Emily Seeton, aka Miss Seeton, Miss Ess, or the Battling Brolly, is the fictional heroine in a series of British cosy mystery novels written in part by Heron Carvic; then following Carvic's death, by Roy Peter Martin, writing as Hampton Charles (I guess preferring to focus more on his own "The Superintendent Otani Mysteries" under the name of James Melville); then picked by Sarah J. Mason (writing as Hamilton Crane), before branching out on her own with the “Trewley & Stone” series .

In each book, we find Miss Seeton using her skills as an art teach as she randomly draws psychologically and, perhaps, psychically informative sketches that allow Inspector Delphick of the Yard, and his assistant Bob Ranger, to solve the crime. The primary storyline is the seemingly naive and oblivious Miss Seeton finding herself in awkward situations, then managing to provide enough random clues and insights for the detectives to use to solve these mysteries.

I have read a number of titles in the series (of which there are 23 - 22 and a prequel). The character of Miss Seeton is standard cosy fare (elderly spinster involved in solving crimes); the villagers, distinctly unique (reference "The Nuts"); the crimes predominantly local with a few trips further afield; the community, typically English of the 1950s style. Whilst the first five stories were original and charming, as the series goes on, it does get a bit repetitive, and with so much crime in one sleepy village, I'm surprised Scotland Yard has opened a branch there! In the end, Miss Seeton comes across as a poor man's Miss Marple crossed with Inspector Clouseau as the final author, I feel, struggles to provide anything original with which to involve our heroine.

In this outing, Miss Seeton rescues a baby she finds in a phone booth who just happens to be the kidnapped child of a Laird and Lady from Scotland. Of course they are thrilled and invite her to visit them at their home which she accepts. She has never been there before and is looking forward to bird watching and going for long walks. Amelita Forby, her friend and a reporter, follows her to make sure she is safe, but also because, where Miss Seeton goes, a story usually follows. If you are not familiar with this series, Miss Seeton is a retired art teacher who seems to have a second sight which she is able to draw in her pictures, often unaware. The Scottish population is filled with colorful characters who each have an agenda. There is the castle's housekeeper, an author, the inn keeper, and of course the general population, many of whom we meet in the pub. Of course Miss Seeton finds a dead body, but the Scottish do not know she is the famous "Battling Brolly" and think her delicate.

This story was a bit different from the others in this series. I learned a lot about the political history, especially where the Stuarts and the Jacobites were concerned. There was a murder and a plot to topple the monarchy, but there was not as much action as in previous books and Mel seemed to be more of a main character than in other stories but it was still an interesting read. I did not enjoy this book as much as others in the series. Perhaps as this is the 13th book in the series, it is time to wrap it up. There have been multiple authors of this series and maybe that is the issue. It was interesting, there was a mystery, and of course the art of Miss Seeton was involved and instrumental in finding not only the kidnappers but helping to solve the mystery. If you like the cozy mysteries that take place in Britain, with the older female sleuth, you will enjoy the Miss Seeton mysteries.

I love this series and each book is a humors mystery with a little woman that's either really daft or really good at playing daft