Fool Errant: A Benbow Smith Mystery: 1 (The Benbow Smith Mysteries)

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the world of Wentworth’s non-Miss Silver novels, having already read Silence in Court (1945) and Fool Errant (1929), both of which showed a more innovative side to Wentworth. I wouldn’t say Who Pays the […] Next, he takes up a position as secretary to a surly, eccentric genius, only to find himself in the middle of dark doings...yes, it's espionage! Further events follow, with the sinister plot against Ross unfolding rapidly. The tension builds up as the day of the “theft” arrives. Wentworth is adept at continually surprising the reader in the final section of the novel leaving the reader wondering if Ross will be triumphant or whether he will be ultimately enveloped by the machinations against him. Things do not go to plan for either side and Ross has the additional task of saving the woman he loves, as this being a Wentworth novel, there must be a love interest. Filidor, nephew and sole remaining heir of the Archon, has been kind of a dandy. He is at a club partying with his superficial friends when he gets a summons to see the Archon. It's a dwarf that has carried the message who recognizes that Filidor will try to squirm his way out of the meeting and won't let him out of his sight. They go to Binch to find they've just missed him, the same thing at Ektop, Zeel and Jasp.

This is my second non-Miss Silver novel by Wentworth, with my first being Silence in Court (1945) and one of the main things this second read has taught me is that Wentworth is a much more creative writer when she is not tied down by the character of Miss Silver. Furthermore, I think in the beginning of the novel Wentworth shows brief moments of a much more literary, possibly even modernist writing style. But in all in all this is a thriller, a genre which actually marries well with Wentworth’s writing skills and penchant for including romance.Do You Really Love Me Too" is a song written by Mark Barkan and Ben Raleigh and first released by American pop singer Barbara Chandler as the flip side to "I Live to Love" in October 1963. [3] Originally called "Fool's Errand", it was renamed "Do You Really Love Me Too" on the UK release of the single in December 1963. [4] Billy Fury version [ edit ]

From Middle English erraunt [ and other forms ] , [1] from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer ( “ to walk (to); to wander (to); ( figuratively) to travel, voyage ” ), and then: [2] Although arrant is a variant of errant, their modern meanings have diverged. Arrant is used in the sense “complete; downright; utter” (for example, “arrant knaves”), while errant means “roving around; wandering” and is often used after the noun it modifies (for example, “knight errant”). The use of errant to mean “complete; downright; utter”, and arrant to mean “roving around; wandering”, is obsolete. Do You Really Love Me Too (Fool's Errand)" was released with the B-side "What Am I Gonna Do", a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, first recorded by Sedaka for his debut album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits, but was first released as a single by Jimmy Clanton. [6] At each of these stops Filidor runs into trouble with the monomaniacal natives where he has a hazardous and bizarre adventure. Even traveling between the towns turns out to be full of risks. Throw in an evil wizard that wants the box that Filidor is supposed to deliver to the Archon. She wrote a series of 32 classic-style whodunnits featuring Miss Silver, the first of which was published in 1928, and the last in 1961, the year of her death.Really enjoyed the story. It does follow the common "quest" format in fantasy but still offers lots of humor and randomness with all the wit and sarcasm you'd expect in a world built on The Dying Earth. There is humor that offsets the repetitiveness, and each location has its own monomania. After the second time that Gaskarth leaves Filidor alone to go to the local Archonate office, I would have expected him to try to accompany the dwarf. Other than that Filidor does learn along the way, which is the point of the story. How he started off avoiding meaningful endeavors and now sees that sort of life is a waste, even though the adventures have been terrifying and dangerous.

Paul Brians(2009),“ arrant/errant”, in Common Errors in English Usage, 2nd edition, Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Company, →ISBN. A bigger complaint, though also less important, were the names for the characters. I found them quite odd and other than suggesting an "otherness," which shouldn't have been since I believe this is a "future earth" setting, they didn't seem to have any sort of thought out basis. Maybe Matt would be able to suggest some though. They were all doomed to be disappointed, however, for the errant engine decided at Stanley junction to spend the remainder of its crowded hour of freedom on the Aberdeen line, and finally came to rest, short of breath, in the dip between Ballathie and Cargill, near the bridge over the Tay. Desperate for employment, Hugo ignores her warning and takes the job. He’s barely moved into Meade House when a message from Loveday Leigh is hand-delivered: He must leave immediately and burn the letter. When they finally meet again at Waterloo Station, Loveday is not the mysterious woman Hugo remembers. Odd happenings continue, and he enlists the help of the esteemed Benbow Smith, an enigmatic figure connected to London’s Foreign Office. Soon Hugo is caught up in an undercover plot involving governmental intrigue, industrial espionage, and stolen military secrets. With his own life on the line, how much is he willing to risk for his country?

This may be a Golden Age book, but the book itself is perhaps bronze, or tin. Successive illogical happenings, the flightiest girl ever, a hero cast in the bumbling-but-ultimately-triumphant Brit mold, a fake femme fatale, and an untenable plot leave you with the impression that what you're reading is more a comic book than anything else. The brave young Loveday and the vampish Madame de Lara are the two poles of womanhood in these espionage novels. Loveday is pure and childlike, prone to mad acts of bravery followed by weeping on Hugo's manly shoulder. She nearly gets sold into white slavery due to trusting the wrong people. I mean, reely. Madame de Lara is a vamp, a scamp, and a bit of a tramp. She is not so much evil as greedy.

Present participle of errer ( “ to wander ” ), from Latin iterō ( “ I travel; I voyage ” ) rather than from errō, which is the ancestor of the other etymology of error ( “ to err; to make an error ” ). There is one fantastic quote I will put in here '...unrecalled technologies might be mined as if they were newfound discoveries....the outmoded only remains so until it becomes unremembered, after which it may justly return as the avante garde.' Not my favorite Wentworth (I'm partial to the Miss Silvers) but..... The lead ingenue character is cursed by the name "Loveday" so what can she be but a semi-total ding-dong. I spent a lot of her scenes wanting to give her a sound shaking. He has made his living as a writer all of his adult life, first as a journalist in newspapers, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment, and, since 1979, as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia. In retrospect I found this to be quite a surprising Wentworth novel, as it made me rethink what I thought I knew to be her way of writing. That’s not to say this novel didn’t include some of the things I expected. We have the love interest, though thankfully the woman although a bit of twerp is bearable. Ultimately she redeems herself at the end, as during the middle of the book I think both me and Ross wanted to slap her, as she finds him too dictatorial when he advises sensible decisions e.g. Let’s not make lots of noise to attract the bad guys’ attentions. Moreover, there are a number of familiar thriller tropes, including the vamp Madame de Lara (who is anything but French). However, there were also some unexpected elements. The introductory setup at the beginning was first rate in my opinion and there were setting descriptions which I felt had a slight modernist feel (which is also captured in the dreams Ross has):errant, adj. (and n.)”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “ errant, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. When looking for employment be careful not to take up jobs at places you have been warned against and always be suspicious of employer eccentricity and if you don’t believe me you’d best read Patricia Wentworth’s Fool Errant (1929). […] Fool Errant was originally published in 1929, and introduced the eccentric, elderly series character of Benbow Smith. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.