Watersplash

Miss Silver is marvelous

in this classic British mystery in which a gardener's death rocks a country house, and a governess-turned-sleuth digs into the case. (Daily Mail).

Edward Random returns to Deeping

a forgotten man. Although raised in the village's manor house, he is no longer wealthy—the result of a quarrel with an uncle, which left him out of the old man's will. For years Edward's name has not been spoken in the town, save for wild rumors that he had gone to prison for dueling, decamped to the Orient, or had simply died of mysterious circumstances. In fact, he is in good health, ready to start life where he left off, money or no money.

But the old family feud stands in his way, and the situation at the manor house grows vicious in the wake of the under-gardener William Jackson's death. Did he drown by accident, or was he murdered? Only Maud Silver, the demure but brilliant detective, can say for sure.

Praise for the writing of Patricia Wentworth:

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, CWA Gold Dagger Award winner

Some of the best examples of the British country-house murder mystery. —Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine