Picture Miss Seeton

The Unsinkable Miss Seeton!

This crime novel from 1968 is along the lines of Agatha Christie—but lighter, with less mystery, and with more humor. It's the first in the Miss Seeton series.

Of course, the comparison with Miss Marple can't be avoided. Both are older women with an admirable polite steadiness. Miss Seeton is slightly younger (early 60s?), never married, on the verge of retirement as a school art teacher. Where Miss Marple is an astute sleuth with a cynical knowledge of human nature, Miss Seeton is merely an accidental witness to a murder and subsequently finds herself in the center of more murders, embezzlement, and a powerful drug ring. Miss Seeton's talents are also the tools in her survival: an astute intuition about show more people that she captures in her drawings, an ability to keep her head even while not fully understanding all the evil-doings around her. And she has that trusty umbrella she carries in all weather.

Like Miss Marple, she's got "nice old lady" hutzpah that is frequently underestimated.

Being written almost 60 years ago, there are undoubtedly a few old-fashioned ideas within but frankly none at all compared to the extreme offensiveness we endure by a current U.S. presidential candidate, publicly and regularly.

Speaking of its age, I don't know why but I also got a thrill coming across some of the back-in-my-day expressions not much in use today, like "pep pills" and "gas bag." I also dug the scatterings of literary and classical references. For example, I had to look up "Niobe," which was an important concept in one of Miss Seeton's drawings. I like when something I'm reading sends me off to Google where I pick up more tidbits of general education. It mildly surprises me that in older novels the authors assume their readers come to the work more well-read than we apparently are now. Have you noticed that?

I can't gauge how this novel stacks up in its genre. I don't read much crime or mysteries and have never read a cozy mystery. I can say, though, it was a fun read that takes place in a small, quaint, and gossipy English village with lots of kettles being put on. I even laughed out loud a couple of times. The writing was good, straight-forward, and refreshingly clean (of errors, of vulgarities). And a big kudos to Mr. Carvic for making each of the many characters distinguishable from one another in their speech and thought.

I enjoyed the little step back in time. In spite of all the criminality and danger, it was oddly relaxing.

And an old lady protagonist is always going to tickle my now old lady heart. show less

Having been recommended by someone whose opinion I trust, I was in the mood for something light and decided to try the first book in the Miss Seeton cozy series. I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

Delightful, charming, and hilarious are words that I seldom use, let alone throw around with abandon as I am doing now, but... I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book! If I didn't have any self-control, I'd be reading all the books in this series one right after the other like potato chips or cookies.

Miss Seeton is Miss Marple on laughing gas. She's a spryer Miss Marple, too, and you'll never believe the adventures she and her umbrella get into. To Scotland Yard's credit, Detective Chief Superintendent Delphick (known as The show more Oracle) knows that Miss Seeton's ability to identify the killer means her life could be in danger-- especially since they know who they're looking for: "...he had a nasty feeling that when she'd stuck her brolly into César Lebel, she'd stuck it into a hornet's nest." Fortunately for Miss Seeton, Delphick sees her for the astute person she is. Unfortunately, Detective Sergeant Ranger has the typical youth's opinion that she's merely a dotty old woman carrying a lethal umbrella-- but that opinion may change as the two police officers try their best to keep her alive.

Miss Seeton is about to retire, and she's inherited a nice little cottage down in a village in Kent. Wanting to try country life on for size, she moves in for a few weeks-- and she takes Delphick's murder investigation with her, little knowing how much difficulty the villagers are going to add. The people of Plummergen are a riot, even "the Nuts," Miss Nuttel and Mrs. Blaine, horrible gossips who are "the parish substitute for a Hollywood scandal sheet." As broad as the comedy may be, I'm from a small village and I recognized many of Plummergen's characters. (My village had its own version of the Nuts, among others.)

The killer tries time and again to do away with Miss Seeton. If you have a hard time understanding how murder attempts on a poor little old lady could be hilarious, all you have to do is read Picture Miss Seeton. I spent most of this book either smiling or laughing out loud. This book is light and fun and addictive. It's just what I needed, and I've decided: I. Need. More. show less

To truly picture Miss Seeton, you must imagine a younger, less conventional Miss Marple, one who gets caught up in farcical situations through no fault of her own. While the mystery is clever and the novel is quite funny, it’s the darling Miss Seeton and her can-do spirit that really captured me.

London art teacher Emily D. Seeton, a kind, dutiful forty-something spinster, encounters a murder of a French prostitute that turns out to be part of a larger scheme. Brave — or perhaps foolhardy — she drives off the murderer with her trusty umbrella. Miss Seeton can’t describe the murderer when pressed by the police — but she can draw a perfect rendition of him. Her artistic ability comes in handy more than once.

Unbeknownst to Miss show more Seeton, that makes her a target of a crime ring, one that tries to track her down during her holiday in the Kent countryside. The village characters that author Heron Carvic describes remain as fresh and funny as they were nearly 50 years ago; truly, despite being first published in 1968, Picture Miss Seeton has aged quite well. I can’t wait to read the next in the series, Miss Seeton Draws the Line.

Special thanks to Farrago for re-releasing this little gem. And thanks to whomever for making most of the re-released Miss Seeton books available on Kindle Unlimited. show less

This is number one in the 22-book series. How did I not know until now about this quirky, umbrella-wielding spinster art teacher and the escapades she gets herself into (and out of)? This is a British cozy where the naive Miss Seeton inadvertently misunderstands motives, is overly concerned with good manners, and uses her always handy umbrella to get herself out of all manner of predicaments. The writing style is entertaining with an easy-to-follow plot, the characters are comically predictable, and Miss Seeton somehow always manages to land on her feet. This lighthearted mystery takes place in a small British village in the mid-1960's, but Miss Seeton is timeless! If you're looking for a delightful, charming read with clever plot show more twists, let me introduce you to Miss Seeton.

Thanks to publisher Farrago Books and NetGalley for a digital reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. show less

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 show more 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. :)

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Farrago via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

First in a series

From the book jacket: Miss Emily Seeton had seen Carmen and it had made enough of an impression so that when she came across a stabbing in real life it didn’t upset her too much. Not that anything upset Miss Seeton too much. As long as she had a firm hold on her umbrella (and she always did), she could face just about anything.

My reactions:
What a fun romp of a cozy mystery! Miss Seeton is a retired art teacher who has just inherited a cottage in the village of Plummergen, Kent. Fearing that her encounter with the murderer may put her at risk she leaves her London flat and vows to spend the summer in Plummergen. The villagers aren’t sure what to make of her, and they have heard rumors of her run-ins with the law. Is show more she involved in drugs? Is she a spy? She and her umbrella are certainly at the center of all the strange happenings in and about the village.

It took me a little while to get involved in the story, but once I did, I was completely hooked. I just loved Miss Seeton and her bumbling way of getting involved. There were a satisfying number of suspects and a fair number of twists and turn in the plot that kept me on my toes. And while I identified the main culprit long before Miss Seeton or the police, it was still fun watching them put the pieces together.

I had to get this through inter-library loan, and I hope I can continue with the series. Miss Seeton is a hoot. show less

Soon-to-be-retired art teacher, Miss Emily Seeton, inherits a cottage from her elderly godmother in the village of Plummergen, Kent (pop. 501). On the night before she travels down to Plummergen, Miss Seeton attends a performance of the opera Carmen in Covent Garden. As she walks through an alley on her way to the bus to take her home, she witnesses a man stab a young woman to death. Later at the police station, she is able to draw a sketch that enables the police to identify the killer.

The killer and an assortment of his criminal associates follow Miss Seeton to Plummergen to get rid of this troublesome witness. Miss Seeton is an innocent who tries to always believe the best of people. She foils every attempt on her life, usually with show more nothing more than her trusty umbrella. Most of the time, she's not even aware she's in real danger.

Heron Carvic wrote five Miss Seeton books before he died. Two other authors carried on this long series. I prefer the original five Carvic books myself. This is a good one. show less