The Girl in the Cellar

The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth is another of her Miss Silver mysteries which intrigue me because of the miniscule part that the name detective plays in the story. The Girl in the Cellar is a mystery of murder and lost memory. It was published in 1961 and so holds to the standards of the so-called "Golden Age" of detective fiction that is; just one murder, no excessive violence, no coarse language and moderately good manners all round. How refreshing it is ! In this book it is the telling of the story rather than a labrynthine plot that keeps the pages turning for Miss Wentworth gets away with rather more in the way of coincidence than would be allowed a modern writer. Nonetheless this is another first class entertainment that well stands the test of time.