Angel with Two Faces

Josephine Tey #2

by Nicola Upson

“As befits a tribute to the golden age of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers et. al., there are plot twists, plot turns and red herrings aplenty.”
—Time Out London

Real-life British mystery writer Josephine Tey returns as a fictional sleuth in Angel with Two Faces—the second atmospheric mystery in Nicola Upson’s wonderfully inventive series. In this riveting sequel to Expert in Murder, Tey, in league with intrepid policeman Detective Inspector Archie Penrose, is called upon to help unravel a dark and perplexing crime at a Cornwall country house and backstage at a local theater. Fans of P.D. James and of British noir in general will adore Angel with Two Faces—a traditional mystery with a twist—and this writer whom Ms. James herself calls, “A new and assured talent.”

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

422 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

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 3 out of 5]

The second book in the series and my opinions have not changed from book one. There was still too much unnecessary description of everything which made the book over 400 pages when it's actual content only required about 320. Note too that the story touches on a few major issues such as domestic violence and incest which could probably disturb some readers.

However the mystery was interesting and had a good twist at the end. And for some strange reason I find myself hooked on the two main characters, Josephine Tey and Archie Penrose. A quick check shows me there are eight books in the series and that the overall rating improves with each one. So I guess I shall be continuing soon with book three!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having had reservations with the first book in this series, I embarked on this journey - rather like Josephine Tey in this novel - with good expectations. Like Tey, I was doomed to disappointment...

After events in the first novel, Tey is invited by Inspector Archie Penrose, for a holiday at his family home in Cornwall, in order to recover. Good intentions get off to a bad start when she arrives on the day of the funeral of a local man, Harry, who has drowned, after his horse bolts into the lake. Before long, Archie, and Tey, are thrown into another investigation and, another murder - this time, dramatically off stage, at a local, outdoor theatre production.

In the previous book, I mentioned how modern that novel felt, considering the time it was set in. This, however, feels like a contemporary novel, dumped in the past. Tey does not so much dig for clues, as have confidences regurgitated to her at the mildest inquiry. Incest over a cup of tea. Domestic violence when she pops to the kitchen...

I recently read a Ngaio Marsh mystery, where the act of marital rape occurred on the page, with the intimate scene virtually unspoken, yet perfectly understood by the reader. Difficult subjects are not avoided in Golden Age crime, but the attitudes of the time meant that authors wrote about them in a different way. This lacks the charm of those crime novels and is deeply dark, depressing and without characters that I could care about.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

When Scotland Yard Inspector Archie Penrose brings his Scottish friend and mystery writer Josephine Tey to his ancestral home in Cornwall, all they are anticipating is a pleasant holiday in the sunshine. But something is rotten in the state of Cornwall. Archie's first activity is to attend to funeral of estate worker Harry Pinching, who drowned when he rode his horse--on purpose?--into a large lake. Then there's all the animosity that seems to lurk beneath the pleasant facade of the estate, and all the secrets. After another death during a theater performance, Archie knows he must take on the case, and Josephine is determined to help. Neither suspects just how badly everyone involved is broken, nor how far they will go, nor what secrets--some deeply personal to Archie--will be revealed.

I picked this up because it seemed to fall completely in my wheelhouse--interwar years, rural Cornwall, lovely estate, sunshine, mystery writer, and the gorgeous outdoor Minack Theatre which I have been to twice and adored. What I didn't expect was how utterly grim it was--how utterly broken and ruined half the characters were. I was also felt there was a semi-squalid, lurid sensationalism reminiscent of the Brontes--the reason I never liked them. I mean, this book included (spoiler alert!): child abuse, incestuous child rape, children having sex, incest, vicious wife beating, and semi-prostitution. Let's just say, this is gothic sensationalism masquerading as a cozy mystery. When I pick up something marketed as a cozy mystery, I don't want incestuous child rape. This didn't work for me.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

'So much love and so much misery.'

While this appears to have been marketed as an imitation of 'golden age' mysteries, it actually has a modern sensibility which refuses to shy away from the chaotic emotions of real life. Readers looking for a 'cozy' will probably hate it. Better to think of it as fiction interested in sexual pathologies, secrets and lies which interlock to form a complex story and which underpin a small Cornish community - think Broadchurch or Into the Water.

I found this darker but proportionally deeper than Tey's first outing. The black side of love is foregrounded whether through exploitative sexualized violence or through transgressive obsessions. There's some lightness from the Motley sisters but this is generally a moody book, awash with people in pain. Even minor characters come to life on the page and while there's probably a bit too much nature writing for me, it makes the Penrose/Motley estate almost a figure in the drama.

Archie's background is filled out from the first book and Josephine Tey comes more into satisfactory focus, their relationship an unusually close friendship for fiction without romantic overtones. Upton's writing, as usual, is far more 'literary' than we often find in crime fiction. I love this series for its variety and feminist re-opening of topics usually erased from books written in this period. 4.5 stars.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked the first in this series, An Expert in Murder, which had a fascinating theatrical background, but did not really enjoy this sequel.

Josephine goes to stay with her police inspector friend, Archie Penrose, in his home village in Cornwall - but, inevitably, the pair find themselves investigating a murder, or possibly two. A young man is drowned after riding his horse into water, and an outdoor theatrical production seems all too likely to end in another tragedy.

The book starts well, with a powerful opening chapter and an intriguing village atmosphere, as well as the seductive Cornish scenery. But then the pace slows as an apparently endless sequence of dark secrets is unturned. Everyone in the community seems to be hiding something, or in some cases several things. For me, it all becomes hard to follow or believe.

One strength of modern novels set in a period like the 1930s is that they can include material which was difficult for authors to deal with honestly, and get published, at the time. But this detective story just has too many such storylines, all piled in, so that none of the taboos raised is addressed in much depth. And too many characters seem willing to pour out their hearts as soon as Josephine or Archie comes on the scene.

I also don't think using author Josephine Tey (real name Elizabeth MacKintosh) as a fictional character adds much here. In the first book, this works well, because the story is based around the huge success of Tey's play Richard of Bordeaux. But in this book, I can't really see what reason there is to use Tey again instead of a completely fictional character. Especially as it meant I kept comparing the author's style with Tey's own work, which is so much more compelling.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

After an enjoyable first novel, the author has hidden heavy-handed moralizing behind a "Golden Era" mystery. However, there's nothing golden about this bleak and bizarre justification of incest and murder. The novel is at once depressing and aggressive, as if the author has an axe to grind and wants to make the reader pay. Incest and murder are both justified in the name of "love," which is sickening enough, but then incestuous rape, forced prostitution, and cruel violence are thrown in for good measure. I don't understand why the author tries so hard to defend the revolting acts of her characters, but it definitely has a "The Lady protests too much, methinks" quality. The mystery behind the story sadly offers little enjoyment to offset the bleak nature of the book. I'm definitely disappointed after her first book, and I won't be bothering with her third.

[Annabel Frazer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit I didn't enjoy this. (Sorry to my family - it was a Christmas present. I liked the cover though, which is why they chose it for me.) Firstly, I just don't get the Josephine Tey thing - why involve a real-life author? Perhaps the author of this book is a huge fan but even if she is, is this the best way to pay tribute? And what does it add to her own book? She could have just had a similar character and called her something different. Nope, I don't get it.

Secondly, I felt it was over-complicated. Too many characters insufficiently delineated, too many subplots (some left hanging), too many things happening to everyone. Thirdly, not enough actual detection. I don't know what other books in the series are like, but this one had a Cold Comfort Farm rural sordidity vibe. All the misdoings had been going on for years and most of the locals knew something of what was going on, so Josephine and her police inspector sidekick's efforts at investigation mostly just involved listening to/eavesdropping on people who suddenly felt compelled to unburden themselves of horrific secrets. There was no cleverness exhibited at all.

Fourthly, a misfiring romantic arc as far as I was concerned - I never felt any real chemistry between Josephine and the police inspector. Fifthly, slackness with style - the police inspector, narrated in third person, was Archie one minute and Penrose the next. Why? Unusually for a detective story, it was told in multi-third narration which meant you heard from most of the characters in their own voice, which ruins momentum and mystery and, if you don't do the different tones of voice properly, also misfires.

Sixthly, a storyline that was not only unnecessarily dark but weirdly duplicated why have two separate sets of incestuous siblings? and led to some odd feats of logic on the part of the investigating duo for instance, the murdered man having set fire to his house as a child and killed his parents being treated as a minor teenage peccadillo.

I feel bad being harsh but if I'm honest, literally the only thing I liked about this book was the cover.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. Many. Secrets. Yes, almost every cozy set in a British village reveals a collection of secrets; however, author Nicola Upson’s second novel in a series featuring Scottish novelist and playwright Josephine Tey has more — and worse — secrets than most.

Handsome, charming, reckless Harry Pinching has finally met his end at the age of 26, leaving behind his devastated sisters, his twin Morwenna and 14-year-old Loveday. The presumption is that it was an accident. However, Tey’s friend Detective Inspector Archie Penrose, down in his native Loe, Cornwall, for a holiday with Tey, begins to wonder if Pinching’s death wasn’t murder.

Upson packs Angel with Two Faces with so many twists, and the ending will come as quite a shock. In this novel, unlike the first, the relationship between Tey and Penrose doesn’t ring false. There’s no sophomore slump for Upson! No. 2 improves on the debut novel, An Expert in Murder, in every way.

[David Bramhall · Rating 1 out of 5]

You might be forgiven for thinking that any author whose latest book is lovingly reviewed in the Sunday Times must be worth investigating at least. On the face of it, Nicola Upson sounds tempting. Her main character, Josephine Tey, is an actual author who wrote detective stories and plays in the 1930s. Her other main character, the policeman Archie Penrose, is modelled on Josephine Tey's own created detective. So a twenty-first century author is writing in the world of ninety years ago, with no mobile phones or television, fewer cars and lorries, horses and carts till carrying farm produce round the countryside, a bit of cosy forelock-tugging and noblesse oblige from comfortably enlightened landowners … is that sufficiently convoluted to make you curious? It did me – I thought it promised something serious, something perhaps slightly intellectual, something you could get your teeth into …

That it seemed to be set in a real place – Gunwalloe in Cornwall, with only small transparent alterations of names – was a bonus. One could expect some close descriptions, a scene lovingly set. And reading between the lines in the Acknowledgements at the end, it's plain that many of the characters are closely based on real people who live in that real place. If I were unfortunate enough to be one of them, I'd be bloody furious …

Because this is an awful book. There are some dreadful characters in it, people one cannot sympathise with at all. There is practically wall-to-wall incest, child molestation, domestic abuse, a vicar who as a child raped his little sister and as an adult pays a vulnerable parishioner for oral sex … while the “good” characters like Josephine Tey and Archie Penrose are equally hard to empathise with, perpetually conflicted over a relationship that has never started and probably never will. The author seems to sympathise with or excuse her negative characters, while making the positive ones so lacklustre that we are denied the chance of liking them.

The book is not especially well written, either. We have paragraph after paragraph of weak-kneed philosophical contemplation, confusing conversations (“But why didn't you tell me what Morwenna had said about Morveth overhearing Jasper threatening Christopher …?” I made that one up, but you see what I mean) all in a plot that is pointless and melodramatic. We are frequently told that the estate where all this is happening is an extraordinarily beautiful place, but Upson's powers of description are weak so our imagination forms no idea just what makes it so beautiful. And worst of all, she describes her characters hardly at all: throughout the story, the main characters are just names – of course we can hazard a guess at age and sex, but otherwise we're left to our own devices.

My wife, hearing all this, asked me why I persevered and actually got to the end of the book? A good question, but my answer was even better: that I underwent this torture so the rest of you wouldn't have to.

There. My work is done. You have been warned.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious, verbose, poorly plotted, cliche-ridden, phoned-in.
Lovely Cornish countryside thrown in for atmosphere, as unreal as a theatrical backdrop, as is Josephine Tey.
No idea why she was there at all. She seems to be entirely peripheral. The taut, spare prose, succinct characterization, looming sense of overtaking events that is Josepine Tey is totally absent. Just go read "A Shilling for Candles". While not one of her best, It's much better than this.
So, the plot. A doomed family loses yet another member, eight years after the parents of wildly attractive eighteen-year-old fraternal twins die in a fire, leaving the twins as surrogates to their six-year-old sister, who is/isn't quite right mentally (or is it that no one bothers to keep secrets from her?) The wild and impulsive brother loses control of his horse, is thrown & drowns in a dark weedy lake by the sea. His funeral is the opening act. Lots of conflicted emotions here. Cue the Gothic music.
Josephine and her pet CID officer roll into town, trailing hints of secrets all their own. A disappearance upcountry and a death at an atmospheric local theater bring Inspector Penrose into the picture.
Turgid emotional outpourings follow, along with nasty revelations of incest, rape, wife-beating, child pregnancy etc, rather along the lines of "Silas Weekley". Enough.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not much of a series reader, but I read the first one in this series, An Expert in Murder, late last year and really liked it so I went on to the next one. It is an interesting concept for a series, the fictionalized life of real life mystery author Josephine Tey, and I am a Josephine Tey fan, but while the first book was a somewhat gritty look at the seamier side of the world of the theater in 1930's post war London, the second book went way too dark and twisted, way too fast for my liking.

The story opens and takes place in Cornwall. Josephine and Archie, having put their ghosts to rest in the first book, are planning an extended, much needed vacation at Archie's family's country estate. Sounds lovely! Well, it starts with a funeral and it's downhill from there. Were I Josephine, I would have been packed up and gone by day three! However, she, and I, stuck it out until the bitter end through all of the dark and darker twists and turns. I really enjoy Upson's writing, but I think I'll pass on Josephine and Archie's next adventure!

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I am in 2 minds about this book, I found the plot very interesting and the characters intriguing but the whole book just couldn't keep me hooked. Was it just too long to keep me, the reader interested?

It was better then the first in the series, but still not as gripping as the other I've read (None Lessons)

Set in Cornwall, on an estate I've stayed on and walked so the description of the area was perfect, I did find the plot a little too obvious and I only kept reading to find out what happened to Christopher and his story was wrapped up in the last few pages 😅

A good read? Yes. A little too long? Yes? Will I keep reading the series? Yes.

[Wal.li · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urlaub in Cornwall

Um ihre Freundschaft aufzufrischen und sich von den letzten Ereignissen zu erholen, lädt Archie Penrose die Autorin Josephine Tey in sein Heimatdorf in Cornwall ein. Die Ferien wollen sie genießen. Doch leider erfährt Archie bei seiner Ankunft, dass der junge Harry tot aus dem naheliegenden See geborgen wurde. Und so muss Archie Penrose zunächst einer Bestattung beiwohnen. Natürlich kommt er als Polizist nicht umhin, sich über die Todesumstände Gedanken zu machen. Josephine, die etwas später ankommt, unterstützt Archie Penrose bei seinen Untersuchungen. Gleichzeitig freut sie sich über die Gelegenheit, sein familiäres Umfeld kennenzulernen.

Bei diesem zweiten Band der Reihe von historischen Kriminalromanen um die Autorin Josephine Tey und Inspector Archie Penrose ist Archie gezwungen in seinem Heimatort zu ermitteln. Dabei erfährt er Dinge, die für ihn doch sehr belastend sind. Schließlich kennt er die meisten Menschen im Ort schon sein ganzes Leben. Manchmal kann Josephine beruhigend auf ihn einwirken, hin und wieder jedoch gehen auch ihr die Worte aus. Das Leben macht auch vor einer Dorfidylle nicht halt. Durch den Tod von Harry ist das gesamte Dorf in Aufruhr. Besonders seine Schwestern sind untröstlich. Die ältere Morwenna wirkt teilweise geradezu wütend, das ihr Bruder, ihre Stütze nicht mehr da ist.

Manchmal erweist sich eine als fröhlich geplante Rückkehr in die Heimat als schwieriger als gedacht. Genau das muss Archie Penrose hier erfahren. Er wollte Josephine seine Heimat nahebringen, besonders auch das Freilichttheater von Minack. Aus dem erhofften entspannten Urlaub entwickelt sich ein fesselnder Fall. Was er bei seinen Nachforschungen über sein nächstes Umfeld erfährt, ist auch für einen gestandenen Polizisten kaum erträglich. Hier ist er nicht nur der Inspector, sondern auch Verwandter oder Bekannter. Mal wieder ist festzustellen, dass ein vermeintliches Dorfidyll vor nichts schützt. Gerade wenn man meint, so etwas gibt es dort nicht, wird man feststellen, die Menschen sind nicht besser. Eher ist alles komprimierter, weil weniger sich weniger Einwohner tummeln. Jeder weiß alles über jeden und viele wissen es besser. Dieses Erkennen macht die Lektüre sehr spannend. Ehe es aber allzu dramatisch erscheint, es gibt auch humorvolle Szenen und die Schilderungen der pittoresken Landschaft tragen zum Lesevergnügen bei. Wer einen ruhigen, intelligenten britischen Krimi mag, ist hier genau richtig.

[Connie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Rip off of the Josephine Tey name.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that one jumped the shark. Incest (2 different instances!), murder, corrupt clergy, wife beating, suicide, deception, unwanted pregnancy, arson, homosexuality, unacknowledged adoption, secret rooms, and fake death. Wow. I am sorry to say that I prefer my mysteries to be limited to, at most, three subplots.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a DNF for me after a completely unnecessarily graphic description of domestic violence and sexual assault. It didn't need to be there to show that the character was terrible and I couldn't stomach continuing to read a book where the author thought that was okay to write in such detail.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey mystery series. Josephine and her Scotland Yard friend Archie Penrose are taking a holiday in Cornwall, at the family estate where Archie grew up, where Josephine hopes to work on her second mystery novel. Archie goes early in order to serve as pallbearer at the funeral of a young man who lived and worked on the estate; Harry Pinching drowned when his horse took him into the Loe Pool. Josephine enjoys being with her friends (and Archie's cousins) the Motley sisters, and meeting their father William, who owns the estate. However, she soon begins to realize that the many people who live on the estate have deep secrets, the kind that can tear lives apart. When a young curate who was Harry's close friend falls to his death during a play at the dramatic Minack Theater, built on a cliff, Archie is pulled in to take charge of the investigation. The secrets must all come out, endangering even Archie's peace of mind.

This was a wonderful story. The setting is evocative. There were so many secrets that I had trouble keeping track of all the things that I didn't know! And there were some amazing and unexpected twists, which always make for a suspenseful plot. There are five novels in this series so far, and I can't wait to read more!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find Josephine and Archie intriguing, but they are often overshadowed by the countless secondary characters and multiple plots. This author has way too much description and not enough dialogue. However, I feel as if this has the potential to be a good series.

Continuing on to book 3 because I'm invested in the overall plight of the two main characters.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Angel with Two Faces is an engrossing mystery-drama set in 1935, the second instalment in Nicola Upson's series featuring as a fictionalised character Scottish playwright, biographer and mystery novelist Josephine Tey (whose real name was Elizabeth Mackintosh and who also used the pen-name Gordon Daviot).

Josephine's relaxing break with her friend DI Archie Penrose in his native Cornwall is derailed before they even arrive, as local man Henry Pinching is found drowned in The Loe, a large freshwater lake separated by a sandbar from the southern coast of Cornwall and contained within the real life Penrose Estate (in the book referred to as "the Loe Estate" and "Loe House"). Acting as a pallbearer, Archie quickly realises that there is more to the death than a simple accident, leading Josephine and himself to again join forces in investigating the mystery.

At 426 pages, other reviewers have judged Angel with Two Faces as over-long and burdened with character descriptions and musings that are superfluous to the plot. Personally, I feel that the additional character backstory and reflection on topics such as the shadow of inter-generational guilt, the intersection between benevolence and interference, and the burden of knowledge combine to elevate the book from another historical mystery to a work of literary fiction.

Angel with Two Faces is an occasionally troubling read, drawing in storylines related to incest, domestic violence, closeted homosexuality (illegal in 1935 when the novel is set) and white witchcraft. Several characters are deeply unlikeable, whilst others add occasional bursts of comic relief to what is otherwise a rather melancholy story.

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m loving the way the author is building her regular characters. This story is complex, taut, tragic and very readable.

[Rufus Woodward · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun. diverting. mildy irritating. interesting. all at the same time.

there is so much in here it would be entirely justifiable to pick at (not enough Josephine tey in this series about Josephine tey; how believable is this version of Josephine tey anyway; so many characters in one little book...and exactly how many secrets within secrets do you really expect me to keep track of...etc) but in the end none of them are important enough to matter much.

basic test is, two novels into the series, am I likely to read the next one? answer: almost certainly.

[Cyn McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caution, spoilers. I liked this less than the first book in the series. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but I found the story tedious, and the ending, while appropriate, is not at all happy. The language sometimes seems too modern for 1935, although the acceptance of wife-beating, and the disgust and shame about homosexuality and incest, rings true. Many of the people Archie and Josephine encounter in Cornwall are quite unpleasant or even brutal. The scenery, on the other hand, is beautiful.

[Estella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wish I had stopped reading this book when the storyline became riddled with domestic violence and incest. It only got worse. What a dark, twisted plot! I had heard great things about this author, and had been looking forward to reading a new mystery series. I won’t be reading past this one.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death is the “Angel With Two Faces,” the epigraph informs us … A fitting title for a murder mystery with a very complicated plot … Archie Penrose returns to his family’s estate in Cornwall for a much needed holiday; however, he is immediately involved with a funeral … Josephine Tey, fresh from her bitter-sweet experience with “Richard of Bordeaux,” joins him … While this Josephine Tey is fictional, she is based on the real-life Elizabeth Mackintosh; the Cornwall settings are also part of the real world: the Penrose Estate, Loe Pool, and the Minak Theatre are all still in existence … a very curious tale …
by Josephine Tey
by Jennifer Morag Henderson (no photo)

[Adam Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - the second in Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey series.

Set in Cornwall on a holiday for Tey that pretty much goes wrong from the start, this is an excellent mystery novel. The secrets keep coming, and certainly keep you guessing. It’s a wonderful story of the secrets communities will keep which fits well with the excellently evoked Cornish setting.

The characters are interesting, though I could have done with a bit more development of some. If I had one real criticism it’s that some elements really felt more in there to shock - and that takes a bit away from the credibility for me.

That doesn’t distract from the fact though that this a great read which I certainly enjoyed a lot more than the first in the series. I was gripped throughout, and look forward to reading more.

[Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warning Incest


It was more a 3.5

This second book of the series is already better than the first one. 


The reasons why there are only 3 stars, is that there too much description that could be avoided and made the beginning of the book very boring.

And there were so many characters at the beginning, it was quiet hard to keep track.


It takes around 150 pages before the books starts to be interesting, where you really get hooked up.


There is a good twist at the end ! 


You must be aware there is great deal of incest voluntary and rapes that can be very triggering.


I wasn't sure after reading the first that I would be reading the hole series. But now I think I'll continue. 

I love Archie, Josephine and the cousins.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book number 2 in this series based loosely on the life of Elizabeth Mackintosh who used Josephine Tey as a pseudonym. Just like the previous book, my main complaint is the large number of characters that are difficult to keep straight because their names are too similar. But the mystery was intriguing and the ending was a surprise, so I'll move on to book #3.

"Inspector Archie Penrose invites Josephine Tey down to his home in Cornwall so she can recover from the traumatic events depicted in 'An Expert in Murder'. However, Josephine's hopes of rest are dashed when her arrival coincides with the funeral of a young man from the village who had drowned when his horse leapt into the nearby lake."

[Mitch Karunaratne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer in Cornwall - but whilst the rocky coastline and presence of the sea may feel summery that’s where the lightness ends! This book is layered with mysteries, dark, tangled relationships, abuse, violence and the legacy of war. It’s using the format of the Golden Age but with a good dose of realism! Would have like Tey to have been front and centre more. Her Scotland Yard friend - Archie - really lead this narrative and it feels a little early in a series to allow the main character to step back.

[BrianC75 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real disappointment. I have read all of the Josephine Tey books. They were of the highest quality and I really enjoyed them. This is the third Nicola Upson book I have read and unfortunately all stand no comparison to Tey’s series.
The story begins well but deteriorates to become the worst kind of overlong rambling soap opera incorporating DRAMATIC cliche after DRAMATIC cliche. POOR!

[Rona · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I ever wanted to live in Cornwall, that dream are gone. Cozy murder with lots of bad behavior all around. I am enjoying this series.