Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Carmona Hardwick plays hostess to several old friends and a few relatives at her husband’s family estate on the seaside. She hopes it will be a time for her and her husband to reconnect and a happy retreat for her guests. However, the gay party is spoiled by the arrival of her ex-fiance, Alan Field, who has floated in from his exile in South America after he left Carmona on the eve of their marriage.

Once filled with laughter and light banter between dips in the sea, the party’s tone turns churlish, like the sea before a storm. Alan Field, charming and oily as ever, is after one thing- money- and he is using all his wits to get it, especially the fine art of blackmail.

When Alan is found dead in a changing hut on the beach with a knife stuck in him, his vast network of spies and victims is revealed, but which of them murdered him?

The Review

The days are starting to turn warm here in Minnesota, and I wanted to commemorate the occasion by lounging in my backyard reading sun, sea, and murder, which Out of the Past has in spades.

Out of the Past is a light and incredibly enjoyable little mystery. The beginning details Carmona’s torrid and ultimately disastrous love affair, which ends in heartbreak. She runs into the arms of James Hardwick and marries him because he is safe and steady and madly in love with Carmona.

Fast forward a few years, and the Hardwicks have settled into a comfortable marriage. Alan Field is gone and buried until he wrangles an invitation to their estate, biting at the chomp to confront James Hardwick, intimating that the marriage he has built has been made on a bed of lies and that he paid Alan Field to scuttle away.

Like every Wentworth book I’ve read in the Miss Silver series, this severe and deadly blow to true love and happiness can only be repaired by Miss Silver, mainly when Alan Field is found murdered, and James or Carmona Hardwick are the prime suspects.

Miss Silver, true to form, helps restore true love to its proper place, but I would say her part in the story is smaller than in other mysteries in her series because the book really focuses on Alan Field’s past misdeeds and how he has crossed and double-crossed everyone at this gathering.

The motives are strong, and Wentworth does an excellent job of explaining how and why all of the attendees have fallen into Alan’s clutches and how insidious he is at milking them for money. He’s a great victim of hate, and honestly, I suspected nearly everybody at one point or another due to Wentworth’s ability to make me empathize with their hatred.

The ever-evolving timeline helps lead the reader down the garden path again and again until the true killer is revealed. People conceal and pervert the true course of events until the very end, which means if you pay close attention to where everyone says they are, you will catch people out a few times, but you are still going to fall into a few neatly laid traps by Wentworth.

I had a good time with Out of the Past and enjoyed Miss Silver’s more minor but pivotal sleuthing. If you’re looking for a beach read or something to take on your next vacation, I highly recommend Out of the Past.

Miss Silver Reviews

Miss Silver #11: Latter End (1947)

Miss Silver #14: Eternity Ring (1948)

Miss Silver #25: The Silent Pool (1956)

Patricia Wentworth

Patricia Wentworth was the pen name of Dora Amy Elles, a British author best known for her prolific output of detective fiction, notably her series featuring Miss Maud Silver, a spinster detective. She was born on November 10, 1878, in India, where her father was a high-ranking official in the Indian Civil Service. Wentworth was educated privately and later attended boarding school in England.

After her marriage to George Dillon Turnbull in 1906, she settled in Surrey, England. It wasn’t until she was in her forties that she began her writing career, which spanned several decades. Wentworth’s first novel, “A Marriage Under the Terror,” was published in 1910. However, she didn’t find her niche until she ventured into detective fiction with her novel “The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith” in 1923.

Wentworth’s most enduring creation, Miss Maud Silver, made her debut in “Grey Mask” in 1928. Miss Silver is often compared to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple for her similar traits of unassuming appearance and astute observational skills. Wentworth went on to pen a total of 32 novels featuring Miss Silver, solidifying her place in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction alongside other renowned authors like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Throughout her career, Wentworth continued to write novels outside of the Miss Silver series, exploring various themes and styles within the detective fiction genre. Her works were praised for their well-constructed plots, intricate characterizations, and evocative settings.

Patricia Wentworth passed away on January 28, 1961, leaving behind a legacy of entertaining and enduring detective fiction that continues to captivate readers around the world.