Reading in Reykjavík

I must admit up front that I have a soft spot for Josephine Tey, so you may expect some prejudice in the review ;-) Year of publication: 1949 Genre: Mystery Type of mystery: Kidnapping Type of investigator: Lawyer Setting & time: England, contemporary A teenage girl accuses two women of having kidnapped her and held her against her will for a month. The case seems to be solid, but solicitor Robert Blair, retained by the accused to speak for them, is convinced of the innocence of his clients and sets out to prove it. This is the second Tey novel I read that effectively breaks one of S.S. Van Dine's detective story writing rules , and I admire her for making it so readable, because it is rule no. 7 that is broken: There shall be but one crime, and that crime is murder (my rephrasing). It is difficult to sustain reader interest in a mystery without a corpse for nearly 300 pages, but Tey not only pulls it off, she does it so well that I could hardly put the book down. It is w...

A belated Merry Christmas! I apologise for the long break, but I have been working on a translation and have had neither time nor inclination to write reviews. Series detective: Inspector Grant No. in series: 4 Year of publication: 1950 Type of mystery: Missing person, possible homicide Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Rural England, 1950s Some themes: ...there was never proud man thought so absurdly well of himself as the lover doth of the person loved; and therefore it was well said, that it is impossible to love, and to be wise. Francis Bacon (1561-1626), "On Love" I thought it suitable to give the relevant full quote from which the book's title is derived, as it has a bearing on the story told in the book. Said story is a delicious detective tale that knowingly and effectively breaks one of Van Dine's principal rules of detective fiction, but since it would give away too much to reveal which one, I will leave it to you to find out. I will say...

Author: Josephine Tey Series detective: Inspector Alan Grant No. in series: 5 of 6 Year of publication: 1951 Type of mystery: Murder, historical Type of investigator: Professional, aided by an amateur Setting & time: A hospital in England, 1950's Some themes: History, regicide Story: Inspector Grant is lying in bed, recovering from a broken leg and other injuries sustained while trying to capture a criminal. He suffers from boredom until an old friend suggests he try working out some unsolved murder. A portrait of Richard III and people’s comment that the picture looks more like the image of a victim or a judge than a cold-blooded killer gives him interest in trying to discover the true events behind the mystery of the princes in the Tower , possibly the most notorious regicide in the history of England. He needs someone to do research for him, and with the help of a friend he enlists the aid of a young historian who starts ploughing through old documents in search of ...