Book Synopsis:
In the summer of 1915, the violent death of a young girl brings grief and notoriety to Charleston Farmhouse on the Sussex Downs.
Years later, Josephine Tey returns to the same house – now much changed – and remembers the two women with whom she once lodged as a young teacher during the Great War. As past and present collide, with murders decades apart, Josephine is forced to face the possibility that the scandal which threatened to destroy those women’s lives hid a much darker secret.
Sorry for the Dead is the eighth book in the ‘Josephine Tey’ series, at once a compelling murder mystery and a moving exploration of love and grief
Sorry For The Dead is published in ebook and hardback on the 7th November 2019. You can pre-order your copy using the link below.
My Review:
I’m a huge fan of this fantastic historical crime series which has a fabulous female detective at its centre. I always think these books have a slightly classic feel to them, similar to those of Agatha Christie.
The historical detail in this book is brilliant with the Author cleverly including past prejudices or attitudes into the story. This time it explored societies view on lesbianism and I found it very sad to see how they were treated in the past. The storyline involving this was very emotional and I found myself getting quite angry on their behalf.
The Bloomsbury group featuring famous writers like the Hitchcocks also makes an appearance and it was fascinating to see the author’s portrayal of them. The author actually went to Cambridge University and I love how she always manages to include some of its history.
Josephine Try has to be one of my favourite female detectives ever as I’ve always admired her confidence and the way she deals with things. In this story we discover more about her past and first, rather turbulent, love. I found this very interesting and enjoyed finding out more about a younger Josephine. It was especially good to see that Josephine has always been the self assured lady we know and love.
The actual crime element to the story was well paced and I enjoyed watching it all unfold. There were plenty of false leads to keep me on my toes and I liked how we sometimes found things out from one timeline before Josephine discovers it for herself. The ending was really surprising but ultimately satisfying and I thought it was a great way to end the book.
Huge thanks to Sophie Portas for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I have added to my collection for this series!
About The Author:
Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. She has worked in theatre and as a freelance journalist, and is the author of two non-fiction works and the recipient of an Escalator Award from the Arts Council England. Her debut novel, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey – one of the leading authors of Britain’s age of crime-writing. The book was dramatised by BBC Scotland for Woman’s Hour, and praised by PD James as marking ‘the arrival of a new and assured talent’.
Nicola lives with her partner in Cambridge and Cornwall, which was the setting for her second novel, Angel With Two Faces. The third book in the series, Two for Sorrow, was followed by Fear in the Sunlight and, most recently, The Death of Lucy Kyte. Taken together, they paint an atmospheric picture of England between the wars, contrasting the stark reality of life in the 1930s and 40s with the glamorous world of theatre and film and featuring a variety of real characters, from the Edwardian murderers, Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, to the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Her research for the books has included many conversations with people who lived through the period and who knew Josephine Tey well, most notably Sir John Gielgud.
Nicola is currently writing a standalone novel set in the late 1920s, and researching the sixth ‘Josephine Tey’ mystery.
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