An Expert in Murder (2008)

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When I first picked up this book at a local bookshop it struck me as a bit risky to say the least for a new author of detective fiction to put Josephine Tey (a brilliant if relatively little-known mystery fiction author) in her novel. Obviously Josephine Tey fans are going to read the book and compare the quality of the writing to Josephine's. This Tey fan found it wanting.

I was drawn to the book from the start, when I spotted it on special at a local bookshop and discovered that a) Josephine Tey, one of my favourite mystery fiction authors, was a main character and that b) another of my favourite mystery fiction authors, Reginald Hill, had given the book a positive "comment" on the back cover. I had high hopes, but my rating wavered over the course of reading. It started off a 4 to 5 star read--I enjoyed the storyline and the characters were well-drawn, emotionally honest and interesting. Sadly, the last third is rushed: the characters lose their internal logic, things that just do not ring true begin to occur on a regular basis and the conclusion is fairly trite and predictable. Nicola Upson seems to have panicked about how to bring it all together.

The final, emotional confrontation between a pair of "star-crossed lovers" (whom I shall not name for fear of spoilers) comes over as terribly wooden. The two characters seem to be just that: I was unable to continue to suspend my disbelief and felt that they were nothing but two mediocre actors reading unconvincing lines under poor direction. It does not stir the heart as it should/could have done.

Another bugbear for me: horrendous realisations about loved ones are passed off by various characters with litle more than wry smiles. One of the reasons I can't stand to read Agatha Christie is the she routinely presents us with situations where the love of one's life is hanged for horribly murdering several people and one smiles bravely and continues on cheerfully through life with barely a blink of an eye (that and the fact that at about the age of 13 I figured out how to solve the "puzzle" of who-dun-it within the first chapter of any Christie novel).

As a result of these various late-stage flaws I lost the lovely connection and understanding that had been built up between me and the various characters. They lost the spark that had made them seem "real" to me. Before the final wooden scene, despite all other misgivings, I was thinking this was a 3.5 star book. After, it had dropped to three.

There are more books in this series. I may have one more go, probably with a library book since I'm unsure whether I want to part with hard-earned on something I'll quite possibly not enjoy. Here's hoping that things pick up a bit and that Upson is able to maintain the high standard she clearly is capable of throughout a novel. ( )

This book is the first in a series which I stumbled onto accidentally. Having read the second in the series first, I was happy to learn that it didn't really affect my enjoyment of this one. I like the fact that the author has taken one of my favorite mystery writers and turned her into the protagonist of the series. Josephine Tey is a playwright who writes book to subsidize her income. In these novels she is also an amateur sleuth. I can't wait to read the third in the series. ( )

Expert In Murder was my favorite of the three mysteries I have read in this series by Nicola Upson. The story has a plot that allows for the large cast of characters that Upson adroitly handles. The mystery surrounding Josephine Tey, writer, involves her play Richard of Bordeaux. The clues tie her play to the characters who are victims, the first a young girl Josephine meets on the train. The young girl's death touches her and the reader deeply and finding the real connection between her killer and Tey, Tey's play and the deaths of the victims to come, is the meat and potatoes of this book. I found it substantial, like a five course meal, appetizers,soup, salad, entree and dessert, the story delivered to the table and absorbed by the reader, bite by bite, detail by detail, carried by the characters, themselves highly believable and compelling. Upson doles out period detail, not in a surge of encyclopedic re-telling,but as a backdrop for the scenes as they play out, providing the clues needed to piece together the compulsion that drives someone to murder. A highly satisfying mystery, I enjoyed every last drop, and strongly recommend it to those who enjoy Upson, and/or a good , solid mystery ( )

Nicola Upson has written a very compelling historical mystery that doesn't ask the reader to believe that a playwright is secretly a top-notch sleuth. There is an actual detective in this story -- Detective Inspector Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard. Archie is, in fact, the inspiration for Josephine's fictional detective Alan Grant and is a very competent police officer. Tey's role in the story is simply as a bystander who is unknowingly a cog in the murderous plans of someone who seems to be obsessed with her hit play, Richard of Bordeaux.

Many readers will see some similarities between the Josephine Tey character and Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs but, while both are strong, single women who have been damaged by a wartime loss, they are also different in many ways. I think the true test of this series will be in the next book, Angel With Two Faces. While Maisie is a private investigator, which lends itself well to a mystery series, Tey is simply an author, although one of detective stories. So, as long as the situations she finds herself in don't become forced or far-fetched, I'll be interested in following Tey and seeing how the character matures.

http://webereading.com/2012/10/rip-vii-read-4-expert-in-murder.html ( )