To Love and be Wise (New Portway Books) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Josephine Tey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 1985 | Series: New Portway Books

Literary sherry parties were not Alan Grant's cup of tea. But when the Scotland Yard Inspector arrived to pick up actress Marta Hallard for dinner, he was struck by the handsome young American photographer, Leslie Searle. Author Lavinia Fitch was sure her guest "must have been something very wicked in ancient Greece," and the art colony at Salcott St. Mary would have agreed. Yet Grant heard nothing more of Searle until the news of his disappearance. Had Searle drowned by accident or could he have been murdered by one of his young women admirers? Was it a possible case of suicide or had the photographer simply vanished for reasons of his own?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

San Francisco Chronicle Nobody can beat Miss Tey at characterization or elegance of style; this novel's a beauty.

The Times Literary Supplement (London) Worth reading for its ingenious denouement alone. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

It was rumoured that Hollywood stars would go to any lengths for the privilege of being photographed by the good-looking, brilliantly talented and ultra-fashionable portrait photographer Leslie Searle. But what was such a gifted creature doing in such an English village backwater as Salcott St Mary? And why -- and how -- did he disappear? If a crime had been committed, was it murder?fraud?or simply some macabre practical joke? --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Press; Large type edition edition (July 18, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851193366
• ISBN-13: 978-0851193366
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,098,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Josephine Tey is one of the best-known and best-loved of all crime writers. She began to write full-time after the successful publication of her first novel, The Man in the Queue (1929), which introduced Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard. In 1937 she returned to crime writing with A Shilling for Candles, but it wasn't until after the Second World War that the majority of her crime novels were published. Josephine Tey died in 1952, leaving her entire estate to the National Trust.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of her best, July 23, 2006

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Love and Be Wise (Paperback)

Of the 7 (she wrote 8) of her "mysteries" that I've now read, this is IMHO one of the best. It's not as good as the fantastic "Daughter of Time" but in a class with (but maybe not quite as good as) "Brat Farrar." It's much better than "A Shilling of Candles." Essentially, if you read Tey mysteries in the order written, you will see her getting better and better. As many have written, it's a shame we don't get to see what she might have written had she lived longer. As one of her later novels, this one includes several familiar characters: Inspector Grant (the protagonist), Marta Hallard (whose character is greatly rounded out herein), Jammy Hopkins (a cameo so to speak), & Grant's favorite Sgt., Williams. The book includes considerable humor and funny dialog as well as some lovely or interesting phrasing: "It is very dreadful being suspended from a spider's thread," "So disheartening for a woman, don't you feel, to be weighed against a rabbit, and to know that she will inevitably be found wanting," "One of the secrets of a successful life is to know how to be a little profitably crazy." It's the only one so far that gives the reader even a ghost of a chance to guess the ending--though it's almost impossible here too. The ending is reasonable but hardly likely. One does wonder about Grant's dearth of romance considering the appearance of several women to whom he seems attracted. Not Tey's forte apparently. Still, this is a fine mystery novel, not dated, but comparable to some of the better ones being produced today.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable mystery, October 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: To Love and Be Wise (Paperback)

This is one of Josephine Tey's lesser known mysteries. "Daughter of Time" and "The Franchise Affiar" are, perhaps better known. This novel is in the Inspector Grant series and concerns the disappearance of a young man whom Grant had met briefly at a party.

The writing and atmosphere of this novel are both excellent. Unlike some other Tey novels, I enjoyed this one more for the characters and setting, rather than plotting. Tey has a fine ear for dialogue and humor and Grant is a pleasure to go detecting with.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is is possible to love and be wise?, May 24, 2009

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Love and Be Wise (Paperback)

TO LOVE AND BE WISE is one of the best of the eight novels of Josephine Tey. The reader will be confused along with Inspector Alan Grant until the very last as to what happen to Leslie Searle.

Insp. Grant met Ms. Searle very briefly at a London party and thought no more about him until he was sent to Salcott St. Mary to investigate the drowning of the young man who had been visiting the home of a beloved radio commentator.

This one will have you back tracking to check to see if you've missed a clue unknown to Insp. Grant.

Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and QUALIFYING LAPS.

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