Review: The Daughter of Time: An Inspector Alan Grant Mystery

The Daughter of Time: An Inspector Alan Grant Mystery by Josephine Tey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This was voted the greatest mystery novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990 and I can see why.

Inspector Alan Grant is in hospital after falling through a trap door. He's bored and so his friend the actress Marta Hallard suggests he uses his detection skills to solve an historical mystery and brings him a number of pictures of famous people's portraits like Lucrezia Borgia and Louis XVII. The Inspector (I just can't bring myself to call him Alan) dismisses all of them until he is struck by one. He doesn't recognise the face, but is struck by the character in the portrait, the air that he is

Someone used to great responsibility , and responsible in his authority. Someone too conscientious. A worrier; perhaps a perfectionist.

Imagine his shock then when he turns over the picture to find that it is Richard III, notorious for having ordered the murder of his two nephews who were staying in the Tower of London. The Inspector shows the picture to all his visitors (medical and personal) and each of them sees something different in the portrait, but none of them suggested that his face suggested the level of cruelty and depravity that would be required to order such a thing.

Reading up on the history of the time, Grant realises that the primary authority for the widely held belief that Richard III had his nephews killed was Sir Thomas More, generally an unimpeachable source, but a man who was only eight years old when Richard III died at the battle of Bosworth field, so his account is based on hearsay - anathema to a policeman! Moreover, every book he reads seems to describe Richard III as being both a loyal, devoted brother, a wise leader, someone who was loved and respected, a peacemaker, someone who forgave his enemies. So how does that reconcile with the man who would order the murder of two of his nephews?

And so, with the help of an amiable American history student, Grant decides to investigate, using contemporaneous historical records, what actually happened to the two princes and how to reconcile the contradictory claims about Richard III's personality.

I must admit I have always found the Plantagenet dynasty and the Wars of the Roses to be an incredibly confusing period, not least because everyone seems to be called Elizabeth or Edmund or Edward or Richard and I was relieved when Inspector Grant said he too had difficulty keeping it straight in his head. At least I had seen the TV series about Henry Tudor (Henry VII) which at least allowed me to think of the actors' faces for certain characters like Elizabeth Woodville.

Anyway, Grant and his history student, Brent Carradine, uncover lots of inconsistencies and reveal a very plausible account of what actually happened to the princes. I have subsequently googled several of the sources mentioned in the book and found that they do exist and will forever be grateful to Inspector Grant for Tonypandyism and the examples given to support his argument.

Please don't be put off by the fact that this is about such a confusing time in English history, or what you know from your schooldays about Richard III, or even by the fact that all the action takes place in Grant's hospital bedroom. It is a fascinating piece of detection and truly deserved all the accolades.

My only gripe is that the Kindle version I read had a number of dreadful mistakes (including spelling Marta incorrectly) which spoilt things, so I returned it and purchased another version (still only 77p). Also I prefer the cover on this version published by Evergreen.

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