Miss Hannah Pym has become known as the Travelling Matchmaker to her friend Sir George, who waits to hear what has happened when she takes to those ‘flying machines’ as the stage coaches are known.
However, now she feels that perhaps it is time to stop these adventures, and settle down in the country, somewhere quiet with her faithful if not rather disobedient gambling footman Benjamin. But after one last adventure, this time to York, where apparently there have been sightings of her deceased master’s missing wife.
On the coach, she meets Yvonne Grenier, going to her father in York after a letter has been sent to her, where he has been in some sort of hiding after escaping Revolutionary France. Then here is Mr Smith, a rather colourless looking name who speaks perfect English, but his eyes focussing on the other passengers. Then there is plain old Mr Giles, a gentleman who has a presence by his sheer size and by entering a room, but his clothes are so well made, that surely an average man would not be able to afford such tailoring?
And so as the journey begins on the notorious road to York, what will befall the coach or any of its passengers on route? Whatever Miss Hannah Pym will be involved from the start, in the thick of it and also ensure a happy outcome for all involved. Perhaps this time as her last journey is rather exciting, she will be the one who has the tables turned on her?
The sixth and final book of M.C. Beaton’s Travelling Matchmaker series, where everything comes to a culmination and there is a happy ending for everyone. What more could you want from these small but rather delightful little novels.
And so I come to the end of a series. But if you know about M.C.Beaton then you will know that she has plenty more to read – Agatha Raisin of which I am slowly working my way through. Hamish MacBeth, I have yet to read any of these. The Edwardian Murder Mysteries which are loaded onto my Kindle already. The newest series to be republished under M.C. Beaton (as opposed to Marion Chesney) is the Six Sisters series. No doubt other Chesney novels may well be republished. They are so small and light (in both length and tone) that they pass a pleasurable couple of hours.
The Book Jotter 