So, I was in search of comfort reading, hoping for something to put me in a better head space. I was in the mood for something like Dorothy Sayers, but as I’ve already read all of her mysteries multiple times, something new, at least new to me. Solution: the Global Network of Discovery’s Literature Map. Just enter in an author, and you get some ideas: people who like that author, like these other ones as well. I’ve read much of Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey, and Ngaio Marsh, but there was another author nearby on the map whom I hadn’t read at all, so I thought I’d give Patricia Wentworth a try.

She’s most well-known for her Miss Silver novels, so I thought I’d start with the first one. Absolutely an excellent choice for my mood. Miss Silver has often been compared to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, and they made their debuts around the same time, but Miss Silver is a professional private investigator, not an amateur. Here, she is solving a massive criminal conspiracy involving kidnapping and other sordid crimes. Grey Mask has plenty of imperfections. Miss Silver’s sleuthing mostly takes place off-stage; she seems to be rather omniscient, just showing up knowing all kinds of useful information and setting things to rights. The main characters could have easily solved many of their problems by simply being honest with each other. But there are also some amusing points: one of the damsels in distress here (referred to as a “flapper”) is too dimwitted to remember that she’s in distress most of the time. And there’s a satisfying ending in which lovers are united and justice is done.

It’s completely formulaic and rather silly but it absolutely did the trick, and kept my mind free of existential dread for a few happy hours: comfort reading at its best. The good news is that if you enjoy this particular formula, there is plenty of Miss Silver to go around: 32 books in total, the last one published in 1961. (Keep going for attempts to exonerate a convicted criminal, an heiress in danger, and an innocent young wife in peril...Miss Silver can and does rescue them all.)

HOW TO PURCHASE: AMAZON

NOVEL: Grey Mask

AUTHOR: Patricia Wentworth

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1928

IMAGE: Book cover, Open Road Media