The Key - A Miss Silver Mystery by Patricia Wentworth

 Beautifully written detective story evokes another era

This Miss Silver novel is set in England during World War II, at a time when people living in rural communities would have been well aware that seemingly ordinary people in their midst could be Nazi sympathisers.

A Jewish scientist has fled Germany after losing his wife and daughter and is lodging in a house in  a small village, while working to complete a new weapon that he has invented,  which will help the British Government.

When the scientist, Michael Harsch, is found dead in the local church, apparently from shooting himself on the eve of handing over his formula, the Government send Major Garth Albany to investigate because his Aunt Sophy lives in the same village and so he has some local knowledge.

Aunt Sophy lives close to the house where the dead scientist, Michael Harsch had been staying. He had been looked after by a young, woman, Janice Meade, who had become a good friend to him.

Garth and Janice had been friends while growing up in the village together, and Patricia Wentworth allows this friendship to blossom into romance during the novel, when the couple eventually join forces to investigate Harsch’s death.

A romance during a murder investigation is one of Patricia Wentworth’s trademarks, setting her apart from other detective novelists of the time, but it does nothing to hinder the plot.

There is no shortage of potential Nazi sympathisers living in the village. Bush, the verger at the church is of German descent and Miss Brown, a mysterious woman who has suddenly become Aunt Sophy’s companion, also arouses Garth’s suspicions.

The Key, first published in 1946, is Patricia Wentworth’s eighth novel featuring Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess with a fondness for Tennyson, who finds it easy to blend into her surroundings and get people to talk to her. She works closely with Scotland Yard, who respect her ability, and derive benefit from the information she is able to draw out of people in conversation that would otherwise have been unavailable to them.

Miss Silver appears about halfway through the novel, after being called in by Aunt Sophy and Garth, based on her reputation for solving mysteries, when they think the wrong person has been arrested by the police for the killing. They had heard about her from a cousin of Aunt Sophy, who had previously benefited from Miss Silver’s talent for investigation.

Although the novel was written more than 80 years ago, it is engaging and very readable. The period in which it is set is beautifully evoked and the characters are well portrayed. Patricia Wentworth deserves her reputation as one of the Golden Age queens of crime.