Friday, October 7, 2016

Friday Forgotten (or Overlooked) Book: PICTURE MISS SEETON (1968) by Heron Carvic


I had vaguely heard about this series over the years, but nothing that hardened itself in memory and besides, I had never seen the books in a bookstore or even, at the library. So imagine my surprise when Miss Seeton suddenly showed up in e-book form over at Amazon and at fairly cheap prices. How could I resist? I like the idea of fumbling old lady detectives if cleverly written AND with a humorous bent. (On this particular cover, you'll note that Miss Seeton doesn't appear particularly old but use your imagination.)

My suspicion is that Miss Seeton is meant to be a satirical swipe at the Miss Marples and Miss Silvers of this world and that’s okay by me. If you have an interesting take on old lady detectives and their Scotland Yard cohorts and you have a wicked sense of humor and some writing skill, then go to it.

Miss Seeton is an art teacher, semi-retired and recently moved to one of those small English villages full of crackpots…er, eccentrics. Her only weapons against the criminal element are her complete lack of street smarts, her obliviousness to what is actually happening and her trusty umbrella which she puts to good use when necessary.  She also has a bit of psychic ability (not overly pronounced) plus good visual memory and drawing ability, enough so that at some point in the series, she becomes a kind of unofficial sketch artist for the Yard. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

In this first book in the series, Miss Seeton has just inherited a small cottage out in the country and is looking forward to either selling it or retiring there. The story begins in London on the eve of her move as Miss Seeton wends her way home from the opera (‘Carmen’ by Bizet). Taking a wrong turn, she finds herself in a dark alley witness to a vicious murder she doesn’t recognize as murder until after she swats the killer with her umbrella and causes him to flee. Left behind is the body of a dead 'working' girl.

Since she glimpsed the killer's face and can sketch him, she becomes an invaluable witness for the police who immediately recognize the face in the drawing as a local bad guy. 

Scotland Yard Superintendent Alan Delphic (known as 'the Oracle') and his sidekick, Sgt. Ranger, are both bemused by Miss Seeton’s naivete, not to mention the quick way in which she used her umbrella. But they realize that she will be in some danger until the murderer is caught, something that has not occurred to Miss Seeton.

However, since the killer knows he was seen, he is soon after Miss Seeton, undeterred by her move to the small village of Plummergen (in Kent). A village which will soon become a hub of strange doings much to the speculative delight of its denizens.

It is apparent that the police cannot keep track of Miss Seeton in her various wanderings nor can they, also apparently, seem to keep her safe. The press too is keenly interested in the battling spinster able to rout a murderer with her trusty umbrella. To all this, Miss Seeton displays complete bewilderment - she can't seem to grasp how her backstreet escapade might interest anyone.

However, she keeps stumbling over strange people in the dark and is even kidnapped at one point (with a sack thrown over her head) to the amazement of her neighbors who take malicious delight in inventing various reasons for all the nighttime activity.

Eventually it turns out that someone in Plummergen is connected with a ‘gang’ which specializes in getting people hooked on some insidious new drug. There is also a reckless bunch of young locals intent on mischief and a would-be hero equally intent on keeping his childhood friend from falling deeper into the clutches of the wrong crowd. Not to mention, the local mystery woman who writes children's books and seems not to notice that her daughter is pretty much a juvenile delinquent.

 But is all this connected to the murder in London which Miss Seeton witnessed? Yes and no.

The cops know who the killer is but catching him is another story. In the meantime, said killer keeps trying and failing (through no fault of his own) to get his hands on Miss Seeton.

Which leads to the biggest laugh I’ve had in a very long while: somewhere along the middle of the book there is a nighttime escapade involving a supposed auto accident, the death of a young woman who should have known better, the near drowning of Miss Seeton, the disrobing of a large police constable, several cars zipping back and forth through the village – one of them a police car, lights flashing, one an open sports car in which a titled lady and her son are driving hell bent for leather, first one way then another – one of the cars containing the near naked constable holding what looks like a body – all while several busybody villagers watch the comings and goings and invent the most hilarious stories to account for the night’s events. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my bed.

In addition, the ending will come as no surprise if you've paid any attention to the particular peculiarities of a large closet (wardrobe?) in Miss Seeton's cottage. Very funny and much in keeping with the general understated tone of the book. There's no one in the world who can do understated hilarity like the Brits.

I do recommend Miss Seeton in this season of political wretchedness when a good laugh is balm for the soul. I’ve since ordered the second book in the series, just to see if the first one was, perhaps, a fluke. Stay tuned.

Since this is Friday, don’t forget to check in at author Patricia Abbott's 'forgotten book' meme, this week being hosted by Todd Mason at his blog, Sweet Freedom. You will certainly want to see what other 'forgotten' or 'overlooked' books other bloggers are talking about today.

22 comments:

  1. This sounds like great fun Yvette, thanks. It will all be alright on 8 November, I'm telling ya :)

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    1. From your lips to God's ears, Sergio. :) Miss Seeton was great fun, in fact, I'm a bit surprised how much I enjoyed it. You just never know with this sort of thing.

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  2. I had forgotten Miss Seeton. I read a few of those books way back when. Thanks for the reminder.

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    1. They're new to me, Gram. But maybe it's time for a nice reread for you. :)

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  3. I just ran over to Amazon and downloaded this to my Kindle. Thanks for the introduction to Miss Seeton. she sounds wonderful - and much needed!

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    1. Hope you enjoy it, Debbie. Can't beat the prices. :) I'm not the greatest fan of Kindle, but it does come in handy, especially when it comes to vintage.

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  4. I've not read one of these, but you make it sound so entertaining, I must try one, and where else to start but the first in the series? Thank you for the review!

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    1. You're welcome, Richard. This was a fun read and well worth the couple of bucks.

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  5. Never heard of Miss Seton, Yvette, but your review makes it seem like a hoot. Looking forward to your views on the second of the series.

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    1. I'm hoping the second book will live up to the first, Neer. This was SUCH fun to read. I love when I make discoveries like these - don't you?

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  6. i, too, read one of these recently and although the plot stretched credulity to certain extent, the confusion was part of the fun... and funny it was; i'll have to get some more... tx...

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    1. Yeah, not big on credulity, these books. :) But as you say, that's part of the fun. I enjoyed this very much.

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  7. This series went under my radar, but I just bought this one for pennies for my Kindle.

    Have you heard about FilmStruck, the new TCM / Criterion collaboration for streaming classic, foreign, indie, and other films that are hard to find or only available on DVD? I'm so excited. I hope it's all it promises. I think it starts October 19th or thereabouts. It seems like something you'd like, too.

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    1. I hope you like it, Joan. I think you will. :) FilmStruck. Never heard of it. What is it like Netflix? I'll definitely look for it if it features older or foreign films. Hooray for that!

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    2. I just heard about FilmStruck myself. I think it will be like streaming Netflix or subscribing to Hulu or one of those. But, definitely, according to the info I've seen, it's all classic, old, hard to find movies from TCM and Criterion. We'll see, but fingers crossed.

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    3. I looked it up and it does sound like something we old movie mavens should be very interested in. Thanks again for the tip, Joan. :)

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  8. I read all of these (by Heron Carvic) in the 70's and 80's I guess. A few years ago I bought copies at the book sale but have not reread them yet. You have certainly given me motivation. The series was continued by other authors. I don't think the later ones were as good, but there were a lot of them, so who knows?

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    1. I really liked this one, Tracy. Oh gosh, I laughed so hard. But right now I'm reading the second book in the series and I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I was about the first. I may just skip to the third (since they are rather cheep-cheep) :)

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  9. Mary Poppins, crime fighter! Musical potential? You've sold me, Yvette. Off to the Kindle library with me...

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    1. You know, Mathew - I didn't even connect those dots. What a great idea: Mary Poppins, Crime Fighter - LOVE IT!! Miss Seeton always wants to make things right, unfortunately, she doesn't have Miss Poppins' strength of purpose. She's too flighty. But at the same time, she does have the Poppins sort of flair. This definitely has musical potential. HA!

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  10. I read all these when I was in high school and loved them. Witch Miss Seeton is my favorite of the lot. The clairvoyance through drawing business I thought was a very clever gimmick. Emily Seeton is such an endearing character. You can't help but like her. The originals will always be superior to the later ones ghost-written by other writers using names like Hamilton Crane and similar Anglo names all using the initials H.C. They are pale imitations to the authentic Emily Seeton.

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    1. Well, I probably won't be reading the later ones. But I'm going to check out the third and fourth in the series. I will probably just skim through the rest of MISS SEETON DRAWS THE LINE (2nd in the series) since I'm finding it a bit of a drag. Not giving up though. Too endearing a character, as you say. And I also like 'the Oracle'.

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