I don't know how old the author publishing as Mr. Hamilton Crane is but I don't think the 1960s and 70s is familiar territory. I didn't like Miss Seeton, I did not believe the scenarios and the dialogue was impossibly fake hip. I hope never to pick up a book of this series again.

I received a review copy of "Miss Seeton Flies High" by Hamilton Crane (Farrago) through NetGalley.com. The Miss Seeton series began by Geoffrey Harris using the pseudonym Heron Carvic. Following Mr. Harris's death, several writers have continued the series. ( )

Miss Seeton has been a great help to the police in the past and as such, they have placed her on a permanent retainer. It seems her drawings help them decipher and solve crimes; since while her subconscious takes over, she manages to convey ideas that they can interpret.

While visiting Glastonbury in order to learn a little more about King Arthur for an upcoming Christmas play, she meets a variety of people. What she doesn't know is that the local police are looking for a group of drug dealers and eventually solve a murder. She also doesn't know that she might actually know something about both...

I would have liked to enjoy this book more, but it began very slow. I don't understand what her neighbors had to do with anything - except to explain about sheep, and that could have been done by the author without adding in the neighbors as it was rather dull - yet they filled the first chapter and all we learned was the fact that the father was a magistrate and the son and his wife went to a film. Other than that, it didn't make any sense at all. Other than that, it didn't make any sense at all since they never appeared in the book again.

Once she gets to Glastonbury she meets an odd assortment of people, including the local bookseller, whose family is arguing with other family members about grazing land - should they allow it to remain or take it back to expand a factory. While it may have been the major plot, a lot of it did not need to be in there, and again, it made the story drag.

But once things did seem to 'move along,' as it were, then it became interesting. It was nice to see Miss Seeton's interaction with people, and also interesting to see how the police interpreted her drawings into something they could use. I would also have liked to know something about Miss Seeton's 'outragous hats' but they were never described.

She manages to get herself right in the middle of things without knowing it, and although I would have enjoyed to get pulled into the mystery, there were many stops and starts, i.e., the young girl on the hill gesticulating wildly with the umbrella while she rants about the Zodiac, (for that is what is was, a complete rant); I did find myself skimming through these pages.

In the end, it was put together well and worth the read, and I will probably read another in this series if given the chance. A decent cozy to spent a quiet nice with a cup of tea. ( )