Miss Maud Silver is a retired governess-turned-private detective. Like Miss Marple, Miss Silver's age and demeanor make her appear harmless. Some admire the character, believing that "while Miss Marple may receive ten times the attention as Miss Silver, […] the woefully neglected Miss Silver is the real deal – a professional investigator and stand-up woman, a true forerunner of all future female private eyes."[1] Others disagree, claiming that the character "has none of the credibility of […] Miss Marple […]. Her spinsterish appearance is inconsistent with her sensational behavior and also with the far-fetched plots of the novels she features in."[2]
Wentworth wrote a series of 32 crime novels in the classic whodunit style, featuring Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess and teacher who becomes a professional private detective, in London, England. Miss Silver works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott, and is fond of quoting the poet Tennyson. Miss Silver is sometimes compared to Jane Marple, the elderly detective created by Agatha Christie.[3]
"Miss Silver is well known in the better circles of society, and she finds entree to the troubled households of the upper classes with little difficulty. In most of Miss Silver's cases there is a young couple whose romance seems ill fated because of the murder to be solved, but in Miss Silver's competent hands the case is solved, the young couple are exonerated, and all is right in this very traditional world."[4]
Others have argued that Miss Silver's seemingly "passive" knitting in fact gives her "narrative presence" and "a legitimate voice."[5]
Novels
Grey Mask, 1928
The Case is Closed, 1937
Lonesome Road, 1939
Danger Point (U.S. title: In the Balance), 1941
The Chinese Shawl, 1943
Miss Silver Intervenes (U.S. title: Miss Silver Deals with Death), 1943
The Clock Strikes Twelve, 1944
The Key, 1944
The Traveller Returns (U.S. title: She Came Back), 1945
Pilgrim's Rest (also published as Dark Threat), 1946
Latter End, 1947
Spotlight (U.S. title: Wicked Uncle), 1947
Eternity Ring, 1948
The Case of William Smith, 1948
Miss Silver Comes to Stay, 1949
The Catherine Wheel, 1949
Through the Wall, 1950
The Brading Collection (also published as Mr. Brading's Collection), 1950
The Ivory Dagger, 1951
Anna, Where Are You? (also published as Death at Deep End), 1951
The Watersplash, 1951
Ladies' Bane, 1952
Out of the Past, 1953
Vanishing Point, 1953
The Silent Pool, 1954
The Benevent Treasure, 1953
The Listening Eye, 1955
Poison in the Pen, 1955
The Gazebo (also published as The Summerhouse), 1956
^Swanson, Jean; James, Dean (1998). Killer Books: A Reader's Guide to Exploring the Popular World of Mystery and Suspense. New York: Berkley.
^Sağlam, Berkem. "Spinning the Tale: Spinster Detectives and the Construction of Narrative in the Miss Silver Mysteries." Folklor/edebiyat 26 (2020), pp. 317-318.
References
Shaw, Marion; Sabine Vanacker (1991). Reflecting on Miss Marple. Taylor & Francis. ISBN0-415-01794-7.
Sağlam, Berkem. "Spinning the Tale: Spinster Detectives and the Construction of Narrative in the Miss Silver Mysteries." Folklor/edebiyat 26 (2020), pp. 317-328. DOI:10.22559/folklor.1147.
