The Silent Pool

At some point over the last couple of years an executive at Hodder Headline made the decision to reprint the detective stories of Patricia Wentworth. I do not know how much this person is paid but it is not enough for this is the kind of move that brings the publishing industry into high regard amongst those of us who enjoy a GOOD READ. Patricia Wentworth is one of that elite group that come to mind when the so called Golden Age of detective fiction is mentioned. Dame Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Marjorie Allingham may all be more instantly recognisable and their sleuths, Poirot, Miss Marple, Lord Peter Wimsey and Albert Campion may have been the stars of film and TV adaptation but Patricia Wentworth and Miss Silver are their equal. Unlike the above mentioned Miss Silver is never allowed to take centre stage at the expense of the other characters. She is the observer who sees most of the game and can analyse the evidence from an impartial viewpoint even though she may be contracted to one of the parties involved. To Miss Silver Justice (with a capital J) is all. In The Silent Pool Miss Silver is visited by Adriana Ford, a famous actress now retired and living in a country house surrounded by impecunious relatives. She beieves that on three ocasions someone has attempted to kill her but can provide no concrete evidence to support this. Miss Silver advises her to change her lifestyle to provide fewer opportunities for any potential killer should one exist. The narrative then turns to the cast of characters around whom the story unfolds. Miss Silver is invited to stay at the house by Miss Ford who is still concerned for her own safety, and assumes her usual quiet role as observer and adviser. The drama is played out amongst the familly and staff of the house whose characters are better rounded than in some other detective novels. At the end, of course, Miss Silver is at hand to guide the police in the right direction and all ends in a satisfactory manner. I am sure that readers new to her work will find Miss Wentworth's handling of plot and character provide a standard of civilised entertainment rare in modern detective fiction and it is therefore doubly commendable of Hodder to have given a new generation the opportunity to enjoy it.