Nine lessons

Nicola Upton includes real people as characters and places in her books. The author, Josephine Tey, regularly is a key character while in this novel the memory of M R James, Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, in 1913, and writer of ghost stories, also features.

In November 1937, Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose, from Scotland Yard, found himself in Cambridge investigating the deaths of members of the Kings College Choir who had performed in the 1913 Lessons and Carols Service.What is the connection between the men who are brutally killed and is there a link with the stories told by M R James? At the same time police in Cambridge investigate a series of rapes occurring in the city.

Although the investigation and resolution of the crimes plays a major part of the novel, the author is also concerned with the impact of crime on the victims and the families of victims. The author also uses the Armistice Day commemoration to illustrate the divisions within the community regarding war. For some, fears grow that there is about to be another war, while for many, issues from World War I have not been fully resolved. The relationships between Josephine, Marta, Archie and Bridget continue to  feature throughout the novel.

Like the other books in this series, Nine Lessons is a thought provoking, well written crime novel that is difficult to put down once you start reading it.

The University of Adelaide has made available free digital copies of books by Josephine Tey as well as ghost stories of M R James.

London rain

The setting for this novel is the coronation of King George VI in London on 12 May 1937. There is much excitement in the city as people plan how they will observe this momentous day. Red, white and blue decorations adorn the city streets and buildings. People line the streets to watch the rehearsal of the royal street procession. Josephine Tey is in London as she has tickets to watch the actual parade with friends. At the same time the BBC has decided to produce her stage play, Queen of Scots, as a radio drama so she attends the first rehearsal to see how how play has been adapted. The BBC occupies an impressive new building but the politics of the nation's broadcaster are about to be revealed when one of its best known broadcasters is murdered after commentating on the parade. Josephine's friend, Archie Penrose, who is involved in ensuring that security arrangements, including crowd control, run smoothly  is called in to investigate the murder.

This is a crime novel with many twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader guessing. It is also a story of several relationships. The portrayal of the coronation and its affects on the population of London plus description of the early days of radio broadcasting provides an impressive backdrop for this novel of 1930s London.

A Shilling for Candles

The second book by Josephine Tey in the Inspector Alan Grant series.

Early one morning a woman's body is found at the bottom of a cliff. Initially it is thought that the death of the woman was due to suicide but when the body is examined a button is found tangled in her hair. Inspector Grant is called to investigate the murderer as well as determine why the crime was committed. The main suspect is a young man who was living in the same house as the victim however a number of other possibilities also keep Inspector Grant occupied as he tries to unravel the mystery.

Like many other Josephine Tey novels part of the plot is linked to the theatrical world. This time the victim is an actress. Inspector Grant investigates all the possibilities methodically and is assisted, and at times possibly hindered, by Erica, the daughter of a local policemen. The author is interested in people and spends time making her main characters human, including showing weaknesses. Grant makes mistakes from time to time and worries about having made them, however one of his strengths is his ability to examine and observe suspects as complex people in order to eliminate them from the enquiry.

Josephine Tey is considered one of the important authors in what is termed the Golden Age of British crime fiction along with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham.

The Man in the Queue

This book, Josephine Tey's first novel, was published in 1929. 

A man, waiting in a queue to see a musical, is killed and no one appears to have noticed the murder or the murderer. Inspector Alan Grant is called in to investigate this baffling case. Unlike some of the later books in the series, this book is definitely a police procedural following Inspector Grant and his team as they endeavour to establish why the man was murdered and by whom.

When the most likely suspect disappears Grant traces him to Scotland where we get to know more about the thoughts and behaviour of this investigator. However when the suspect is captured Grant begins to doubt that they have the right person and now has to prove the innocence of the suspect as well as establish the  identity of a killer. One of the interesting aspects of these novels is observing the techniques used by the police to aid their investigations and the time involved in obtaining information so they can continue investigating the case.

The book has been criticised as the crime is solved more by luck than by police investigation but no doubt this may also happen from time to time in real police investigations. As the investigation continues we get to know more about the victim and one of the themes of the book encourages us to question our views of what we consider to be right and wrong.

A detailed review of this title see the post by Margot Kinberg in the blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist.

The singing sands

After recently spending a week in Leicester where some of the time was spent exploring sites relating to Richard III I am currently rereading Daughter of Time, the book which originally got me interested in Richard III. However on the return flight to Australia from a visit to Hawaii I read another Josephine Tey novel, The Singing Sands.

Alan Grant is taking enforced leave from the police force due to his suffering from claustrophobia as part of a nervous breakdown. He travels by train to spend time with his cousin and her family in Scotland but as he leaves the train a body is discovered by the porter. Grant tells the porter to call the police and as he leaves he accidently picks up a newspaper owned by the dead man. Looking at the paper some time later he discovers part of a poem written in pencil, probably by the man in compartment B7. The poem refers to 'the beasts that stalk, the streams that stand, the stones that walk, the singing sand ...that guard the way to Paradise'.

Grant spends the next few weeks recuperating, enjoying Scotland and spending much of his time fishing, often with his cousin's young son. However he cannot forget the young man in the carriage and starts to investigate the death from afar. His investigations take him to the islands, the location of singing sands, and it is during his time there that his health greatly improves. An advertisement in the paper for information about the lines of poetry he discovered brings him in contact with a friend of the dead man and they continue the investigation together.

This was Josephine Tey's last novel and it was published in 1952 after her death. As usual the mystery is secondary to her study of people and places and the examination of why people act the way they do. However the the threads of the mystery and its investigation are gradually revealed and resolved.

The availability of Josephine Tey's books in public libraries may be limited to a couple of titles though some provide access to e-books for some of her works. However the University of Adelaide has made digitised copies of many of Josephine Tey's works freely available for download. Some other titles are available via Project Gutenberg Australia.

The Death of Lucy Kyte

When Josephine Tey inherits the house in Suffolk that belonged to her godmother she does not anticipate the story that she is to unravel involving the house and local inhabitants. Josephine knew the outline of the story of the Red Barn Murder and that her godmother, Hester Lackspur, had played the role of Maria in a play about the murder. However when she discovers the draft of a book that Hester was working on Josephine becomes immersed in the story and its sinister overtones that reach into the present, including her godmother's death.

 As in her previous books, Nicola Upson interweaves real stories and people with fiction and fictional characters to produce a story that keeps the reader involved until the end.

Fear in the Sunlight

On an episode of Flog It earlier this year, Paul Martin visited Portmeirion a village built on the Welsh north coat by architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, between 1925 and 1975. The main setting for most of this Nicola Upson novel is Portmeirion in the year 1936. Although the village was incomplete guests stayed at the hotel during the summer and during the day tourists also paid to visit the village, making it a busy place in the warmer months of the year.

As usual, the author includes real people in her work of fiction. Josephine Tey and her friends arrange to spend a few days at Portmeirion to celebrate her 40th birthday. Also staying at the resort was Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma, plus a party of their guests from the world of film. When the bodies of two of the guests are found murdered along with a probable suicide Josephine's friend, Chief Inspector Archie Penrose, carries out the initial investigation until the local police arrive. The complicated relationships between many of the guests and their connections with the local area are revealed as the investigation proceeds. A crime story with many twists and turns, involving the world of show business set in an exotic location and told by a gifted writer make this novel well worth reading.

For those interested in Portmeirion there are a number of films on YouTube including one by Jools Holland.

Brat Farrar

When Brat Farrar is approached in the street to impersonate Patrick Ashby, who is believed to have committed suicide eight years previously, he initially refuses but eventually agrees to the plan. After extensive coaching he is ready to meet the Ashby family and claim the inheritance as the eldest son instead of his 'twin brother, Simon'. Much of the book describes the reactions of family and friends to the return of Patrick. Fortunately Brat loves horses as the family property is a horse stud and this makes it easier for him to fit into the family routine. However Simon does not hide his mistrust of Brat and the longer Brat stays with the family he realises that he is in danger. This story of suspense is also about acceptance and being part of a family. As usual Josephine Tey tells the story through the lives of her characters as well as the twists and turns of the plot.

Brat Farrar was first published in 1949. It was the basis for a gothic film, Paranoiac (1963), and later was filmed for BBC television in 1986.

Josephine Tey

Two for sorrow

Much of the plot of Two for Sorrow revolves around the hanging of two women at Holloway Prison in 1903 for baby farming, resulting in the death of most of the babies. Thirty years later repercussions from this event are still affecting the lives of families affected by the crime and its outcome.

Josephine Tey is researching the story for a novel that she plans to write and draft chapters of the book are interspersed among the chapters outlining the investigation by Detective Inspector Archie Penrose and his team of two murders which are suspected to be related to the events of 1903. One of the themes discusses the difference between fact and fiction and whether factual events should be used as the basis for a fictional work. An examination of friendship between men and women as well as between women is another theme in the book. This book by Nicola Upson has almost 500 pages but I found that I was so involved in the intricacies of the plot that I had to keep reading.

Angel with two faces

The second in Nicola Upson's series of books based around the novelist, Josephine Tey.

Inspector Archie Penrose has invited his friend, Josephine Tey, to holiday with his family in Cornwall. The story opens with a funeral where Archie is a pallbearer. Harry Pinching had ridden his horse into a lake and drowned. The funeral introduces the reader to the main characters and also suggests that this is a village of secrets which must be kept from Archie.

The local police invite Archie to lead the investigation which takes up much of his time. Meanwhile Josephine observes the villagers and learns some of the secrets they are trying to hide. She befriends Harry's sister, Loveday, a young girl not readily understood by most of the villagers, and tries to understand the power network that appears to exist. Archie has also been seconded to be the narrator of a play at an open air theatre and when the main character is murdered the need to find out what is really going on in the village intensifies.

This is a well written murder mystery that endeavours to uncover how events of the distant past can still affect the present.

An expert in murder

Nicola Upson's first book has playwright and author, Josephine Tey, as the main character in this detective novel. In 1934 Josephine is travelling by train from Inverness to London when she meets Elspeth, a fan of Josphine's play, Richard of Bordeaux, about to end a long run on the London stage. The two women become friends during the journey and arrange to meet again at the theatre. When Elspeth is murdered Detective Inspector Archie Penrose investigates the case and becomes convinced that the murder is connected in some way with his friend, Josephine Tey, and her play.

In this book the author describes theatre life in the 1930s and the reader meets actors and other people associated with putting on a successful play as well as learning of the jealousies occurring behind the scenes. This is a work of fiction although some of the theatrical characters can be identified. Josephine Tey is really a pseudonym for Elizabeth Macintosh and when she wrote Richard of Bordeaux she used George Daviot as a pen-name. One review of the book is written by a woman whose mother, aunt and father worked on the play and she recognised them in the characters and also recognised the description of the theatre. Archie Penrose is based on Alan Grant, the detective in a number of Josephine Tey's books. The author has therefore successfully interwoven fact and fiction to create the environment for this murder mystery. Set in the early 1930s a theme throughout sections of the book is the continued impact of World War I on the lives of the survivors.

This is the first book in a series and I will look out for other titles to read.

To love and be wise

This Inspector Grant mystery was first published in 1950. Josephine Tey writes crime books with a difference. Her books are not the purely police procedural stories that many recent authors write. Her books are about places and the people living in those places plus the impact of a crime on the community.

In this book Inspector Grant attends a party where he meets an American photographer wanting an introduction to the nephew of one of the guests. After the introduction Leslie Searle is invited to stay at the family home in a village, Salcott St Mary, where he can meet the nephew, Walter. Much of the plot revolves around village life recently changed by an influx of artistic people who do not exactly blend in with the other villagers. It also examines not only the effect of Lealie Searle's arrival in the village but particularly the reaction of the occupants of 'Trimmings' to Searle.

Walter and Leslie decide to go on an expedition exploring the local river in order to collaborate on a book. Several days into the expedition they visit the hotel at Salcott St Mary for a drink. Walter leaves early leaving Leslie to return alone to the camp and Leslie is never seen again. Because this has the potential to be a high profile case, due to the personalities involved, Inspector Grant is asked by the local police to help with the investigation.

Written more than 60 years ago it is interesting to observe the methods of communication, including time delays, between the village and London and between London and the USA. It is also interesting to note how the use has changed of some words. This is a well constructed crime story with an unexpected twist at the end.

The University of Adelaide has digitised a number of Josephine Tey books making them available online as e-books - http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tey/josephine/index.html

The Franchise affair

This novel by Josephine Tey was first published in 1948. Robert Blair is a lawyer in a small English town where he usually attends to wills and conveyancing. One afternoon he receives a phone call asking him to assist a woman who has been visited by police suggesting that she and her mother had kidnapped a fifteen year old girl. The girl is brought to their house, The Franchise, which she had described, and identifies the two women as her captors. The police, however, are not convinced with Betty Kane's story and decide to investigate further.

In the meantime a scandal newspaper publishes the girl's story plus a statement about the supposed inaction of the police. This results in sections of the local public taking actions to persecute the two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother. Robert Blair is determined to prove that Betty Kane's story is a fabrication and most of the novel involves the investigations to prove the innocence of the two accused women.

This is a well written detective story which quickly captured my interest and demanded that I should keep reading. Josephine Tey is particularly interested in depicting characters and in justifying their thoughts and actions. Detective-Inspector Grants appears briefly in the book - he is a major character in a number of other books by Josephine Tey.

The plot of the story is based on events in 1753 when Elizabeth Canning disappeared for a month and then fabricated a story about her disappearance.

Miss Pym disposes

When I began working in public libraries in the 1960s one of the popular authors was Josephine Tey. I did not read any of her works at the time but have had the opportunity to do so this year. Josephine Tey is well known for her detective fiction featuring Inspector Grant but she also wrote stand alone fiction - one tile being Miss Pym disposes published in 1946.

Miss Lucy Pym, a former school teacher who has written a popular book on psychology, is invited to be a guest lecturer at Leys Physical Training College run by a former school friend. After presenting the lecture she intends returning straight to London but is persuaded by the senior students and staff to stay, initially for a few days which extends to a two week holiday. Much of the book is Miss Pym's assessment of the character and personalities of students and staff that she meets as well as observations on the activities at the college as the girls prepare for their final examinations and end of year performance. Josephine Tey (Elizabeth Mackintosh - her real name) once trained at such a college which explains the detail in which the activities are described.

This is a slow moving book as the first 150 pages create the atmosphere of life at the college allowing us get to know its participants. The mystery occurs in the final quarter of the book. Initially there is evidence of cheating during one of the final exams but this is overshadowed when one of the girls has a serious accident when practising in the gym and suspicions arise that it was not an accident. The tension builds in this section with the inevitable twist at the end. The book poses dilemmas faced with the need to make correct decisions that may or may not create subsequent consequences and or impact on other people.

The daughter of time

The recent identification of bones under a carpark in Leicester as being those of Richard III resulted in renewed interest in the king who was the last of the Plantagenets - [Guardian article] For centuries many history books have described Richard as the evil hunchback who stole the role of king from his nephew when Edward IV died, then imprisoned his two nephews in the Tower of London and arranged to have them murdered. Shakespeare's play, Richard III,  has perpetuated that notion.

In the novel, The daughter of time, written by Josephine Tey in 1951, a policeman, Alan Grant, is in hospital recovering from breaking a leg. To fill in the time a friend brings him a collection of portraits of people about whom a mystery is attached. Among them is a portrait of Richard III which inspires Grant to evaluate the story surrounding the king by investigating the actual known facts, rather than stories written long after Richard's death. 

The title of the book refers to a quotation from Francis Bacon (1561-1626) - 'For, truth is rightly named the daughter of time, not of authority.' In the novel Grant reads all the books that he can easily locate about the life of Richard including those credited with providing authoritative accounts. He soon discovers that the 'original' sources were written many years after the events described and by Tudor supporters. It is therefore necessary to seek information from documents produced during the reign of Richard. Aided by Brent Carradine who researches the available documents at the British Museum, Grant is able to debunk many of the myths and piece together the facts relating to this period of British history revealing an entirely different story.

This book should be read by all who are interested in history, including family history, re-enforcing the need to investigate the facts and not to just accept a story at face value.

For those interested in Richard III the Richard III Society provides detailed information.