SWEET MISS SEETON

by Hamilton Crane ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1996

Yet another entry in the series created by the late Heron Carvic and featuring retired art teacher Emily Seeton, a Miss Marple spinoff, who lives in the gossipy village of Plummergen, Kent, and is both bane and blessing to Superintendent Brinton of the Ashford police (Sold to Miss Seeton, 1995, etc.). Brinton, alerted by his bank manager, has been trying to find the cause of a rash of depressing events among the area's senior citizens--a suicide here; a case of starvation there; and the unexplained depletion of funds in never ample accounts. Miss Seeton, meanwhile, has been fending off the attempts of London conceptual artist Antony Scarlett, egged on by his publicity hungry gallery owner, to buy her house, which he wants to fill with chocolate and then demolish. Scarlett's long black cloak and theatrical presence have given rise to some weird speculation in the village, reinforced by the arrival of Tina Holloway, Scarlett's onetime overweight model and lover, dismissed when she thinned down, now seeking a reconciliation but encouraged by Miss Seeton to concentrate instead on her own burgeoning talent. The killing of Tina, in her room at the local inn, poses another puzzle for Superintendent Brinton, and its solution lies, as usual, with Miss Seeton. The story's last-minute murder defies belief, with its full-of-holes motive, but, still, there's fun to be had with a full cast of endearingly zany villagers, the loony London art scene, and the ever gently intuitive Miss Seeton.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Berkley

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1996

Categories: FICTION