A Shilling for Candles

Josephine Tey is one of the very best mystery writers of all time, and A Shilling for Candles is one of the best of her mystery books. I couldn’t put it down.

I liked the fact that the murder happened right at the first part of the book. Many of these older mysteries meander on and on before the murder actually happens and the detective comes in. I thought it was a good story with interesting characters. It is very much in the same style as other Tey books but perhaps not as good as some, better than others. I tend to enjoy books like this one where the solution of the mystery lies in the victim's past. I enjoyed it.

Josephine Tey is a marvelous mystery writer. Her characters are well-developed and the story line is intriguing, I have been a fan since ready The Daughter of Time and would recommend all her books to anyone who like to dig into something a little more thought provoking than the average rule-of-the- mill mystery. Nothing moves as you might expect it to. Delightful!

A popular actress/singer's body is found on the beach. At first it is believed to be an accidental drowning, but soon it becomes apparent that this is murder. The novel begins well, and there are some interesting characters, but then it begins to go downhill. Instead of vintage Tey, we seem to have an Agatha Christie plot, and not the best Christie.There are red herrings galore, a false arrest, 2 escapes, supernatural overtones, and then an unexpected, unprepared for, and totally implausible ending. That the guilty one would have and could have perpetrated the crime in the manner indicated is just beyond belief. The author even has to make her turn out to be insane to create a strong enough motive--no, not nearly strong enough actually.If you want to read excellent Josephine Tey, try BRAT FARRAR or THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR. This one just isn't up to her later standards.

I don't know what I like the best about Josephine Tey's novels... the ease in which she captures your interest; the likeable, believable characters or the imaginitive plots. Whatever...her books are always a good read!

I am a long-time fan of Tey's work and, while not my favorite, A Shilling for Candles is a good mystery. A little dated, perhaps, but with enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.

Some of the very reasons some readers don't care for Josephine Tey's work is one of the reasons I like what she did so well. Her stories are unusual, and even in the small number of books she wrote before her death, the formula is not the same for everyone. They are very old fashioned by today's standards, but gives the reader a great sense ofevery day British life sixty years ago.This mystery features her Inspector Grant, always an interesting character. I love her character development - she manages to do that without becoming extremely wordy - and her dry sense of humor. The murdered woman herself comes to life; you eventually feel as though you understood her. Another very interesting person is the prime suspect, and just when you think you have him figured out, you wonder if you do.My regret is, I have now read almost everything Ms. Tey wrote in her tragically short life.

The setting, manners and characters make this a charming and entertaining read, and the mystery is involving enough, if not strikingly original.

Wer das Genre des klassischen englischen Krimis a la Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie oder Edgar Wallace mag und wissen will, worauf die Amerikanerinnen Martha Grimes und Elisabeth George aufbauen, der kommt auch an Josephine Tey nicht vorbei. Dabei ist natürlich die Originalversion immer der deutschen Übersetzung vorzuziehen.

The only possible criticism of Josephine Tey 's books is that,according to today's standards,she isn't politically correct. Her plots are ingenious, the writing smooth and enthralling, the characters well developed and believable. Do we criticise Shakespeare because of his portrayal of Shylock?

Spannende Geschichte mit größtem Menschenkenntnis und wunderbare Beschreibungen von Natur Umgebung Stimmungen. Ein durchaus empfehlenswertes Buch für Alle die nicht die schnelle brutale Krimis mit Schießereien und Action bevorzugen.

Josephine Tey is so famous that Nicola Upson has turned her into a character for her modern detective novels. However, although she is famous for several books, this one does little to enhance her reputation. It begins well enough, with an intriguing mystery involving the murder of a famous film star who is revealed to have had humble beginnings in England.As others have mentioned, the racism in the book, with a Jewish character being presented as 'typical of his race', a 'Hebrew' etc etc is really shocking to the 21st century reader, and it certainly makes you think that it was not just the Nazis who used to describe Jews in this derogatory way in the 1930s. Tey's detective, Alan Grant, is a real forelock tugger, who admits he finds it much easier to interrogate the Jewish foreigner than the wealthy English aristocrat - a point of view that makes today's reader despise him, while being aware that Tey meant him to be an attractive hero.I quite enjoyed reading about the various suspects who come into the frame, and whose activities are later explained. Again, as with Alan Grant, the character of Erica Burgoyne who is 17 yet acts like a 7 year old doesn't do it for me, although I can tell Tey believed she was creating a winsome ingenue her readers would love. A modern reader is more likely to find her really annoying and not particularly believable.Spoiler alert now!! The title refers to a bequest in the victim's will to a mysterious brother whom her friends had not known to have existed, and who emerges as a very sinister character. However, although the sections of the book involving him are well done, his character turns out to be very much a red herring to the main story. The revelation of the real culprit comes totally out of the blue. There are no clues, and Tey seems to break the who-dunnit code by making the murderer a very very minor character who has been only fleetingly mentioned. This provides a very unsatisfying conclusion and is the main weakness of the book. I did wonder if Tey changed her mind about whom to make guilty, or if someone advised her the obvious suspect was just 'too pat', as another character comments.

The author perambulates a continuous succession of red-herrings in a whirligig of subplots that are dramatically plausible and cleverly developed. From time to time an element of descriptive humour changes the reader's mood to further delight the enjoyment of this well-written tale of unexpected woe. An intriguing read!Harast