The Ivory Dagger: A Miss Silver Mystery

This is another winner for Miss Silver. It's a classic as well since Miss Silver has to pay a visit to a large country estate to determine who murdered the owner with his own antique ivory dagger. It seems like a straightforward case. The man's fiance is found by the body with blood on her hands and dress, but she claims she was sleepwalking, and there is really no motive for her to kill her fiance. This is a case where no one including the reader likes the murder victim. He was a rude, grasping man who made lots of enemies. But the reader doesn't really like the young fiance who is suspected of killing him either. She is a weak-willed girl that can't stand on her own two feet. One just wants her to get on with it instead of being a victim. But the other characters are good. Young Bill, Lila's previous fiance is a nice clean-cut young man, and Lila's friend Ray is also very likeable. The mystery of who killed the master though needs to be solved, and Miss Silver does that with her usual aplomb.

Wonderful book - as are all the Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth.The fiance of Lila Dryden is found murdered. The trouble for Lila is that she doesn't know if she killed him or not. Fortunately Miss Silver is called in, and this unlikely sleuth soon solves the crime.If you love British country-house style mysteries then you will love this book.