Two for Sorrow
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
London, 1903. Two women are hanged in Holloway Prison for killing babies. More than thirty years later, their crimes resurface with shocking consequences...
When Josephine Tey sets out to write a novel about Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, the notorious Finchley baby farmers, she can have little idea that the research for her book will be needed to help solve a modern-day killing - the sadistic murder of a young seamstress, found dead in the Motley sisters' studio, amid preparations for a star-studded charity gala.
The girl's death seems to be the result of a long-standing domestic feud, but Josephine's friend, Inspector Archie Penrose, is unconvinced; and when a second young woman is involved in an horrific accident soon afterwards, the search begins for a vicious killer who will stop at nothing to keep the past where it belongs.
Moving between the decadence and glamour of a private women's club, the bleak surroundings of Holloway prison, and the deprivation of London's slums, Two for Sorrow is a dark and unsettling exploration of the way in which the crimes of the past destroy those left behind - long after justice is done.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 1903 execution of two women convicted for murdering babies, the inspiration for Josephine Tey's novel-in-progress, has serious repercussions more than three decades later in Upson's excellent third mystery featuring the author of The Daughter of Time (after 2010's Angel with Two Faces). Tey's former teacher, Celia Bannerman, who was the warder for one of the condemned women, aids Tey in her researches in London. Investigation of a seamstress's sadistic murder, which Tey fears may be a result of her own digging into the past, falls on Det. Insp. Archie Penrose, Tey's close confidante, whose relationship with the writer is complicated by her ambivalence toward another love interest. About three-quarters into the book, Upson upsets readers' expectations with a surprise that keeps the suspense high to the satisfying conclusion. Puzzle fans as well as admirers of psychologically rich crime authors such as Ruth Rendell will find a lot to savor.
