These are so much fun - I don't know how Miss Seeton has passed me by before! Like a tongue-in-cheek version of Miss Marple (who herself was the object, sometimes, of her author's fun), Miss Seeton stumbles around inadvertently exposing and solving crimes with her trusty umbrella at her side.

In the first book we find her moving from London to a pretty cottage in a village peopled by the usual array of English eccentrics who have full teas in the afternoon and crime on their doorsteps.

What makes these so entertaining is Miss Seeton's prim, spinsterly take on life: for example, after watching a performance of Bizet's Carmen, "Carmen, herself, for instance, no better than she should be. In fact, if one were frank, worse."

These are cosies lit up with some wonderfully sly and comic writing - hugely entertaining!

I very much enjoyed the first Miss Seeton book I read and I am coming genuinely to love the series. They are all very well written and extremely entertaining.

Books featuring a spinster in a small English village who becomes involved in solving crimes don't look very alluring at first glance because they just sound like a lazy Miss Marple rip-off. They certainly aren't, though; I made the mistake of allowing myself to be put off by this for some time, but when I finally tried one I found it very good. The first three in the series collected here are all extremely enjoyable and an excellent place to start.

What makes these books stand out from the huge slew of average cosy-crime is the quality of the writing, which is excellent. The plots are good and involving, but what I enjoy most are the wit of the books and the very fine and beautifully deft characterisations. Heron Carvic has a beautiful way of painting recognisable and believable characters with a few neat phrases or lines of dialogue (as do his successors in writing the series, by the way). Although they are different in many ways, this and the wit of the books put me a little in mind of Edmund Crispin – high praise, but well deserved, I think. They are hugely enjoyable, and whenever I read a Miss Seeton, I become involved, smile often, laugh sometimes and always look forward to reading some more.

This little passage from quite early in Book 1 (Picture Miss Seeton) may give an idea of what I mean. A policeman informs the proper, upright Miss Seeton that, "She was a known prostitute."
"Oh, dear," Miss Seeton exclaimed. "A very hard life; such late hours – and then, of course, the weather. And so unrewarding, one would imagine." I loved that; it's humorous but shows so much about Miss Seeton's character in a couple of sentences – and "unrewarding" is a perfect adjective for her to use.

I'm delighted that I was persuaded to try these books, and I would warmly recommend them to anyone who enjoys well-written, witty crime.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

3 Miss Seeton stories in one go - what a treat, if you like slightly daft crime stories go for these

A good Agatha Christie type book. I love Princess Georgina, however, it still is a copy of Agatha Christie! I recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!
carolintallahassee 👒