Having already read two books from Tey’s Alan Grant series (The Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair) as well as her nonseries novel Brat Farrar in past years, and Miss Pym Disposes at the beginning of this year, I took the combined (re)read of The Daughter of Time and the play Dickon during the pandemic buddy reads (see above) as my cue to finally also read the rest of the Inspector Grant mysteries. And I’m glad I finally did; Tey’s work as a whole is a paean to her much-beloved England — and though she was Scottish by birth, to a somewhat lesser degree also to Scotland –; a love that would eventually cause her to bequeath her entire estate to the National Trust. — Though the books are ostensibly mysteries, the actual “mystery” element almost takes a back seat to the land … and to its people, or rather to people like those who formed Tey’s personal circle of friends and acquaintances. And it is in creating characters that her writing shines as much as in the description of England’s and Scotland’s natural beauty.
Tey’s plots take the reader from London’s West End …
… to the chalk cliffs of Kent and Sussex (images: Dover and Beachy Head)
… the English Home Counties (images: Bibury, Cotswolds) …
… and finally, the storm-tossed Outer Hebrides (images: Butt of Lewis).
(All photos mine.)
Those are beautiful photos.
Thank you — with views such as these it’s easy to take beautiful photos! 🙂