The Miss Seeton Series: Books 1-3

These are so much fun - I don't know how Miss Seeton has passed me by before! Like a tongue-in-cheek version of Miss Marple (who herself was the object, sometimes, of her author's fun), Miss Seeton stumbles around inadvertently exposing and solving crimes with her trusty umbrella at her side.

In the first book we find her moving from London to a pretty cottage in a village peopled by the usual array of English eccentrics who have full teas in the afternoon and crime on their doorsteps.

What makes these so entertaining is Miss Seeton's prim, spinsterly take on life: for example, after watching a performance of Bizet's Carmen, "Carmen, herself, for instance, no better than she should be. In fact, if one were frank, worse."

These are cosies lit up with some wonderfully sly and comic writing - hugely entertaining!

I very much enjoyed the first Miss Seeton book I read and I am coming genuinely to love the series. They are all very well written and extremely entertaining.

Books featuring a spinster in a small English village who becomes involved in solving crimes don't look very alluring at first glance because they just sound like a lazy Miss Marple rip-off. They certainly aren't, though; I made the mistake of allowing myself to be put off by this for some time, but when I finally tried one I found it very good. The first three in the series collected here are all extremely enjoyable and an excellent place to start.

What makes these books stand out from the huge slew of average cosy-crime is the quality of the writing, which is excellent. The plots are good and involving, but what I enjoy most are the wit of the books and the very fine and beautifully deft characterisations. Heron Carvic has a beautiful way of painting recognisable and believable characters with a few neat phrases or lines of dialogue (as do his successors in writing the series, by the way). Although they are different in many ways, this and the wit of the books put me a little in mind of Edmund Crispin – high praise, but well deserved, I think. They are hugely enjoyable, and whenever I read a Miss Seeton, I become involved, smile often, laugh sometimes and always look forward to reading some more.

This little passage from quite early in Book 1 (Picture Miss Seeton) may give an idea of what I mean. A policeman informs the proper, upright Miss Seeton that, "She was a known prostitute."
"Oh, dear," Miss Seeton exclaimed. "A very hard life; such late hours – and then, of course, the weather. And so unrewarding, one would imagine." I loved that; it's humorous but shows so much about Miss Seeton's character in a couple of sentences – and "unrewarding" is a perfect adjective for her to use.

I'm delighted that I was persuaded to try these books, and I would warmly recommend them to anyone who enjoys well-written, witty crime.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

3 Miss Seeton stories in one go - what a treat, if you like slightly daft crime stories go for these

Just straightforward mysteries!!! Love the characters and the storytelling....reminds me of Agatha Christie mysteries.

Miss Seeton is just way too much fun. Read the first three book in the series first or last, it doesn’t matter. You will get to know the inhabitants of her village, the policemen that she works with as a psychic artist, and lots more. Carved gently mocks the English cozy mystery, without straying too far from its comforts and conventions.

Miss Emily Seeton is a retired art teacher who seems to magically thwart criminals and evil-doers armed only with a trusty umbrella, grace under pressure, and her drawing talents. She is naive yet incredibly observant and astute. Miss Seeton definitely reminds me of Miss Marple, with innocent, unintentional humorous antics added. I absolutely adore her!

Picture Miss Seeton is the first in the 22-book series. The book was originally published in 1968 by Heron Carvic, who wrote the first 5 Miss Seeton books. The remaining books were authored by Hampton Charles (pen name used by Roy Peter Martin) and Hamilton Crane (pen name of Sarah J. Mason). I had never heard of the Miss Seeton books before the re-release of the series by Farrago. The first 3 books are available separately, or can be purchased together as an ebook set.

In this introduction to the series, Miss Seeton attends the opera. After the performance while still lamenting over Carmen's tragic end, she comes across a young man being rough with a woman. Rapping him with her umbrella, she intends to tell him off about his behavior -- young men just shouldn't accost women in the street, after all! But, as he knocks her to the ground, Miss Seeton discovers he did more than just smack the girl around a bit. As police officers and others gather to help her up, they find that the girl is dead. She's been stabbed to death. The perpetrator runs away into the night. The police are concerned about Miss Seeton's safety as the crook made off with her purse containing her address and keys, until they learn she is moving from London to a nearby village the very next day. As will happen in villages, word gets around about the heroic actions (or possibly her villainous intentions and nefarious criminal past, depending on which person is telling the story) of Miss Seeton. It might all have ended there if the village vicar didn't get tongue tied and blurt out Miss Seeton's location to the media. The criminal element follows Miss Seeton to her new home, and more run ins with evil creeps follow. She is spied upon, nearly shot, kidnapped, gassed, and almost drowned before it's all over! The police can't help but laugh as Miss Seeton miraculously uses her umbrella, laundry soap and her unfailing luck and wits to escape all attempts to do her in.


This book is just a delightfully fun story! At 224 pages, it's a relatively quick read. I love Miss Seeton as a sweetly clueless amateur sleuth, who just seems to come upon the facts without even realizing it. The supporting characters, especially the police, are left following behind, often laughing, at the miraculous ways Miss Seeton dispatches justice.

From murdering teenagers to shady lawyers, Miss Seeton rises to the occasion and triumphs in often hilarious ways. Thanks to Farrago, I have the next two books waiting on my Kindle. I can't wait to see what Miss Seeton gets herself involved in next!

Off to start reading book 2, Miss Seeton Draws The Line. :)

Classic Miss Seaton books, generally enjoyable if formulaic. I enjoyed these earlier books in the series more than I did the latter ones. My thanks to the publisher for providing!

I have so enjoyed these three books! Miss Emily Seaton is a marvellous character,who appears to be a psychic artist, and more than capable in apprehending thieves and wrongdoers,sometimes armed with nothing more than an umbrella!! These books are full of humour,but have enough twists and turns to make these books the perfect mysteries to curl up to on a miserable evening.
Set in the 1960's ,Emily is like Miss Jane Marple, relying upon intuition and knowledge of human nature to solve mysteries. She draws what and whom she sees after a crime, but sometimes reveals more about the person than intended. This does put her in danger at times, but she has this happy knack of dodging danger and escaping numerous scrapes!! .
Cosy and undemanding. Fun,fun,fun.

I absolutely love this series. Exactly what I look for in Mysteries. The main character is a hoot!!!!!