This is a fun book, but it is more of a light-hearted crime novel than a mystery; the bad guys are clearly identified from the beginning, and the only question is when and how they will receive their comeuppance—at the hands of Miss Seeton, of course.

In this installment of the series, Miss Seeton finds herself fighting against the machinations of an organized gambling syndicate. Oblivious to what is going on around her, Miss Seeton uses her uncanny intuition and reflexes to save the day and rescue the Kenharding family from an unscrupulous crime boss. While in clueless pursuit of the bad guys, she makes a small killing at the roulette wheel and at the horse races. Along the way, she manages to inadvertently kill a few people, too.

Miss Seeton is an entertaining character and her exploits make for enjoyable reading.

Unfortunately, the book does suffer from a few glaring flaws.

There are way too many policemen; the reader almost needs a complicated chart just to keep track of who’s who in law enforcement.

And the two low-brow journalists who are constantly forcing themselves on the scene are an endless source of unnecessary aggravation. Personally, any housekeeper who gave open access of my home to these two trashy gossip columnists would be fired so quickly her head would spin!

There is also a completely gratuitous chapter in which the two village busybodies visit the local gentry to complain about Miss Seeton. That entire scenario was nothing more than a boring time-waster designed to pad the page-length of the book. That’s a good way to establish resentment in the mind of your reader.

Overall, though, this is a good title to have on hand when you need an agreeable way to kill some time. ( )

Scotland Yard has disguised Miss Seeton as a high roller to get a police sketch of a mysterious crime boss.
Miss Seeton goes to the casino to sketch the manager as the Yard hasn’t been able to get his photo and they think is a crime boss. As she leaves the casino she is accosted but her brolly comes to her aid and Superintendent Delphick is there keeping an eye on her and takes her home. Then Miss Seeton goes to the horse races. She bets on a horse, her brolly gets loose, and she is attacked by thugs. Attacked without her brolly well her next best weapon is her purse.

This series makes me smile. ( )

It's been a while since I tried a Miss Seeton, and for some reason I never read more than one or two. It's a very cute idea: Miss Seeton is a vague and bumbling elderly lady who is perceived by everyone around her, friend and foe, as a sort of Sherlock Holmes presenting this fuzzy front. And of course it all accidentally leads to the solution of whatever crime is in the offing. It's ridiculous – and it's fun. I'm impressed by the author's ability to pull it off.

She looked at Tom Haley for guidance, but he appeared to be immersed. In thought. What an unpleasant man. Mr. Thatcher, she meant.

I'm not sure the gimmick would be conducive to reading too many back to back, so maybe the way I seem to be reading the series is best: one every great while is more enjoyable than a binge.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review. ( )

Miss Seeton goes undercover in a casino and at the horse races at the request of the Fraud Squad. Innocent and oblivious, retired art teacher Miss Emily Seeton leaves havoc in her wake wherever she goes, all unknowingly. In Odds On Miss Seeton, she brings down a gang of racketeers who are infiltrating casinos and rigging horseraces. Hilarious!

A sample of dialogue I particularly liked, between the manservant at Kenharding Abbey and policeman Tom Haley, Miss Seeton's bodyguard in this book, after an attempt has been made on Miss Seeton's life and her attacker has been knocked out and is about to be trussed up with wire:

"If you'll excuse me, sir, I shall be able to manage quite well on my own. I am accustomed to doing odd jobs about the house."
Haley let it go. Fair enough, if that was how the old boy wanted it. But if wiring up the odd bod was just routine, just how odd did an odd job have to get about this house, before Timson found it really odd?

Odds On Miss Seeton is the last book Heron Carvic, the creator of Miss Seeton, wrote himself. The series was carried on for years afterwards by two other authors, but for me, these first five are the best. I love Miss Seeton! ( )

Again, nice bit of fluff. She's misplaced and mis-assigned in this one, too, though not as badly as in Sings. And the young cop with her is nearly as good at noticing things as she is (though his focus is rather different). And the way she stumbles into behaving like a pro - in this case, a pro gambler - is always amusing. ( )