The discovery of the body of a popular screen actress washed up on a beach on the southern coast of England sparks an investigation headed by Scotland Yard's top detective, Inspector Alan Grant.
Christine Clay's death hits the headlines, has a global impact, "society" dusts off its mourning blacks in hope of an invitation to her funeral, and yet what comes out is that almost no-one knew who she really was. A clairvoyant claims to have foretold her death, and her estranged brother seems to have disappeared.

This was the second in Josephine Tey's Alan Grant novels. You are probably familiar with other novels such as THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR, and THE DAUGHTER OF TIME.

I must confess to being a bit disappointed in the novel. I found the central threads very difficult to focus on and really thought there was rather too much going on. The writing is quite complex, full of little mental pictures because Tey has a graphic style, full of adjectives and adverbs, and the end effect is to slow the reader down. I found myself constantly re-checking what I had just read. In addition the novel felt a bit over populated with characters, and littered with red herrings and dead ends.

Sometimes we talk about whether a novel has "stood the test of time", and I think perhaps what I found is that A SHILLING FOR CANDLES was written for an audience a little different to today's.
On the back cover of the book is a quote from the Boston Globe: "The unalloyed pleasure of watching a really cultivated mind in action."
Maybe that is the clue to the difference: the complexities in this novel come not from the intermingling of threads as in a modern crime fiction novel, but from the language itself. In general it is really a whodunnit rather than a whydunnit, although of course that side is eventually revealed.

That doesn't make it any less worth reading, but it does mean it is not an easy read. ( )

This is the second Alan Grant book I've read and I didn't read them in order, more's the pity for me.

An actress, Christine Clay, has taken a cottage near the ocean to hide out for a while. She is joined by a total stranger to her, Robert Tisdall, who was also looking to get away from life for a while. One morning, Christine turns up dead, drowned in the sea, and Inspector Alan Grant from the Yard is called in by the local constables. He has his eye on Tisdall for doing the crime for various reasons, but his case is solidified when Clay's will is read and Tisdall comes into an inheritance. Hmm. But Grant's got a niggling doubt -- and so sets out to investigate anyone who may have had it in for Christine...and finds that there are more than a few people who would have liked to have seen her dead.

The characters are entertaining but the book is just average. Perhaps this is because it's only the second book of the series. The mystery is good and solid, and there are a number of suspects and red herrings that are thrown out for the reader's consideration, but some of the plot lines seemed a bit confusing at times. The end, truthfully, I saw coming from a long way out so that was sort of off putting. However, many people really enjoyed this one, so it's one you'll have to try yourself. I'd recommend it to fans of Tey, or to fans of Golden-Age mystery, or to readers of British mystery in general.

Overall -- not bad; not one of my favorites by this author but still a fine read. ( )

This is the second novel of six in Tey’s Inspector Alan Grant series. A famous actress has taken refuge incognito in a friend’s beach house. She is discovered to have drowned during her early morning swim. It appears to be an accident but the reader is not surprised when there are suspicious circumstances discovered. Tey is more like Dorothy Sayers than like Agatha Christie in that Tey writes mysteries that are novels rather than puzzles. This story is similar to a “police procedural” in that we follow the working of the Inspector as he puzzles over this crime and comes to discover that there is more than one crime. But unlike most police procedurals, there are many supporting characters with whom we become concerned and interested in learning about. We also learn a little more about Alan Grant. While this is not my favorite of the Tey novels I’ve read (those would be The Daughter of Time, another Alan Grant novel, and Miss Pym Disposes, a crime novel) I enjoyed this book, found it a relaxing, fast read and would highly recommend it to those who like Golden Age mysteries. ( )

This is my second Tey mystery and I'm SOOO hooked on these books!
It's a simple murder mystery - woman found dead on a beach, and she happens to be a famous actress with many potential enemies. But Tey makes it so much more. The beauty of Tey's writing is her subtlety. She does not TELL you that things are so, she SHOWS you. She honors our intelligence by letting us put the pieces together on our own. And by the way, this book has a GREAT female lead character (she stole the show from Inspector Grant). ( )

In A Shilling for Candles, Tey once again demonstrates her wonderful insight into her characters and deft writing. Christine Clay, a famous actress, is found drowned on the beach. What is first ruled a suicide is later revisited as new evidence comes to light that seems to show that Ms. Clay did not meet her death willingly. A myriad of characters are introduced, ranging from Clay's estranged brother (a religious fanatic to whom she scornfully bequeaths "a shilling for candles"), another actress who was jealous of Clay's success, Clay's husband who is an English lord, a young man whose legacy in Clay's will makes him immediately suspect, and many others. Of course, all of these people have a good reason to murder the actress. Inspector Alan Grant is on the case and his investigations are helped by the daughter of his superior.

The ending was really something of a surprise. In a genre where so much depends upon the twist at the end, I really have to applaud Josephine Tey for her unfailing execution of this crucial element. The clues are scattered throughout the story, but inconspicuously. Everything comes clear at the end, and makes quite a denouément. If you haven't discovered Tey yet, I urge you to look for her books. Excellent writing, enjoyable characters, and intelligent plotting make her one of the mystery genre's greats. Recommended! ( )