Nicola Upson

This is a smart book. It's number 11 of Upson's Josephine Tey series, featuring Tey herself and the fictional DCI Archie Penrose, and the second of the series that I have read. The murder mystery - fictional- is closely interwoven with real life events: the shooting in Hollywood of Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. This carefully researched footnote in cinema history gives verisimilitude to the murder mystery emerging back in England: the link being the English country house on which the film version of Manderley is based. Alternating chapters show Penrose sleuthing away in England while Tey, who is no part of the crew, but the partner of someone who is, discovers links to unfolding events too. Cleverly paced with well-realised characters, this slow-burn of a book was an entirely satisfactory read.… (more)

I absolutely loved this book. It evoked the story of one of England's most celebrated twentieth century painters, Stanley Spencer, and the women in his life, including the sensible, cheerful live-in maid Elsie in a most vivid and involving way. Early twentieth century village life, an eccentric lifestyle, and the complicated lives of imperfect fractured people is brought to life in an entirely readable way. This is a story of love, obsession, the thought processes of a painter, the English countryside written in a way that demands to be read, compulsively.… (more)