Very enjoyable mystery series. Great story development and interesting characters. A great cozy series!

I absolutely love this series. Exactly what I look for in Mysteries. The main character is a hoot!!!!!

I have so enjoyed these three books! Miss Emily Seaton is a marvellous character,who appears to be a psychic artist, and more than capable in apprehending thieves and wrongdoers,sometimes armed with nothing more than an umbrella!! These books are full of humour,but have enough twists and turns to make these books the perfect mysteries to curl up to on a miserable evening.
Set in the 1960's ,Emily is like Miss Jane Marple, relying upon intuition and knowledge of human nature to solve mysteries. She draws what and whom she sees after a crime, but sometimes reveals more about the person than intended. This does put her in danger at times, but she has this happy knack of dodging danger and escaping numerous scrapes!! .
Cosy and undemanding. Fun,fun,fun.

I did not finish reading all three books. I read the first one and found to be a well written, intelligent mystery. I imagine the other two are in the same vein and recommend this series for anyone who likes intelligent mysteries that run along the same line as Miss Marple or Father Brown - books with quirky, interesting characters - that can draw together thoughts and ideas that others may not notice.

Miss Seeton is a cosy crime gem. This collection of three books starts you off well on the crime solving path with our whimsical elderly lady. Formerly an art teacher, Miss Seeton is always armed with a sketchbook, which is usually vital to her detecting method. These books are often funny page turners with hints of Miss Marple whilst being dissimilar enough to be valuable in their own right.

These books are engaging and wonderful if you love agoid mystery. You will fall in love with Ms. Seaton from the first page. This three book collection is a must read for any mystery lover.

Once I got in the rhythm of the writing style of these books, I really enjoyed them. Miss Seeton (Miss Ess!) was a delight and I loved reading about all her adventures and interactions with the other characters. The author really painted the picture quite nicely.

This book was just not for me. While I found the first two chapters amusing and enjoyed the sprightly dialogue, the plot was too improbable for me to enjoy. I will however recommend it to serious fans of cosy-mysteries. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to read the book.

Miss Seeton is the best sleuth you’ve never heard of. London art teacher Emily D. Seeton, a kind, dutiful forty-something spinster, is a younger, less conventional Miss Marple, one who gets caught up in farcical situations through no fault of her own. Her creator, Heron Carvic, intended her as a parody of the dithering, but perspicacious Miss Jane Marple, but readers won’t even notice because Miss Seeton proves absolutely delightful.

This set includes the first three novels in the series: Picture Miss Seeton, Miss Seeton Draws the Line and Witch Miss Seeton. While the last doesn’t live up to the first two, the box set is certainly worth it for Picture Miss Seeton and Miss Seeton Draws the Line. In both of those, Carvic plots an excellent mystery, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with the darling Miss Seeton, her optimism and her sense of duty.

Unbeknownst to Miss Seeton herself, she has an incredible gift for intuiting clues through her pencil drawings, drawing on — what? Intuition? Subconscious observations? Psychic messages? We don’t know, and readers won’t care as they enjoy Miss Seeton’s exploits in these novels. Readers will also enjoy Carvic’s sly send-up of the snoopy, judgmental harridans that populate every British village. Although the novels are more than 40 years old, the writing is as fresh as ever.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Prelude Books and Farrago in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a thoroughly enjoyable series. Nice easy read

It was so nice to see this reissue of the Miss Seeton mysteries. Although I had read these previously, they were just as enjoyable the second time around. In fact, I liked that this was the original UK version more than the US version. I look forward to reading the new ones in the series.

Who couldn't love a retired teacher that manages to use her umbrella very effectively to protect herself and others. Everyone should give this older series a chance!

Miss Seeton is a fun character and the situations that she gets into may seem a bit strange, but never turn your back on the Battlin' Brolly unless you are on the side of good because Miss Seeton always get the bad guys even if that wasn't her intention. In the third installment, Miss Seeton prevents a bogus "religion" from fleecing residents in her adopted village.

NetGalley sent me the collection of the first three stories but since I already reviewed the first two, this is only the third installment review.

Picture Miss Seeton
Book 1 Just superb.

This is Marple mixed with the dry wit of Jack Dee. A village setting with (in this the first of a reissued series) a dark underbelly of violence, extortion and even a wee bit of Heroin thrown in.

I guffawed often and fell in love with more than just Miss Seeton as the Local Quack and Yard Detectives also wormed their way into my heart!

Miss Seeton Draws A Line.
Book 2

These books are such fun! The crimes are deceptively dark but wrapped in in such a gloriously tongue in cheek humour that the frisson of discomfort is soon abated by another laugh

MIss Seeton and her Umbrella get involved in a spate of bank robberies that the Good folk at The Yard have linked to some terrible child murders in Plummergen and the surrounding areas, so Miss Seeton's skill for drawing emotions and feelings are called upon again.

WItch Miss Seeton
Book 3

This third in a collection of books reissued on kindle format by Farrago Books and graciously gifted to me via netgalley for review is somewhat shorter (or it seems that way, maybe I am just more attuned to the cadences of the style now) than the first two.

All the favourites are still in there in the wake of this calamitous woman, whose very belongings become weapons with minds of their own. Here cults, satanism and capitalism collide. The body count is not so high, but the humour is just as virulent.

Very enjoyable!

Classic Miss Seaton books, generally enjoyable if formulaic. I enjoyed these earlier books in the series more than I did the latter ones. My thanks to the publisher for providing!

Miss Seeton is just way too much fun. Read the first three book in the series first or last, it doesn’t matter. You will get to know the inhabitants of her village, the policemen that she works with as a psychic artist, and lots more. Carved gently mocks the English cozy mystery, without straying too far from its comforts and conventions.

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 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. :)

Just straightforward mysteries!!! Love the characters and the storytelling....reminds me of Agatha Christie mysteries.

These are so much fun - I don't know how Miss Seeton has passed me by before! Like a tongue-in-cheek version of Miss Marple (who herself was the object, sometimes, of her author's fun), Miss Seeton stumbles around inadvertently exposing and solving crimes with her trusty umbrella at her side.

In the first book we find her moving from London to a pretty cottage in a village peopled by the usual array of English eccentrics who have full teas in the afternoon and crime on their doorsteps.

What makes these so entertaining is Miss Seeton's prim, spinsterly take on life: for example, after watching a performance of Bizet's Carmen, "Carmen, herself, for instance, no better than she should be. In fact, if one were frank, worse."

These are cosies lit up with some wonderfully sly and comic writing - hugely entertaining!

I very much enjoyed the first Miss Seeton book I read and I am coming genuinely to love the series. They are all very well written and extremely entertaining.

Books featuring a spinster in a small English village who becomes involved in solving crimes don't look very alluring at first glance because they just sound like a lazy Miss Marple rip-off. They certainly aren't, though; I made the mistake of allowing myself to be put off by this for some time, but when I finally tried one I found it very good. The first three in the series collected here are all extremely enjoyable and an excellent place to start.

What makes these books stand out from the huge slew of average cosy-crime is the quality of the writing, which is excellent. The plots are good and involving, but what I enjoy most are the wit of the books and the very fine and beautifully deft characterisations. Heron Carvic has a beautiful way of painting recognisable and believable characters with a few neat phrases or lines of dialogue (as do his successors in writing the series, by the way). Although they are different in many ways, this and the wit of the books put me a little in mind of Edmund Crispin – high praise, but well deserved, I think. They are hugely enjoyable, and whenever I read a Miss Seeton, I become involved, smile often, laugh sometimes and always look forward to reading some more.

This little passage from quite early in Book 1 (Picture Miss Seeton) may give an idea of what I mean. A policeman informs the proper, upright Miss Seeton that, "She was a known prostitute."
"Oh, dear," Miss Seeton exclaimed. "A very hard life; such late hours – and then, of course, the weather. And so unrewarding, one would imagine." I loved that; it's humorous but shows so much about Miss Seeton's character in a couple of sentences – and "unrewarding" is a perfect adjective for her to use.

I'm delighted that I was persuaded to try these books, and I would warmly recommend them to anyone who enjoys well-written, witty crime.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

3 Miss Seeton stories in one go - what a treat, if you like slightly daft crime stories go for these