some reason the only novels by Josephine Tey that I have read previously are sitelinkThe Daughter of Time and sitelinkThe Franchise Affair, both in my longdistant teenage past.
I loved the former of these books and liked the latter, but until now I had not felt inspired to seek out Tey's other works.
I'm glad that I finally did, for there's a lot to love about this example of British Golden Age detective fiction.
Tey writes beautifully. Her prose is intelligent, lucid and witty and she deals equally well with dialogue and description, The novel has a great sense of style, I particularly love the opening chapter, which is marvellously evocative of time and place, I also love the description of the Scottish Highlands, which Tey renders with a light touch and considerable humour.
However the text does demonstrate some weaknesses, For example, a first person narrator appears from time to time: apparently the authorial voice, because it is not otherwise identified.
The effect is somewhat jarring, but the irregular appearance of the narrator may simply be the result of Tey's inexperience, as this was her first novel.
Tey's detective, Scotland Yard inspector Alan Grant, lacks the indiosyncrasies of his fictional comptemporaries, Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey.
He can't be immediately visualised from the text, However, it would be wrong to say that Grant is a dull character, for he has considerable charm and intelligence.
That said, one of the surprises in this novel is that Grant does not actually solve the crime.
The resolution is brought about through something of a deus ex machina, although hints to the resolution are there in the text.
I was at first inclined to think this a weakness, but have since decided that, while unusual, it is a strength of Tey's ability to plot.
It is the reality, after all, Crimes are solved sometimes through hard work, sometimes through the brilliance of the detective and sometimes through luck.
There's room in crime fiction to explore all of these possibilities,
The casual racism of preWorld War II crime fiction is evident in this novel, with a confronting repetition of the term "dago" to describe the suspected criminal.
However, the confounding of the detective's assumptions and prejudices in the resolution of the crime makes the use of the term ultimately less offensive than it might otherwise be.
Overall, this was a worthwhile read for fans of Golden Age British crime fiction, Probably a/star read. How could I have guessed that the author of sitelinkThe Daughter of Time, one of my favorite authors ever, could have written such a lumpy first novel I mean, Tey's a great stylist, she writes description so well that you hardly mind that it's pages and pages of the stuff.
And even in this novel, Alan Grant is a vibrant and interesting character, even if he does love fishing.
But it's unfortunate that Tey chose to make such broad characterizations of cultural and national groups, The murder the stabbing of a man in the press of a theater queue could not have been committed by an Englishman Englishmen slit throats from behind it must have been a Levantine, because those foreigners are so shifty.
American gangsters are fond of organization, but the Englishman is an individualist, In later novels, Grant's tendency to draw conclusions about people from their appearances becomes more refined and less authoritative.
Given that his conclusions about the murderer were completely wrong, it's possible Tey
meant to show how ridiculous such characterizations are, but I would think that would mean that, at some point before the end, Grant might have thought "geez, that sure was boneheaded of me.
"
The mystery itself, Well. I think it was obvious that Grant's singleminded pursuit of his suspect meant that he was missing something, but the revelation of the real killer.
. .
I'm glad I read Tey's other novels first, This one was disappointing and I doubt I'd have bothered with the rest if I'd gotten to this one first.
Ako iko zabasa ovo je prvi detektivski roman Džozefin Fej objavljen pod pseudonimom i prilično je razvučen, repetativan i dosadan.
Stigla sam na jače od pola, i samo preskočila na kraj da pročitam razrešenje.
Komotno mogu da preskoče svi osim posvećenika, Inspector Alan Grant searches for the identity of a man killed in the line at a theater and for the identity of the killerwhom no one saw.
A long line had formed for the standingroomonly section of the Woffington Theatre, Londons favorite musical comedy of the past two years was finishing its run at the end of the week.
Suddenly, the line began to move, forming a wedge before the open doors as hopeful theatergoers nudged their way forward.
But one man, his head sunk down upon his chest, slowly sank to his knees and then, still more slowly, keeled over on his face.
Thinking he had fainted, a spectator moved to help, but recoiled in horror from what lay before him: the man in the queue had a small silver dagger neatly plunged into his back.
With the wit and guile that have made Inspector Grant a favorite of mystery fans, the inspector sets about discovering just how a murder occurred among so many witnesses, none of whom saw a thing.
I first discovered Josephine Tey in August,, I took a tour of the Tower of London castle/prison, It was just before I began my junior year in college, The guide pointed to a section of the castle and said "This is where Richard III allegedly murdered his nephews.
"
I said "What do you mean allegedly", He replied "Read the book THE DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey, " I did and it changed my life, I became addicted to British history between King Arthur and Richard III, Forty six years later I decided to renew my acquaintance with Ms Tey,
I just finished THE MAN IN THE QUEUE which is the first Inspector Alan Grant story.
It was published inin England, The story is set primarily in London and western Scotland, Grant is called upon to solve a murder of a man, that took place in broad daylight, while he was standing in line to get into a theater.
All the clues lead Grant to a suspect he calls "The Levantine", After apprehending the culprit, Grant develops doubts about the person's guilt, Eventually Grant finally gets it right,
What intrigues me about these stories is the time period, The reader gets a feel for London in thes, written by a person living there and then.
No computers, no cell phones, no air travel, very little forensic science basically only finger prints, There areTey books available so I am looking forward to reading more,
GO! BUY! READ!,
Get Hold Of The Man In The Queue (Inspector Alan Grant, #1) Illustrated By Gordon Daviot Accessible In Readable Copy
Gordon Daviot