An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey)

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Having read the second in the series first, I was happy to learn that it didn't really affect my enjoyment of this one.

An Expert in Murder (which is a quotation from Richard of Bordeaux) is billed as the first in a series of books featuring Josephine Tey and I'll be interested to see if Nicola Upson can maintain this fine start.I hope you won’t think it rude of me to ask,’ Elspeth continued, ‘but will you be sad when your play ends?

I wasn’t totally comfortable with using a real author as a fictional character, but maybe if it pushed a few people towards her books it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. The first murder occurs shortly after the train arrives, and odd but obvious clues lead to a connection with the play and with the author herself. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Nicola is currently writing the sixth book in the 'Josephine Tey' series, and a standalone novel set in the 1920s.A second murder confirms Penrose's suspicions that somewhere among this flamboyant theatre set is a ruthless and spiteful killer. I was given an insight into the emotional state of a generation haunted by The Great War and already standing in the shadow of the next one. By March, it was not uncommon for the year to have offered Lydia at least three different versions of the love of her life, but Marta had survived to enter victoriously into a fourth month of tenure.

This link with the past was becoming harder to hold on to, though, as she found herself unexpectedly in the public eye. I’m not used to first class,’ she admitted, picking up a silver butter knife to admire the railway crest on the handle. On top of all this, I actually enjoy reading books where real people become characters – I’ve read most of Gyles Brandreth’s Oscar Wilde mysteries (they’re a hoot!I suppose it would be difficult to work together if they were involved and they’ve got another joint project lined up with my next play. Well-written, rigorously-plotted, character-driven novel with a perfect period feel that I loved most for its empathy and compassion.

Turning to explain to the guard that she had forgotten something and was just about to leave, she stared with recognition, then confusion, at a face which she had not expected to see on the train.Little is known about the 'real' Josephine Tey – which is actually one of the pen names of Elizabeth Mackintosh – but fans of her crime fiction will find the fictional Miss Tey convincing. Richard of Bordeaux had brought success, but success brought a relinquishing of privacy which, though necessary, was not easily or willingly given. When she arrived at the theatre section, which she had purposely saved until last, she smiled to herself at the news that Richard of Bordeaux–her own play and now London’s longest run–was about to enter its final week.