English Mysteries Club discussion

I know I've read this but it was long ago and I'm looking forward to meeting it again.

Same here!

I like this one a lot! I have read it several times but look forward to reading it again... And as a little bit of trivia, this book was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock (The Girl Was Young), although the characters are so changed that it is hard to recognize it!

My copy just arrived. Could not help reading the first page. I know I'm going to love it!

I started it yesterday just to check her writing style because I haven't read any of her books and now I'm in the middle-I can't wait to finish it!

I really enjoyed this book. Read it a good while back. It was just a great reading this again.

I just picked it up at the library today and will start reading soon.

I hope you enjoy the book.

It is, IMO, a very easy book to enjoy. I had read it years -- make that several decades -- ago but had forgotten most of it, now about 2/3 of the way through and really enjoying it.

Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?

Garyfalia wrote: "Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?"

Brat Farrar is wonderful. There are some other Inspector Grant books which I prefer to this one:

Alan Grant
1. The Man in the Queue (1929)
aka Killer in the Crowd
2. A Shilling for Candles (1936)
3. The Franchise Affair (1948)
4. To Love and Be Wise (1950)
5. The Daughter of Time (1951)
6. The Singing Sands (1952)

The Singing Sands is probably my favourite, after Brat Farrar. The Franchise Affair is also very good, but Grant only plays a small role in it. The Daughter of Time is famous because it very cleverly explains the case that Richard III was a good man who did not murder the Princes in the Tower.

I'm almost finished and the characters are enjoyable. Erica is great. What an enterprising young lady.

Hj wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?"

Brat Farrar is wonderful. There are some other Inspector Grant bo..."Thanks a lot Hj, I think I'll try Brat Farrar first!

I finished the book and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time, many years ago. Unfortunately my library doesn't seem to have any Josephine Tey but I can get them from Amazon. I want to start at the beginning.

Brat Farrar is very good. There was a wonderful adaption of it on Masterpiece Theater years ago and it is on line http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqa5.... As a matter of fact, it was so good that I never felt the need to read the book.
I do have it now on my to read list.
I have to edit this to give credit to someone, I don't remember who, for sharing the above link with me. It may have been someone in the English Mysteries Club or another club but whoever it was, thank you.

Hj wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?""

Definitely read Daughter of Time. Superb book. I've probably read it three times, maybe four.

Everyman wrote: "Hj wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?""

Definitely read Daughter of Time. Superb book. I've ..."

Thanks, I'll surely keep this in mind.

Everyman wrote: "Definitely read Daughter of Time. Superb book. I've ..."
I'll drink to that. It was a superb book.

Started this last week and am enjoying it a lot. I've read some other Tey books, including Brat Ferrar and The Daughter of Time. Much easier read than Tiger in the Smoke! Do you think the bit about how someone could live with a woman without knowing her name or otherwise figure out who she really was, was at all possible?

Really love mysteries. Try to guess the guilty party from all the clues, which means no skimming, and this writer kept me guessing right to the end.

Just started it and I'm tickled! Since this is my first "read" with the club, looking forward to the discussion! :)

I also really enjoy mysteries and especially English ones. This one proved to be no exception. I loved how the suspect kept shifting until the very end. I never suspected the true killer. This was my first Tey book and I look forward to more.

I'm about a third of the way through so far. We're getting into the friends of Christine part--all her show business types.

Bob wrote: "I also really enjoy mysteries and especially English ones. This one proved to be no exception. I loved how the suspect kept shifting until the very end. I never suspected the true killer. This ..."

I never suspected the killer either. I enjoyed the read!

I just finished the book. I love Inspector Grant. What a wonderful convoluted plot line. So well written. Enjoyed the book a lot.

I'm almost finished and I'm loving it. The British theater atmosphere is delish!

I couldn't guess the ending either. After finding out who, I thought it made perfect sense and wondered why I hadn't seen that. Duh.

I'm really enjoying this book! Nice introduction to Inspector Grant, a different kind of mystery.

After failing to find this book in any local library, I discovered an old Tey collection on my shelves & have happily jumped into it. What a pleasure!

Is this the first Inspector Grant mystery?

Garyfalia wrote: "Hj wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Just finished it - I really enjoyed it - I think I'll read more Josephine Tey in the future- Any suggestions ?"

Brat Farrar is wonderful. There are some other Inspect..."

I thought Brat Farrar was terrific-one of the best!

Pghfan wrote: "Is this the first Inspector Grant mystery?"

It's the second. Here's the GR list of Alan Grant mysteries. It's been a long time since I've read them all but they are consistently wonderful.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/5153...

Carol wrote: "After failing to find this book in any local library, I discovered an old Tey collection on my shelves & have happily jumped into it. What a pleasure!"

Envious, very envious!

Carol, they also have those 3 by Tey collections which you can find used and reasonably priced. I have both Three by Tey and Four, Five, and Six by Tey.

Diane wrote: "Brat Farrar is very good. There was a wonderful adaption of it on Masterpiece Theater years ago and it is on line http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqa5...-..."

Wow, thank you! I've looked for this for years and never found it. :)

Jeffrey wrote: "Diane wrote: "Brat Farrar is very good. There was a wonderful adaption of it on Masterpiece Theater years ago and it is on line http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqa5......"

Yay! Thanks!

Carol wrote: "Jeffrey wrote: "Diane wrote: "Brat Farrar is very good. There was a wonderful adaption of it on Masterpiece Theater years ago and it is on line http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqa5......"

Ditto! I had never heard of Brat before a goodreads friend recommended it, so I'll look up the Masterpiece Theater as soon as I can!

Just started reading yesterday and am enjoying the book so far. I like the slow revelation of information at the beginning. It's as if we are finding things out as some of the characters are finding things out.

I really had fun rereading this, even though I remembered who did it. I particularly like the bit about her slimy brother Herbert!

I wish publishers were still willing to let authors reveal things slowly, instead of requiring a body ASAP. That's one thing that makes English Mysteries worth coming back to.

That's what I like about Brat Ferrar, that we immediately get to know the characters, not the body!

I love the deft way she draws even the smallest character and the way she plants us so firmly in a particular place and time.

"It was a little after seven on a summer morning, and William Potticary was taking his accustomed way over the short down grass of the cliff top...

"...A million dewdrops...suggested a world new-come from its Creator's hand. Not to Potticary, of course.

"...Of course, what with the wireless, the edge was off the morning paper, as you might say. But it was an objective. War or peace, a man had to have an objective."

Hana wrote: "I love the deft way she draws even the smallest character and the way she plants us so firmly in a particular place and time.

"It was a little after seven on a summer morning, and William Pottic..."

That has convinced me - I am going to have to add Tey to my reading list!

Karlyne wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Hj wrote: "Brat Farrar is wonderful...

I thought Brat Farrar was terrific-one of the best! ..."

So glad you liked it! It's one my all-time favourite books, and I love it when someone else likes it too. Can you see how it inspired Mary Stewart and The Ivy Tree?

Hj wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Garyfalia wrote: "Hj wrote: "Brat Farrar is wonderful...

I thought Brat Farrar was terrific-one of the best! ..."

So glad you liked it! It's one my all-time favourite books, an..."

I kept thinking of The Ivy Tree as I was reading Brat, and it really did add to my enjoyment!

It seems that I really should read Mary Stewart. Any recommendations on where to start?

I loved you English Mysteries shelf, Carolien! It sort of leads me to think you would like Mary Stewart's suspense-type novels like My Brother Michael or Nine Coaches Waiting.

If you love Shakespeare, then my all time favorite This Rough Magic is the place to start.

But I also see that you liked Pompeii (I thought it was great too!). So you might enjoy Mary Stewart's Roman-Britain take on the Arthurian legends, starting with The Crystal Cave

Hana wrote: "I loved you English Mysteries shelf, Carolien! It sort of leads me to think you would like Mary Stewart's suspense-type novels like My Brother Michael or [book:Nine Coa..."

These are great recommendations.

Well, my favorite is Madam, Will You Talk. The car scene towards the end is the most suspenseful, knuckle gripping read ever!

Karlyne wrote: "Well, my favorite is Madam, Will You Talk. The car scene towards the end is the most suspenseful, knuckle gripping read ever!"

Oh yes! I loved that one! One heck of a suspense-filled trip--especially for a lady in the days when women were not thought up to the challenge of driving!