Customer Reviews

A Shilling for Candles

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A popular actress/singer's body is found on the beach. At first it is believed to be an accidental drowning, but soon it becomes apparent that this is murder. The novel begins well, and there are some interesting characters, but then it begins to go downhill. Instead of vintage Tey, we seem to have an Agatha Christie plot, and not the best Christie.

There are red herrings galore, a false arrest, 2 escapes, supernatural overtones, and then an unexpected, unprepared for, and totally implausible ending. That the guilty one would have and could have perpetrated the crime in the manner indicated is just beyond belief. The author even has to make her turn out to be insane to create a strong enough motive--no, not nearly strong enough actually.

If you want to read excellent Josephine Tey, try BRAT FARRAR or THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR. This one just isn't up to her later standards.

"The last legacy of all read, 'To my brother Herbert, a shilling for candles.'"
- from the last will and testament of Christine Clay, herein

The unusual title comes from a still more unusual clause in the last will and testament of superstar actress Christine Clay - an enigmatic legacy to her estranged brother. Clay worked her way up from nothing, with a mother who spoiled her brother rotten while having all kinds of excuses why Christine couldn't have proper schooling. Christine managed to escape to the life of the stage; her rise was so rapid that when she married a wealthy man with a title, she was considered to have made a catch, but within a couple of years *he* was thought of as 'Christine Clay's husband'. (Her background, gradually uncovered by police investigation, is enough to support a story in itself.) Now she has been found drowned at the lonely seaside place she was visiting incognito, and a youngster who seems like a stereotypical victim of circumstances is on the run, suspected of her murder for what seems like an inadequate motive. And given the brilliance of Christine Clay's shining star, why was she alone on holiday, with neither a court of hangers-on nor her husband?

Grant carries part of the story's action during his investigation, but Tey isn't shackled to a stylistic formula. Erica, the local Chief Constable's 16-year-old daughter, wades in where angels fear to tread, and generally assists Robin Tisdall, one of the chief suspects, to stay out of police custody while the police try to find out how Christine died. (This last provides an excuse for several mildly entertaining bit-part characters to appear, so I can live with it in the name of entertainment.)

A few too many plots getting in the way of the story, and could've used better editing to work as a book. I think it works better as a performance on the audio edition than it does on the page. As always when Stephen Thorne is the reader, the audio edition is performed well.

Elizabeth Mackintosh ("Josephine Tey" was a pseudonym) was primarily a playwright; she only produced 8 mystery novels altogether, 7 featuring Grant. Incidentally, she used yet another pseudonym, "Gordon Daviot", as both a playwright and for the original publication of many of her books. A SHILLING FOR CANDLES (1936) was Mackintosh's 2nd mystery novel, with an emphasis on 'novel' rather than 'who done it?' Tey isn't particularly interested in playing fair with the reader here, but I personally can live with that since the book works as a story. (I've taken off points for it, and for some issues with the story construction, but on the whole it's enjoyable, so the audio edition is worth having.)

Tey is a brilliant writer of character studies, with her strength lying in her portrayals of younger women and girls. Unlike her later mysteries though, "Candles" has one of the weakest endings in the entire genre of mystery writing. Still, the characters are so brilliantly drawn, it is just plain fun to read about them. After the first five chapters, the mystery becomes immaterial though. For stronger mystery writing, Tey's 'Brat Farrar' or 'Daughter of Time' would be the ones to read. 'A Shilling for Candles' would come at the bottom of the Tey listing, I'm afraid.

As an audio book, this is a great production. As a mystery, this was a disappointment. How convenient that people stumble onto critical clues, characters and evidence. It's as if all of England were no more than four acres large. I am still wondering what the motive of the killer was; the ending was abrubt and nonsensical. Please read "A Daughter of Time" if you want to experience Tey's best work.

Brief and gentlemanly, Tey's 'Shilling' comes in the middle of the pack of Tey offerings. She's enjoying something of a rennaisance these days--most of her novels seem ahead of their time, and one can't help but picture a youthful PD James consuming them, with visions of a future Dalgleish in her head. If you enjoy leisurely mysteries with much more class than pace, you'll enjoy Tey.

There is a dead body. Where is her car? Why is she swimming alone? It seems her body is expensively cared for. A young man appears on the scene, weeping. It seems that he had taken her car.

The name of the drowned woman is Christine Clay. Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard is called to the scene by a worried constabulary. The young man, Robin Stannaway or Robert Tisdall, the name had been changed to Tisdall to please a relative, stayed with Chris. She had picked him up when hitchhiking, saying that she was alone. The boy clearly has charm. Grant and others determine that it is probable murder.

The book suffers from having the most likeable characters mainly off-stage or dead. In other respects, of course, it is wonderful, given that Josephine Tey was one of the best people writing in the genre.

Josephine Tey is a member of the Golden Age of Mysteries. A SHILLING FOR CANDLES does not have the special Tey touch in the plot, but kicks you with a surprise ending that lacks development.
After all the plodding around with dead ends, several likely suspects the conclusion arrive in much to swift a manner. It is as if she got tired of the story and wrapped it up to get on with something else.
Vintage Tey, even on the downside is a good read, just to one for a good night's sleep.
Nash Black, author whose books are available in Kindle editions.HaintsWriting as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers

This is a superb, atmospheric British mystery and cosy murder story.

A naiive young man spends a few days with an anonomous, but rich and beautiful, female benefactor at her country cottage until he is accused of her murder after she's found dead by the seaside.

Inspector Grant, of Scotland Yard, feels the additional pressure of the investigation when it's discovered that the victim was Christine Clay, a renowned and popular actress and the wife of an English aristocrat. The investigation gets even more complicated when the young and adventurous daughter of Inspector Grant's boss injects herself into helping to solve the crime.

While a manhunt ensues for the young suspect, who initially evades Grant's clutches, alternative suspects do not escape his shrewd eye and, from there, Tey weaves a masterful set of sub-plots into this very solid mystery. At one point, Inspector Grant gets side-tracked by pursuing a nefarious brother of the victim, a clear suspect, which nearly costs the former his life.

It is not likely that the reader will guess who the murderer is in this literary roller coaster ride. I put this one in Tey's Top Three mysteries, in which I also include "The Singing Sands" and "The Man in the Queue". Highly recommended!

This book bears the usual Tey earmarks--it's more story than mystery, the reader isn't given sufficient clues to solve the mystery, the language is sometimes a bit stilted, there are some (at least to me) obscure British expressions not understandable through the context, the main character Inspector Grant is considerably less than all-knowing, there are some annoying stereotypes (in this case Jews, in others foreigners in general), but the characterization of at least some of the characters is very fine. I've upgraded it to a 3 mostly because of the delightful character Erica. In this particular book, the ending is pulled out of a hat even more than Tey's usual ending. There are lots of red herrings too. Some were interesting--but not really explored very much--almost vignettes. The beginning of the novel seemed more like a play--and, of course, Tey was a playwright. Overall, it's just okay, nothing really special--not in a class with "Brat Farrar" or Tey's masterpiece, "Daughter of Time."

Josephine Tey is a marvellous mystery writer, but she does use the Golden Age formula. In this book there are actually three plot strands (one of which is a murder). In true "Golden Age" fashion we don't get the answer to any of the three until the end when the murderer is unmasked. Even though she uses the formula, it is apparent in this book anyway that she likes to flout the rules. It's that hint of the unexpected that makes her books such a treasure. And her titles!! They say so much in so few words.

In this book Inspector Grant is looking into the drowning death of a famous film star. There are no shortage of suspects, and there is so much extraneous information that he gets quite frustrated trying to unravel it. But he peseveres and discovers the murderer in the end.