The Chinese Shawl

In this classic British mystery starring a sleuth “who has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot,” Miss Silver investigates a murder that may have its roots in a new romance—or an old family feud (Manchester Evening News).
 
An amateur who happened on a career in theater, Tanis Lyle has just finished filming her first motion picture. The young woman has electric charm, and seems to hypnotize all who meet her—including Laura Fane, a distant cousin who, because of a long-standing family feud, has never been allowed to meet her glamorous relative.

But while all of London seems to love Tanis, her powerful effect on men causes some to despise her. And when the actress’s life is cut short by an unknown hand, investigator Miss Maud Silver will have to hunt for a killer.
 

Patricia Wentworth (1878–1961) was one of the masters of classic English mystery writing. Born in India as Dora Amy Elles, she began writing after the death of her first husband, publishing her first novel in 1910. In the 1920s, she introduced the character who would make her famous: Miss Maud Silver, the former governess whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting served to disguise a keen intellect. Along with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Miss Silver is the definitive embodiment of the English style of cozy mysteries.