If you liked… The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey
In the second of this series, we showcase an all-time classic crime novel, and suggest some titles from the Bookdagger publishers that hit the same spot. This month, it’s Josephine Tey’s historical crime classic The Daughter of Time, published in 1951.
Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world’s most heinous villains – a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother’s children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England’s throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Princes in the Tower.
The Twisted Heart, by Rebecca Gowers
When Kit goes to a dance class she is hoping simply to take her mind off her studies. Soon it looks like Joe, a stranger she meets there, might do more than that. But when Kit uncovers a mystery involving the young Charles Dickens and the slaughter of a prostitute known as The Countess, she is sucked back in to the world of books, and discovers how Dickens became tangled up with this horrendous crime.
The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory
The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.
The White Queen tells the story of a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family, a woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores the most famous unsolved mystery, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.
The Rossetti Letter, by Christi Phillips
In seventeenth century Venice, Alessandra Rossetti, a courtesan, becomes entangled in a dangerous political intrigue that threatens to destroy the Venetian Republic. She alone has the power to reveal a Spanish plot. But to do so would threaten the life of the one she loves.
Centuries later, postgraduate student Claire Donovan is writing her dissertation on the young courtesan. She has discovered that Alessandra wrote a secret letter to the Venetian Council exposing the Spanish conspiracy. But until now, no one knows how Alessandra learned of the plot, or what happened to her once it was revealed. Claire hopes that she will uncover the secrets of the young courtesan’s life within the heart of Venice’s ancient libraries and prove Alessandra deserves her place in history.
But upon arrival in Venice, Claire learns that Cambridge professor Andrew Kent is to present a paper on The Spanish Conspiracy, asserting that Alessandra was a co-conspirator of the Spanish. If he can prove his theory, all of Claire’s work – and her academic career – will be ruined. She knows she must discover the facts of Alessandra’s role in order to save her own future. And as she races to find the truth, the boundless beauty and romance of the old city will also bring the passion back into Claire’s own life.
The Blackest Bird, by Joel Rose
Sweltering New York City, summer of 1841, the beautiful ‘Segar Girl’ Mary Rogers is brutally murdered. Popular amongst the journalistic and publishing elite, the task of finding her killer falls to High Constable Jacob Hays. At the end of a long and distinguished career Old Hays’s investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars, grave robbing, and clues hidden in the poems of the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night, Edgar Allan Poe. Superbly researched and compellingly readable, The Blackest Bird is both a richly textured and atmospheric portrait of the birth of New York, a city raging with bloodshed and duplicity, and a thrilling murder mystery.
An Expert in Murder, by Nicola Upson
An Expert in Murder is the first in a brilliant and original new series which features crime writer Josephine Tey as its lead character.
It is March 1934, and Josephine is travelling from Scotland to London for the final week of her celebrated play Richard of Bordeaux – but joy turns to horror when her arrival coincides with murder.
Detective Inspector Archie Penrose is convinced that the killing is connected to the play. Richard of Bordeaux has been the surprise hit of the season, with pacifist themes which strike a chord in a world still haunted by war, but now it seems that Josephine could become the victim of her own success, as her reputation – and even her life – are put at risk.
A second murder confirms Penrose’s suspicions that somewhere among this flamboyant theatre set is a ruthless and spiteful killer. As his investigations lead him from the romance of the West End to the stark reality of the trenches, he and Josephine must confront their own ghosts in a search for someone who will stop at nothing to right the wrongs of a past generation.
Cleverly blending elements of the Golden Age author’s real life with a fictional murder mystery, An Expert in Murder is both a tribute to one of the most enduringly popular writers of crime and a richly atmospheric detective novel in its own right.
Angel With Two Faces, by Nicola Upson
Summer, 1935. Inspector Archie Penrose has invited Josephine Tey to his family home in Cornwall, a struggling but beautiful country estate on a magnificent stretch of coastline. Still haunted by the dark events of the year before – depicted in An Expert in Murder – and disillusioned with the London stage, Josephine is ready to begin work on her second mystery novel and finds much to inspire her in the landscape and its legends – in particular, a lake on the estate which is said to claim a life every seven years, and the nearby Minack Theatre, an open-air auditorium which overlooks the sea.
But death clouds the holiday from the outset: Josephine’s arrival coincides with the funeral of a young estate worker, killed in a mysterious riding accident, and another local boy disappears shortly afterwards. When the Minack proves to be a stage for real-life tragedy and an audacious murder, Archie’s loyalties are divided between his friends and his job. He and Josephine must confront the violent reality which lies beneath a seemingly idyllic community – a community with one face turned towards the present, and another looking back to the crimes of the past.
Two For Sorrow, by Nicola Upson
London, 1903. Two women are hanged in Holloway Prison for killing babies. More than thirty years later, their crimes resurface with shocking consequences… When Josephine Tey sets out to write a novel about Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, the notorious Finchley baby farmers, she can have little idea that the research for her book will be needed to help solve a modern-day killing – the sadistic murder of a young seamstress, found dead in the Motley sisters’ studio, amid preparations for a star-studded charity gala. The girl’s death seems to be the result of a long-standing domestic feud, but Josephine’s friend, Inspector Archie Penrose, is unconvinced; and when a second young woman is involved in an horrific accident soon afterwards, the search begins for a vicious killer who will stop at nothing to keep the past where it belongs. Moving between the decadence and glamour of a private women’s club, the bleak surroundings of Holloway prison, and the deprivation of London’s slums, Two for Sorrow is a dark and unsettling exploration of the way in which the crimes of the past destroy those left behind – long after justice is done.
