A Reading Update and My Favorite Authors

Yesterday was a rainy, windy day but today has been quite nice. If it's like this tomorrow, I may go for a morning walk. Since my last update, I've completed one book. I also received a new book in the mail. I'll provide my review of the completed book, the synopsis of the next book in line and also the synopsis of the new book. I'll also get back to my ongoing look at my favorite authors. I've got about 6 left on my list.

New Book

1. Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle #1). I'm sure I read this back in my university days but I'm looking forward to reading the complete series.

"A world shared by three native humanoid races - the cavern-dwelling Gdemiar, elvish Fiia, and warrior clan, Liuar - is suddenly invaded and conquered by a fleet of ships from the stars. Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world - and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights."

Just Finished

1. The Baron and the Arrogant Artist by Anthony Morton (John Creasey) (The Baron #44). I found an episode of The Baron, starring Steve Forrest, on YouTube after I read this. Reminded me of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Saint and all those shows.

"The Baron and the Arrogant Artist is author Anthony Morton's 44th book in his The Baron mystery / adventure series. Morton, nee John Creasey, also wrote under the name JJ Marric, Gordon Ashe, Creasey, etc etc. He was a prolific writer and some of his series, including the Baron, were turned into successful TV series. The Baron books, on their own, consisted of 40+ books. 

The Baron, in reality antique dealer John Mannering, started out his career as a jewel thief, the began assisting the police, and by the time of this story, had retired as the Baron, and was enjoying life as a high end antique dealer, from his store Quinns, living a successful, wealthy life with beautiful wife, successful artist, Lorna Mannering.

A young couple show up at Mannering's store, Tom Forrester (budding artist) and girl friend Julie Clarendon. Forrester, an angry young man, feels that people like Mannering should sponsor budding artists and becomes quite obstreperous about it. Mannering agrees to go to their flat and check out Forrester's work. Before he can do it, Julie calls in a panic. It seems that Forrester has tried to hang himself and she is beside herself. Mannering goes and assists and discovers someone in their attic who tries to kill Mannering.

The story moves on from their, becoming more of a mystery. The police are looking for the Fiora jewels. Someone is trying to link Mannering with them. Are the young couple involved and, if so, how? How about their neighbors, the Pagets? Threats are made against Mannering, there is a break-in at his home, endangering Lorna. New police inspector Willison is suspicious of Mannering and wants to investigate old Baron cases. 

It's a well-crafted, interesting story as we follow Mannering once again assuming his Baron alter ego to conduct his own investigation and keep his wife safe. He is a neat character, think maybe Raffles, and his assistant, ex-police inspector and ex-nemesis Bristow, is also straight-forward and efficient. The story moves along nicely, developing and increasing tension. Not a complex story but still most entertaining. I've enjoyed Creasey's Inspector Gideon (written under JJ Marric) very much. I'm going to read more books in this series, starting from the beginning. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters (Cadfael #14). Both a favorite book series and TV series of mine.

"Brother Cadfael’s pastoral life is upended by the disappearance of a young boy and the arrival of a saintly hermit.

The year is 1142, and England is in the grip of civil war. Within the cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the upheavals of the outside world.

It starts with the sad demise of Richard Ludel, Lord of Eyton, whose ten-year-old son and heir, also named Richard, is a pupil at the abbey. The boy refuses to surrender his newly inherited powers to Dionysia, his furious, formidable grandmother. A stranger to the region is the hermit Cuthred, who enjoys the protection of Lady Dionysia, and whose young companion, Hyacinth, befriends Richard. Despite his reputation for holiness, Cuthred’s arrival heralds a series of mishaps for the monks. When a corpse is found in Eyton forest, Brother Cadfael must devote his knowledge of human nature to tracking down a ruthless murderer."

My Favorite Authors - Josephine Tey

Josephine Tey

Josephine Tey, née Elizabeth MacKintosh, was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1896 and died in London in 1952. She wrote plays under the name Gordon Daviot but I'm focused on her mystery novels. She wrote six mystery novels featuring Scotland Yard inspector Alan Grant. She also wrote two standalone mysteries. Thus far I've enjoyed 5 of these novels. Recently I discovered a mystery series by Nicola Upson which features Josephine Tey as the protagonist of a number of mysteries. I've read two so far and enjoyed them. Today I'll look at the five books I've read by Tey.

1. The Franchise Affair (Inspector Grant #3/ 1948).

"The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey is listed as the 3rd book in her Inspector Grant mystery series, but in fact, he plays only a very minor inconsequential role in this story. Josephine Tey wrote six books in this series over the course of her life. I've now read four of them. I think, though, that my favorite book of hers so far was her standalone mystery, Brat Farrar, which was an excellent story.

As I mentioned Inspector Grant makes only a couple of brief appearances in this story and is mentioned once or twice besides. The story belongs to small-town English lawyer, Robert Blair, who may be considered somewhat staid and comfortable with his life. However this will be turned upside down when he receives a call from one Marion Sharpe who lives at an estate called The Franchise (understand the title now?) with her mother. They have been accused of kidnapping a fifteen year old girl and keeping her locked up in the attic for a month, basically as a free labor force, until the girl escapes and eventually reports the two to the police.

Inspector Grant (in his main appearance) brings the girl to the estate, accompanied by the local police inspector and also Robert Blair, where the girl describes the house and shows where she was held. The rest of the story involves Robert and some friends investigating the claims and trying to prove the girl is a liar. This is something very new for Roger and he finds himself drawn to Marion and frustrated with his perceived limitations. 

It's a very interesting, different mystery. It moves along slowly as Roger tries to determine his courses of action, how to investigate, how to protect the two women from curious onlookers and more dangerous intruders. The whole process is fascinating and while resolution might seem somewhat pat, ultimately, it doesn't really matter as the journey to this solution is readable and enjoyable. The story is peopled with wonderful characters, from Roger's Aunt Lim and his cousin Nevil and the two garage men, Stanley and Bill, who help Roger and the ladies; and of course, Marion and her mother as well, both down to earth and matter of fact in the middle of this awful situation.

Entertaining mystery, great characters and story telling and satisfying resolution. (4 stars)"

2. To Love and Be Wise (Inspector Grant #4 / 1950).

"To Love and Be Wise is the 4th book in the Inspector Grant mystery series by Josephine Tey. If you enjoy Agatha Christie or Ngaio Marsh or Dorothy Sayers, you'll also enjoy this classic writer of mysteries.

Inspector Grant is a Scotland Yard inspector who has been assigned to investigate a disappearance of an American. It turns out that Grant had previously met this American when he was attending a party with his actress acquaintance, Marta Hallard. The American, photographer Leslie Searle, meets Grant and through him another acquaintance of Grant. Searle is asked to spend a weekend with the at the families estate. After a time there, Searle disappears, is presumed possibly to have drowned or been murdered and Grant is assigned to investigate.

The rest of the story is taken up with Grant's investigation. It's quite a gentle story but it is thoughtful and well-written and keeps you engrossed. Grant is a likeable, appealing character to carry the story. His investigation is tidy and intuitive and the people with whom he interacts are also quirky and interesting. I especially liked his Sgt, Williams, as he is a nice foil for Grant and he admires Grant very much. I also liked Grant's 'girlfriend', actress Marta Hallard; lovely, intelligent, sensible and someone who Grant is able to bounce his thoughts off.

All in all, I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. It was well-crafted, thoughtful and ended satisfyingly. (4 stars)"

3. A Shilling for Candles (Inspector Grant #2 / 1936).

"Beneath the sea cliffs of the south coast, suicides are a sad but common fact. Yet even the hardened coastguard knows something is wrong when a beautiful young film actress is found lying dead on the beach one morning. Inspector Grant has to take a more professional attitude: death by suicide, however common, has to have a motive - just like murder." (4 stars)

4. Brat Farrar (1949).

"I've read a few books by Josephine Tey. The others have been part of her Inspector Alan Grant Series. Brat Farrar is one of two standalone mysteries by Tey. It was also turned into a TV mini-series and a movie. 

I will readily admit that I had an inkling about part of the book when I was fairly shortly into it and this turned out to be correct. However, having said that, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book at all.

Brat Farrar, an orphan, left England at a young age and traveled through France and the US until as he neared the age of 21, he returned to England. Alex Loding sees him by chance in London and realizes that he looks remarkably like Patrick Ashby, who committed suicide as a young boy after a tragic accident which killed his parents. The Ashby's live in Westover County and run an estate that makes its money breeding horses. Simon Ashby, Patrick's younger twin stands to inherit the estate on achieving his 21st birthday. Alex Lodings' proposal is that Brat should turn up at the Ashby estate and claim the inheritance and for his efforts, Alex would receive a monthly allowance from Brat.

Brat allows himself to be persuaded and after training on Patrick's life and that of the family, he introduces himself to the family solicitors to be identified as the true heir.

I won't get into the story anymore except to say that all goes well, and Brat is welcomed into the family as the long lost prodigy. There are of course mixed feelings, especially those of Simon who now loses the inheritance.

The story is an evenly paced work of fiction as we follow Brat through his introductions and new life with the Ashbys. They are wonderful characters, especially Aunt Bea, who has run the estate while Simon, now Brat, grew to the appropriate age to take over. And also, the lovely Eleanor, oldest of the sisters, who trains horses and welcomes Brat. 

At times I wondered how this would work out, waiting patiently for some action. But, you know, it wasn't necessary. The story reminded me of watching one of those thoughtful, excellent movies on TCM, the classics, enjoying the characters and the story. Of course, Brat's taking over of the life of Patrick has consequences and it's a joy to see how everything is resolved. 

An excellent novel and enjoyable mystery, one of those little surprising gems (5 stars)"

5. The Man in the Queue (Inspector Grant #1 / 1929)

"Enjoyable classic mystery. I liked Inspector Grant, a sound police inspector but also fallible. There wasn't a lot of detail on his helpers although they did form key parts of the investigation into the murder of the man in the queue. Interesting story, nice twists and even though I thought I had figured out the guilty party, there was a nice logical twist to the story that kept me in the dark. If you like classic British crime stories, I recommend." (3 stars)

I have the last two Inspector Grant books on my shelf. The complete listing of Tey's books can be found at this link. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and next week. Take care and stay safe. 😷