An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey)

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Even from a distance, there was an air of calm about her, a quiet containment in the resolute stance that held its own beauty.

Much to her surprise, the response to her question was a pink tide which began at Elspeth’s neck and rose slowly upwards. The book is touted as a Josephine Tey mystery which would lead one to believe that Josephine is actually doing the sleuthing. That’s the coincidence–I read it again just the other day when I found out I was coming down to see Richard in its final week, and I’ve got it with me now.

Ever the actress, she always felt an affinity with the transience and variety of somewhere like King’s Cross: the wandering population of travellers and street traders had an anonymity which intrigued her and a colour which appealed to her weakness for showmanship and talent for mimicry. There were some interesting ideas, but it felt horribly contrived and I was none too impressed with Nicola Upson’s portrayal of my part of Cornwall. At the time of this novel Tey, whose real name was Elizabeth Mackintosh, hadn't yet invented the Josephine Tey pseudonym; she was writing under the name Gordon Daviot. I shouldn’t be talking to you like this when we’ve only just met and you want to read your paper, but I must thank you now I’ve got the chance.

To use aliases and inventions for many of characters but expect us to believe in a fictionalised Tey is clumsy and to be honest it comes across as a little lazy – why not just create new and interesting characters if you have a story to tell, instead of hanging a thin plot on a real person and expecting us to believe in them. An Expert In Murder” is set in London in the 1930s and revolves around deaths associated with a production of Josephine Tays most successful play.Having read the second in the series first, I was happy to learn that it didn't really affect my enjoyment of this one. The three titles are An Expert In Murder, Angel With Two Faces and London Rain. Lots of plot holes, not very good characterisation, cheeky use of real people, silly ending where Josephine lets mad Marta skip town on a train. The narrative of the book is choppy, with a more sedate sort of head-hopping, with lots of points of view.

Clues and circumstance suggest that Tey may have been the intended target, so the narrative follows her and her time at the theatre.

Her conversation did not entirely mask the series of tough blows that life had dealt her: abandoned as a baby, then claimed again only to have her second chance at happiness destroyed by a conflict which she was of no age to understand–if such an age existed. The two strike up a friendship on the journey, as the girl is a fan of Tey's work, and is on her way to see the play again. Instinctively, before she had a chance to consider the strangeness of the moment, she took the gift that was held out to her with a smile and looked down at the doll in her hands, a souvenir of her beloved play and something she had longed to own. I suppose it would be difficult to work together if they were involved and they’ve got another joint project lined up with my next play.