The Girl In The Cellar (Miss Silver Mystery Book 32)

Miss Silver helps a woman with no memory reconstruct a terrible crime She awakes in a dark place. This book is a member of the special collection Special Collection: The Works of Patricia Wentworth Comments: Miss Silver Mystery #
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The girl discovered murdered in the cellar is called Anne Borrowdale. That's why I have a soft spot for this book, even though it's not one of Wentworth's best. The tension of the story, with a different Anne struggling to recover her memory of who she is and what she has witnessed, is very well done. But the motive for the murder and the threat the heroine is facing, are not very convincing, nor is the connection between the two girls. There are some sloppy This book kills me. There are some sloppy plot points - in one scene, Anne agrees to rent a room to get away from where she's staying, but in the next scene, she's wondering where she can go.

Despite not being that well written, I still enjoy re-reading it when I'm tired and want a quick, undemanding read, and it's not every day I read about myself getting murdered! I'm disappointed to have given up on this book so soon chapter 3 after being given it from an elderly neighbour with a promise to read it, but although the story seems interesting I just can't read it comfortably.

Written in and I think set in the 50's the writing is very repetitive, sentences often drawn out with repetitive wording when they could be a lot shorter. I understand that Patricia Wentworth writes cosy mysteries and I've no doubt I would have enjoyed the plot but unfortunately I'm disappointed to have given up on this book so soon chapter 3 after being given it from an elderly neighbour with a promise to read it, but although the story seems interesting I just can't read it comfortably.

I understand that Patricia Wentworth writes cosy mysteries and I've no doubt I would have enjoyed the plot but unfortunately the style of writing wasn't for me.

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Aug 12, Mo rated it it was ok Shelves: Wentworth's usual tropes are here. Two young people instantly fall into love with each other, for no discernable reason. The hero is gruff, the heroine young, breathless and frightened. I'm bummed that I've come to the end of the series. These books were quick, delightful reads. Feb 14, Katie Hilton rated it really liked it. One of the last of the Miss Silver mystery series. This is an intriguing thriller in which the protagonist is suffering from severe shock, so devastating that she has lost her memory from the moment she awoke from a faint, staring at a body in a cellar.

The girl is assisted by Miss Silver, who sees her on the bus and realizes she is in very dangerous mental condition. Through a series of coincidences, the girl later comes to rely on Miss Silver's assistance as she tries to escape from captors, s One of the last of the Miss Silver mystery series.

Through a series of coincidences, the girl later comes to rely on Miss Silver's assistance as she tries to escape from captors, still desperately trying to establish her own identity. Nov 20, Susan rated it liked it Shelves: Anne knows two things: She can't remember anything but her first name, and she just found a dead girl. Fortunately, Anne meets Maud Silver, who recommends checking her purse.

That indicates that Anne is Mrs. James Fancourt and is expected by his aunts in the country. Wentworth leaves a lot of loose ends, but the suspense is high enough that you Anne knows two things: Wentworth leaves a lot of loose ends, but the suspense is high enough that you'll probably not notice until you close the book.

It looks like many of the Goodreads reviewers did not think this was one of Patricia Wentworth's best in the Miss Silver mysteries, but I rather liked it in spite of some short-comings and coincidences. It had a really different twist on who the criminals were and why. I did feel a little sad that, with this reading listening to the Isis audio recording , I had come to the end of the book series. Since I did get all of the series as audiobooks, I will probably give them all a listen again so It looks like many of the Goodreads reviewers did not think this was one of Patricia Wentworth's best in the Miss Silver mysteries, but I rather liked it in spite of some short-comings and coincidences.

Since I did get all of the series as audiobooks, I will probably give them all a listen again sometime in the future. Jul 03, Joy rated it really liked it.


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A frightened young woman becomes conscious standing in the dark above the murdered body of an unknown girl. She has no memory before that. Wentworth successfully puts us in her place as she tries to find safety and divine who her real friends are. This tense, scary story relies for its impact on our inner knowledge of the heroine, who takes the name Anne. Again, her appeal is a major factor in gluing us to the story. Jul 06, RuthG rated it liked it Shelves: Years ago I read many of the Miss Silver mysteries and perhaps this one, as well.

I remembered liking them a great deal, but this time I was somewhat disappointed.

The Girl in the Cellar: Miss Silver, Book 32 (Unabridged) by Patricia Wentworth on iTunes

The mystery was simpler than I would have preferred and Miss Silver was in it a lot less than I would have liked. Even the descriptions of the time and place were not as complete as I remembered as Wentworth's style. It was worth reading as a light, simple cozy but not as a complex mystery. Read in one sitting. A good entryway back into reading. Aug 20, Ellen rated it really liked it Shelves: Anne comes to consciousness as one awakening from a deep sleep.

The Girl in the Cellar: Miss Silver, Book 32 (Unabridged)

She finds herself sitting on steps This was an astonishing and quite moving emotional battle one young lady has with loss of memory. Anne cannot for the life of her remember anything. Her last name, her family or her familiarity with any town or home-all is just a blank. That's where our story begins. It's not a short story but this author does a steadfast job of letting us go through this vulnerable situation with Anne at Anne's pace. This book was unlike any other Miss Silver I've read. Sep 20, Tandis marked it as to-read.

A young woman wakes up in a cellar with a dead young woman and no memory of who she is or what has happened. She runs into Miss Silver on the bus who helps her figure out what to do next. She goes to an address on a letter in her purse and ends up meeting a wonderful young man. But there are still scares in store for her. Can she recall what is going on before it's too late?

Mar 27, Jim Jones rated it really liked it. In fact, in this book, the solution is probably the least interesting thing about it. It exists as a kind of fever dream with a main character who has lost her memory after a horrible murder. There are strong feminist elements the only people who seem able to help her are women , and a fairy tale quality to it—a quest to find oneself rather than letting the charming prince take care of it.

This gives the book an otherworldly feel, almost reminding me of the works of Angela Carter. I thought I was going to like this novel - a mystery from the Golden Age of detective fiction, Wentworth was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but it wasn't long before I discovered why Christie is still widely celebrated and Wentworth isn't. It isn't so much the plot that is the poblem, it begins quite promisingly; a girl wakes up in a cellar with a dead body and she has lost her memory.

The problem lies with the writing and the high melodrama. Wentworth feels the need to keep repeating the plo I thought I was going to like this novel - a mystery from the Golden Age of detective fiction, Wentworth was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but it wasn't long before I discovered why Christie is still widely celebrated and Wentworth isn't. Wentworth feels the need to keep repeating the plot far too frequently through the characters' dialogue, word for word. This makes the reading somewhat tedious. The high melodrama, weak minded female protagonist and romantic subplot serve to make this book indigestible.

Maybe it just hasn't aged well and doesn't hold any appeal for a modern audience nurtured on realism, police procedurals and graphic prose. The 'detective' Miss Silver makes a relatively small appearance, unlike Miss Marple or Poirot would and I would have enjoyed getting to know her more. In this book she spends most of her time knitting Think I'll stick to Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Josephine Tey. Aug 07, Roberta rated it did not like it Shelves: I've been floating in a pool of syrup reading these Miss Silver mysteries. They are all very similar, stock characters, repetitive descriptions, overbearing men, good girls, bad girls, and baby doll girls.

The attitudes reflect the times. A comfortable belief that the English class system is inherently correct and that lower class people either know their place and are comfortable in it or are cheap, shoddy and immoral. Still it's been relaxing to retreat to these formulaic reads after reading p I've been floating in a pool of syrup reading these Miss Silver mysteries. Still it's been relaxing to retreat to these formulaic reads after reading policy or research papers during the day.

This last one is the worst of the lot. It seems that Wentworth was tired of her Miss Silver. It's dashed off and sillier than the rest and there's a whole plot section tossed in near the end that goes nowhere and serves no purpose. Maybe she wrote it this way so her readers wouldn'tpine? Aug 27, Michael Bafford rated it did not like it. A pretty poor thriller, not a mystery really as most of the book follows Anne who has lost her memory, apparently due to her finding a body in a dark cellar in an empty house. She is threatened throughout the book by master criminals who are able to trace her wherever she flees.

Although in the final scenes the reader wonders how? Patricia Wentworth's final book, published the year she died, aged This may explain the multiple repetitions. At one point, near the end, A pretty poor thriller, not a mystery really as most of the book follows Anne who has lost her memory, apparently due to her finding a body in a dark cellar in an empty house.

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At one point, near the end, Ms. Silver asks to see Anne's bag, Jim, the hero, replies "there is nothing there" - he uses the same expression six times in two pages. Silver persists and solves the whole case by finding a scrap of paper in the bag.


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May 19, Katie rated it did not like it. An unfortunate ending to this series; certainly the weakest of the lot. It's not a spoiler to say that the main character has amnesia for most of the book. There are hints of plot at the beginning that turn out to be nothing at all, and the "mystery" is wrapped up in about a page and a half of disjointed information that doesn't really match up with much else that happened earlier.

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The good news is that I have read every single Miss Silver book and can now move on to something else! Oct 25, Susan rated it liked it Recommended to Susan by: A young woman finds herself alone in pitch darkness. As you might expect from the beginning, this is more of a thriller than a mystery even though Miss Silver plays a role in the story.

Jan 02, Morgan Feeney rated it liked it. A nice cozy crime story with main characters that you can rather like. If the book has page numbers, please include the page number; otherwise please include a significant text string to help us to locate the error. This report is anonymous. If you think we might need to communicate with you, please include your email address. If in doubt, we will always be cautious, and preserve the original spelling.

Paperback Editions

The Girl in the Cellar Miss Silver Miss Silver helps a woman with no memory reconstruct a terrible crime She awakes in a dark place. A young woman with a shattered memory, she knows neither who she is nor how she came to be in this abandoned house. All she possesses is a faint sense that someone is lying dead at the foot of the stairs. Horrifyingly, she is correct.


  1. The Girl in the Cellar;
  2. by Patricia Wentworth!
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    4. In the cellar lies a young woman, her body broken, her head split, her life undone by a revolver's shell. The amnesiac flees and finally has a stroke of luck: She meets Maud Silver. A dowdy governess turned daring detective, Miss Silver sees immediately that something is wrong.

    She comforts the confused young woman, and coaxes out of her what little story she can tell.