Who came first: Miss Silver or Miss Marple?
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| Grey Mask, originally published in 1928, was republished 90 years later |
Many people
have assumed over the years that Miss Silver was inspired by Agatha Christie’s
much-loved Miss Marple, but actually it could have been the other way round. The
first Miss Marple novel, The Murder at the Vicarage, was not published until
1930, although the endearing character had made her first appearance in a short
story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927.
Whoever came
first, the two old ladies might appear to be similar characters, but there are
many differences between them. Miss Marple lives in a cottage in a sleepy
village but is more worldly wise than she might appear. She has developed a deep knowledge of human nature and can
always refer to a useful village parallel when investigating a case, possessing
the ability to pick out a villain because he reminds her of a young man that she
once knew who stole from his employer, or a naughty boy who often played tricks
on his teachers.
Miss Silver,
however, is the real deal, as she walks the mean streets of London and takes on
cases in a professional way, pitting her wits against major crime bosses.
In Grey Mask
there is little explanation about who Miss Silver is, or why she has set
herself up as a private investigator in London in the 1920s, but she appears to
be well known in upper class circles and the hero of the story is sent to
consult her on the recommendation of a friend.
Charles
Moray, an explorer, has returned home after four years abroad, to find his house unlocked, with a light burning in
one of its abandoned rooms. He finds somewhere to hide and eavesdrops on what
is going on in the room. A criminal gang are using his house to plot a vicious
crime. Furthermore, he recognises the voice of one of the conspirators. It belongs
to the woman who jilted him on the eve of his wedding four years earlier.
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| Patricia Wentworth wrote 32 Miss Silver novels |
His friend
urges him to consult Miss Silver and so Charles goes to her office. His first
impression of the well-respected private detective is that she is ‘a little
person with no features, no complexion, and a great deal of tidy mouse-coloured
hair done in a large bun at the back of her head’. He finds that appearances
can be deceptive, however, and that Miss Silver is not afraid to tackle a
criminal gang who are prepared to resort to violence, kidnapping and shooting
people.
Patricia
Wentworth was the pen name of Dora Amy Elles, who was born in India, where her
father was stationed with the British Army, in 1877. She was sent to England to
be educated, but returned to India and married George Dillon in 1906. He had
three children from a previous marriage and they had one child together. After
his death she moved back to England with the children.
In 1920 she
married again, to George Turnbull, and settled in Surrey. She had begun writing
while in India and in 1910 had won the Melrose Prize for her first published
novel, A Marriage Under the Terror, which was set during the French Revolution.
Under the
pen name of Patricia Wentworth, she wrote 32 crime novels featuring Miss
Silver, beginning with Grey Mask in 1928 and ending with Girl in the Cellar in
1961, the year of her death. Miss Silver develops as a character during the
series and works closely with Scotland Yard. The reader will eventually discover
she is a retired governess with a passion for Tennyson as well as for knitting.
Patricia Wentworth
also wrote poetry and more than 30 other novels throughout her career.
I would
recommend reading Grey Mask, which was republished by Hodder and Stoughton in
2018 and is available again in some public libraries. It is a well-written
story told from multi viewpoints and, although it is typical of the sensational
crime fiction of its time, such as Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence novels
and Margery Allingham’s Mr Campion books, it has an intriguing mystery at its
heart, which is not revealed until the end.
Grey Mask is available from or
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