A Shilling for Candles: An Inspector Alan Grant Mystery by Josephine TeyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Christine Clay, a famous actress/singer is found drowned after swimming in the sea early one morning. At first it is thought a tragic accident, until the button from a man's overcoat is found tangled in her hair, and her fingernails are broken from (presumably) having fought off her murderer. There's a plethora of suspects: her husband; her boyfriend who has written several songs for her; the young man who was staying with her in a friend's cottage; her leading man; her closest rival, the list goes on.
Inspector Grant's chief suspect is Robert Tisdall, the young man who was staying with Chris at the time of her death. His explanation for why he came to be staying with her, his reasons for driving off in her car, and his explanation for the loss of his coat are all extremely flimsy, but Grant believes him ... until a codicil to Chris' will emerges giving Tisdall a very large motive!
This is unusual in that there are chunks of the book where Grant doesn't feature at all. Instead we follow the charming Erica Burgoyne, daughter of the local police superintendent, who is extremely clever and observant, although of course most people just class her as a tomboy, and then the tabloid journalist Jammy Hopkins who has his own views on the potential murderer and (of course) what the police are doing wrong.
I found the first book a bit disappointing(view spoiler). No such disappointment with this novel. Although I had no clue as to the murderer's identity, and Josephine Tey did a good job of throwing lots of potential suspects into the mix, the motive and the means for the murder were all there and the character was present throughout the book. However, discovery of the potential murderer's identity was only achieved by Grant happening to read a six-month old article about Chris at the barber's (don't think too hard about why a barber's shop would have a Hollywood stars magazine) which just happened to have the clue to unlock the case.
Am I a hopeless romantic to see a romance blossoming between Erica and Grant later on? Or is it just that she has a crush? I do hope we see her again.
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