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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Much of this book seemed very familiar to me and I wonder if I might have read it in my teenagerhood. I know there's a similar Morse story where he's confined to hospital and solves an old mystery; maybe that's what I'm remembering?
Anyhow, this is good fun and a well-written mystery. The genealogical charts provided to help you keep track of the characters are not especially well done, so I had to get out Fraser's history of the kings&queens of England to help me sort it out.
Anyhow, this is good fun and a well-written mystery. The genealogical charts provided to help you keep track of the characters are not especially well done, so I had to get out Fraser's history of the kings&queens of England to help me sort it out.
My third read of this wonderful Josephine Tey mystery. I have to admit, if you are not a little bit of a history (English monarchy history at that) geek then this may not be your cup of tea. However, the characters in this book from the 1950's holds up as well as any Agatha Christie mystery. Having been housebound during this pandemic I could really sympathize with the protagonist, Alan Grant, a Scotland Yard investigator, stuck in hospital after a injury incurred in the line of duty, staring at the ceiling of his room just begging for something to challenge his mind. The story this read gave me a new insight into why a mystery is a great way to exercise your mental muscles and how even if a story is old there is always a new way to appreciate facts.
Super entretenido !!! Este libro se devora. Ha sido muy jugoso
4.5 stars
It is official. I need more Inspector Alan Grant in my life.
Even bored out of gourd and flat on his back, Grant makes for an entertaining read. Because that is exactly what he is doing this entire novel--stuck on a hospital bed with a spine injury before the story even begins. He is ready to go mad with boredom before his friend brings him historical portraits to look at, including Richard III, famous killer of the princes in the tower. The only problem is that Grant knows faces and he's disturbed by the fact that the infamous Richard does not appear...infamous. So while convalescing, he sets out to solve the mystery of the princes in the tower.
It doesn't sound very exciting but somehow it is. The story makes history come alive. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn this was a Sonlight book. Just reading it made me itch to force poor, unsuspecting high schoolers to read it and write their own "versions." Besides all the British history, you get a great glimpse of academic research and the use of primary sources. Which also, in retrospect, does not sound super exciting, but it is!
Somehow this story which centers on a mystery well over 400 years old comes across puzzling and fun. It drags a little bit bit by the end (and some 'mysteries' are not actually that mysterious but get puzzled out for several chapters anyway, like why Henry II would want to legitimize the children of Edward IV) but somehow it is all worth it.
I can't explain it but I definitely enjoyed it.
It is official. I need more Inspector Alan Grant in my life.
Even bored out of gourd and flat on his back, Grant makes for an entertaining read. Because that is exactly what he is doing this entire novel--stuck on a hospital bed with a spine injury before the story even begins. He is ready to go mad with boredom before his friend brings him historical portraits to look at, including Richard III, famous killer of the princes in the tower. The only problem is that Grant knows faces and he's disturbed by the fact that the infamous Richard does not appear...infamous. So while convalescing, he sets out to solve the mystery of the princes in the tower.
It doesn't sound very exciting but somehow it is. The story makes history come alive. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn this was a Sonlight book. Just reading it made me itch to force poor, unsuspecting high schoolers to read it and write their own "versions." Besides all the British history, you get a great glimpse of academic research and the use of primary sources. Which also, in retrospect, does not sound super exciting, but it is!
Somehow this story which centers on a mystery well over 400 years old comes across puzzling and fun. It drags a little bit bit by the end (and some 'mysteries' are not actually that mysterious but get puzzled out for several chapters anyway, like why Henry II would want to legitimize the children of Edward IV) but somehow it is all worth it.
I can't explain it but I definitely enjoyed it.
This was a fun, quick little read. Josephine Tey was one of the Queens of Crime, but this book is a departure from the traditional whodunit. It focuses on a mystery from the past, and involves the cleaver plot device of a Scotland Yard detective using his detecting skills to investigate what really happened to the two York princes that Richard was said to have murdered. I might have found this book more entertaining if I wasn't already quite familiar with Richard III and the revelations were more surprising. I read Shakespeare's Richard III in 2020, and, since I'm a huge fan of the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors, I read more about Richard. I can see that when this book was written it could have caused quite a stir. It challenged much of what the world thought they knew about Richard. Of more contemporary interest to me was the idea of Tonypandy--the euphemism used in the book for history that has persisted over time that is completely untrue. This book is asking the question if those in power, or those who have prevailed, get to write the history, can you really trust the history? I think it's clear that in Richard's case the answer is no. I also think we have plenty of reason to believe that the same answer still applies today. Very enjoyable. I would recommend to anyone!
I do not say this lightly but this my be may favourite book of 2021.
Why are more people not directed to read Tey after Christie?
I accidentally missed two of the series, so I will need to back track but I feel like this book came to me because it was just what I needed.
This hit every idea I love when discussing the problematic aspects around history and although it is a bit blind to the dangers of the colonial practices, it does resonate with me when reflecting on just how incredibly twisted the knowledge we teach the next generation is.
Why are more people not directed to read Tey after Christie?
I accidentally missed two of the series, so I will need to back track but I feel like this book came to me because it was just what I needed.
This hit every idea I love when discussing the problematic aspects around history and although it is a bit blind to the dangers of the colonial practices, it does resonate with me when reflecting on just how incredibly twisted the knowledge we teach the next generation is.
