An Expert in Murder: A New Mystery Featuring Josephine Tey

"In both crimes there was a terrifying lack of humanity, a mockery of the dead which chilled him (Penrose) even more than the loss of life itself."

There is an old-style elegance to this richly atmospheric mystery set in the world of the theatre during the early 1930's. Mystery writer and playwright Josephine Tey is the central character in this story of a shocking murder onboard a train. The investigation slowly reveals a tangled web of events harking back to the Great War, the complexity of which is only illuminated at the end, showing just about everyone remaining to be a victim in the tragedy.

Nicola Upson has written a beautiful and involving mystery which transcends the genre. By framing her novel around Josephine Tey, it allows her to paint a vivid picture of the period and the emotions still lingering after the Great War. You really feel like you are in Tey's era while reading this. While Tey could have become just a plot device in another author's hand, she becomes a real person, as do many of the other characters, including her romantic interest, Inspector Archie Penrose.

Tey's most successful play, which made Sir John Gieguld a star, is where danger lies. But it is on a train from Scotland to London where Josephine meets a special young woman full of life and simple charm. On her way to meet her boyfriend, Elspeth will meet evil and not live to know the reasons why. Upson paints a sweet and romantic picture of the times themselves, and Elspeth, giving her murder a poignancy which tells the reader right away that this mystery is going to be something special.

As Archie investigates and Josephine mingles, every character is fleshed out in a way we used to see during Tey's era of great mystery writers. Josephine takes a back seat during the middle portion of the book as we are treated to lovers and sickness and old wounds and bitterness, all creating an intricate mystery which has the reader wondering how any of this touched the far removed adopted girl who closed her eyes for the last time onboard a train to London. But then a second particularly vile murder much closer to Josephine's play takes place.

Archie and Josephine begin to untangle the ties which led to the murders from different angles in the last portion of the mystery. There is an exciting rush to reach the end for the reader, by now aching to discover the entire twisting series of events that began in a tunnel during the war and ended tragically on a train bound for London. There is a tenderness to the conclusion, showing the anguish and aftermath of the Great War and the many lives it took, some in ways unexpected and far reaching. Archie and Josephine's relationship does not go untouched by events either, giving the reader a thirst for more.

This is a fine, atmospheric mystery with much to offer those who enjoy a good novel which just happens to be a great mystery as well. Highly recommended!

This review is of an Advanced Reader Copy, and originally appeared at [...]

This murder mystery, the first in a new series, features London settings, the West End and the stage, an excellent historical period (England between WWI and WWII). What more could you ask for? Well, for one, a plot where you cannot guess "whodunit", which is the main reason I do not read very many mysteries. But Ms. Upson does herself proud: the plot is intricate and well thought out, the characters engaging and flawed, and the scenery described in detail but not boringly or intricately so.

Josephine Tey has authored the hottest play in London and takes the train from Scotland to see the plays closing and visit with friends. She meets a female fan on the plane but shortly after their arrival in London, that fan is murdered on the train (a murder on a train in a mystery?). The murderer dresses up the scene of the crime to indicate the act had something to do with Josephine's play, and a second murder the next day occurs directly connected to the play. Josephine's friend Inspector Archie Penrose leads the investigation, which begins to point to the actors and others associated with The New Theater in London.

Obviously to give away more would spoil the surprises, but the novel is populated with great characters:

* Lydia, the leading lady of the play, who has a new female lover named Marta and is being told she is aging toward the end of her starring roles;
* Aubrey, owner of The New Theater, wealthy, producer of the play, maker of careers, veteran of World War I as a tunneler, and carrying claustrophobia and a desire for vengeance from an occurence in the war; Ms. Upson's descriptions give excellent background here (from page 50 of the ARC):
"Today, as usual, he rejected the convenient option of a ten-minute journey to work courtest of the city's underground railway and set off on foot. The peculiar atmosphere evoked by London's tunnels was not for him, and he never failed to wonder at the willingness with which people now accepted darkness and confinement as a naturla part of their day-to-day existence. For Aubrey, the lingerings, acrid smell of those subterranean passageways brought back ghosts from a past he tried in vain to forget. Too old at forty-five to take part in the trench war but with a distinguished military record behind him, he had spent those terrible years as a tunneler in the guts of the French earth and had no wish to return to its horrors in his waking hours as well as in his nightmares."
* Fallowfield, Inspector Penrose' sergeant.

The historical setting and it's descriptions reminds me of Pat Barker's Regeneration series; though it is set in a slightly earlier timeframe, the depiction of those who experienced and/or were affected by WWI is key to that time period and this story.

Enjoyable, well-paced and I look forward to the next in the series.

Choosing Josephine Tey to 'star' in a mystery series is a bold move. How can anyone match her? My expectations were unrealistic & Nicola Upson's novel is crowded with so many other characters that perhaps too many pages are necessitated? Detective novels often present history that is colored more by one's wishes than truth it seems to me.

'Setting the stage' is what a writer of plays does. For me, the neighborhoods & countryside of Britain can never be described too often, whereas my imagination filled in much of what was not spelled out about D.I. Archie Penrose, for example. Having read & reread Tey's stories for decades, I could infuse her character as a reluctantly successful playwright with depth & personality drawn from characters who peopled each of her books (particularly my favorites: "Daughter of Time," "Brat Farrar" and "The Franchise Affair").

Sometimes persons wanting to post opinions on amazon.com seem to gallop to cross the finish line & either skim the book or make careless errors. To mix fact with fiction can be 'tricky' but author Upson has probably filled notebooks with possibilities for future mysteries without expecting all to hit home with every reader?

Good luck to the author and cheers to all who bring homage to Tey, a great writer. If new, younger readers are set on the path of "discovering" Josephine Tey's books, extra thanks. Let Nicola Upson nudge all of us toward rereading the incomparable Tey!

When I read reviews of this book, I couldn't wait to read it. Maybe that is why I didn't find it lived up to my expectations. I found this book slow and the characters unlikeable.

I just couldn't get into this book. I thought when I ordered it it was written by Josephine Tey but it isn't. Josephine Tey is a character in the book.
Josephine Tey is actually a writer who has written many mysteries.

An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson

3.5 stars (round down to 3)

It is 1934, author/playwright, Josephine Tey is travelling to London to see the final West End performance of her play Richard of Bordeaux. She finds herself in a first class compartment with an engaging young woman who is also a devoted fan of the theater. The young woman has only the train journey to make an impression on Miss Tey and the readers. She is soon to become the first murder victim in Nicola Upson's mystery series, featuring a fictional version of the writer Josephine Tey.
I was captured immediately by the atmosphere of this book. I loved Upson's descriptions and the theatrical setting where most of the action took place. Unfortunately, the plot left much to be desired. From the very first meeting with the victim, the action was too contrived. There was an interesting, but much too convoluted, back story which ties the war crimes and traumas of multiple characters to the murders. As individuals the characters are well drawn and appealing, but there was far too much coincidence in the relationships between the characters. The whole story seemed artificial. I wonder if the use of a real person in a completely fictional story has something to do with the affected nature of the plot.

If there were half-star ratings, this book would immediately bump upward to a 3.5. A really good introduction to a new series. And I had my misgivings going in. I had never read an historical mystery where the main character was based on an actual person. Ms. Upson makes it work. I also really liked Archie Penrose, a nice compliment to Josephine.

A nice complex mystery to solve as well. A great many suspects to choose from, all with logical motive and means. I also feel Upson beautifully captures the time period between the wars and how the first world war affected a whole generation.

My main problem with the book. Upson has a habit of shifting POV in mid-scene which distracts away from the story and is confusing at times. I don't like having to reread a sentence or paragraph two or three times to figure out who's speaking/thinking. I've encountered this no-no with other authors as well (Anne Perry immediately comes to mind). Is it a rule British authors don't adhere to?

SPOILER AHEAD:
Immediately upon being introduced to Marta Fox, I sensed something off about her. Not surprised at all she was involved in the murders somehow, though the connection was definitely a surprise.

Overall, a good first book in the series and I will definitely read the second.