Ahhh the joy of discovering a new mystery author
Reading this , I felt like a discovered a more complex agatha christie !!!
Here is a great review by Bobby Underwood
I must read the other books she has reviewed as her expereince of the book was exactly the same as mine
In both crimes there was a terrifying lack of humanity, a mockery of the dead which chilled him (Penrose) even more than the loss of life itself."
There is an old-style elegance to this richly atmospheric mystery set in the world of the theatre during the early 1930's. Mystery writer and playwright Josephine Tey is the central character in this story of a shocking murder onboard a train. The investigation slowly reveals a tangled web of events harking back to the Great War, the complexity of which is only illuminated at the end, showing just about everyone remaining to be a victim in the tragedy.
Nicola Upson has written a beautiful and involving mystery which transcends the genre. By framing her novel around Josephine Tey, it allows her to paint a vivid picture of the period and the emotions still lingering after the Great War. You really feel like you are in Tey's era while reading this. While Tey could have become just a plot device in another author's hand, she becomes a real person, as do many of the other characters, including her romantic interest, Inspector Archie Penrose.
Tey's most successful play, which made Sir John Gieguld a star, is where danger lies. But it is on a train from Scotland to London where Josephine meets a special young woman full of life and simple charm. On her way to meet her boyfriend, Elspeth will meet evil and not live to know the reasons why. Upson paints a sweet and romantic picture of the times themselves, and Elspeth, giving her murder a poignancy which tells the reader right away that this mystery is going to be something special.
As Archie investigates and Josephine mingles, every character is fleshed out in a way we used to see during Tey's era of great mystery writers. Josephine takes a back seat during the middle portion of the book as we are treated to lovers and sickness and old wounds and bitterness, all creating an intricate mystery which has the reader wondering how any of this touched the far removed adopted girl who closed her eyes for the last time onboard a train to London. But then a second particularly vile murder much closer to Josephine's play takes place.
Archie and Josephine begin to untangle the ties which led to the murders from different angles in the last portion of the mystery. There is an exciting rush to reach the end for the reader, by now aching to discover the entire twisting series of events that began in a tunnel during the war and ended tragically on a train bound for London. There is a tenderness to the conclusion, showing the anguish and aftermath of the Great War and the many lives it took, some in ways unexpected and far reaching. Archie and Josephine's relationship does not go untouched by events either, giving the reader a thirst for more.
This is a fine, atmospheric mystery with much to offer those who enjoy a good novel which just happens to be a great mystery as well. Highly recommended!
Reading this , I felt like a discovered a more complex agatha christie !!!
Here is a great review by Bobby Underwood
I must read the other books she has reviewed as her expereince of the book was exactly the same as mine
In both crimes there was a terrifying lack of humanity, a mockery of the dead which chilled him (Penrose) even more than the loss of life itself."
There is an old-style elegance to this richly atmospheric mystery set in the world of the theatre during the early 1930's. Mystery writer and playwright Josephine Tey is the central character in this story of a shocking murder onboard a train. The investigation slowly reveals a tangled web of events harking back to the Great War, the complexity of which is only illuminated at the end, showing just about everyone remaining to be a victim in the tragedy.
Nicola Upson has written a beautiful and involving mystery which transcends the genre. By framing her novel around Josephine Tey, it allows her to paint a vivid picture of the period and the emotions still lingering after the Great War. You really feel like you are in Tey's era while reading this. While Tey could have become just a plot device in another author's hand, she becomes a real person, as do many of the other characters, including her romantic interest, Inspector Archie Penrose.
Tey's most successful play, which made Sir John Gieguld a star, is where danger lies. But it is on a train from Scotland to London where Josephine meets a special young woman full of life and simple charm. On her way to meet her boyfriend, Elspeth will meet evil and not live to know the reasons why. Upson paints a sweet and romantic picture of the times themselves, and Elspeth, giving her murder a poignancy which tells the reader right away that this mystery is going to be something special.
As Archie investigates and Josephine mingles, every character is fleshed out in a way we used to see during Tey's era of great mystery writers. Josephine takes a back seat during the middle portion of the book as we are treated to lovers and sickness and old wounds and bitterness, all creating an intricate mystery which has the reader wondering how any of this touched the far removed adopted girl who closed her eyes for the last time onboard a train to London. But then a second particularly vile murder much closer to Josephine's play takes place.
Archie and Josephine begin to untangle the ties which led to the murders from different angles in the last portion of the mystery. There is an exciting rush to reach the end for the reader, by now aching to discover the entire twisting series of events that began in a tunnel during the war and ended tragically on a train bound for London. There is a tenderness to the conclusion, showing the anguish and aftermath of the Great War and the many lives it took, some in ways unexpected and far reaching. Archie and Josephine's relationship does not go untouched by events either, giving the reader a thirst for more.
This is a fine, atmospheric mystery with much to offer those who enjoy a good novel which just happens to be a great mystery as well. Highly recommended!
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