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megmcardle 's review for:
The Franchise Affair
by Josephine Tey
For a classic mystery of the "golden age" of mysteries, read The Franchise Affair, by Josephine Tey. I have tried her before, and loved the truly amazing Daughter of Time. Actually, the detective of that book makes a couple of brief appearances in The Franchise Affair but this is not a police procedural. The crime that occurs in this novel (the "affair") is that a young woman, Betty Kane, accuses two women of holding her hostage for days and making her work in their home, known as The Franchise. Pretty tame stuff. But this is a small English village, and the local authorities think this is a very big deal, and want to arrest the two women. This is where our hero comes in. Robert Blair is the local lawyer, and the younger woman comes to him for help. Skeptical at first, Robert eventually becomes firmly involved in their defense. So the mystery that he must solve is what really happened to Betty Kane. Somehow Betty had a wealth of details about the Franchise, and a big issue for Robert is to discover how she could know so many thing about a place she had never been. Its not a fast-paced story, but one where the relationships build and the clues build until the very satisfying resolution. It is also an interesting and relevant critique of how the media can affect the pursuit of justice, as the local tabloids swing popular opinion about the case. Appealing characters and careful plotting make for a lovely quiet afternoon read.