The Chinese Shawl by Patricia Wentworth: A Miss Silver Mystery

If one has to be an orphan, it is helpful to have some sort of inheritance and be reasonably attractive. Laura Fane has “white skin, dark hair, and the grey-green eyes which were her real beauty.” She lost her parents when she was just five but her father’s decision to jilt his cousin Agnes when he met and fell for Laura’s mother caused a family rift. Now 21, she has come to London to meet with a lawyer about her inheritance. She currently receives £400/year, mostly from renting her father’s home, the Priory, to her Cousin Agnes, and she works as a secretary at a convalescent home for soldiers.Read more »