Having bought them all collected in one Audible volume, I've continued to listen to the rest of the Inspector Grant mysteries by Josephine Tey (pseudonym for Elizabeth Mackintosh). (Cf my review of The Man in the Queue from earlier this month.)
In A Shilling for Candles (1936) a film actress is found drowned on a beach in Kent. At first it's believed to be an accident, but a button entangled in her hair makes Grant suspect murder... The case of course turns out to be more complicated than it seems at first, though.
In The Franchise Affair (1949), a mother and daughter living in a remote house in the countryside (called The Franchise) , are accused of having kidnapped a young woman visiting the area, imprisoning her in their attic, and forcing her to become their servant. The two women accused of doing this contact a solicitor, Robert Blair, to be present when they're interviewed by the police. Blair decides to believe the two women rather than their alleged victim, and sets out on a quest to prove their innocense. A tabloid takes the side of the young girl, though, and turns the townspeople against the two women. In this book, Inspector Grant is really only a background character, and it's Blair who is the main investigator, trying to disprove the girl's story, even though some of the details she's able to provide seem hard to explain if she wasn't really held captive at the house the way she says.
In To Love and Be Wise (1950), it's up to Inspector Alan Grant to discover whether a handsome American photographer was accidentally drowned, committed suicide, or met his death at the hands of one of his many admirers...
In The Daughter of Time (1951), Alan Grant is in bed in hospital with a broken leg, and feeling bored. His actress friend Martha Hallard (who also appears in one or two more of the books) suggests that he should amuse himself by researching a historical mystery. She brings him some pictures of historical characters, aware of Grant's interest in human faces. With the help of friends and acquaintances (bringing him various books etc) he starts looking into the life of King Richard III and the famous case of the Princes in the Tower.
(I remember reading this book before - decades ago - because it's such an unusual combination of 'modern' (well, 1950s!) detective story vs. historical mystery. Even after re-listening to it now, I'd find it hard to recapitulate the details of the conclusions, though.)
In The Singing Sands (1952, published posthumously) Alan Grant is on sick leave from Scotland Yard and planning a quiet holiday with old friends. Traveling on a night train to Scotland, however, he happens to find a dead man and a cryptic poem (including the words “the singing sand", the title of this novel). Of course he cannot keep from carrying on some further investigations of his own, even if he's not officially involved in the case...
(Book covers copied from Wikipedia articles or whereever I could find them.)
* As my favourite in this series I think must chose The Franchise Affair. *
* Each of the books can without problem be read as a standalone. *
6 comments:
I haven't heard of any of these, or the author. But we love mysteries and are big fans of the true life ones on T.V.
Ginny, they're British classics. The author died in 1952.
Monica, I read and LOVED "The Franchise Affair" many years ago - years before I started a blog and posted my reviews, but I instantly knew it was this one when I read your brief summary. It's great, isn't it! I remember how much I liked the two ladies and their no-nonsense approach to things such as the modest meal they prepared for their dinner guest. And I also remember how the face of the alleged victim was described, and how her face played a large part in everyone believing her at first - I wasn't aware of Alan Grant's (or, rather, the author's own) interest in human faces, that you mention in the summary of "Daughter of Time".
I now think I want to look for more of Tey's books for my kindle.
Thank you!
Meike, if you haven't been checking already, I recommend taking your time exploring the options, as there are at least two or three collections containing all her novels available for just around one dollar, while at the same time the books are also sold individually for a lot more!
"The Franchise Affair" was serialised many years ago, in the days when the BBC was the only channel and TV was in black and white! I was young, though possibly old enough to be allowed to stay up to watch it, which is probably why I remember the title. I have a feeling it was one of my mother's favourite books, and she enjoyed sharing a good story (not always suitable!) with me - an avid reader from a very early age.
Carol, I don't think I've ever seen it as TV series. Not sure if I read the book in the past either. My mum introduced me to a lot of books while I was growing up though and she liked British mysteries too. She also got me started reading for example some Agatha Christie in English (rather than in Swedish translation) already in my early teens.
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