I received the following comment about the Miss Seeton cozy mysteries… Shermeen wrote:
“Why were there 3 different authors? Also Hampton Charles’ books were decidedly different than the other 2 authors, I can find no information about him. Thanks, I have read most of the books, and wish there were more.”
In answer to the comment:
Heron Carvic wrote the first five Miss Seeton mysteries between 1968 and 1975. I couldn’t find any information about why he stopped writing the books before his death in 1980. (Here is the link to the page with all of the Miss Seeton mysteries.)
It was at that time that Roy Peter Martin (using the pseudonym of “Hampton Charles“) took over the series, and penned three more of the Miss Seeton novels, which interestingly enough, were all published the same year (1990.) Roy Peter Martin also uses the pseudonym “James Melville” when writing his Superintendent Tetsuo Otani series set in Japan.
Sarah J. Mason (using the pen name “Hamilton Crane“) took over the series, writing fourteen more Miss Seeton novels… more than the two previous authors put together. She uses her own name when writing her British Detective Superintendent Trewley & Sergeant Stone series.
I noticed that Sarah J. Mason is putting out novels in her other series, so I wonder if she has decided that it is time for Miss Emily D. Seeton to finally do what she had decided to do in the very first novel… retire!
darina says
Good evening Danna,
I was so happy when I just found a comment about Miss Seeton mysteries.I bought my first book about miss Emily in England, but since that time my Slovak friends living in Canada are unable to find this mysteries in print there. Yes, I only read 3 of them and remember left one of them on the bus on my way to Uni,regretted that million times over. I loved Miss Seeton’s help-the superintendent and young pair in love always helps.!!
Nora says
I have copies of the five original Miss Seeton books by Heron Carvic. I also read some of the others by the later authors but didn’t pursue them farther when I decided they hadn’t the deft touch that Carvic displayed with his writing. I personally feel he had the best feel for his characters without the sometimes stilted feeling from the later authors. I also liked Mr. Carvic’s wry British humor which didn’t come through in the later books. It confirmed my belief that someone else trying to pick up after another author most often can’t.
sandra says
I agree. If you’ve read the first five Miss Seeton books by Carvic, then the subsequent ones written by other authors are a disappointment….and for the reasons you mention.
Anne Birch says
I prefer the ones by Carvic and Mason more than the ones by Martin. I find the humor in Masons books but far less so in Martin’s.
Brad says
Thanks to Ebay, I have been able to reconstruct the entire series reading in the order provided here on Cozy Mysteries!
Beryl says
I would like to know who the Publishers are. Also, are the Heron Carvic Books still in Print? Where to purchase them in Australia, and UK. Thank you
DelAnne says
Farrago is reissuing the entire series this year and you may want to check out Amazon in Australia to see if the are being offered. Amazon US has them if you want to try and buy them from there. Good luck.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Beryl, I just checked on Amazon.UK and it looks like they have most of the books for sale. (I don’t believe they are currently being published, all of my copies are from yesteryear…)
maggie says
I have all the series now, in paperback, got most of them from Amazon.com In my first batch of books, I got 3 by Heron and 2 by the next guy, and about 5 by Hamilton Crane…I did not notice the different names….I loved the series. Down the road I realized the different authors, checked them all on the internet. I was so pleased to see the series had been continued (into 22 books). How great for Miss Seeton fans – I do/did not see any enormous difference in the writing, until later when I looked for it, LOL. It’s a fantastic series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maggie, a lot of times when an author takes over for another author it doesn’t work. In this case, I think that Miss Seeton fans are happy with all three of the authors.
Anne says
I was glad to see the mysteries on Kindle at a reasonable price, and bought some of the earlier ones, which I already had in old paperbacks. I read “Picture Miss Seeton” and about halfway through thought there was something missing – a big chunk of sub-plot. Figuring they were part of a different novel I dug out my old paperback to make sure.
Sure enough, the Kindle edition was not the same as the 1977 paperback! Perhaps someone here can tell me what happened. I suspect that Kindle didn’t just decide the old text was just a starting point and “improve” it.
One of the changes deleted a visit from Miss Seeton’s headmistress, which added to character development. Another took out some of the detail of the Vennings situation. This deletion might have taken out some sexual talk and blunted some violence.
I suspect that might have been done to sort of “cozy up” the book.
I found this fascinating – and disturbing. I hope someone here knows when and why this happened.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anne, that sure is odd! I do know that some other series (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc) were altered significantly at various points, but often the main goal was removing elements that would be considered offensive to modern audiences… and those series are also significantly older than Miss Seeton! It has admittedly been a while since I have read Miss Seeton, but I don’t remember anything in it that would be too out of place in a modern Cozy.
Beverly says
Despite noticing a difference in the Heron Carvic books and those by Roy Peters I am still going through the series and enjoying them. Ready now to start the books by Sarah J. Mason. I am reading the Kindle editions. So far these are still better than most books and wont let me go to sleep until I finish each one.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Beverly, I’m glad you’re enjoying the series!
Barbara says
I absolutely love this series….came across three of Heron Carvic’s books at a rummage sale years ago. It’s the simplicity and characters that keep me coming back…there are only a few titles that I have not read yet. I try to get into the spirit when reading my “cozies” with tea & biscuits!
Karen says
Why did Heron Carvic stop writing the amiss Seeton books before his death in 1980? I was curious too — & followed Google to Wikipedia etc.
His wife died in 1977. She was a member of the famed TERRY acting dynasty. He was also an actor (The Avengers); and voice actor (Dr. Who & Gandolph).
I suspect there’s a love story in his life — He was 20 years younger than his wife, and married years after they’d first worked together. He was the second husband.
Mark M says
I love the Miss Seeton series and have spent many enjoyable hours reading the books. I would love to see them turned into a TV series, much like the books about Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin have become BBC mini-series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mark, I agree that it would certainly make an interesting TV series, or possibly made for TV movies.
Cheryl says
I would love more Miss Seeton books!!!!! Why did it take so long for another book to come out?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cheryl, I don’t know, but I suspect that it might have something to do with the publisher change from Berkeley to Farrago (who will be publishing the upcoming book).
Barbara says
Is there another book being published?! If so, I can’t wait! This is the series that introduced me to the genre of “Cozy Mysteries”.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Barbara, I haven’t heard anything about another book being published in this series, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were continued.
Barbara says
Thank you, one can only hope! I would love to see it adapted for TV, but don’t think it’s realistic to wish for.
Erica says
Years later but in answer to the question, Carvic only wrote the five books as he was killed in a car accident.
I agree he had a singular voice and, like any talent cut short – Sarah Caldwell, Phoenix Gilman, regret life’s cruelties.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Erica, the death of a favorite author is always a sad surprise for fans.
Lyn McConchie says
I can elucidate one point. “Hamilton Crane” stopped writing the Miss Seeton books, because copyright permission to do so was rescinded – not because of a publisher change. Permission was reactivated recently, and out now are two new books, Miss Seeton Quilts the Village, and Miss Seeton Flies High, with a third novel in the process of being written.
I was most unhappy with the “Hampton Charles” trio in the series, they did not have the feel of the originals at all, but in my opinion Hamilton Crane’s work is far superior, at least as good as Crane’s and I am delighted that she has been able to pick up the series once more. I know how very trickly it can be writing in another author’s world/s and she does a wonderful job.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lyn, thanks for the clarification!
Barbara says
Two new books!! This is wonderful “reading” news!! There are still one or two Miss Seeton titles that I have never been able to find, so I will definitely make a beeline to purchased the new titles.
J. Odell says
I’ll chime in with a confirmation about the edits to the first book. I’ve still got my Popular Library pb from ’77. It was getting fairly fragile so I bought a new copy of the Berkley pb printed in ’88.
The text had definitely been altered (which is why I kept both copies). I should probably do a reread to confirm how much of a hack job was done on it.
I will have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the 5th book, since, while the story was fun as usual, all of the characters were beginning to act like exaggerations of themselves. In addition, one of the key events of the story (Miss Seaton placing a bet on a horse because of the color of the jockey’s silks, and the horse winning) had been referred to all the way back in the first book, in the background info on Miss S as something that had happened in the past *then*.
It seemed a bit clumsy to reuse an element without acknowledging that it was a reprise, and without significantly altering it.
Bill W says
The mystery of the Popular Library paperback version of Picture Miss Seeton actually dates back to 1968, when the book appeared in hardback in both the UK (published by Geoffrey Bles) and the USA (published by Harper and Row). Popular Library’s edition used the Harper and Row text, and that contained a number of additional characters and scenes.
What is not clear, after 50 years, is whether Harper persuaded Heron Carvic to spice up his text, or Bles persuaded him to tone it down. Either way, the two 1968 versions are different. When Berkley reissued the title in 1988 they used the British text. I don’t know why they didn’t use the Harper text, but the copyright page tells us they used Bles.
It may have been something as simply as no-one being able to lay hands on a 20-year-old Harper copy. The best argument in favour of this is that there were also British hardcover editions of the next two books (the third in the series even had a different title in the UK – “Miss Seeton Bewitched”), but in both cases Berkley’s re-issue used the Harper text.
Farrago have used the Berkley text of these earlier stories, so we can’t blame them for not following Popular Library. And at least Farrago have commissioned some new titles, with the prospect of another in time for Christmas this year, I hear.
Karen G. says
I’ve just recently discovered Miss Seeton. I do notice a slight difference in authors, but all the books are still fun and a good read. Would love to see them on TV similar to what the BBC did with the Father Brown Mysteries.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Karen, that would certainly be a wonderful idea for a television adaptation!