I’m aiming to read all of Josephine Tey’s books as I’ve read Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair, which I was very impressed with, but I’m excited that this book seems more of a traditional detective story, and I do love her detective Inspector Grant.
I’m aiming to read all of Josephine Tey’s books as I’ve read Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair, which I was very impressed with, but I’m excited that this book seems more of a traditional detective story, and I do love her detective Inspector Grant.
An unidentified body is found drowned on the beach and is eventually identified as film star, Christine Clay, who was staying in the quiet village anonymously. There is a button in her hair, which is presumed to have come from the coat of the murderer. The main murder suspect is poverty-stricken Robert Tisdall, who is a hitch-hiker who Christine had picked up and offered shelter to, as he admitted he had followed her to the beach when she went swimming and had stolen her car, though he later brought the car back, and he can’t produce the coat he was wearing at the time in order to prove it’s not missing a button. Tisdall escapes arrest and goes on the run. Awww, I liked the respectful way that Inspector Grant treated Tisdall, allowing him to get changed out of his waiter’s uniform when he came to arrest him. And Christine Clay seems very interesting, quite a mysterious and secretive lady, and I wonder if this book is going to be more about discovering the puzzles in her life rather than discovering the murderer, though I am sure one leads to the other.
Inspector Grant researches more about Christine’s life and finds that she originally used to work in a Nottingham lace factory but slowly and determinedly climbed the social ladder to become a film star. She was friendly with others but not over-friendly, and she wanted time alone by herself so had come anonymously to this quiet village without telling her friends or colleagues. She was married, but she and her husband had busy lives and spent a lot of time apart. A colleague, Jason Harmer, claims they were close friends, but Grant notes that Christine hadn’t told Harmer where she was staying, as Harmer had discovered this for himself by following a clue in a letter from her. Christine’s will is read and Tisdall is a beneficiary. Her brother is also a beneficiary but she had only left ‘a shilling for candles’ to this brother and no-one, including her husband, had ever heard her mention her brother before. Ooooh, that’s really intriguing about her brother and I wonder very much about the significance of the shilling for candles, it obviously must be quite crucial to the plot with it being the title of the book too.
The Chief Constable’s daughter, Erica, finds Tisdall but conceals his whereabouts from the authorities, she takes an interest in him and brings him supplies whilst he’s on the run and even puts herself in danger trying to find the tramp who has Tisdall’s coat so she can prove his innocence by showing that the coat has no missing button. Hmmm, this all seems quite strange with this young girl becoming involved with the main murder suspect, and her from such an authority background with her father being the Chief Constable! And I am liking Grant more and more, he just sounds like such a wonderful man. He seems respected by his colleagues, and I liked the description of his smile ‘that made Grant’s subordinates work their fingers to the bone for him’. I also love Grant’s internal musings and his self-awareness, especially when he feels that he has ‘someone inside you checking up your motives for everything you did or thought’, I like that he is aware of his conscience and has morals, and considers (even worries) about the consequences of his actions.
Suspicion falls on Christine’s husband as he can’t prove his movements on the night of her murder, but it is discovered that he and Jason were helping a refugee escape from his country. Grant also uncovers the mystery with Christine’s brother and the shilling she left him, as he had treated Christine unfairly when they were children so she left him the shilling to remind him of this. The brother is also now a conman and is found by Grant pretending to be a monk and plotting to steal a large amount of money, which Grant foils after capturing him in a chase scene. The murder of Christine is discovered to be one of her friends, Lydia, who is a keen fortune-teller, and her motive for killing Christine was that she had publicly ‘foretold’ that Christine would die by drowning and so wanted the fame and success which would come to her if she ensured that Christine died in this way.
Wow, that’s certainly one of the strangest motives for murder I’ve ever come across! And I’m a little disappointed that this seemed unlikely to be guessed at by the reader (or at least I was nowhere close to guessing it!). Hmmm, I did enjoy this book but I think I will have to re-read it as I kind of feel like I’ve perhaps missed something in it, as it didn’t grab me quite as much as The Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair. I will continue with my reading of Tey’s books though, I have Miss Pym Disposes and The Man in the Queue to read next.
