Nine Lessons

Josephine Tey #7

by Nicola Upson

Twenty-five years after the writer MR James gathered friends and fellow academics around the fire on Christmas Eve to listen to ghost stories, the same men are being brutally murdered, one by one. Can CI Archie Penrose and Josephine Tey unite to solve their most challenging case to date?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Crime, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2017

About the author

Nicola Upson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. She has worked in theatre and as a freelance journalist, and is the author of two non-fiction works, and the recipient of an Escalator Award from Arts Council England. She lives with her partner and splits her time between Cambridge and Cornwall.

Nicola is currently writing the sixth book in the 'Josephine Tey' series, and a standalone novel set in the 1920s.

Series:
* Josephine Tey

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading my way steadily through this series and this is the one I have liked the best so far. I think the characters are really growing on me, especially DCI Archie Penrose, and I enjoy seeing what happens to them all in each instalment.

Nine Lessons opens with the gruesome discovery of someone who was buried alive in a church graveyard. Following clues Archie goes to Cambridge where Josephine has recently moved and she assists him in a fairly small way with the investigation. Archie gets the number one role in the book however because a separate theme concerning himself and Bridget becomes increasingly significant. This will need to be continued in future books.

Nicola Upson writes really well and the mystery aspect of the book is totally absorbing. Several murders follow each other, all apparently committed by the same person. It does seem apparent who it is but the author gives us a twist at the end which is perfect.

A very enjoyable historical mystery which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre.

[Cindy Burnett (Thoughts from a Page) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

When this series first began, I read the early installments through book 3 and enjoyed them. I guess the series fell off my radar, and I missed the next few because I recently came across this one and realized I had missed several books. Nevertheless, I easily picked up the story line and found this novel to be completely engrossing. The story line was creative and realistic, and I absolutely loved the ending. I thought I had figured out the identity of the murderer and was delighted to be wrong. Too many novels written today are easy to decode, and I was thrilled that Upson managed to pull off a surprise at the end.

While Nine Lessons is billed as a Josephine Tey mystery, the main character in Nine Lessons is really Archie Penrose, a Detective Chief Inspector for Scotland Yard. On the trail of a murderer with a very specific agenda, Penrose finds himself in Cambridge attempting to solve the puzzle before the murderer has completed his rampage. Josephine Tey and Penrose’s old flame Bridget have both recently moved to Cambridge where a serial rapist has begun terrorizing single women. Penrose and Tey team up to try and solve the murders while Tey also assists the local police with tracking down the identity of the rapist. In the midst of the crime-solving, Archie, Josephine and Bridget must resolve personal issues that attempt to destroy their individual relationships. While the plot is complicated, it is highly creative and clever and a ton of fun to read.

The story takes place in 1930’s England. Upson focuses on the role of women in that era and the great price they paid when something like a horrific crime spree in their midst sends progress back in time by decades. I always find this topic incredibly fascinating and enjoy learning more about fashions, women’s role in society, and other issues faced by women in earlier eras. As a woman living in 2017, I marveled as I read at how different life would have been if I had been born 60-80 years earlier and send up my thanks to those brave women who paved the road for my girls and me.

Nine Lessons is an intelligently crafted tale that will be a hit with anyone who loves a good mystery and clever writing. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Joanna Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing quite like finding a juicy mystery series that you can really get stuck into and Nine lessons is truly a brilliant crime mystery! It gripped me from the start with an unusual beginning and kept me intrigued with a very interesting storyline and with the gradual revealing of facts and information. It was very satisfying to see the story dome together and the truth being revealed the way it was in the book.

In a lot of ways Nine Lessons is an old fashioned style of crime mystery as it reminded me a lot of Ruth Rendall’s Inspector Wexford mysteries. It is set in a time before computers the police have no technology to fall back on so they have to rely purely on the facts they are presented with and their own intelligence. There are no fancy computer databases, DNA or even phones to help them solve the crime. I thought this made the book really fascinating to read as you got to see how the police work and how they get to their conclusions.

Detective Chief Inspector Penrose was a fantastic main character. He wasn’t the normally stereotypical police office that was either trying to prove himself of had something to hide. Instead he seemed very able and confident in himself and his abilities. I like the way he solved cases very methodically, looking for evidence and doing research rather than jumping to conclusions, even when he had a dislike for one of the main suspects. He was very good at extracting information from people and didn’t seemed fazed when he hit a dead end, and instead just went back to the beginning and looked over that facts. I also like Josephine who is a very strong, determined and fiercely feminist character. She stood up for what she believed in, even though her opinions could upset or annoy another person. She did sometimes go a little over the top in this regard gut overall i admired her drive and attitude, especially in a time when women were still trying to get equal rights.

The book does cover some very serious issues as part of the story does involve a rapist that is attacking single girls in Cambridge. It was sad to see that, in some case, people’s attitude towards a rape having been committed is still largely the same with many people wondering if women are making it up or exaggerating it. I have to admit that some of the descriptions regarding this were a little upsetting at times, particularly when the descriptions of the aftermath of the rape and how the women coped going on.

The books setting of Cambridge was brilliantly brought to life throughout the book. I felt like i could really envision all the sights and natural beauty of the city in my mind. The feeling of a big city is created throughout the book, through the rapist story line as it’s apparent throughout the investigation that no-one knows their neighbors and what they are really like.

Nine Lessons is 7th book in the Josephine Tey Mystery books but can easily be read as a stand alone which is what i have done. I am now very excited to go back and read some more of the early books in the series as i really enjoyed this one. As mentioned above i think this book would suit readers that enjoy classic crime novel’s like the Inspector Wexford mysteries or Agatha Christie.

Thank you to Sophia Portas and Faber & Faber publishers for my copy of this book.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of this book.

What a great reading experience this book was. I just want to rush out and get all six previous books in this series and lock myself in a room and read them. Naturally I will have perfectly cooked morsels of food delivered to my door. Seriously, though, how have I missed this mystery series?

It is obvious that this group of characters have a lot of past history but that was no impediment whatsoever to my enjoyment of this current novel. Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose and his sergeant, Bill Fallowfield, are in Hampstead to investigate a particularly gristly discovery in an old grave. The identity of the murdered man is known but why was this particularly cruel form of death inflicted on him? Perhaps a portion of a postcard found in the grave will provide the clue needed to get the investigation started.

There are two distinct plot threads happening simultaneously in this story, the murder under investigation by DCI Penrose and a series of rapes in Cambridge investigated by the local police. Penrose is often in Cambridge because his case takes him there and he becomes familiar with the investigation into the rape cases. Cambridge also has become the home of Bridget, Marta, and Josephine Tey who is housesitting for Marta while she goes off on a business trip to the U.S. So if you are familiar with the series you can see that all the characters are present in this one. The two threads weave in and out of each other with perfect justification and both are completed by the ending of the book. The atmosphere of 1937 England is very well described and the ghost stories from which the clues for the murders are taken is a real book. As fraught with tension as this story was, I don't see myself seeking that book out to read the ghostly entertainment anytime soon.

A very good mystery novel and highly recommended.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first venture into Nicola Upson's world of mystery and I loved it.

I often struggle with modern authors writing golden age esc novels, but this was brilliant! It gripped me from the start and I couldn't put the book down.

It didn't matter that I hadn't started with the first in the series as the characters are so well written.

Atmospheric and extremely well written. I shall be reading more!

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to deliver a superior mix of period crime combined with a modern sensibility. Here Upson melds together a fiendish revenge plot based around the ghost stories of M.R. James, with a more heartfelt story of a serial rapist terrorising Cambridge.

The ongoing story of Josephine and her friends continues with a particularly emotionally-fraught development for Archie...

Altogether one of my favourite series currently being written, and one which is intelligent as well as beautifully written.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

At points this story was interesting and I flowed through it just fine. At other points I felt like I was hearing a narrative for a "cause" or taking a HUGE tangent detour into territory that had nothing to do with the other parts of the book.

Regardless, the writing style was ok, but not one I relished to return to at all. And I found the entire plot key of Bridget's silence and the dithering of the others to tell or not! Well, it was just so far fetched and just not at all interesting to me. Like listening to two people argue about who is going to tell the new employee about her "wrong" dress for two months at a time with neither doing it. Just a slog! And I also found that period between the wars just exactly where this one is, not at all a favorite. Tight and way, way too much looking back. Also rather repressive in this 1937 scenario- far more than just after the first World War.

The moving to Cambridge (and eventually moving again too) and the couple ship itself! So guarded and IMHO rather distant in actual knowledge too and not only about each other! These people are just not understandable to me as real personalities/people, I would guess? But I know I will not be reading another, although this one had enough good points to make it fairly interesting. But TOO MANY dead bodies and assaults are intersecting to understand the DI spending so much time on those tangent choir lists etc. It would never happen that way. Then or now.

[Sarah Zama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously, seriously love this book. A strong story of men and women as well as a well though-out mystery.

The main mystery may seem a bit unlikely, with its ‘inspiration’ to M.R. James’s ghost stories, but its unfolding, how the inquest proceeds, the way clues are discovered are so realistic that it will convince you. The murders are gruesome and cruel – the outcome described in such details to be disturbing – and still you nearly understand the murderer once the reasons are explained. That’s how good this mystery is constructed.
A secondary thread intertwines with the main mystery, although only in the end we see the two are somewhat linked. It concerns attacks on women happening in the university city of Cambridge although, as the norms of decency dictated at the time, ‘rape’ could never be utter, nor acknowledge.
And finally a third thread centres on the personal life of Chief Detective Inspector Archie Penrose and a secret that goes back to the days of the war.

These characters became like real person to me. The choices they face are tough but they always act in a sensible way, they never become melodramatic. Although the series bears the name of Josephine Tey, this particular novel focuses on Archie Penrose, who I found a particularly likable character. His humanity and his understanding of the human nature makes him a great detective, but also a very nice human being. Although I appreciated Josephine’s assertiveness and her wisdom, Archie commanded my reader’s involvement.

This is the seventh novel in the Josephine Tey Mystery Series, which is particularly relevant for Archie Penrose’s thread, since what happens to him has its origin in previous books, but I never felt lost. The author gives info enough to navigate Archie’s current emotions and the very kinky situation he finds himself in, but never so much to feel too much. This thread, which might have been distracting if handled less skillfully, ended up complementing the overall theme: the past coming back to haunt the present.

The historical setting is truly remarkable. Late 1930s Cambridge comes to life, it is a place that I can nearly see, even if I’ve never been there. And I love the way past and present intermingle even in the time of the novel. This is a place stuck between two horrible wars and you can almost smell it in the pages.

This is a great mystery. But it is above all a very good story.

[Aisling · Rating 5 out of 5]

How have I never heard of this series? The first chapter blew me away; terrifying, atmospheric, compelling. This book is a great mix of mystery and evil with some human drama (friendships/lovers) and even a little humour. Gorgeous depictions of Cambridge (Uni and town) and post WW1 England. Highly recommend. Off to find books 1-6 :)

[Mystica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The style of writing in this book is so reminiscent of P D James that I just had to finish it in
one go. My last book I picked up from Glen Waverley library because I am leaving for Colombo tomorrow the 28th August.

The story starts in very peaceful countryside and Detective Archie Penrose does not expect to find
the horror he does. In an abandoned grave, Archie finds the mutilated body of the church organist,
a private man who did not antagonise anyone and who led a very quiet life. No apparent enemies and the only significant piece of evidence is a torn photograph of a house with a few words on it. Trying to piece the clues of this brutal murder takes Archie back to Cambridge and to a group of young men who on the surface do not have any close links other than they were members of a choral group. They are today scattered in different professions, one of them dead, one dying of cancer, the others seemingly harmless very highly placed and one particularly boorish bully.

Finding no cooperation within this group of men, and also having one by one them picked off does not bode well for the Police because they cannot find who the murderer is. The only clues are the choir and the remaining members are tight lipped.

Alongside this, a series of rapes and brutal attacks on women have put the Police on full alert as the numbers keep mounting. This puts more pressure on the police force and Inspector Webster is the most empathetic of the Force because other officers do not give the assaults and the victims the support they should have.

The story is complicated and intense, the detective work is detailed and intricate and extremely involved. Uncovering the strands is a tough job and needs focus even whilst reading let alone solving it. Alongside the two strands of the rapes and the murders, we have Archie's own personal history being in the forefront of the story. His love affair with Bridget who also now lives in Cambridge and the discovery of a twenty year old secret in the form of a daughter he never knew he had are two additional strands to the story. Josephine Tey's involvement is almost like a sideline in this particular story albeit an important one.

I couldnt put this book down till I read it fully.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come late to Nicola Upson's work; Nine Lessons is the first I have read although it is the seventh in the series. However, it can be read as a stand-alone novel and I enjoyed it, albeit with a few reservations.

Set largely in Cambridge in 1937, there are two crime strands, a series of murders which eventually turn out to be linked and a serial rapist terrorising Cambridge. These are investigated by DCI Penrose and his friend Josephine Tay and it makes for a good, atmospheric read. Nicola Upson writes very good prose, she creates very good, human characters and evokes pre-war Cambridge very well. I did find that, especially in the first few chapters, there were enough linguistic anachronisms to throw me out of the story rather and it's something which did spoil the beginning for me, but it seemed to settle down and I enjoyed the book overall. The murder plot is rather ridiculously contrived, but as this is a sort of homage to Golden Age detective stories, I didn’t mind that.

Just on a personal note, I was in Cambridge at the time of the real Cambridge rapist and remember the terrible fear which affected many of my friends. I was a little apprehensive about how Upson would deal with this in fiction, but personally (and as a man, I speak with great caution about this) I think she handles it very well. It isn't exploitative in any way and I think she captures the atmosphere which pervaded the city then without trivialising or sensationalising. And I like her dedication of the book to the women who survived the real Cambridge rapist.

I can recommend Nine Lessons (with some caveats) as a gripping and well written read.

(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric in the style of the Charles Todd mysteries

Upson is a very good writer as I've said about the past books in this series. I enjoyed it in the way that I enjoy the Charles Todd mysteries. Written a little later than the Todds’—this was one was set in the 1930s—the book nonetheless touches on the sad post World War 1 times, with people still affected by all of the loss. The setting in this book is Cambridge, there are two concurrent crimes taking place, the savage murders of well-placed, middle aged men and the serial rapes of young women. The crimes are grim and Upson doesn’t spare the reader in her description of them; not overly ugly, they’re ugly enough.
My unease with her series, and truthfully I would give that part of it a 3 in my rating, is her using Josephine Tey as her protagonist. I've said that in previous reviews and my unease hasn't gone away. I read all of Tey’s (real name Elizabeth MacKintosh) own series of mysteries, her most famous being Daughter of Time, when I was in my teens. I felt she was actually a better crime writer than Christie was but she wasn’t as prolific. I don’t feel comfortable with Upson making Tey into her own character and I don’t know if Tey herself would have approved. Still I will read the next one--depending on the subject matter because there have been a few of her books in the past I've skipped over--as there are events in this one that I would like to follow up on. And Upson is a very good writer.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

NINE LESSONS
Nicola Upson

I am really enjoying this series, way more than I anticipated. I find it enhanced by the incorporation of real people. Alfred Hitchcock, M R. James, and his ghost stories. This series has raised my interest in Josephine Tey and I have spent hours researching what little there is about her on the Internet (while there is a great deal, I have looked at everything there about 3 times, so it seems less). I so enjoy the mixed method approach of historical fiction and find one of the draws is deciding what is real and what existed in the mind of the author.

By far, this book has been my favorite so far. I loved the incorporation of J. R. James' ghost stories which I had to go and find. I plan to read them as well. Mixing the murders with a serial rapist was a brilliant move and I marvel at how realistically the crimes were handled in the book. Woven through all this mayhem is the secret meant for Archie but known by all but him. So business lives and personal lives rolled together to achieve such a well-done series.

Historically true and brilliant! Well done, Ms. Upson.

5 stars!

Happy Reading!

[Alarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of mysteries, generally finding them too formulaic, and too difficult to remember which I’ve read which books I’ve already when I do give a series a try. However, I do enjoy Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. This book felt like it should be a PBS Series. I wrongly assumed that Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard was the star of this series. Only after finishing it did I notice that this was book 7 in a series of Josephine Tey mysteries. My smart husband knew that Tey was a real author, as was M.R. James, whose published ghost stories held clues to the murder investigations.

Hats off to Upson for merging a serial rape case and serial murders into one book that was amazingly less confusing than many of the books (only one other a mystery) I’ve read this year. The literary references made the investigation all the more intriguing to me. I plan to look up some of James’s stories.

This book is set in Cambridge, England not long before WWII begins. Many characters haven’t recovered from WWI, so this reader felt the dark cloud hanging over their heads. I had to make myself read slowly in order to catch every hint of who was guilty and why.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot: 5
Themes: 5
Characters: 5
Emotional resonance: 5
Writing style: 5

I love this series and this was my favourite so far.There's a great mystery with excellent pacing and there is so much character development in this installment. There's a real sense of place too.
Most importantly the very serious themes of trauma and sexual assault are handled sensitively.Definitely proceed with caution if you find those themes upsetting as there are some graphic descriptions.

[☆Ruth☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first chapter was probably the best part of this book. I gave it 2.5 stars because I did manage to finish it and the basic murder mystery plotline was interesting. However, I found the Josephine Tey character quite unlikeable: nosy, meddlesome and interfering.... I dearly wanted to give her a good slap. The story also became maudlin and melodramatic towards the end and I struggled to get through the last couple of chapters.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book in the Josephine Tey series much more than the previous one, London Rain. Partly this was because I knew the main characters but also it was the fact that it seemed better paced action wise. As I live near Cambridge the setting was a bonus.

[Mandi McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have followed this series of novels by Nicola Upson, featuring Josephine Tey, since the start and can honestly say that this is the finest yet.

The Cambridge setting and the social and political atmosphere of England in 1937 are so well-captured. The interwoven plot lines of a rapist currently stalking the city and a series of murders with their roots in the past are skilfully handled.

There were so many aspects of this book which I found delightful: the links with the stories of M R James, the development of Josephine and Marta’s relationship, the revelations about Alec Penrose, all enhanced the underlying detective stories.

The characters, major and minor, are well-drawn. Although little is known about Josephine Tey. born Elizabeth MacKintosh, aka Gordon Daviot, she is far from shadowy in this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder how the extremely private Josephine Tey would have reacted to finding herself as a central character in a murder mystery series.

I do enjoy a good story which posits a real person into a fictional setting - even more so when there are certain elements in their own lives that can afford the author such artistic licence; and when done well, the fictional account often blurs the lines between what is fiction and what just might be real.

As Robert McCrum of the Guardian wrote: "Shy Miss Mackintosh [Tey's real name] had a fascination with disguises, pseudonyms and hidden identities." - I think Tey would have been slightly amused, if not a little intrigued.

Coming late to the table at #7 of these Josphine Tey mysteries has left me wanting to go back to the very beginning and read them all in order. Well worth seeking out Tey's own books to compliment this collection.

[Irma Myers-Donihoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Finally caught up with all of the Josephine Tey mystery books and I can’t wait for Ms Upson to write another. This one, like the others, transports is back to 30’s England. The war is looming but for our characters WWI is somewhat still fresh. The setting is Cambridge and Suffolk. While there is a modern sensibility in the writing, it still feels like I’ve discovered a writer from 1940! Highly recommend this whole series.

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A challenging story to read in this era of #MeToo, but a terrific read all the same.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

would have been five stars but i felt the ending was rushed.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy of Nine Lessons, the 7th novel to feature the fictional exploits of author and playwright Josephine Tey and her friend DCI Archie Penrose.

Archie is called out to a murder scene where Dr Stephen Laxborough has been found entombed alive in a sarcophagus. A photograph left with the corpse sends him to Cambridge. Josephine is now living in Cambridge where a serial rapist is terrorising the town. A third plotline sees her uncover a secret which tear at the foundation of her friendship with Archie.

Nine Lessons is an interesting read. The historical descriptions of 1938 Cambridge are fascinating with all the "new" buildings and, of course, the old. I was slightly disappointed not to see a larger shadow of the impending war which must have been on everyone's mind, especially as Ms Upson makes many references to the Great War. Otherwise I liked the period detail in respect to the attitudes of the time.

The plot involving the murder of Dr Laxborough is very well done. I enjoyed it and didn't have a clue about where it was going. It is cleverly thought out and executed and had me turning the pages to see what was coming next. The plot about the rapist mostly concerns Josephine. It is handled sensitively up until the resolution which seems rushed and almost like an afterthought.

I found the the third plotline about the secret rather incomprehensible, not the basic facts but the characters' actions and reactions, and I found their reasoning difficult to follow.

I enjoyed Nine Lessons with some reservations so I think 3.5* is a fair assessment.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josephine Tey has previously published six books in her Chief Detective series. The setting is in the peaceful churchyard of St. John's where a body has been found in an opened grave. There is also a picture of manor house and a cryptic note. Archie recognizes the image as Cambridge. Josephine and Archie's lover have recently moved to Cambridge and both women seem happy to see him. But, one of the women has hidden a secret that comes to light. There have been vicious attacks on women and spread fear throughout the town. When another body is found, in the shadows of King's College, Archie discovers a twenty-five-year-old secret that connects the two women. As they grapple with the savagery of the attacks and what connects the women, Archie must race to discover what lies beneath the surface of a hidden darkness so deep that the women of Cambridge and Hampstead are in mortal danger. This is a wonderful series by Josephine Tey that I will read and even go back to the beginning of the series. I love British literature and read everything I can find about the citizens and the Chief Detective Archie who puts is own life in danger to protect them.

[Janet Rosfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, engrossing No7 in the Nicola Upson series, featuring Josephine Tey as an amateur sleuth, along with her best friend Archie Penrose , Scotland Yard Superintendent. Archie is sent to Cambridge to solve a series of unusual murders that seem to be based on a book of ghost stories. Meanwhile the town of Cambridge is being terrorized by a serial rapist, whose violence is escalating. This is one of the most densely plotted mysteries, that I've read in years and it kept me guessing with plot turns so quick and shocking that it gave me whiplash. I always love it when Archie is the main focal point of the book, and this decent, thoughtful officer of the law is beleaguered with dreadful crimes to solve and the uncovering of a personal betrayal that will have life altering reverberations. Upson just keeps getting better, going from strength to strength with literary prose and gut wrenching psychological insights into the human condition.

[Adam Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey series, I think this is right up there with Lucy Kyte as my favourite!

There’s lots going on here - a sequence of murders linked to MR James ghost stories, a series of brutal rapes in Cambridge, and family secrets that affect longstanding relationships.

With all of Upson’s books the mystery is almost secondary to the interpersonal relationships between the characters and their development. I think that works in this book. It’s pacey , clever and very well written.

[Suzy Dominey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I call this a comfort reading book and will look for the others in the series.very enjoyable

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite historical fiction being one of my favourite genres, I tend to avoid historical crime fiction, unjustifiably so, some preconceived notion of it being ‘cosy’ and therefore kind of ‘lame’ being my only excuse. I wouldn’t be able to actually provide a previously read cosy lame title if asked, it’s just a prejudice I have developed, and after reading Nine Lessons, the joke is most definitely on me, because this novel is so far from ‘cosy’ and ‘lame’, that as descriptors, they don’t factor at all.

While Nine Lessons is actually the seventh novel in Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey mystery series, it is not imperative to have read any of the previous titles. The novel stands in good stead on its own and there are few references that would be confusing to a new reader.

Set in the 1930s, the Great War is still a present memory and the Second World War looms ominously on the horizon. There are two serial crimes occurring in tandem in Nine Lessons: murder and rape. Nicola Upson has crafted an impeccable crime novel that is both highly atmospheric and chillingly terrifying. I would go so far as to label Nine Lessons as the most sophisticated crime novel I have ever read. The writing is just gorgeous, so precise, and the overlapping fault lines between the two cases being investigated make for a tightly drawn plot with a unique and deeply affecting storyline.

“It was hard to say if her frankness was due to the wine, but she was much more self-confident now than she had seemed in her husband’s presence. There was something contradictory about her, Penrose noticed – a strange, brittle strength which was both unsettling and attractive; intelligent eyes partnered a slight twist in the mouth to give her face an expression of wry amusement, as if she found the whole world faintly ludicrous but accepted that the joke was on her.”

At the heart of Nine Lessons is a story about rape and its wider effects. It’s hard hitting at times, downright frightening in places, and extremely sad in others. There are shades of grey in Nine Lessons that have the reader reflecting on justified crime and vigilantism, as well the many ways in which our society shapes notions of blame and misconduct. Class, as well as gender, is presented as a measure for inequality in Nine Lessons, and it is done so with a strong command of the subject matter. I was left feeling hollowed out after reading Nine Lessons, the truth of the motive behind the murders so terrible, not only in its execution, but also in its explicit wrongness: the self imposed entitlement of one class of person enabling them to commit such atrocities against another from a ‘lesser’ class. It still burns as I think about it while writing this review. But the entire storyline was executed to perfection, and I’d be hard pressed to name another crime novel of its equal.

I fully intend on reading the previous six titles in this series, that’s how impressed I am by this novel. Nicola Upson is a very fine author and Nine Lessons has set the bar sky high for me for historical crime fiction. A stellar plot, excellent characterisation, thought provoking content, and an authentic atmosphere; Nine Lessons has secured a place right up at the top of my list of favourite reads for 2017.

Thanks is extended to Faber and Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of Nine Lessons for review.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery series set in England, "crime fiction" genre to be specific...in the late 1930's...an investigation overseen by an intelligent Scotland Yard Inspector with a strong moral compass and a heart...resilient female characters, also intelligent...and mystery writer, Josephine Tey, in the middle of the investigation: this is a mystery series that can keep me entertained for months.

The aftermath of a gruesome murder, a man buried alive in a remote graveyard in North London, opens this novel, followed by several other murders, carefully staged, leaving clues that baffle the early investigation but before long, pointing to a heinous event that somehow ties the victims together. Before WWI, Montague Rhodes James was Provost of King's College in Cambridge and a well loved, much respected mentor of the many young men he oversaw. Later he was known as M.R. James, author of famous ghost stories; he told his first stories on Christmas Eve prior to the famous "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols." Archie Penrose heard them when a student at King's. As Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose, he soon discovers the gruesome murders are following the plots of some of these ghost stories, and the challenge is identifying the patterns that will save lives and capture the murderer.

A parallel plot involves a serial rapist casting Cambridge in fear, and Upton captures all the nuances: how personal the crime felt even when you didn't know the victim; the media's stirring up emotions; the suspicion cast at every male; anger at the police for not solving the crimes more quickly; the lack of understanding of the lasting effects of sexual assault on its victims, and the loss of freedom for women.

An additional plot line, and one I assume has run through the previous six novels, is the friendship between Archie and Josephine Tey, the relationship between Marta and Josephine, and that of Archie and his lover, Bridget Foley. Their relationships are interconnected, some for many years, and on the 20th celebration of the Armistice, as complicated as the situation developing in Europe.

Since the murders were committed by a highly intelligent person, following a specific plan, a detailed design, about midway through the novel, I started to study the principal characters more carefully, believing one of them the killer. Unfortunately, I dismissed the actual killer; his motive, however, will resonate with readers, still a problem within our society.

Because I had never heard of this series, I did some research and discovered Catherine Turnbull's interview with the author published in "Crime Fiction Lover" on September 4, 2017, which provides extensive details on Upton's interest in Josephine Tey, the background for the serial crimes in this novel, revealing Upton as an intelligent, thoughtful writer. I'll be back.