A Shilling For Candles – Josephine Tey, 1936 ★★

Murder, She Shrugged

There is a certain type of mystery reader for whom the mystery itself is secondary. The mystery services a formula, follows a pattern, and provides background contrast to whatever aspect of the book it is the reader cares about. It is not taken seriously.

I don’t understand these kind of mystery readers, but they evidently exist in fair-enough number to promote the legacies of writers who cater to this approach. Which leads me to Josephine Tey.

The Daughter Of Time – Josephine Tey, 1951 ★½

Reconstructing Richard

What history got wrong Josephine Tey attempts to make right in this polemic disguised as a police procedural. Your miles may vary, but for me this was a tedious read even when I found worthwhile Tey's arguments regarding the nature of one of Great Britain's most infamous rulers.

Inspector Alan Grant, laid up with a broken leg after pursuing a criminal and stuck staring at the ceiling, kills time by investigating a double murder that occurred nearly 500 years before. Using a number of books at his bedside, as well as the research abilities of an able assistant, he probes the question of Richard III.

Was he really as bad a fellow as history said? What was the real story of his most famous crime, murdering two boys, his crown's rightful heir Prince Edward and his younger brother Duke Richard, in the Tower of London?