The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth is a delightful classic mystery, featuring Miss Silver, an elderly lady who knits and solves crimes. If that sounds like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, then you are right on the money. Patricia Wentworth wrote 32 Miss Silver mysteries, which are sadly out of print. Fortunately, Open Road Media has republished all 32 novels in e-book format. http://www.openroadmedia.com/patricia-wentworth I was lucky enough to get one of these through Net Galley.
The Miss Silver books are a must read for any fan of classic English mysteries. The Clock Strikes Twelve is a particularly wonderful example of her writing. James Paradine has gathered all of his nearest and dearest together for a New Year’s dinner, during which he announces that he knows that one of them has been disloyal to the family. The guilty party will have until midnight to come to his study, where Mr. Paradine will be waiting, and confess. Any reader of mysteries knows that, once he has uttered these words, James Paradine has virtually signed his own death warrant. Suspicion falls on each family member in turn, sometimes more than once. Eventually, Miss Silver, who has a reputation as a private investigator, is called in to solve the mystery. Along the way, she adroitly she straightens out the side problems that have created several false leads and red herrings for the police.
Although it is a slight variation on the traditional English Country House mystery, which means that there is a limited pool of suspects, I was still guessing at the killer’s identity until the big reveal at the end. A bit of romance is always a staple in the Miss Silver novels, which I find quite pleasant and not at all detracting from the main mystery.