Rachel Traherne has a complicated life, thanks to the father who left her in charge of the family fortune, with orders to keep it out of unworthy family hands as she sees fit. Now almost middle-aged, her family keeps up a constant barrage of requests for funds, and considers her large country house as quite their own, staying for long and frequent intervals. Worst of all, though, Rachel thinks one of them is trying to kill her. Unable to support the constant fear, but equally unable to bring in the police or admit to suspecting her own family, she calls in the indomitable Miss Silver (who amazingly actually puts down the knitting this time) to try to save her life--and her family.This was one of the more suspenseful of Wentworth's Miss Silver stories, and seeing that it's one of the early ones, I'm guessing Wentworth hadn't quite relinquished the notion of the Miss Silver books as a bit more hard-boiled than they eventually became. It is a country house mystery, nevertheless, with as disagreeable a cast of characters/ suspects as could be wished. Rachel herself is sometimes difficult to like, as she is incredibly obstinate; one gets the impression that it would be worth being murdered to prevent a family scandal, in which case I would feel inclined to leave her to it. I also can't approve of Wentworth's love of "forceful" men, who feel it their duty to show their love by bossing women around, making their decisions for them, and not taking no for an answer. Not my ideal man, but tastes differ, I suppose. One thing that drove me crazy listening to this book is that when the exciting parts came, I couldn't skip all the interstitial matter like people looking at each other, demurring, saying it couldn't possibly be so, etc. I was often listening to it while driving, and I would be getting close to my destination and desperate to find out what the heck it was that Caroline knew, etc., and just knowing that Wentworth would never let me get there because there was just too much interstitial maundering to get through. Made me want to tear my hair out! But a really good mystery, with the usual lovely writing, and very suspenseful and exciting (read it in print, though).
2.5 stars. This is my second Miss Silver book (after The Case Is Closed) and it unfortunately paled in comparison to the previous one.Where The Case is Closed lacked some of the suspense and feeling of very real danger that was present in Lonesome Road, it had an absolutely delightful heroine in Hilary Carew and her lovely romance with Henry Cunningham. Rachel Treherne, on the other hand, is equally central to the events of Lonesome Road (we see more of her than Miss Silver, in fact), but shares none of Hilary's spunk, good humour and sheer common sense in nasty situations. It makes for an infinitely more tiresome read when the heroine is morose and seemingly detached from those around her. On top of that, Rachel is so stubborn and devoid of sense that midway through the novel, I found myself wondering whether Miss Silver would be better off leaving Rachel alone so that she could be murdered - then she'll see the error of her ways. The bottom line is that Rachel steadfastedly refused to consider her relatives potential murderers (because it would make her feel bad, despite the overwhelming proof), insisted on not calling the police and would not address the other members of the house either - but then asked Miss Silver to help her and find out the truth of the matter. Needless to say, I couldn't find it in me to feel much sympathy for such a blockheaded heroine and her romance with (view spoiler)[Gale Brandon (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Lonesome Road (1993)?
Erst kürzlich las ich einen Krimi (von R. Rendell) von 1990, der aber auch leicht in den 60ern hätte spielen können. Jetzt las ich wiederum einen Roman, der bereits 1939 erschien - und dennoch wirkte als könnte er auch in den 60ern spielen.Manchmal quält man sich durch so altbackene Krimis auch etwas durch, aber das war hier gar nicht so. Es war eher wie eine Runde Cluedo spielen. Es gibt eine bestimmte Anzahl von Verdächtigen, eine Menge Hinweise - und trotzdem kommt immer noch jeder in Betracht. Da kann man als Leser fleißig mitraten. Ich hatte nur den richtigen Riecher für den Missetäter der ersten 'Streiche'. Bei dem titelgebenden 'Stoß von der Klippe' hatte ich aber keinen Verdacht. Doch zum Glück löst Miss Silver auch diesen Fall am Ende souverän.
—Karschtl
this is the first book i read by this author. I've no idea that this is part of a 32 books series, i thought it was a stand alone book. i have no idea about the time frame that take place in the story. i thought would be somewhere early 20th century, which prove that is around late 1930. It is quite a well written mystery suspend book with no sex, no foul language, no support of any modern technology. This book allow the room of logic and how sometime, logic will not fail even without any support of any modern tech. As it is a stand alone book, i will consider read other books in the series in the future.
—Joanne
Rachel is tired. She is responsible for all of her father's wealth. She is also responsible for all of her relatives who live with or near her. Then, there is the additional problem that one of them is trying to kill her. That's where Miss Silver comes in to investigate. This is a very early Miss Silver. She has offstage associates who help her with the investigation. She is not working hand in hand with the police as she does in later books. The characters have a comfortable familiarity. The crisis is a very creepy scene for a Wentworth book.
—Sep
