The Case Is Closed (Isis Mystery) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Patricia Wentworth (Author)

Book Description

Series: Isis Mystery | Publication Date: March 2007

The Everton murder case has long been closed. The culprit has been charged with the murder of his uncle and has served a year of his sentence already. Or has he? The evidence against Geoffrey Grey is convincing but his wife believes in his innocence. And so does her young cousin, Hilary, who decides to solve the mystery herself. But when Hilary herself is nearly murdered she turns in desperation to her ex-fiance for help. He calls upon the services of Miss Silver to help solve another mystery, which she does in her own original style.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Miss Wentworth is a first-rate storyteller' -- Daily Telegraph 'Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot' -- Manchester Evening News '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 '...some of the best examples of the British country-house murder mystery' -- Alfred Hitchcock magazine 'Miss Wentworth's plot is ingenious, her characterization acute, her solution satisfying' -- The Scotsman 'Miss Silver is marvellous' -- Daily Mail 'You can't go wrong with Miss Maud Silver' -- Observer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Patricia Wentworth was born in India and after writing several romances turned her hand to crime. She wrote dozens of bestselling mysteries and was recognised as one of the mistresses of classic crime. She died in the late Sixties. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Isis; large type edition edition (March 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753176610
• ISBN-13: 978-0753176610
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,027,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hilary's Nightmare., May 8, 2002

By 

John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case Is Closed (Hardcover)

Miss Maud Hephzibah Silver made her first appearance in 1929, predating Agatha Christie's more famous Miss Marple. Thereafter her creator, Patricia Wentworth, spelled her until 1937, when she allowed her a second appearance, in this book, "The Case Is Closed". She featured in only six of the book's 36 chapters, but the author never again allowed her a holiday, employing her in all her subsequent mystery novels.

Patricia Wentworth depicts her Miss Silver with a comic touch. The retired governess - with her polite cough, her occasional exclamation of "Dear Me!", her propensity to quote the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, her knitting of baby clothes while conducting a consultation, her hen-like manner of running, and her quaint taste in clothing - is delineated with sure satirical skill. There is never a touch of wit or satire in the presentation of any other character in this novel, however. The earnest, the threatening, the tortured, the traumatized - the other characters seem to belong in the world of nightmares.

Indeed, much of the atmosphere here has the attributes of a nightmare. Hilary, the heroine convinced that her cousin's husband has been wrongly convicted of his uncle's murder seems to be living a nightmare. In strange, eerie ways she chances upon clues, and she seems to be relentlessly pursued by a monster of evil. Attempts to escape one threat land her in an even worse one. Dimensions have a nightmarish quality too. Happening to be in Glasgow, Hilary is somehow able to perceive the face of a character whose whereabouts she did not know at the fifth floor window of a large block of tenements. She can see, moreover, an expression of anguish and terror on the face. She feels impelled to climb the many flights of evil-smelling stairs to rescue, aid, question and investigate. Of course, a near death experience awaits her. These are absurd coincidences and impossibilities yet all are true to a nightmare mode...Patricia Wentworth wrote dozens of Miss Silver mysteries.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A charming period piece, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Case Is Closed (Hardcover)

This Miss Silver mystery focuses on the struggle for power in male-female relationships - on the light-hearted side, in the signature "nice young couple" (Hilary and Henry), while a villain displays dominance and abuse. We gain a picture of life among the well-bred if not well-fed as we follow Hilary's attempts to clear her cousin's husband Geoffrey, who has been convicted of the murder of his uncle. The attitudes and sensitivities of a different time are on display as Hilary's cousin copes with the degradation of having to earn a living as a couturier's model, and the loss of not only her husband, but the children she had hoped to have. Henry is not at all sure that the conviction was unjust, but the villains behave sufficiently suspiciously that he brings in governess-turned-private-enquiry-agent-Miss Silver, who discovers a decidedly dated motive for the down-trodden housekeeper's behavior. Some near escapes, tricky timetables and elaborate plots complete this tale from mystery's Golden Age. And with Miss Silver taking a hand, the happy ending and the triumph of justice are a comfortable certainty.