Josephine Tey Livres

This collection features five notable works of classic crime fiction, showcasing the talents of prominent authors in the genre. The stories delve into intricate plots, exploring themes of morality, justice, and the human psyche. Josephine Tey's "The Franchise Affair" presents a gripping narrative centered on a wrongful accusation of kidnapping, examining societal prejudices and the quest for truth. Michael Innes's "Hamlet, Revenge!" blends elements of Shakespearean drama with a modern mystery, as a detective navigates a web of intrigue surrounding a theatrical production. Margery Allingham's "The Crime at Black Dudley" introduces the character of Albert Campion, an amateur sleuth who uncovers a murder during a weekend gathering at a country estate, highlighting themes of deception and class dynamics. Edmund Crispin's "The Moving Toyshop" features the eccentric detective Gervase Fen, who investigates a puzzling crime that combines humor with intellectual challenge. Lastly, G. K. Chesterton's "The Innocence of Father Brown" introduces the titular priest-detective, whose keen insight into human nature allows him to solve various crimes, emphasizing themes of faith and morality. Each story offers a unique perspective on crime and detection, reflecting the diverse approaches within classic literature.

'You look exactly like him! You can take the dead boy's place and no one will ever know the difference. You'll be rich for life!' And so the plan was born. At first Brat Farrar fought against the idea; it was criminal, it was dangerous. But in the end he was persuaded, and a few weeks later Patrick Ashby came back from the dead and went home to inherit the family house and fortune. The Ashby family seemed happy to welcomePatrick home, but Brat soon realized that somewhere there was a time-bomb ticking away, waiting to explode . . .

In the last of Tey's Inspector Grant mysteries, her sleuth investigates a death made suspicious by a few enigmatic lines, apparently scribbled by the deceased before his demise. Grant's enquiries take him to the remote Hebrides, where the bizarre circumstances of the death begin to become clear.

Beneath the sea cliffs of the south coast, suicides are a sad but common fact. Inspector Grant has to take a more professional attitude: death by suicide, however common, has to have a motive - just like murder...

Robert Blair was about to knock off from a slow day at his law firm when the phone rang. It was Marion Sharpe on the line, a local woman of quiet disposition who lived with her mother at their decrepit country house, The Franchise. It appeared that she was in some serious trouble: Miss Sharpe and her mother were accused of brutally kidnapping a demure young woman named Betty Kane. Miss Kane's claims seemed highly unlikely, even to Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, until she described her prison -- the attic room with its cracked window, the kitchen, and the old trunks -- which sounded remarkably like The Franchise. Yet Marion Sharpe claimed the Kane girl had never been there, let alone been held captive for an entire month! Not believing Betty Kane's story, Solicitor Blair takes up the case and, in a dazzling feat of amateur detective work, solves the unbelievable mystery that stumped even Inspector Grant.

It was rumoured that Hollywood stars would go to any lengths for the privilege of being photographed by the good-looking, brilliantly talented and ultra-fashionable portrait photographer Leslie Searle. But what was such a gifted creature doing in such an English village backwater as Salcott St Mary? And why -- and how -- did he disappear? If a crime had been committed, was it murder…fraud…or simply some macabre practical joke?

A hospitalized English policeman reconstructs historical evidence concerning Richard III's role in the murder of Edward IV's two sons.

A classic murder mystery from the Golden Age of detective fiction, written by genre legend Josephine Tey. Leys Physical Training College is famous for its excellent discipline and its spectacularly athletic students. Miss Lucy Pym, expert psychologist, is pleased and flattered to be invited to lecture there - even if the Olympian splendour of the students leaves her feeling just a little inadequate. But a nasty accident spoils the occasion, and suddenly Miss Pym must turn her intellect to the unpleasant suspicion that, among all these healthy young students, there lurks an incurably sick mind...

Outside a London theatre a throng of people wait expectantly for the last performance of a popular musical. But as  the doors open at last, something spoils all thought of entertainment: a man in the queue is found murdered by the deadly thrust of a stiletto ...