Nine Lessons
A Josephine Tey Mystery
-
- $18.99
Publisher Description
Mystery author Josephine Tey once again becomes embroiled in a real-life investigation in this “terrific . . . elegant” historical British mystery set in 1930s England (San Francisco Book Review)
Called to the peaceful wooded churchyard of St-John’s-at-Hampstead, Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose faces one of the most audacious and unusual murders of his career. The body of the church’s organist is found in an opened grave, together with a photograph of a manor house and a cryptic note. The image leads Archie to Cambridge, where the crisp autumn air has brought with it bustling life to the ancient university and town.
Mystery author Josephine Tey and Archie’s lover Bridget Foley have each recently settled in Cambridge, though both women are not equally happy to see him. One has concealed an important secret from Archie which now threatens to come to light. Meanwhile, the change of seasons has also brought with it a series of vicious attacks against women in town, spreading fear and suspicion through the community.
Soon, another body is revealed, and in the shadow of King’s College Chapel, Archie uncovers a connection twenty-five years old which haunted both victims—as well as some of their living companions. As Archie and Josephine each grapple with savage malefactors intent on making their victims pay, they must race to stop another attack in this beautifully written, intricately plotted mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A series of murders inspired by the ghost stories of English author M.R. James challenges Scotland Yard's Det. Chief Insp. Archie Penrose in Upton's superlative seventh outing for Penrose and his close friend and investigative assistant, real-life mystery author Josephine Tey (after 2016's London Rain). One day in 1937, Penrose is summoned to St. John's-at-Hempstead, a north London graveyard, where the body of church organist Stephen Laxborough was found in a tomb with the stone slab on top pushed back a little. The dead man was evidently buried alive, based on the horrific evidence of his desperate efforts to escape the tomb. Compounding the mystery is the presence in the grave of a torn photograph depicting a manor house; scrawled on a piece of paper in the victim's breast pocket is the sentence: "What is this that I have done?" This evidence leads Penrose to Cambridge, where his lover, Bridget Foley, and Josephine have both recently settled. A series of attacks on women in the university town ups the ante. Upson successfully incorporates moving and complex interpersonal conflicts involving her main characters into an intricate, credible whodunit story line.
