A Shilling for Candles (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It was a little after seven on a summer morning, and William Potticary was taking his accustomed way over the short down grass of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: shilling for candles, evening things, griddle cakes, Christine Clay, Herbert Gotobed, Lord Edward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A woman's body is found on the English seacoast, and twisted in her hair is an article screaming murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case becomes a nightmare, as too many clues and too many motives arise.

From AudioFile

Josephine Tey's murder mysteries are gems of the genre, and Stephen Thorne is as good a reader as Tey is a writer. When a beautiful film star turns up drowned, Tey's Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard must sort through an array of British types that include seen-it-all actors; a brilliant and eccentric girl-child; a chief suspect of such charm that no one, including the Inspector, believes him guilty; a society astrologer; and any number of pushy tabloid reporters. Thorne renders these characters with wonderful wit and skill. B.G. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1st Scribner Paperback Fiction Ed edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684842386
• ISBN-13: 978-0684842387
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #261,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mediocre mystery., August 19, 2001

By	Leonard L. Wilson (Springfield, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Loose Change, August 26, 1998

By	Daniel Robuck (Campbell, CA) - See all my reviews

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fallen star, drowned at sea, May 25, 2005

By	Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Shilling for Candles: An Inspector Alan Grant Mystery (Audio Cassette)

"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.)