June 1, 2022
As certain war with Germany looms, the evacuation of children from London provides the perfect backdrop for mystery writer Josephine Tey's latest round of sleuthing. The arrival of two buses filled with Shoreditch children in the Suffolk village of Polstead is marked by utter chaos. There are so many more arrivals than anyone had expected that the careful arrangements Hilary Lampton, the vicar's wife, had made for placing the children are turned upside down. When siblings Lillian, Florence, and Edmund Herron refuse to take in Noah Stebbing along with Betty, the sister they'd agreed to house, Josephine and her lover, screenwriter Marta Fox, suddenly find themselves with Noah, who makes a beeline for his sister before his hosts are awake the next morning. A more serious disappearance is that of Annie Ridley, a local child who vanishes from the playground where the newcomers have been dropped off. DCI Penrose of Scotland Yard leads an all-out effort to find her that's joined by virtually everyone in the village, including Josephine and the visiting fete judge Mrs. Carter, better known as fellow mystery writer Margery Allingham. An intensive three-day search for Annie ends when she's discovered alive and safe, reassuring her mother back in London, though her disappearance is linked to the murder of Hoxton rent collector Frederick Clifford outside Castlefrank House, the home of Noah and Betty's mother. Neither writer carries off detecting honors, but the historical background and the central situation Upson spins out of it are so strong that few readers will care. A depressingly timely historical village cozy guaranteed to disturb anyone who cares about Ukrainian refugees.
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Starred review from June 20, 2022
Set on the eve of England’s entry into WWII, Upson’s superior 10th mystery featuring author Josephine Tey (after 2020’s The Secrets of Winter) finds Tey and her lover, Marta Fox, spending some precious time together at a cottage Tey has inherited in the quiet Suffolk village of Polstead. The community is hosting children transported from London in anticipation of German bombing raids. The tumult of dealing with many more evacuees than expected is exacerbated when a child disappears. Upson effectively keeps the reader in suspense about the child’s fate, even as Tey’s policeman friend, Det. Chief Insp. Archie Penrose, works to solve the stabbing death of a London rent-collector. While the reveals of both plotlines are fully satisfying, the book’s strength lies in a vivid and moving portrait of a small community torn apart by fear and suspicion. Even secondary characters are imbued with sufficient depth to make the ending for one of them a gut-punch. As always, Upson plays scrupulously fair with her clue-planting. P.D. James fans who haven’t read Upson yet are in for a treat. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Co.
Starred review from August 1, 2022
British mystery writer Josephine Tey moves to the tiny village of Polstead after a distant relative leaves her a charming country cottage. With her partner, Marta, Tey is enjoying the sense of community that comes with the rural lifestyle. However, WWII is on the horizon, and with the mass evacuation of children from London, Polstead must do its part and take in some of the evacuees. But the first group of children to arrive is much larger than expected, and chaos ensues. In the confusion, one of the village children goes missing, and the villagers launch a frantic hunt to find her. Archie Penrose, a Scotland Yard detective and a friend of Josephine's, is visiting the area and joins the search, little knowing that it will relate to a murder he's investigating in London. Upson is a magical storyteller, brilliantly juxtaposing nostalgia for village life in a bygone era against the terrible consequences of war; real-life characters (like Tey) against fictional ones; gentle humor against unspeakable tragedy; and damaged characters against wonderfully kind and caring individuals. Much more than a village cozy, this latest in the Josephine Tey series (following Sorry for the Dead, 2019) is both heartwarming yet heartbreaking, suspenseful yet calming, and awash in quirkiness that is both charming and intriguing.
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