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Witch Miss Seeton
by
Heron Carvic
cozy mystery in a paperback edition that was published by Berkley on January 1, 1988 and has 192 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Miss Seeton Draws the Line, Miss Seeton Sings, Odds on Miss Seeton, Picture Miss Seeton
Third in the Heron Carvic’s Miss Seeton suspense series set in 1960s England and revolving around the newly-retired Miss Emily Seeton, drawing mistress.
It’s also know as Miss Seeton, Bewitched and was originally published 1 January 1971.
My Take
Yeah!! I got lucky and found this particular installment! And it’s too funny. What is with people that they will believe the most outlandish, stupid things?! The things the Nuts can assign to the purchase of a doll and the draining of jelly!
Oh, I did enjoy the mathematics class that Miss Seeton oversaw. I’m not sure just where the Taxation and Rates bits came from, but the way the kids rallied in spite of their parents was a treat! A nice setup for the beach expeditions later. I wish I had had a Miss Seeton for art. I just love that she came up with an art project for the ten-year-old who preferred to write! Go MissEss!
*Giggle* . . . it’s the exorcism that both saves and condemns Miss Seeton . . . ! And then, when the Oracle starts to consider the practicality of enlarging the Plummergen police station with a mobile unit that would simply track Miss Seeton’s whereabouts! Followed up by his comment about “If you wanted anything kept quiet in this village you’d find even the dogs discussing it at every tree…” Then there’s the conga line that Miss Seeton leads out . . . oh man . . . what was wrong with Carvic that he had to go and die, dammit! There oughta be a law . . .!
The Story
There was a massive upset earlier in the area with a Black Mass discovered the next village over and now someone has done black magic on one of Farmer Mulcker’s cows. CDI Brinton suspects this satanism might have a tie-in with a Nuscience religious group that’s suckering people in over in Maidstone. And, more amazing yet, Brinton actually wants to hire on Miss Seeton — Miss Seeton! — to penetrate the religious group and have Ranger “visit” his sweetie so he can be johnny-on-the-spot in case of trouble. Hmmm, see Anne . . . yeah! Be backup for MissEss . . . eek! It’s definitely six-of-one and half-a-dozen of the other for Bob Ranger.
Well, they say it never rains, but it pours and Miss Seeton is definitely experiencing a storm of offers. Scotland Yard’s is rather confusing. Miss Seeton just doesn’t think she’d be suited to life as a policewoman. Then there’s the headmaster’s offer. And just when she was worrying how she would make ends meet. And then there’s that nice CDI Brinton wanting to know about her wardrobe…
As for the Nuscience meeting, well it’s practically a village meeting with everyone showing up until young Foxon cracks up and focuses the bad guys on him. Whoops! It brings the Nuscience Majordomes’ eyes onto Miss Seeton with a focused attack on her.
The Characters
Miss Emily Seeton has just retired from her post as a drawing instructor for a private school in London and she and her umbrella have moved into the cottage that her godmother left her in Plummergen in Kent. She’s a nice old thing in heavy denial about the “accidents” that just seem to happen. Well, she’s sure they would happen to, well, just anyone . . .
Superintendent Delphick, a.k.a. the Oracle, practically owns MissEss as far as the Yard is concerned and his Detective Sergeant Bob Ranger is teetering on the edge of rather terrified of her. Ranger is still involved with Anne, Dr. Knight‘s daughter. Chief Detective Inspector Chris Brinton of the Ashford Criminal Investigation Department wishes Scotland Yard would force Miss Seeton to move back to London; she scares up too many bad guys for Brinton. He much prefers the usual status quo of bad guys do bad and he locks ’em up. Without the “Battling Brolly”‘s help! Sir Hubert Everleigh is the Assistant Commissioner at the Yard. Detective Constable Foxon, with the Ashford CID, is wondering why he got stuck babysitting the old lady.
Major General Sir George is the local JP and he has an extremely reasonable head on his shoulders. He and his wife Lady Colvedon and son Nigel have a great sense of humor and are Miss Seeton enthusiasts. Unfortunately, Aunt “Bray” Trenthorne is coming to visit. The total antithesis of the Colvedons. Thank god, her son Basil is staying somewhere else! Sir George wouldn’t have him anyway!
“Miss [Erica] Nuttel and Norah “Bunny” Blaine live together in the middle of the village. And they’re vegetarians. Mmm-hmmm . . . They’re the benign villains of the series with their nasty little gossiping and peeping into windows. Of course, it wouldn’t work if there weren’t gullible idiots to soak it all in! In this story, the Nuts go wild with witchcraft . . . if they only knew . . . Carvic ended this story much too soon for my pleasure!
Mrs. Walsted runs the local draper’s with the help of her daughter Margery — they think Miss Seeton is a witch. Reverend Mr. Arthur Treeves is the woolly-headed vicar with his much more practical sister Molly Treeves. Well, naturally I think they’re practical because they’re on Miss Seeton’s side. Old Miss Wickes is another of Miss Seeton’s allies even if she doth have a poorly fitting denture. Martin C. Jessyp is the headmaster at the village school and has asked Miss Seeton if she could do occasional part-time teaching at the school. Obviously another Seeton ally as he refuses to back down to terrified parents. PC Potter is the village constable.
Two religious ministers, Duke and N, encountered each other at the end of a pair of botched jobs and cooked up a masterful combination to relieve people of their money. Hilary Evelyn is the actor hired as the frontman, er, the minister. James and Ted are fellow Majordomes with Basil. Ted is looking forward to a return match with MissEss. Merilee Paynel is drowning her grief in nothing until she meets Nigel.
The Title
It’s just jumping up on that slanderous bandwagon the Nuts are dragging around with them, giving MissEss a title like Witch Miss Seeton. I sure hope that somewhere along the way the Nuts get hoist with their own petard. And in such a way that the lesson sticks!
