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Mystery Lady-Josephine Tey, an overlooked star of the golden age of detective fiction
During the golden age of detective fiction in the early 20th century, four writers dominated the genre: Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers and the “queen of crime” herself, Agatha Christie. Another novelist of this era was Josephine Tey—ranked by her biographer, Jennifer Morag Henderson, as “number Five to the Big Four”. In 1929-52 Tey (the pen name of Elizabeth MacKintosh) published a series of six meticulously crafted detective novels. “I had no intention of writing one”, she said, “but one night an idea struck with such force that it hurt.”
Tey’s pain proved to be readers’ gain. Her debut, “The Man in the Queue”, was a critical and commercial success. It introduced Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard, whose intuition, ingenuity and perseverance help him to crack the most fiendish cases. In one book Grant’s superior says he has “the most priceless of all attributes for his job: flair”. In another tale Grant catches a culprit based on a small brown fleck in the iris of their left eye.
Three of Tey’s books have just been reissued by Penguin: all are thick with mystery and show a great mind at work. “The Franchise Affair”, published in 1948 and adapted into a film three years later (pictured), begins with a missing teenager. When she turns up again, distressed and exhausted, she explains how she fled a mother and daughter who locked her up and tried to make a servant of her. The girl’s version of events ruins reputations. But then her story begins to unravel.
“To Love and Be Wise” (1950) revolves around another disappearance. Leslie Searle, a Hollywood photographer, vanishes from an English village that is home to many writers and artists. Grant arrives to determine whether a crime has been committed and quickly finds himself sifting alibis, collecting clues and taking stock of the residents’ jealousies, grievances and other “subterranean tremors”.
And then there is Tey’s masterpiece, “The Daughter of Time” (1951), once voted the greatest crime novel ever written by the Crime Writers’ Association. On this occasion, Grant is out of action, recuperating from a broken leg. To relieve his boredom, he turns his attention to a very cold case, that concerning Richard III. Did the last Plantagenet king really murder his two nephews in the Tower of London? Grant combs through the centuries-old evidence, separating fact from myth to work out whether this infamous villain could in fact be an innocent victim.
MacKintosh also achieved literary acclaim under another pseudonym, Gordon Daviot, and her first play, “Richard of Bordeaux”, launched the career of John Gielgud. However, it is as Tey, and for her detective novels, that she is remembered today. They endure because of their keen psychological insight into the complexity of human nature. “The Franchise Affair” presents a captivating portrait of a chilling villain. “To Love and Be Wise” probes themes of identity and gender. And “The Daughter of Time” covers new ground through its use of history and its original ending: the antithesis of a neatly resolved drawing-room denouement.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "Mystery lady" .
注释：
Genre：n
表示“类型，体裁，流派 ”，means " particular style or kind,especially of works of art or literature grouped according to their form or subject matter “，如：What genre does the movie fall into---comedy or tragedy? 这部电影是什么风格?喜剧还是悲剧?
Meticulously: ad
表示“仔细地；谨慎地 ”，means " in a meticulous manner“，如：She washed her breakfast cup and saucer and rinsed them meticulously.她洗涤了早餐的杯子和碟子之后，又用水仔细地清洗。
Ingenuity: n
表示“ 独创性；精巧”，means " skill at solving problems; cleverness “，如：The writer showed ingenuity in creating a surprising ending.作者别具匠心地设计了一个出人意料的结尾。
Fiendish: adj
表示“ 恶魔似的；凶恶的；残忍的”，means "extremely evil or cruel “，如：I was answered through the stillness of night by a loud and fiendish laugh. 回答我的是穿过这静寂夜空的一阵尖厉而恶魔似的狂笑。
Culprit: n
表示“ 罪犯；起因 ”，means " person who has done wrong;offender “，如：The hunt is on for the culprit. 正在搜捕该罪犯。
Fleck: n
表示“ 斑点；微粒”，means "a small fragment of something broken off from the whole “，如：The garlic moss has no yellow fleck or other virus. 蒜苔没有黄斑点及其它病毒。
Iris: n
表示“ 虹膜”，means " muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil which in turn controls the amount of light that enters the eye; it forms the colored portion of the eye“，如：The opening of the iris is called the pupil. 虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
Unravel：v
表示“阐明；解释；”，means " disentangle“，如：There is still a good deal to unravel. 还有不少问题要澄清。
Sift：v
表示“筛分；详察 ”，means " make a close and thorough examination (of things in a mass or group)“，如：The police will sift through the data for clues. 警察将从数据中仔细研究线索。
Alibi: n
表示“不在场证明或辩解 ”，means " a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question“，如：They've got nothing on me I've got an alibi. 他们没抓我的罪证,我有不在现场的证据。
Subterranean: adj
表示“ 地下的；隐蔽的 ”，means " lying beyond what is openly revealed or avowed (especially being kept in the background or deliberately concealed);“，如：All night he heard the subterranean workman, who continued to mine his way. 他整夜都听着那个隐蔽的工作者，那个人在继续他的挖掘工程。
Tremor：n
表示 颤动；战栗；“ an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)”，means " “，如：There was a tremor in her voice. 她的声音有点颤抖。
Recuperate: v
表示“（使）恢复；（使）复原 ”，means " regain or make up for“，如：Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate. 再住院几天，好好地恢复
Infamous：adj
表示“ 无耻的；臭名昭著的 ”，means "well known for being bad,especially morally wicked “，如：He is the very infamous villain who deserves jail and endless animosity for even God is incapable to forgo his sin outside and to clean his evil inside. 他是如此臭名昭著的小人，他就应该属于监狱和无尽的仇恨，因为连上帝也无法原谅他外在的罪孽，和内在的邪恶。
Villain：n
表示“ 坏人；恶棍；”，means " person guilty or capable of great wickedness“，如：His conduct stamped him as a villain.他的行为说明他是坏人。
Pseudonym: n
表示“ 假名；笔名 ”，means "a fictitious name used when the person performs a particular social role “，如：No one knew that he was operating under a pseudonym,没人知道他一直在使用假名
Captivate: v
表示“ 迷住；迷惑 ”，means "attract; cause to be enamored “，如：He was captivated by her beauty. 他被她的美色迷住了。
Antithesis: n
表示“ 对照；正相反 ”，means "exact opposite “，如：Slavery is the antithesis of freedom. 奴役与自由是对立的。
Denouement：n
表示“ (小说、戏剧等的)结尾；结局 ”，means "the outcome of a complex sequence of events “，如：Cowperwood was in no way pleased by this rough denouement. 这样草草收场，柯帕乌绝不会高兴的。
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