Josephine Tey Popular Books
Josephine Tey Biography & Facts
Elizabeth MacKintosh (25 July 1896 – 13 February 1952), known by the pen name Josephine Tey, was a Scottish author. Her novel The Daughter of Time, a detective work investigating the death of the Princes in the Tower, was chosen by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990 as the greatest crime novel of all time. Her first play Richard of Bordeaux, written under another pseudonym, Gordon Daviot, starred John Gielgud in its successful West End run. Life and work MacKintosh was born in Inverness, the oldest of three daughters of Colin MacKintosh, a fruiterer, and Josephine (née Horne). She attended Inverness Royal Academy and then, in 1914, Anstey Physical Training College in Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham. She taught physical training at various schools in England and Scotland and during her vacations worked at a convalescent home in Inverness as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. A youthful romance ended with her soldier friend's death in the Somme battles. In 1923, she returned to Inverness permanently to care for her invalid mother, and stayed after her mother's death that year to keep house for her father. The curriculum for "physical training" included much more than athletics. Tey used her school experience in Miss Pym Disposes when describing the subjects taught at the school, and the types of bruises and other injuries sustained by the pupils. When she graduated, Tey worked in a physiotherapy clinic in Leeds, then taught in schools, first in Nottinghamshire, then in Oban, where she was injured when a boom in the gymnasium fell on her face. Tey repurposed this incident as a method of murder in Miss Pym Disposes. While caring for her father she began her career as a writer. Her first published work was in The Westminster Gazette in 1925, under the name Gordon Daviot. She continued publishing verse and short stories in The Westminster Review, The Glasgow Herald and the Literary Review. Her first novel, Kif: An Unvarnished History, was well received at the time with good reviews, a sale to America, and a mention in The Observer's list of Books of the Week. This work, inspired by a detachment of the 4th Cameron Highlanders, a Scottish Territorial battalion stationed at Inverness before the First World War and prominent in the city's affairs, was an early indication of Tey's lasting interest in military matters. Three months later, her first mystery novel, The Man in the Queue, was published by Benn, Methuen. It was awarded the Dutton Mystery Prize when published in America. This is the first appearance of her detective, Inspector Alan Grant. It would be some years before she wrote another mystery. MacKintosh's real ambition had been to write a play which would receive a run in London's West End. Her play Richard of Bordeaux was produced in 1932 at the Arts Theatre, under the Daviot pseudonym. Its success was such that it transferred to the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) in 1933, for a year-long run. The production made a household name of its young leading man and director, John Gielgud (who became MacKintosh's life-long friend). (Tey writes of Inspector Alan Grant that "he had in his youth seen Richard of Bordeaux; four times he had seen it".) She stated she was inspired by Gielgud's performance in Hamlet and by the Royal Tournament. Two more of her plays were produced at the New Theatre, The Laughing Woman (1934) and Queen of Scots (1934, written in collaboration with Gielgud). She wrote about a dozen one-act plays and another dozen full-length plays, many with biblical or historical themes, under the name of Gordon Daviot but none of these received notable success. How she chose the name of Gordon is unknown, but Daviot was the name of a scenic locale near Inverness where she had spent many happy holidays with her family. Only four of her plays were produced during her lifetime. Her only non-fiction book, Claverhouse, was written as a vindication of John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, whom she regarded as a libeled hero: "It is strange that a man whose life was so simple in pattern and so forthright in spirit should have become a peg for every legend, bloody or brave, that belonged to his time." MacKintosh's best-known books were written under the name of Josephine Tey, which was the name of her Suffolk great-great grandmother. In five of the mystery novels, all of which except the first she wrote under the name of Tey, the hero is Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. (Grant appears in a sixth, The Franchise Affair, as a minor character.) The best known of these is The Daughter of Time, in which Grant, laid up in hospital, has friends research reference books and contemporary documents so that he can puzzle out the mystery of whether King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the Princes in the Tower. The Franchise Affair also has an historical context: although set in the 1940s, it is based on the 18th-century case of Elizabeth Canning. The Daughter of Time was the last of Tey's books published during her lifetime. Her last work, a further crime novel, The Singing Sands, was found in her papers and published posthumously. Death Tey was intensely private, shunning all publicity throughout her life. During her last year, when she knew that she was terminally ill, she resolutely avoided all her friends as well. Her ultimate work, The Privateer (1952), was a romantic novel based on the life of the privateer Henry Morgan. She died of liver cancer at her sister Mary's home in London on 13 February 1952. Most of her friends, including Gielgud, were unaware that she was even ill. Her obituary in The Times appeared under her real name: "Miss E. Mackintosh Author of 'Richard of Bordeaux'". Proceeds from Tey's estate, including royalties from her books, were assigned to the National Trust. Reception and legacy In 1990, The Daughter of Time was selected by the Crime Writers' Association as the greatest crime novel of all time; The Franchise Affair was 11th on the same list of 100 books. In 2015, Val McDermid argued that Tey "cracked open the door" for later writers such as Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell to explore the darker side of humanity, creating a bridge between the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and contemporary crime novels, because "Tey opened up the possibility of unconventional secrets. Homosexual desire, cross-dressing, sexual perversion – they were all hinted at, glimpsed in the shadows as a door closed or a curtain twitched. Tey was never vulgar nor titillating.... Nevertheless, her world revealed a different set of psychological motivations." In 2019, Evie Jeffrey discussed Tey's engagement with capital punishment debates in A Shilling for Candles and To Love and Be Wise. Publications Novels Inspector Alan Grant novels All as Josephine Tey except where specified The Man in the Queue (also published as Killer in the Crowd) (1929) [as Gordon Daviot]. Serialised, Dundee Evening Telegraph, 12 August to 24 September 1930. A Shill.... Discover the Josephine Tey popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Josephine Tey books.
Best Seller Josephine Tey Books of 2024
-
An Expert in Murder
Nicola UpsonMarch 1934. Revered mystery writer Josephine Tey is traveling from Scotland to London for the final week of her play Richard of Bordeaux, the surprise hit of the season, with pacif...
-
Dreaming Spires
Juliet HastingsYoung academic Catherine de la Tour is not content. Her lover James is a thousand miles away and she needs to get a grip on her work, her man and her life. When she accepts a post ...
-
Booked for Death
Victoria GilbertCritically acclaimed author Victoria Gilbert introduces an exciting new cozy mystery series full of bookish and Southern charmperfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Juliet Blackwell...
-
Sorry for the Dead
Nicola UpsonAt once a compelling murder mystery and a moving exploration of love and grief, critically acclaimed author Nicola Upson's eighth Josephine Tey mystery is a force to be reckoned wi...
-
The Secrets of Winter
Nicola UpsonA snowy Christmas gathering on an island off the Cornish coast goes murderously wrong in this festive Golden Age mystery.December 1938, and storm clouds hover once again over Europ...
-
The Patriarch
Martin WalkerAnother delightful installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno: Bruno Courrèges is thrilled when he receives an invita...
-
Two for Sorrow
Nicola Upson“A new and assured talent….Nicola Upson is to be congratulated.”P.D. JamesAuthor Nicola Upson brings legendary mystery writer Josephine Tey back for a third investigation in Two fo...
-
Clouds of Witness
Dorothy L. SayersThe second book in Dorothy L Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series introduced by crime novelist Ruth Dudley Edwards a mustread for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham...
-
Unnatural Death
Dorothy L. SayersThe third book in Dorothy L Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey series, introduced by crime writer Minette Walters a mustread for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Alling...
-
The Seventh Son
Reay TannahillA superb historical novel about Richard III, the notorious hunchback king whose burial site was recently uncovered, which will appeal to fans of Josephine Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIM...
-
Fear in the Sunlight
Nicola UpsonNicola Upson blends biography and fiction, excitement and menace, and a touch of Alfred Hitchcock in Fear in the Sunlight, a mystery starring reallife writer Josephine Tey.Summer, ...
-
Cream Of The Crop
Savannah SmytheAspiring artist Carla Vicenzi has caught the eye of Alex Crewe, a serial seducer who owns an exclusive retreat where artists hone their craft. Alex wants a highprofile exhibition, ...
-
Angel with Two Faces
Nicola Upson“As befits a tribute to the golden age of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers et. al., there are plot twists, plot turns and red herrings aplenty.”Time Out LondonReallife British my...
-
The Sweet Remnants of Summer
Alexander McCall SmithThe latest Isabel Dalhousie novel finds our favorite moral philosopher is caught up in a delicate dispute between members of a prominent family as her husband, Jamie, is dragged in...
-
La hija del tiempo
Josephine TeyPostrado en una cama de hospital, el inspector Alan Grant se aburre mortalmente. Ni las anémonas de la señora Tinker, su ama de llaves, ni el ruibarbo estofado de la enfermera Darr...
-
Nine Lessons
Nicola UpsonMystery author Josephine Tey once again becomes embroiled in a reallife investigation in this “terrific . . . elegant” historical British mystery set in 1930s England (San Francisc...
-
London Rain
Nicola UpsonIntrepid writer and amateur sleuth Josephine Tey returns in this sixth installment of Nicola Upson’s popular seriesperfect for fans of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Jaquelin...
-
The Tattoo Thief
Alison Belsham'Creepy and compulsive, this is Belsham's first excursion into crime and it announces the arrival of a fine new voice' Daily MailA policeman on his first murder caseA tattoo artist...
-
To Love and Be Wise
Josephine TeyA witty and sophisticated mystery featuring bestselling author Josephine Tey’s popular Inspector Alan Grant, a beloved character created by a woman considered to be one of the grea...
-
The Mousetrap
Agatha Christie'Even more thrilling than the plot is the atmosphere of shuddering suspense . . . No one brews it better than Agatha Christie' Daily ExpressFor more than 70 years, Agatha Christie'...
-
Dorf unter Verdacht
Anna-Christin Kramer & Nicola UpsonDer Schatten des aufziehenden Zweiten Weltkriegs reicht bis in ein idyllisches Dorf in der britischen Provinz, wo Josephine Tey mit ihrer Freundin Marta Zeugin eines weiteren Krimi...
-
Josephine Tey
Jennifer Morag HendersonJosephine Tey was the penname of Elizabeth MacKintosh (18961952). Born in Inverness, MacKintosh lived several lives: Best known as Golden Age Crime Fiction writer Tey, she was also...
-
Experte in Sachen Mord
Verena Kilchling & Nicola UpsonEin Mord, der das flirrende Theatermilieu des Londoner West Ends gewaltig aufwirbelt. Im Auge des Orkans: die gefeierte Autorin Josephine Tey. Gemeinsam mit ihrem alten Freund Dete...
-
Las arenas cantarinas
Josephine TeyDe baja por fatiga mental, nuestro elegante inspector Alan Grant, de Scotland Yard, viaja rumbo a Escocia para disfrutar de unas fugaces vacaciones en la granja de su prima Laura. ...
-
Root of the Tudor Rose
Mari Griffith1421: Henry V and his young bride, Catherine de Valois, are blessed with the birth of a son but their happiness is shortlived. Catherine is widowed and when her father, the French...
-
Shot With Crimson
Nicola UpsonViolence finds its way to old Hollywood in the eleventh Josephine Tey mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.September 1939, and the worries of war follow...
-
Mit dem Schnee kommt der Tod
Nicola UpsonEine Legende des British Crime wird zur Hauptfigur Auf der kleinen Insel St Michael’s Mount verbringen Krimiautorin Josephine Tey und Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose in il...
-
Josephine Tey Inspector Alan Grant Series Complete
Josephine TeyJosephine Tey Inspector Alan Grant Series Complete: Inspector Alan Grant 1 The Man in the Queue. Inspector Alan Grant 2 A Shilling for Candles. Inspector Alan Grant 3 T...
-
The Singing Sands
Josephine TeyBestselling author Josephine Tey’s classic final mystery featuring her bestloved character, Inspector Alan Grant, filled with “all the Tey magic and delight” and now featuring a ne...
-
The Daughter of Time
Josephine Tey"One of the best mysteries of all time" (The New York Times)Josephine Tey recreates one of history’s most famousand viciouscrimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for ...
-
Dear Little Corpses
Nicola UpsonIt takes a village to bury a child...September 1st, 1939. As the mass evacuation takes place across Britain, thousands of children leave London for the countryside, but when a litt...
-
The Death of Lucy Kyte
Nicola UpsonIn this atmospheric, intriguing historical mystery brimming with psychological tension, an unexpected inheritance plunges beloved British mystery author Josephine Tey into a distur...