In this 23rd book in the 'Miss Seeton' series, the elderly artist/accidental sleuth has adventures in Glastonbury. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Miss Seeton is the heroine of a long series of humorous cozy mysteries. She's a former art teacher, now grey-haired and retired, who faithfully does her yoga every morning. This discipline keeps Miss Seeton exceptionally spry, which permits her to have madcap adventures and help Scotland Yard solve crimes.
Miss Seeton is usually oblivious to her own hijinks, however, and thinks she's just living the routine life of a well-mannered older lady.
The original author of the series was Heron Carvic, and - after his death - other writers carried on. This story was penned by Hamilton Crane.
*****
Miss Emily Seeton is a retired art teacher who lives a quiet life in the English village of Plummergen. However, unlike most elderly ladies, Miss Seeton is on retainer to Scotland Yard. MissEss, as she's known to the Yard, has a knack for inadvertently bashing criminals with her umbrella, earning her the moniker 'The Battling Brolly.' Moreover, Miss Seeton has a supernatural ability to sketch felons and their crimes - and these 'doodles' (as she calls them) provide important clues to the police.
Miss Seeton's contact at the Yard is Chief Superintendent Delphick, known as 'The Oracle.' In this book, Delphick - at the request of his colleagues - 'consults' MissEss about three crimes: a kidnapping, distribution of marijuana, and a murder.
The book, set in the 1970s, starts off with glimpses into two families.
In Plummergen, Nigel Colvedon - the scion of Sir George and Lady Colvedon - has returned home with his French bride - and is living with the folks while his new house is built. Nigel is caring for the sheep on the Colvedon estate when a ewe kicks him in the face and gives him a black eye. This leads to a lively conversation about sheep when Nigel visits Miss Seeton.
Further west, in Glastonbury, four Callender siblings - Bill, Crispin, Octavia, and Valentine - are having a meeting. They recently inherited 'Callender's Coats' from their father, and are discussing expanding the business. For this purpose, they'd like to take back a parcel of land being used for sheep by their poor relations - a matter that's governed by official regulations. Bill and Crispin are very involved with the factory, while Val is a professional weaver and Octavia owns a bookstore. This plotline is threaded through the entire book.
Back home in Plummergen, Miss Seeton is asked to design scenery for the Amateur Dramatic Society's Christmas pantomime, which will feature a play about King Arthur. MissEss wants her Arthurian sketches to be authentic, so she plans a trip to Glastonbury, which has strong ties to the King Arthur legend.
Before Miss Seeton embarks on her journey, she's visited by Chief Superintendent Delphick, who tells her that Christy Garth - the playboy son of wealthy Caleb Garth - has been kidnapped. Delphick shows MissEss a photo of Christy, and asks her to make a sketch - hoping her drawing furnishes clues to the young man's whereabouts. MissEss's rendering turns out to be a quirky cartoon of grinning sheep.
The next day, the narcotics squad contacts Delphick with a report of rampaging sheep in Glastonbury. It appears that drug dealers left town in a hurry, leaving behind marijuana bales that were consumed by the marauding (but happy) animals.
Unaware of this brouhaha, Miss Seeton makes her way to Glastonbury, where she checks into a small guesthouse. Glastonbury is a 'hippie' town with a mystical atmosphere and a scent of incense on the breeze. The men in the area tend to sport long hair, flared trousers, and sandals; and the women often don caftans and strings of beads. Unlike Plummergen, the Glastonbury shops sell amulets, star charts, Tarot cards, crystal balls, cauldrons, books about witchcraft, occult candles, statuettes of wizards and elves, costumes, robes, pointed hats, and glittering crowns.
Miss Seeton is captivated by the atmosphere of Glastonbury and - after settling into her room - starts her sightseeing activities. This includes visiting the Abbey ruins where (mythical) King Arthur is supposedly buried and climbing Glastonbury Tor, which has a ruined church tower at the summit.
While she's walking around, MissEss meets people who lecture her about the local legends. This is an opportunity for Hamilton Crane to include A LOT of information about King Arthur and his Knights as well as Glastonbury folklore. For example, legend has it that the ancients mapped the constellations of the Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) into the town's landscape.....and that Glastonbury Tor is an entrance to Annwn, the original Celtic Underworld.
Miss Seeton also wins a raffle, and gets a free ride in a hot air balloon. This is a chance for fellow balloonists to point out the Zodiac and other mythical sites on the ground, including a topographical replica of one of King Arthur's swords. (Unfortunately - hard as she tries - MissEss can't make out any of this. 😉)
I'd estimate that about a fifth of the book is devoted to this mystical/legendary/Arthurian information. I found this material tedious...but fans of historical fiction might like it.
While Miss Seeton is gallivanting around, Scotland Yard is trying to find Christy Garth (the kidnap victim), round up the marijuana growers who got the sheep high, and solve the murder of a tourist who was killed in Glastonbury. Delphick manages to get MissEss to draw some sketches, which turn out to be prophetic, and everything is resolved by the end of the book.
The Miss Seeton books are meant to be humorous cozy mysteries, and this book is amusing. One scene, where a rural constable thinks Miss Seeton in one of Scotland Yard's most wanted, is quite funny. However, the Miss Seeton novels by Hamilton Crane are not as laugh out loud funny as those written by the original author, Heron Carvic. If the series continues, I hope Miss Seeton goes back to her former zany antics.
This is an enjoyable cozy mystery, suitable for a few hours of light reading.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Hamilton Crane), and the publisher (Farrago) for a copy of the book.
*****
Miss Seeton is the heroine of a long series of humorous cozy mysteries. She's a former art teacher, now grey-haired and retired, who faithfully does her yoga every morning. This discipline keeps Miss Seeton exceptionally spry, which permits her to have madcap adventures and help Scotland Yard solve crimes.
Miss Seeton is usually oblivious to her own hijinks, however, and thinks she's just living the routine life of a well-mannered older lady.
The original author of the series was Heron Carvic, and - after his death - other writers carried on. This story was penned by Hamilton Crane.
*****
Miss Emily Seeton is a retired art teacher who lives a quiet life in the English village of Plummergen. However, unlike most elderly ladies, Miss Seeton is on retainer to Scotland Yard. MissEss, as she's known to the Yard, has a knack for inadvertently bashing criminals with her umbrella, earning her the moniker 'The Battling Brolly.' Moreover, Miss Seeton has a supernatural ability to sketch felons and their crimes - and these 'doodles' (as she calls them) provide important clues to the police.
Miss Seeton's contact at the Yard is Chief Superintendent Delphick, known as 'The Oracle.' In this book, Delphick - at the request of his colleagues - 'consults' MissEss about three crimes: a kidnapping, distribution of marijuana, and a murder.
The book, set in the 1970s, starts off with glimpses into two families.
In Plummergen, Nigel Colvedon - the scion of Sir George and Lady Colvedon - has returned home with his French bride - and is living with the folks while his new house is built. Nigel is caring for the sheep on the Colvedon estate when a ewe kicks him in the face and gives him a black eye. This leads to a lively conversation about sheep when Nigel visits Miss Seeton.
Further west, in Glastonbury, four Callender siblings - Bill, Crispin, Octavia, and Valentine - are having a meeting. They recently inherited 'Callender's Coats' from their father, and are discussing expanding the business. For this purpose, they'd like to take back a parcel of land being used for sheep by their poor relations - a matter that's governed by official regulations. Bill and Crispin are very involved with the factory, while Val is a professional weaver and Octavia owns a bookstore. This plotline is threaded through the entire book.
Back home in Plummergen, Miss Seeton is asked to design scenery for the Amateur Dramatic Society's Christmas pantomime, which will feature a play about King Arthur. MissEss wants her Arthurian sketches to be authentic, so she plans a trip to Glastonbury, which has strong ties to the King Arthur legend.
Before Miss Seeton embarks on her journey, she's visited by Chief Superintendent Delphick, who tells her that Christy Garth - the playboy son of wealthy Caleb Garth - has been kidnapped. Delphick shows MissEss a photo of Christy, and asks her to make a sketch - hoping her drawing furnishes clues to the young man's whereabouts. MissEss's rendering turns out to be a quirky cartoon of grinning sheep.
The next day, the narcotics squad contacts Delphick with a report of rampaging sheep in Glastonbury. It appears that drug dealers left town in a hurry, leaving behind marijuana bales that were consumed by the marauding (but happy) animals.
Unaware of this brouhaha, Miss Seeton makes her way to Glastonbury, where she checks into a small guesthouse. Glastonbury is a 'hippie' town with a mystical atmosphere and a scent of incense on the breeze. The men in the area tend to sport long hair, flared trousers, and sandals; and the women often don caftans and strings of beads. Unlike Plummergen, the Glastonbury shops sell amulets, star charts, Tarot cards, crystal balls, cauldrons, books about witchcraft, occult candles, statuettes of wizards and elves, costumes, robes, pointed hats, and glittering crowns.
Miss Seeton is captivated by the atmosphere of Glastonbury and - after settling into her room - starts her sightseeing activities. This includes visiting the Abbey ruins where (mythical) King Arthur is supposedly buried and climbing Glastonbury Tor, which has a ruined church tower at the summit.
While she's walking around, MissEss meets people who lecture her about the local legends. This is an opportunity for Hamilton Crane to include A LOT of information about King Arthur and his Knights as well as Glastonbury folklore. For example, legend has it that the ancients mapped the constellations of the Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) into the town's landscape.....and that Glastonbury Tor is an entrance to Annwn, the original Celtic Underworld.
Miss Seeton also wins a raffle, and gets a free ride in a hot air balloon. This is a chance for fellow balloonists to point out the Zodiac and other mythical sites on the ground, including a topographical replica of one of King Arthur's swords. (Unfortunately - hard as she tries - MissEss can't make out any of this. 😉)
I'd estimate that about a fifth of the book is devoted to this mystical/legendary/Arthurian information. I found this material tedious...but fans of historical fiction might like it.
While Miss Seeton is gallivanting around, Scotland Yard is trying to find Christy Garth (the kidnap victim), round up the marijuana growers who got the sheep high, and solve the murder of a tourist who was killed in Glastonbury. Delphick manages to get MissEss to draw some sketches, which turn out to be prophetic, and everything is resolved by the end of the book.
The Miss Seeton books are meant to be humorous cozy mysteries, and this book is amusing. One scene, where a rural constable thinks Miss Seeton in one of Scotland Yard's most wanted, is quite funny. However, the Miss Seeton novels by Hamilton Crane are not as laugh out loud funny as those written by the original author, Heron Carvic. If the series continues, I hope Miss Seeton goes back to her former zany antics.
This is an enjoyable cozy mystery, suitable for a few hours of light reading.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Hamilton Crane), and the publisher (Farrago) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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