Who do you believe…?
Robert Blair, a local solicitor, is called on to defend two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, who are accused of kidnapping and violence against a fifteen-year-old war orphan named Betty Kane. Set in Milford, the novel opens with the Sharpes about to be interviewed by local police and Scotland Yard, represented by Inspector Alan Grant (back in his third outing). Marion calls Blair and, although his firm does not do criminal cases, he agrees to come out to their home, 'The Franchise', to look out for their interests during the questioning. The Sharpes deny that the Kane girl had ever been there leave alone being brutally locked up for a month. Blair does not believe Betty until she begins to describe her prison down to specific detail. What is the truth?
About the Author
Josephine Tey (real name Elizabeth Mackintosh, and also used the pen name Gordon Daviot; 1896–1952), novelist and playwright, was born in Inverness on 25 July 1896. She had two younger sisters, Jane Ellis (known as Jean) and Mary Henrietta (known as Etta and later on as Moire).
Josephine Tey was the pseudonym under which 'Beth' Mackintosh published mystery novels and used her second pseudonym, Gordon Daviot, for plays.
Tey was fiercely private and avoided the press, shunned photographers, and never granted interviews. For this reason, and the fact that she kept a small tight circle of friends, very little biographical detail is available on her.
Her mystery novels are classics of their kind, deftly constructed with strong characterization and a meticulous prose style. Six of them feature as their main character the slightly built, dapper Inspector Alan Grant, a gentleman police officer 'not coarse like a bobby' (The Man in the Queue, 118) and with independent means 'to smooth and embroider life' (ibid, 35). Interestingly, Inspector Grant was one of the first Scotland Yard Detectives – as opposed to the private detective or the gifted amateur – to be introduced into the mystery writing genre, making his debut in 1929. (http://www.josephinetey.net/)
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