Ispettore Grant: Scotland Yard

Inspector Alan Grant #1-6

by Josephine Tey

“Nessun comportamento umano è inspiegabile” Alan Grant. L’ispettore Grant non possiede nessuna delle caratteristiche di moda durante l’epoca d’oro dei romanzi gialli. Niente lunghi baffi impomatati, nessun monocolo, nessun cappello da cacciatore e niente pipa. È alto un metro e ottanta, è magro, elegante, gli abiti gli donano molto ma non è un manichino. Ha piccoli baffi alla Ronald Colman, un attore famoso negli anni Venti. Molti gli fanno notare che non sembra un ispettore di Scotland Yard e che assomiglia di più a un militare in abiti civili. Ha un sorriso “che fa sì che i suoi subordinati lavorino fino allo stremo per lui”. È ostinato, diligente, pronto ad ammettere di aver sbagliato e a ricominciare da capo. Josephine Tey abbandona il classico cliché del detective impavido e sicuro di sé a favore di un personaggio che mostra la sua vulnerabilità. Grant non è perfetto, come dimostrano i suoi attacchi di panico, ed ha una vocina nella testa che mette in dubbio ogni sua decisione. Egli appare più umano di molti altri detective ed è, per questo, più affascinante. La raccolta comprende tutte le indagini dell’ispettore Grant. "L’uomo in coda", "Uno scellino per le candele", "Una questione di giustizia", "Amare ed essere saggi", "La figlia del tempo" e "Sabbie canore". Il progetto richiede di perlustrare insieme il territorio lungo il fiume Rushmere. Poco dopo la partenza, però, il bel fotografo scompare misteriosamente senza lasciare traccia. Grant dovrà scoprire se abbia avuto un incidente o se sia stato ucciso, ma soprattutto dove si trovi il corpo. Nel romanzo "La figlia del tempo" Grant è costretto in un letto d’ospedale. Per evitare che si annoi l’amica Marta Hallard gli porta una raccolta di ritratti legati a controversie storiche. L’attenzione dell’ispettore viene subito catturata da un’immagine di Riccardo III, il re accusato di aver ucciso i nipoti, i Principi nella Torre. Ma quel volto, è davvero quello di un assassino? Grant inizia un’indagine privata: vuole risolvere uno dei casi più noti della storia e arriva a scoprire che molte delle fonti su cui le persone fanno affidamento, si basano sui ‘sentito dire’. Un antico proverbio inglese dice che la verità è figlia del tempo e anche Grant è dello stesso parere. In "Sabbie canore" l'ispettore si trova su un treno notturno diretto in Scozia: il suo superiore gli ha consigliato di prendersi un congedo per malattia a causa del troppo lavoro. Prima di scendere dal treno si accorge che un passeggero è morto, lasciando alcuni versi di una poesia scarabocchiati sul giornale. Grant inizia, perciò, a interessarsi all’identità dell’uomo e non può fare a meno di pensare che non tutto è come sembra. Sicché, durante le ore di riposo e di pesca, continua in privato le sue ricerche e scopre che si tratta proprio di omicidio.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook

1604 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 3, 2023

About the author

Josephine Tey was a pseudonym of Elizabeth Mackintosh. Josephine was her mother's first name and Tey the surname of an English Grandmother. As Josephine Tey, she wrote six mystery novels featuring Scotland Yard's Inspector Alan Grant.

The first of these, The Man in the Queue (1929) was published under the pseudonym of Gordon Daviot , whose name also appears on the title page of another of her 1929 novels, Kif; An Unvarnished History. She also used the Daviot by-line for a biography of the 17th century cavalry leader John Graham, which was entitled Claverhouse (1937).

Mackintosh also wrote plays (both one act and full length), some of which were produced during her lifetime, under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot. The district of Daviot, near her home of Inverness in Scotland, was a location her family had vacationed. The name Gordon does not appear in either her family or her history.

Elizabeth Mackintosh came of age during World War I, attending Anstey Physical Training College in Birmingham, England during the years 1915 - 1918. Upon graduation, she became a physical training instructor for eight years. In 1926, her mother died and she returned home to Inverness to care for her invalid father. Busy with household duties, she turned to writing as a diversion, and was successful in creating a second career.

Alfred Hitchcock filmed one of her novels, A Shilling for Candles (1936) as Young and Innocent in 1937 and two other of her novels have been made into films, The Franchise Affair (1948), filmed in 1950, and 'Brat Farrar' (1949), filmed as Paranoiac in 1963. In addition, a number of her works have been dramatised for radio.

Her novel The Daughter of Time (1951) was voted the greatest mystery novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990.

Miss Mackintosh never married, and died at the age of 55, in London. A shy woman, she is reported to have been somewhat of a mystery even to her intimate friends. While her death seems to have been a surprise, there is some indication she may have known she was fatally ill for some time prior to her passing.

Reviews

[Seawitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this different kind of crime series.

[Denise Oberlies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Nice Collection of Stories

I like that her hero isn't perfect. Almost as perfect as all her contemporaries heros, but not quite. She appears at some points to try and make him a multiple personality, with his part 'that looked on' making comments of its own, but didn't do itvalit, thankfully.

[caterspotaters · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man in the Queue ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Shilling for Candles ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Franchise Affair ⭐⭐⭐⭐
To Love and Be Wise ⭐⭐⭐
The Daughter of Time ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Singing Sands ⭐⭐⭐

22 stars/6 novels = 3.67 stars

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josephine Tey does it again. another stellar mystery

Somehow I had missed this classic Golden Age mystery in my reading. Don't t make my mistake. Get a copy immediately and enjoy!

[Carôle Ceres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this title, narrated amazingly well by Karen Cass.

THE MAN IN THE QUEUE:

This is the first time that I’ve come across this author and this series. It’s amazing. I’m writing these reviews as I read each chapter because, to try to summarise them at the conclusion of the entire series would be unfair and unjust.
This case is solved relatively quickly, but not relatively easily and yet you don’t get the impression that the police procedure was slapdash or insubstantial. It’s a really good story, with really good characters. For a first foray, this is really, really clever. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.

A SHILLING FOR CANDLES:

I really like Inspector Grant. He has a personality that everyone likes (even the Jammy reporter 😄)!
These stories are really interesting and novel. Bizarre situations and unlikely protagonists (I like that the obvious ones are not the actual ones - at least not in the two that I’ve read to date), even though ALL of the evidence points to them! This is the twist that I like. I also like that a lot of work goes into the seeking of evidence and elimination of alibi’s. These are very interesting stories.

THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR:

Phew! This is a GREAT Story! Inspector Grant hardly features in this tale at all! (That’s not what makes it a great story). I HAD to listen to this telling all in one sitting, because I just truly had to know how this panned out!

And even when I reached the highly satisfactory conclusion, I still wanted to know more! There could have been another 4 or 5 chapters to sign off on the storylines of the other fascinating supporting characters who were encountered in this tale.

This story will really grab you. A truly satisfying journey.

TO LOVE AND BE WISE:

After the excitement and intrigue of the previous tale, this one is interesting and intriguing, but more in the vein of a mystery without a body. Another good tale.

THE DAUGHTER OF TIME:

Unfortunately, even though this is purportedly a most popular tale, it’s not for me - history is not my go-to subject, so the story of Richard lll and the two poor boys, holds no interest for me. DNF

THE SINGING SANDS:

DNF…

This last narrative spent far too much time discussing the local areas, activities and makeup of the country and only lightly dealt with the crime. I got halfway through the story with little to no progress. It wouldn’t encourage me to try any other titles in this series, but apparently this is it!

I’m grateful that this entire collection is included in the Audible Plus Library.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty amazing to have all 6 complete books in one collection available on Hoopla!!! Pleasant listening, but does takes awhile to get through. The narrator is excellent and rather endearing. The mysteries are well-crafted and the author seems to excel w/ conversation. She also has fun w/ the precocious children in several stories.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a class act! great stories and great early 20th century characters. The detective protagonist is a well developed person. The thing about these stories is, they are more than just detective tales, they all have interesting and deeply researched backgrounds.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compendium of six mystery novels featuring Inspector Detective Alan Grant.
I first met Inspector Grant in The Daughter of Time, which is a real intellectual tour de force and one of the best books I ever read.
The Man in the Queue is not Tay’s best, and may be one of her earlier works. The story is clever and and Tay takes you with Grant down a rat hole following a suspect. But since it’s a mystery you know there are other suspects. I had my theory but I was wrong. And the solution comes as too much of a surprise at the end.