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dmturner's review
2.5
It was mysterious and thrilling when I read it decades ago but it is terribly dated now.
katieinca's review
5.0
My favorite Inspector Grant yet. Different from the first two in that he's hardly in it for the first half - it's one of those mysteries where you meet all the characters before the ... incident to be investigated occurs.
Totally didn't see the solution coming, and it was a brilliant one. Can't say more, but highly recommend.
Totally didn't see the solution coming, and it was a brilliant one. Can't say more, but highly recommend.
lara_arda's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
graff_fuller's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It has been a LONG time since I've read a Detective-Inspector Alan Grant story. I hadn't realized how much I've missed them.
I picked To Love and Be Wise up, for palette cleanser from the Science Fiction and Fantasy that I've be reading alternately.
Ran into a difficulty with TheStoryGraph...and needed to shake things up a bit...so this story did the trick.
Also, I love how DI Grant thinks. He actually reminds me of Robert Galbraith's titular character Comoran Strike (in a sense...they are actually VERY different, but for the reader...they do the same thing). Obviously, he's brilliant, but the way he makes the reader feel...in the way that he searches for clues and then reveals them. It may just be a ME thing, but I get the same feeling reading one of Tey's mysteries...as I do Galbraith's.
Also, the reveal...seems MORE relevant for today's audience, versus the audience of the day that it was published.
There are only three more of her novels that I haven't read. Which makes me happy AND sad, at the same time.
I picked To Love and Be Wise up, for palette cleanser from the Science Fiction and Fantasy that I've be reading alternately.
Ran into a difficulty with TheStoryGraph...and needed to shake things up a bit...so this story did the trick.
Also, I love how DI Grant thinks. He actually reminds me of Robert Galbraith's titular character Comoran Strike (in a sense...they are actually VERY different, but for the reader...they do the same thing). Obviously, he's brilliant, but the way he makes the reader feel...in the way that he searches for clues and then reveals them. It may just be a ME thing, but I get the same feeling reading one of Tey's mysteries...as I do Galbraith's.
Also, the reveal...seems MORE relevant for today's audience, versus the audience of the day that it was published.
There are only three more of her novels that I haven't read. Which makes me happy AND sad, at the same time.
tessyoung's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
melissa_who_reads's review
4.0
Tey's mysteries always have a twist - a subversion of the norm, and this one is no different.
Inspector Grant is called in to investigate the disappearance of a young photographer, who walked out of a bar and was never seen again. Murder? Suicide? Kidnapping? Grant investigates, with a prime source being his sometime date, the actress Marta Holland. The photographer had been staying at the country home of a wealthy romance writer, Lavinia Fitch, her sister, her sister's daughter, and a nephew who is also a famous radio commentator. The young photographer had ruffled the waves in the relatively harmonious household - all while being a perfectly polite and amiable guest. Does a motive lie there? Or in the photographer's American past?
Good plotting, well-written, a good read.
Inspector Grant is called in to investigate the disappearance of a young photographer, who walked out of a bar and was never seen again. Murder? Suicide? Kidnapping? Grant investigates, with a prime source being his sometime date, the actress Marta Holland. The photographer had been staying at the country home of a wealthy romance writer, Lavinia Fitch, her sister, her sister's daughter, and a nephew who is also a famous radio commentator. The young photographer had ruffled the waves in the relatively harmonious household - all while being a perfectly polite and amiable guest. Does a motive lie there? Or in the photographer's American past?
Good plotting, well-written, a good read.
svnsn's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rosieclaverton's review
4.0
Yeah, this is how you write a crime novel around a trans character. Around queer people in general. Particularly striking for the time period.
ennejournal's review against another edition
4.0
Este libro tiene varias cosas maravillosas, entre ellas, que Josephine es una autora escocesa (vivió hasta mediados del siglo XX). Tiene una prosa impecable y cautivadora que nos invita a conocer el pueblito de Salcott St. Mary acompañando al inspector Alan Grant a resolver la misteriosa desaparición de Leslie Searle. Es una novela ligera y entretenida, con personajes encantadores que te hacen disfrutar de la campiña inglesa casi como si pudieras recorrerla a través de la fascinante narración de Tey. Por mencionar algo que no consiguió fascinarme como el resto de la novela, el giro final (totalmente inesperado para mí). Igualmente me ha encantado y ya tengo en mis estantería esperándome otra de las novelas de Tey.