Uncover The Death Of Lucy Kyte Written By Nicola Upson Categorized In Printable Format

is by far my favourite of Upsons Josephine Tey books that Ive read so far,

Josephine inherits an isolated cottage in the Suffolk countryside from her estranged godmother, and sets out to discover the secrets of a crime it was involved in almostyears prior.
Through the story she discovers the much about her godmother,

In many ways its a very different book from the others in the series focussed very much solely on Josephine as a character, Through that, you get a real sense of the isolation, The scenes in the cottage are incredibly atmospheric, and at times creepy, Upson does an excellent job at building tension and a sense of growing darkness,

The story within the story is interesting and you find yourself gripped to the fate of more than one person,

Its an excellent read that I absolutely devoured, This Josephine Tey mystery was different in that a it seemed more Tey centric and contained ayo murder for her to figure out, Very descriptive passages of Suffolk, Thoroughly enjoyed this book! This has been a bit of a disappointing read, The crux of a good story is there because it unites the present in a town in the English countryside with a horrible murder from a century before.

Josephine Tey, a mystery writer is bequeathed a cottage by her Godmother, Hester Larkspur, Hester was a famous English actress, who appeared in many stage presentations with her husband, Walter, But when Walter died, Hester's life seemed to crumble, When Josephine starts to investigate her inheritance there appears to be many loose ends, . the circumstances of Hester's death, how the people who were involved in the last few years of her life, treated her, And most of all in the diaries of a friend of the murdered young woman , Maria Marten,
Josephine is determined to unravel the mystery, And her's where I have my complaints, The pace of the book is so painfully slow that at least two times I almost gave up and put down the book, And then suddenly about/of the way through the pace quickened as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, I have to admit that the last third of the book was much more interesting,
This is a well written book with a good story

line but I think that the pace needed to be picked somewhat, If you are in the mood for a slow, but thoroughly detailed look into both thes English countryside as well as thes English countryside, this book may be for you.
I've never been to England, but have always loved reading of/hearing of the countryside, especially the English coast, Josephine is a lovely character, and she came to life for me, as did those around her, There is a bit of a metaquality to the story as we are reading a mystery about Josephine reading about a mystery, thus connecting thes ands, and it was quite well done.
However, be warned, it is a slow story, though welldelivered, I didn't know that this wasin a series, and likely wouldn't have read it had I knownafter all, how many mysteries can one actually happen upon, short of being a detective.
. . This one was slow to unfold, The writing was beautiful but lacked real bones and stretched out unnecessarily in some parts, while important plot reveals were brushed over, A little uneven for me but I did want to keep reading and untangle the mystery, I took a long time to read this book, The beginning was so slow that I had actually put it aside, thinking I would just not finish it, I didn't enjoy the portrayal of Josephine Tey, whose novels I had so enjoyed in my teens, A private person in real life, I felt that Tey would be incensed at Upson's commandeering of her, adding details that no one could possibly know the truth about.
However, about a week ago, I looked at it on my Kindle again and realized that, having read aboutof it, I had no idea who "Lucy Kyte" was.
I wanted to find out and so dipped back in again, And then read it compulsively every night, The last half of the book is compelling as Josephine discovers the secrets of the cottage bequeathed to her by her late godmother, multiple tragedies that permeated the very walls of the cottage and reach outwards to Inverness.
Part Gothic novel, part tragedy, I am glad that I persevered to the end, Upson writes very well, her descriptions of the Suffolk countryside beautiful and true to that era, I still don't like her commandeering Josephine Tey as her heroine but I can't deny that she is a good mystery writer, Kudos to the author for bringing attention to Josephine Tey aka Elizabeth MacKintosh, scottish writer of murder mysteries and a successful playwright,
Upson has created a main fictional character based on the image, I presume, that Upson has of Tey, That in itself would have been a challenge, as Tey was multifaceted and also elusive as a person, Tey actively avoided the pres and public attention,
The story suffered on occasion from drawn out descriptions and purple prose, which made it slightly longwinded at times,
At the same time it was the intricate detailed descriptions of the gardens, buildings and the cottage that gave the book a comfortable feeling of dejavu, Even the plants, windows and furniture had a part to play in the overall scheme of the storyline,
Upson has used a notorious nineteenth century true crime as the basis for this story, She has given a previously unheard voice to the murder victim and to a young girl who worked for the murderer, Obviously these voices are completely fictitous and yet simultaneously plausible, I think that is what made the story so intriguing, It wasn't outlandish or unbelievable,
The author has also highlighted the role of the single female in that era, The strong independent type that tends to end up caring for the elderly parents or siblings, as opposed to the married or male siblings who are eager to pass on the responsibility.
These selfless acts are rarely acknowledged, even now in our day and age,
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley, I wont include a basic description of the story a lot of other people share good versions and I have nothing to add to them, I thought that the story started off a little slow but after a while became extremely interesting and well written, The last third of the book was a combination of a great story that was left dangling in a way that seemed forced,

The interplay with Miss Peck seemed a little over the top and the fact that neither character would do more does not seem consistent with the previous parts of the book.


Surely Archie would have predicted a different future and so would Marta, Why wouldnt Josephine tell her boss, Surely Miss Pecks actions impact him,

Lucys love for her friend seems realistic until the final diary, It seems conceivable that she would like to eradicate the structure she connects with pain but fire is reckless and Lucy never displays that even in the worst moments.


The end seemed rushed and not as well thought out as the middle third, So many plot lines seemed to drag out and then they were tied up quickly at the end with little thought,

Oh well. This fifth book in the series based on the life of Josephine Tey, detective novelist and playwright, continues to develop the shy, private persona of the intelligent protagonist while revealing all her selfdoubts and second guessing about her relationships.
The reader learns more about Marta Fox whom Josephine had met two years before Marta was involved with Josephine's good friend, Lydia, and had reluctantly fallen in love with Marta.
Marta is as complex as Josephine her experience with grief and betrayal has marked but not destroyed her, Her son was executed for killing her daughter, but she steadfastly refuses to speak of all that lies beneath the surface, creating "a peculiar hybrid of barrier and bond between them.
"

Josephine has inherited Red Barn Cottage in a remote, small village in Suffolk, England, from her godmother, Hester Larkspur, a woman she barely knew, her mother's best friend.
She understands their shared love for theater is the reason she has been entrusted with sorting through Hester's papers and the ephemera of her theater days, She also understands that the darkness that pervades the isolated cottage has its roots in something that deeply troubled Hester long before Hester began to lose her vision and independence.


Hester had been passionate/obsessed about Maria Marten's death overyears before, For years she and her husband had staged a melodrama about Maria, a servant girl who lived nearby, and her sad affair with William Corder, During the renovation of the cottage, Josephine discovers Hester's unfinished manuscript, a fictional account of the months of Maria's courtship with William Corder, her murder and the aftermath of the trial and execution, told through the eyes of an unnamed narrator, Maria's best friend.
Then she discovers the diary of that friend, which strengthens her commitment to finding the truth about Hester's last months and the mystery surrounding the narrator,

As the renovation continues, Josephine discovers a link to a book seller in London whom she believes has received stolen goods from Hester's cottage, relics of Maria Marten, which are extremely valuable.
Following the clues, Tey learns the truth about all the women in the story but also uncovers terrible sadness and bitterness, Some readers might find the diary thread a bit tedious, and others might find the local villagers tiresome no one could predict the plot threads coming together or the outcome.


A fun interlude in the rather dark plot involves Josephine meeting Chief Inspector Archie Penrose for his advice while Archie and his colleagues are guarding King Edward and Wallis Simpson in the weeks before the King's abdication of the throne.
Not only did I enjoy being reminded of its importance and interest to the English but Archie also mentions the "Boston Globe," my daily newspaper!



My favourite in the series so far.
Rides that fine line between Murder mystery amp ghost story with ease, bringing to life both anMurder amp a suspicious death in thes, Add in some doors opening on their own, the smell of smoke with no source for it amp footsteps on the backstairs, going to a room with an atmosphere of sadness and you have a genuinely creepy mystery.
I felt pretty hohum about this, all the way through, The story was interesting enough, but I just didn't warm to the characters or feel as if they were particularly rounded, And the writing seemed oddly flat, Not sure where all the glowing reviews inside the front cover came from, but this is not a series I'll follow, It was ok. It sadly bored me throughout the book, She writes very well. Her landscapes descriptions are amongst the best, I didnt like the characters, Almost liked Miss Peck more than Josephine, or at least, cared more about her, Understood her. Josephines indecisiveness was too much, There are some things I liked about this book, and some things I didn't, Things I liked include wonderful descriptions of the locale Suffolk village, the cottage, the countryside, I am a sucker for all things English and old, and fortunately, since I was listening to this rather than reading it all that description might've felt a bit draggy had I been reading it while doing nothing else I was able to just be swept along, enjoying the atmosphere.
Liked the country folk in the village, was intrigued with the ghostly aspects manifested themselves in the house, etc,

Upson is a good writer, though she does tend to "run on" a bit,

Generally like stories that combine the past with the present, Though the story in the past was a lot less interesting than some I've read, I thought the ending tied things up satisfyingly,

Things I didn't like: this is my second book about the fictionalized Josephine Tey, and I have mixed feelings about her, For one thing, she spends a lot of time telling us how much she doesn't like spending time with people, In both books, there was a lot of dwelling on how if she was friendly she would find herself imposed upon and forced into social interactions she didn't want.
I'm not the most sociable person in the world, but somehow reading about a character who is so reclusive and suspicious of friendliness was not fun, She also dwells a lot on the fact that she is to a certain extent tied down to taking care of her father, even though he still seems pretty healthy and able to take care of himself, and that motif fear of having to give up her life to take care of someone else grates.
She was close to her mother, but when her mother dies all she can think of is, "Oh, dear, now there's no one else to take care of dad.
" It's all to a certain degree understandable, and I get it that back in the day women were expected to become caretakers when they didn't want to, but she just dwells on it to a degree that feels stifling.
She doesn't somehow feel terribly positive,

Finally, since this is a cozy, and since it does take place in thes, I find having characters say "fing" jarring, As in, "So and so was fing unhappy, " Why do you have to use the more vulgar term when you could have used something milder This is a book my motherinlaw might've enjoyed, but the occasional, and in my opinion, given books from that era that I've read, not realistic swear word would pull me out of the mood jarringly.


Although I like stories from the past, I didn't find the diary that she shares in its entirety to be particularly compelling, The author of the diary, Lucy Kyte of the title, is the best friend of a woman who was murdered in thes apparently a true story and although she, Lucy, is married, she is obsessed with the murdered woman.
I didn't find it realistic, unless she was actually gay and in love with her and that is not overtly said, In fact, her semiobsessiveness with her dead friend's fateis the cause of much tragedy, and I didn't buy it, Plus, Josephine is apparently really captivated by Lucy Kyte and her diary, but I thought her life seemed rather ordinary and was a bit bored by the diary itself.


So there we are, I feel that there are themes and language in this series that are not true to life given the era, and this fact takes me "out of it" and frankly makes me a bit uncomfortable.
Probably will not read another one of these, although the mysteries have been interesting,



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