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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson
4.0
‘The full moon made a nonsense of the blackout.’
This is the tenth book in in a series based on an imagined life of Scottish novelist and playwright Josephine Tey, whose novel ‘The Daughter of Time’ is amongst my favourite reads. Very little is known about Josephine Tey’s private life, and Ms Upson has imagined her involved in investigating the sort of mysteries she wrote about.
This novel opens on 31 August 1939 as Great Britain prepares to declare war on Germany. Josephine Tey is living in Polstead, Suffolk, in the cottage she inherited from her godmother (‘The Death of Lucy Kyte’ Josephine Tey #5). Her lover Marta is staying with her, and they are looking forward to spending a quiet week together.
Children are being evacuated from London, and the vicar’s wife has asked Josephine to help with the arrival of a busload of evacuees allocated to Polstead. But, while Polstead is expecting twenty children, each of whom has been allocated to a family, a significantly larger number of children arrive. The welcoming committee is thrown into chaos as they try to find homes for each of the additional children. One boy, Noah, is left without a place to stay. The spinster sisters who have taken his sister refuse to take him as well. Reluctantly, Josephine offers Noah temporary accommodation.
The next day, at the village fete, where Josephine has been invited to judge a series of events culminating in a fancy-dress parade, a local family realise that their four-year-old daughter Annie is missing. Annie, annoyed that her mother was taking in extra children, had gone off on her own across the street to stay with her grandmother. But Annie never arrived, and neither her mother nor her grandmother realised she was missing until they arrived at the fancy dress parade.
Josephine’s friend, DCI Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard is visiting friends in the village and organises a thorough search. The search itself uncovers some secrets that several villagers would prefer to remain hidden. There are a few twists in this story, and heartbreak for more than one family. Ms Upson has peopled this novel with some well-drawn characters and has also included a role for Margery Allingham.
While this novel can be read as a standalone, I recommend the series. Which reminds me: there are still a few that I have not yet read.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is the tenth book in in a series based on an imagined life of Scottish novelist and playwright Josephine Tey, whose novel ‘The Daughter of Time’ is amongst my favourite reads. Very little is known about Josephine Tey’s private life, and Ms Upson has imagined her involved in investigating the sort of mysteries she wrote about.
This novel opens on 31 August 1939 as Great Britain prepares to declare war on Germany. Josephine Tey is living in Polstead, Suffolk, in the cottage she inherited from her godmother (‘The Death of Lucy Kyte’ Josephine Tey #5). Her lover Marta is staying with her, and they are looking forward to spending a quiet week together.
Children are being evacuated from London, and the vicar’s wife has asked Josephine to help with the arrival of a busload of evacuees allocated to Polstead. But, while Polstead is expecting twenty children, each of whom has been allocated to a family, a significantly larger number of children arrive. The welcoming committee is thrown into chaos as they try to find homes for each of the additional children. One boy, Noah, is left without a place to stay. The spinster sisters who have taken his sister refuse to take him as well. Reluctantly, Josephine offers Noah temporary accommodation.
The next day, at the village fete, where Josephine has been invited to judge a series of events culminating in a fancy-dress parade, a local family realise that their four-year-old daughter Annie is missing. Annie, annoyed that her mother was taking in extra children, had gone off on her own across the street to stay with her grandmother. But Annie never arrived, and neither her mother nor her grandmother realised she was missing until they arrived at the fancy dress parade.
Josephine’s friend, DCI Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard is visiting friends in the village and organises a thorough search. The search itself uncovers some secrets that several villagers would prefer to remain hidden. There are a few twists in this story, and heartbreak for more than one family. Ms Upson has peopled this novel with some well-drawn characters and has also included a role for Margery Allingham.
While this novel can be read as a standalone, I recommend the series. Which reminds me: there are still a few that I have not yet read.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith