Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outstanding crime novel, 6 Sep 2004
This is an unusual book in that it is a crime novel with no dead bodies . I listened to it on cassette, it is one of the Audio book range and found it compulsive listening though I imagine it would be an equally good read.
I suppose many people would find it dated , it is set in an England which has almost completely disappeared , but I think that is part of its appeal.It is apparently a reworking of a true story of the 18th century. which probably explains why this rather unlikely story of a kidnapping is so plausible.
I thoroughly reccommend this book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An Unusual Affair, 14 Sep 2009
One day, after being missing for a month, a young girl appears with an astonishing tale: that for the past few weeks she was held prisoner and regularly beaten by two women who live in an isolated houser. It is up to Arthur Crook, lawyer and amateur sleuth, to prove this story false, if he can.
This is an unusual suspense tale from Ms Tey, involving no murder, and a far from common type of detective. In fact, the story is based on a real-life case from the eighteenth century. Tey's characterisation is perceptive, the characters well-drawn and idiosyncratic. Although there is not a great deal of description, the locale and the locals are brought to life so that by the end of the story we really feel we know them. Both sides in the tale, and the incidental characters, become well-known to us, so that the denouement is triumphant. This is a tale that will keep any mystery aficionado guessing right to the end.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and intriguing, 27 Aug 2009
I first read this as a teenager and was a little underwhelmed: I don't think I really appreciated the rarity of good writing then or the subtle nuances of character which Tey conveys so well. Re-reading it now, I loved this book. It is, undoubtedly, of its time: published in 1949 in conveys a slightly snobbish attitude to the `lower classes' who are either demonised (Betty Kane and her mother) or sentimentalised (Stanley). But leaving that aside, this is a really fun and intriguing mystery.
Robert Blair, a staid solicitor, is drawn into a case involving the odd Sharpe women, mother and daughter, who live alone in their house named The Franchise when they are accused of kidnapping and beating a young teenager. No-one quite believes the story until the girl is brought face-to-face with the Sharpes and reveals details about the house and the room where she was supposedly held that a stranger could not know. But Blair believes the Sharpes are innocent and sets out to prove his case - against all the odds.
Like other `golden age' mystery writers (Dorothy L. Sayer, Ngaio Marsh, Christie) Tey is as interested in her characters as she is in the mystery itself, and the Sharpes, especially, are wonderful creations. Our emotions are manipulated faultlessly as they are moved from being slightly sinister to being amusingly eccentric (old Mrs Sharpe, especially, grew hugely in my affections during this book), and yet there is still always a slight doubt: could their very eccentricity have led to their guilt? Highly recommended.
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