It began with an advertisement in the paper requesting descendants of the late innkeeper to stay for a weekend at the inn. They arrived eager, a mixed assortment, but one of them got hideously murdered bringing the inn's stormy past to focus. Maud Silver was sent to investigate.

On New Year's Eve, 1940, James Paradine makes a speech to his family. Valuable documents have disappeared and the culprit has until midnight to confess. A few minutes after twelve James is dead and it is up to retired governess turned private detective Miss Silver to solve the mystery.

When she found the body of her beloved Uncle Jonathan, Georgina stooped to pick up the revolver, thus becoming the prime suspect. But there was also the missing fingerprint – the showpiece of Uncle Jonathan's collection, apparently acquired from a self-confessed murderer, who was still at large.

And then all at once they were in the dark together, for the moon went out suddenly like a blown candle. She had dropped into a bank of clouds that rose from the clouding west. The wind blew a little chill, and as suddenly as the light had gone, David, too, was gone. One moment, so near-touching her in the darkness-and the next, gone-gone noiselessly, leaving her shaking, quivering.

Althea Graham's hypochondriac mother seldom visitsthe gazebo- yet she is found dead in it one morning.The Graham estate had once enjoyed a rural view, butnow the grounds are part of suburban London and thegazebo is an anachronistic summerhouse. Scotland Yardbecomes suspisious of Althea and her fiance, thedashing foreign correspondent Nicholas Carey, becausethe death of her mother frees them to be married atlast. Miss Silver is fortunately a friend of Althea'sand comes to the rescue, complete with knittingneedles, a gentle smile, and the preception of a mindreader.

A woman suffers amnesia as she regains consciousness to find herself standing on cellar steps with a dead girl down below. As she flees she runs into Miss Silver, who takes on this most mysterious case.

When Lila Dryden is discovered standing over the dead body of her irritating fiance with a dagger in her hand, Miss Silver is called in to investigate.

Michael Harsch's long years of work were nearly at an end. The following day he was looking forward to handing over his precious formula to the government. But the next morning he was in no fit state to hand over the formula – he was dead. It looked like suicide, but Miss Silver knew it was murder. Michael Harsch's long years of work were nearly at an end. The following day he was looking forward to handing over his precious formula to the government. But the next morning he was in no fit state to hand over the formula – he was dead. It looked like suicide, but Miss Silver knew it was murder.

Paulina Paine is deaf, but her ability to lip-read is astonishing. So two men who met one day during an art exhibition did not realize that the woman sitting out of earshot could understand every word they said. It was no ordinary conversation, and Paulina went straight to see Miss Silver.

First she felt herself being pushed downstairs. Then there was the bowl of poisoned mushroom soup. Finally the tampered-with tablet amongst her sleeping pills was the last straw. Adriana Ford, famous actress and mistress of the house decided to call in Miss Silver. And Maud Silver, with impeccable logic, pointed out that the person who was trying to kill her must be a member of her own household. And then the murders started…

Another investigation for Miss Silver. Lurking beneath the tranquillity of the country village of Greenings is a tinder-dry passion which owes its origins to events in the recent past. When Clarice Dean is found drowned in a watersplash, the match is set. Can Miss Silver put out the blaze?

Martin Brand's relatives are furious that he's left his large estate to his niece, Marion, whom he had only met once. And Marion is upset that she has to share her new home with Martin's family. Then a body is found on the beach wearing her coat. Fortunately Miss Silver is on the scene.

Nothing much happens in the village of Hazel Green until a girl goes out for a walk and never comes back. Could her disappearance be linked to security leaks at the nearby Air Ministry experimental station?

Uncle Gregory is found with a knife in his back and "blackmailer" as his epitaph. Only Miss Maud Silver can solve the crime.