Published January 2008 by Faber and Faber.
From the cover of the book:
March 1934. Revered mystery writer Josephine Tey is traveling from Scotland to London for the final week of her play Richard of Bordeaux, the surprise hit of the season, with pacifist themes that resonate in a world still haunted by war. But joy turns to horror when her arrival coincides with the murder of a young woman she had befriended on the train ride--and Tey is plunged into a mystery as puzzling as any in her own works.Detective Inspector Archie Penrose is convinced that the killing is connected to the play, and that Tey herself is in danger of becoming a victim of her own success. In the aftermath of a second murder, the writer and the policeman must join together to stop a ruthless killer who will apparently stop at nothing.
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March, 1934. Mystery author, Josephine Tey is heading from Scotland to London for the final week of the sell-out run for her stage play, Richard of Bordeaux. Unused to being in the limelight, Josephine has found the experience of having a theatre-land hit somewhat of a strain, but she has made some good friends amongst the acting fraternity, and in the theatrical world, and she is very much looking forward to spending time with them during her visit - and catching up with her good friend, DI Archie Penrose.
On the train, Josephine meets an enthusiastic fan of the play. Elspeth Simmons. Uncharacteristically for the very private Josephine, who is not yet used to being recognised as a celebrity, she takes an immediate liking to this young woman and the two spend the journey chatting companionably. However, their burgeoning friendship is brought to an untimely end when Elspeth is brutally murdered shortly after the train arrives at King's Cross.
Heading up the investigation, Archie is baffled by Elspeth's murder, but the way the body has been posed in a surreal tableau leads him to believe that this is not a random act. The clues point towards a connection with Richard of Bordeaux, and he is convinced that Josephine herself may now be in danger. When a second victim falls prey to the killer, Archie and Josephine must team up to see if they can get to the bottom of these bizarre murders, before they come for her...
An Expert in Murder is the first book in the excellent murder mystery series by Nicola Upson, which puts writer Josephine Tey in the role of detective at the side of her good friend DI Archie Penrose. Although Tey herself was not a real person, being the pen name of author Elizabeth MacKintosh, Upson somehow works literary magic by channelling the personality that thrums through MacKintosh's books to fashion Tey into a very creditable Golden Age crime sleuth. It works so well that Upson's Tey mysteries are one of my absolute favourite series, evoking everything I love about the Golden Age of crime, and having read (and loved) all eleven books that Upson has written so far, I have decided to go back the beginning and read them all again!
It was a joy being back at the start of the partnership between Josephine and Archie with a twisty mystery that immerses you in London's theatre-land of the 1930s. The cast of characters revolves around the players appearing in Richard of Bordeaux, the backstage staff working on the play, Elspeth's family, Archie's Scotland yard crew - and of course, Josephine herself - and the narrative flips between several of them to create twisting plotlines that throw up a bevy of likely suspects for the murderer, and keep you guessing all the way to the end.
Upson brings all the glamour of the theatrical world of this period alive, but she also holds nothing back about the seething rivalries, and fragile egos that go with the territory. However, this is not just a mystery that concerns itself with the world of the stage (and, by association, the silver screen), because the murky motives that provoke the killing spree also have a lot to do with sins of the past tied up with old passions, a desire for revenge, and the shadow cast by the horrors of World War One... themes which also carry weight in Josephine's personal life, especially when it comes to her relationship with Archie.
There are so many things about this series that I love, and they all begin in this first book. Upson does an incredible job bringing time and place alive, and her characters always have relatable traits that make them difficult to paint in shades of black and white, even when the acts they perform may be heinous ones. There is often a sprinkle of famous faces in these stories as well, and although there are not many in this first book, there are some lovely name drops, and if you know London's theatre-land at all well, you will enjoy walking the streets of the area alongside the characters.
Josephine and Archie's friendship is the mainstay of the series, and it comes with quite a back-history even in this first book, which serves to explain why they care quite so much about each other in a platonic, rather than romantic, way. And talking of love stories, this book includes the very first appearance of Marta, in an intriguing twist of a story-line - a character who we will come to know intimately later down the line!
I adored this book just as much as I did the first time around, and I am so looking forward to continuing my journey by revisiting the next instalment, Angel with Two Faces. I highly recommend this series if you are a fan of Golden Age crime done well by a contemporary writer - this one really is rather addictive. The audio books narrated by Sandra Duncan are brilliant too, if audio is your bag.
An Expert in Murder is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
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