Crime Fiction Alphabet: Letter W

Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise sponsors The Aphabet in Crime Fiction community meme. your post MUST be related to the first letter of the book's title, the first letter of the author's first name or the first letter of the author's surname. You can write a book review or a bio of an author so long as it fits the rules somehow.

We are heading into the home stretch and this week we are featuring the Letter W. And I'm going to put the spotlight on Patricia Wentworth. Wentworth was the pen name for Dora Amy Elles. She was a British crime fiction writer best known for her series of 32 novels featuring Miss Silver. Miss Silver is a detective made in the mold of Jane Marple. A retired governess, whose experience with young human nature has sharpened her insights, Miss Silver is often seen at work with Inspector Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard and frequently is brought into cases by her former charges. There is generally a romance in the offing and, of course, the young people--if suspected--are soon exonerated and all is right with the world. A nice line of cozy mysteries. The only draw-back to the series, in my opinion, is that someone, sometime should offer Miss Silver a cough drop. Her little, deprecating cough gets on the nerves...just a bit. Wentworth also wrote 34 mysteries outside the series.

Miss Silver 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
• The Fingerprint, 1956
• The Alington Inheritance, 1958
• The Girl in the Cellar, 1961