58. Anna, Where Are You? by Patricia Wentworth (Mystery) 342 p.

I have a vague memory of having read this when I was younger, but so long ago that I had no memory of the plot. In fact, I didn’t really see the solution coming, which isn’t always the case with Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver mysteries.

The advertisement in the Times agony column catches Miss Silver’s eye: “Anna, where are you? Do please write. Thomasina.” It isn’t long before Miss Silver finds herself engaged by Thomasina Elliott, to find her friend Anna Ball. Usually a faithful correspondent, Anna has abruptly stopped writing, and no one seems to know where she is. To find her, Miss Silver takes up her old profession of governess, looking after the three children at the home where Anna was last seen.

After hearing about Miss Silver’s days as a governess in every other book, it was fun to finally see her do that as well as detecting. I can easily believe that she would be a comforting person for a child, though old-fashioned.

Pages read: 16,267

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Miss Silver, Patricia Wentworth