The Miss Silver Mysteries, Volume One

The first three novels in the classic Miss Silver Mysteries introduce Patricia Wentworth's beloved British governess-turned-sleuth. In The Grey Mask, Miss Maud Silver investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. Strangely, he finds his family estate unlocked and sees a light in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.   Charles's first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice: Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Silver, a former governess who applies her reason to solving crimes and facing the dangers of London's underworld.   In The Case Is Closed, Miss Silver fights to free an innocent man when a new clue arises in a long-closed murder inquiry. Marion Grey is growing used to the idea that her husband will never be released from prison, especially after the horrors of the very public trial. But when new evidence suggests her husband may be innocent after all, she hires a professional-the inimitable Miss Silver-to clear his name.   In a chance encounter on a busy train, a friend of Marion's meets a mysterious man who disappeared during the trial, and who may know something that could set Marion's husband free. But who is he, and where has he gone? To find out, the demure detective Miss Silver must track him down-or risk becoming a victim herself.   In Lonesome Road, a terrified young woman asks Miss Silver for help unmasking someone who has threatened her life. Rachel Traherne has been receiving menacing letters about her deceased father's fortune. The first two letters were vague; the third said simply, "Get ready to die."   Since then, Rachel has nearly been killed three times: first by a flight of sabotaged stairs, second by fire, and third by a box of poisoned chocolates. She fears the culprit may be a family member, jealous of her inheritance and willing to kill for it. But who could it be? Miss Silver is going to find out.   These charming traditional British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver-whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting disguise a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases-are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.