★ 04/14/2014 Lyrical prose (“sheaves of corn stood abandoned, like the forgotten tents of a retreating army”) and subtle plotting make Upson’s fifth novel featuring real-life mystery writer Josephine Tey a worthy successor to Fear in the Sunlight, a PW Best Mystery of 2013. Tey, who’s struggling with writing a biography, is surprised to learn of a bequest from her godmother, actress Hester Larkspur (who was a close friend of Tey’s mother), as she herself barely knew the woman. Larkspur has left her a Red Barn Cottage in Suffolk located near the site of a notorious murder, and the will gives the writer the choice of sorting through its contents, including the actress’s papers, or having them all destroyed unseen. Tey decides to take a look at what she’s inherited, and, in the process, learns some unsettling details about the circumstances of her godmother’s death. In addition, the cottage may be haunted. Upson lays out the suspicious events gradually, but amply rewards her readers’ patience with a satisfying resolution that feels true to life rather than pat. Agent: Gráinne Fox, Fletcher & Co. (June)
Upson…possesses great skills in creating character-driven novels that evoke a strong sense of place, spins this sad but seductive story with grace and intelligence.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Lyrical prose…and subtle plotting make Upson’s fifth novel featuring real-life mystery writer Josephine Tey a worthy successor to Fear in the Sunlight , a PW Best Mystery of 2013…. Upson…amply rewards her readers’ patience with a satisfying resolution that feels true to life rather than pat.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A “carefully crafted tale of heartbreak and haunting…. The contemplative tone and historical detail yield their own rewards, along with a couple of clever surprises.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Upson’s fifth Tey mystery is a hauntingly atmospheric story based on fact with personal reverberations for Josephine herself. A worthy addition to this intriguing series starring a real-life mystery writer and set in between-the-wars England.” — Booklist
“Upson’s fifth book in the Tey series skillfully weaves a plot of intrigue, deceit and obsession.” — National Examiner
Upson…possesses great skills in creating character-driven novels that evoke a strong sense of place, spins this sad but seductive story with grace and intelligence.
Upson’s fifth book in the Tey series skillfully weaves a plot of intrigue, deceit and obsession.
Upson’s fifth Tey mystery is a hauntingly atmospheric story based on fact with personal reverberations for Josephine herself. A worthy addition to this intriguing series starring a real-life mystery writer and set in between-the-wars England.
Upson’s fifth Tey mystery is a hauntingly atmospheric story based on fact with personal reverberations for Josephine herself. A worthy addition to this intriguing series starring a real-life mystery writer and set in between-the-wars England.
Upson’s fifth Tey mystery is a hauntingly atmospheric story based on fact with personal reverberations for Josephine herself. A worthy addition to this intriguing series starring a real-life mystery writer and set in between-the-wars England.”
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2014-03-18 Three generations of homeowners feel the effects of a violent murder in rural England. Hester Larkspur's will, leaving Red Barn Cottage, in Polstead, Suffolk, to her goddaughter Josephine Tey, has a strange codicil. If Josephine wants the cottage, she must sort out Hester's papers, evaluate their worth and let someone named Lucy Kyte take what she most needs from the cottage. No one, not even Hester's lawyer, knows who or where Lucy is. When Josephine first visits the place, it's in such sad disrepair that she isn't sure she'll get what she needs, either. The cottage was named for the barn where Maria Marten, a willful young Polstead woman, was murdered and buried more than a century ago. In her prime, Hester was a beautiful and popular actress best known for her role in a play based on the murder, and she fueled the legend by writing a diary that's a fictionalized account of Maria's tragic life, as recounted by her best friend. While Josephine gets to know both Maria and Hester through the diary and struggles to make Red Barn Cottage more livable for herself and her lover, Marta Fox, she's increasingly aware that something is amiss. Not only did Hester die while huddled away in a tiny room that fills Josephine with dread, but some restless presence also demands her attention. Marta, like Josephine, an independent and clear-thinking woman of the 1930s, doesn't dismiss the idea of a ghost in the house. But Josephine begins to suspect that a living person has played an important part in the more recent history of the cottage—and may mean harm to its new owner in this carefully crafted tale of heartbreak and haunting. Upson's (Two for Sorrow , 2010, etc.) attempt to engage real-life mystery writer Josephine Tey in a murder is not for those who want a quick-moving story. For more patient readers, the contemplative tone and historical detail yield their own rewards, along with a couple of clever surprises.
Wanda McCaddon’s narration perfectly reflects Britain in the period between the Wars. Set in mid-1930s England and Scotland but also recounting events from a century earlier, this audiobook is a mystery from a more genteel era. Upon inheriting a country cottage, Upson's Josephine Tey soon finds herself investigating not only a recent death but also the disappearance of a previous occupant of the cottage a century before. McCaddon is ideally suited for delivering the lead character’s Scottish brogue, and she skillfully fleshes out the other players in the story as well. Her rustic accents appropriately portray the tough rural life of the nineteenth century. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile