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Advantage Miss Seeton
by
Hampton Charles
cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Farrago on July 14, 2016 and has 210 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Miss Seeton By Appointment, Miss Seeton at the Helm
Seventh in the not-Heron-Carvic Miss Seeton series and revolving around a retired art teacher with a gift for psychic caricature.
My Take
More concerned with what Miss Seeton believes is right and good manners, she wreaks havoc — without intending to — everywhere she goes. She hasn’t quite got up to the times (the early 1970s), and she’s curious about all those “correspondents”, you know, journalists, ahem, listed in divorce actions and the number of women giving “French lessons” who are also strict disciplinarians.
In the previous Heron Carvic stories Miss Seeton’s style of speech is an inability to “finish one sentence before she gets involved in explaining something else entirely”. In Charles’ stories, he’s missing that essential part of Miss Seeton’s character. Sure it’s irritating to try and follow, but it’s the pattern Carvic styled for his main protagonist, and it ticks me off that Charles is riding Carvic’s popular series while carving out bits that were so brilliant in the original five stories.
The Nuts are, well, nuts. Mean ones. I’d love to get that Erica on a shrink’s couch! I swear that woman can come up with the most bizarre notions and contradict herself all at the same time! Lol, I loved her comeuppance at the WI meeting, lol. Ooh, Charles drops a blatant hint about the Nuts’ relationship. Couple of hypocrites they are.
What’s with this turnaround with Sir George’s character? Charles continues to make him sound like an idiot. At least Lady Colveden is still quite practical. Charles does present most of the core characters nicely in their having respect for each other, especially when it’s a case of journalist against copper, lol.
Charles uses a third person global subjective point-of-view from a variety of perspectives. It’s a bit sad when reading Trish’s reaction to Lady Colveden’s hints. Poor Nigel. Towards the end, there seems to be a turnaround in Trish’s affections. It’s too bad Charles couldn’t be bothered to provide a basis for this.
Mel’s right, Miss Seeton is at her best when she hasn’t a clue. She certainly does open up Lady Thumper’s eyes at Glyndebourne. Go, Lavinia!
Despite being friends — maybe because they’re friends? — Sir George dresses Sir Wilfred down for turning into a bully. Too bad Thumper didn’t get this dressing down before he sentenced Parsons. Actually Parsons wouldn’t have even had a trial if abortion had been available on the National Health.
Using the foreign tourists’ perspective on Ranger’s bachelor party provides a lovely way to inform us on the proper activities for one, lol.
Yep, the characters provide a good bit of action between love, tennis, protection from a writer of threatening letters, church thefts, and that busy Miss Seeton.
The Story
A sunny summer’s day at the Hurlingham Club resounds to the thwack of ball on racket, as Britain’s young hopeful, the splendidly named Trish Thumper, seems likely to knock out her American opponent. Yet not all the eyes following Trish’s strokes belong to tennis fans — it soon emerges that her father, the notoriously stern judge Sir Wilfred Thumper, has made an enemy who will stop at little to harm him and his daughter.
But the wrongdoers have reckoned without that artistic sleuth Miss Emily Seeton, who in a series of apparently mistimed shots with torch and umbrella, defeats them game, set, and match.
The Characters
The yoga-practicing Emily D Seeton, a.k.a. the Battling Brolly, is a retired art teacher who goes nowhere without her umbrella. She’s also on retainer with Scotland Yard as a part-time consultant . . . as the notorious MissEss. Sir Hubert considers Miss Seeton a human lightning rod. Martha Bloomer does for Miss Seeton. Her husband, Stan, takes care of the garden and the hens.
Plummgergen, Kent, is . . .
. . . the village where Miss Seeton lives in Sweetbriars, her inherited cottage. PC Potter is their constable; Mrs Potter is his wife. The Reverend Arthur Treeves does his best despite his misgivings. Molly Treeves is his sister who takes care of him and heads up the Women’s Institute (WI). Members of the parish include Mrs Skinner and Mrs Henderson. Members of the WI include the mumbly Mrs Wicks (she tells fortunes with playing cards); Mrs Stillman, who is the secretary (and works for the post office); Flo Morgan, who is 85; and, Miss Armitage. Mrs Threlfall from an embroidery group gave a talk on “In Stitches with Church Kneelers”. The Nuts — Erica Nuttel and Norah “Bunny” Blaine — are vicious gossips. The George and Dragon is the only inn in town where the anxious Maureen is a waitress (her boyfriend, Wayne, has a motorbike). Mr Pontefract’s snack bar didn’t catch on. Mr Jessyp is the headmaster of the village school.
The Colvedens live at Rytham Hall up the hill from Miss Seeton. Sir George, who is a retired major general, holder of a DSO, a baronet, a knight commander of the Order of the Bath, and the justice of the peace for the area — and a golfing crony of Brinton’s chief constable. His wife, Meg, Lady Colveden, is quite practical. Their son, Nigel, is at agricultural school, and falls in love on a regular basis. All three of them are friends of Miss Seeton’s.
Anne Wright is the local doctor’s daughter who works as his nurse/receptionist. She’ll be marrying Bob Ranger. (Ranger’s brother, a wine merchant, has broken his leg waterskiing.) Dr Wright is the local doctor. Major Howett, a recently retired Army nursing officer, will take Anne’s place. She’ll also come to be known as “The Howitzer”.
Scotland Yard
Chief Superintendent “The Oracle” Delphick is Miss Seeton’s primary contact. Detective Sergeant Bob Ranger is Delphick’s partner and about to be married. Sir Hubert Everleigh, a.k.a. Sir Heavily, is the Assistant Commissioner (Crime) and Delphick’s superior. Miss Moody works in Handouts and Cuttings at Scotland Yard. PC Godfrey Hislop apprehended the embezzler.
Chief Inspector Chris Brinton of the Ashford Division of the Kent County Constabulary is a friend of Delphick’s. It seems he still has quite the marriage with Mrs Brinton. Detective Constable (DC) Foxon is colorful when undercover. DC Julian “Sleaze” Arbuthnot does quite well undercover.
Mel Forby, a.k.a. Amelita Forby, the star woman journalist with the Daily Negative, became friends with Miss Seeton. Mel will also become the new music critic. Thrudd Banner is a freelance journalist.
The Hurlingham Club is where the first tennis game is played between rising young English star, Trish Thumper — with whom Nigel is in love — and American Nancy Wiesendonck.
Sir Wilfred Justice Thumper, a.k.a. Thump the Grump, is a notorious brute of a judge, a hanging judge who is a friend of Sir George’s. Lavinia, Lady Thumper, is his wealthy but put-upon wife. Patricia “Trish” is their daughter, a.k.a. “Trish the Tigress” or “The Young Thumper”.
William Parsons, Tintoretto, had worked part-time for the St John’s Ambulance Brigade. These days he’s full-time there and also works in the Sussex County Ambulance Service, now that he’s out of prison. Parsons had been a manager at the Reliable Building Society. Audrey is/had been his wife. Vicky, their daughter, had been pregnant by Michael, her first and only boyfriend.
Julie Withers was a bank clerk at the Reliable Building Society along with Beverly Connolly, a.k.a. Mrs Drew. Mr Wilson is the assistant manager.
Norman Proctor had been William’s cellmate. The illegally (and flaming) gay Harvey knows a lot about silver. Norman has a friend (and landlord), Charlie Yung Fat, who owns the Jade Garden, a Chinese restaurant, with a useful van. Charlie’s eldest daughter, Verity, works in the city and is studying accountancy.
Cranhurst is a market town. Mr Windrush of the Easigro Nurseries bowed out of his talk with the Plummergen WI. The Suffragan Bishop of Greenwich is trying to convince the Rev. Treeves that he is still a bona fide clerk in Holy Orders. The bullying Remington had been a perfect at school with Colveden and Thumper.
The Cover and Title
The cover’s background is a soft gradient of blue to lime green. In the top quarter is a building in silhouette. The primary graphic is a deep green silhouette of Miss Seeton, wearing pants?, a hat, and dragging her umbrella behind her in her left hand and holding up a tennis racket in her right. Trailing behind her are chalices and crosses in teal. The text begins at the top with the series info in the deep blue of the background with a testimonial in white under the left side of the building. The title is a’slant under Miss Seeton, starting with a deeper lime and progressing to a deep grass green for the rest of it. The author’s name is in the deep blue below the title. A light teal blue colophon is in the lower right corner. I haven’t a clue what the long object in a deep lime green is.
The title is definitely and always Advantage Miss Seeton.
