Inspector Alan Grant: The Full Collection
6 Novels
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3 Months Free
Buy Now for £19.65
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Narrated by:
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Karen Cass
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By:
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Josephine Tey
Inspector Alan Grant: The Full Collection includes unabridged recordings of all 6 of the novels in the Inspector Alan Grant series from renowned author of detective fiction, Josephine Tey.
The novels included here are:
The Man in the Queue: When an unknown, unidentifiable man is killed in a queue outside a London theatre, Inspector Alan Grant is called in to unravel the mystery. His search for the identities of both victim and murderer lead to the discovery of a tangled web of suspects and secrets and culminates in a breathless manhunt leading from London all the way to the Scottish highlands and back.
A Shilling for Candles: When the body of a young woman is washed up on a beach in Kent, she’s believed to have accidentally drowned. But the presence of a button in her hair and signs of a struggle on her hands lead Inspector Alan Grant to believe she may have been murdered.
The Franchise Affair: In a quiet English village, Marion Sharpe and her mother, two seemingly ordinary women, find their lives upturned when a young girl accuses them of kidnapping and abuse. When even Inspector Alan Grant is baffled, the women enlist savvy barrister Robert Blair to help clear their names.
To Love and Be Wise: Grant investigates the baffling disappearance of a charismatic American photographer from a picturesque English village—and uncovers a web of secrets, lies, petty jealousies and hidden motives.
The Daughter of Time: In Tey’s most enduringly popular story, a bed-ridden Alan Grant attempts to solve a five-hundred-year-old mystery – was Richard III really responsible for the deaths, the Princes in the Tower?
The Singing Sands: Inspector Alan Grant, suffering from stress and anxiety, takes leave from Scotland Yard and plans a tranquil holiday in the Scottish Highlands. But after stumbling over the body of a young man on the train and finding a cryptic poem scribbled in the margins of a newspaper, he finds himself drawn into an unofficial investigation. Who wrote the poem and what does it mean? Who was the passenger? And was his death accidental—or was it murder?
Josephine Tey (1896-1952) was a renowned author and one of the most celebrated figures in detective fiction. Tey initially pursued a career in theatre, writing plays before shifting her focus to novels, and her writing is characterised by psychological depth, strong character development, and a subversion of traditional crime fiction norms. Her most notable works include The Daughter of Time, Brat Farrar, and The Franchise Affair, and despite her relatively small output, her influence is significant, inspiring future generations of mystery writers.
In 2015, Val McDermid argued that Tey "cracked open the door" for later writers such as Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell to explore the darker side of humanity, creating a bridge between the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and contemporary crime novels.
This audiobook is fully indexed. Once downloaded, each book and chapter will be listed so you can easily navigate to the individual section.
Tey is a good writer in that her novels are well-written, but Grant is a terrible detective- he doesn’t do much and, unlike Christie, the answers are mostly given to him.
I read most of these years ago as a teenager, I think only the last two were new to me. This time around, I was appalled by the racism, misogyny, class prejudice, snobbery and condescension on display. I almost stopped listening a few times. ‘The Singing Sands’ was by far the worst: Apparently stabbing women isn’t a crime, doesn’t make the perpetrator a criminal and murdering women generally is ok, if they have been ‘unfaithful’. Tey apparently believes this so strongly that she repeats it several times in this last Grant novel. I probably would have stopped listening if it hadn’t been the last one and I don’t like leaving things unfinished.
On a related note: I found the idea that Scottish Nationalists are terrorists particularly ridiculous and the description of Gaelic speakers in ‘the islands’ probably hasn’t won Tey many fans over there!
Overall, this left a bad taste in my mouth- some works, I think, should either be left in the past or redacted, (and I say this as someone who doesn’t usually believe in censoring the past). At the very least, there should be an explanatory introduction or disclaimer included for modern readers/listeners.
The Man in the Queue was the best and least offensive, followed by Daughter of Time.
I won’t be listening again.
Well written but very dated and unpleasant attitudes
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Absolutely no issue with narration!
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Uniteresting
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I don't know why but the narrator just seems like she is reading out a textbook, there is no life or excitement to the performance. It's not totally monotonous but it isn't great.
Narration is not brilliant
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Josephine Tey's character development and descriptions made me rewind several times to enjoy her use of language! I went straight back and relistened to every book over again, I can't remember the last time I did that!
What a hidden treasure this was!
Wow! What an adventure!
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