthy causes—and worthy people. The decision galled a number of Rachel’s relatives, including her married older sister, her socialist nephew, and her father’s ambitious young cousin.

 

And someone did, after all, tamper with the chocolates Rachel bought herself as a special treat. If Rachel’s spinster cousin hadn’t partaken first and noticed an unwholesome taste, who knows what may have happened? As Miss Silver listens to her client’s tale, the retired-governess-turned-private-detective suspects that someone in Rachel’s inner circle has grown tired of being a poor relation.

 

Miss Silver travels incognito to the Treherne country home to unmask the culprit—before it’s too late—in this intriguing entry in the beloved series featuring a contemporary of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple.



Lonesome Road is the 3rd book in the Miss Silver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.



“Miss Wentworth is a first-rate storyteller.” —The Daily Telegraph

 

“Patricia Wentworth has created a great detective in Miss Silver, the little old lady who nobody notices, but who in turn notices everything.” —Paula Gosling, author of the Jack Stryker mystery series

 

“Miss Wentworth’s plot is ingenious, her characterization acute, her solution satisfying.” —The Scotsman

 

 

Patricia 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.