Miss Pym Disposes (Hardcover)

by Josephine Tey (Author) "A bell clanged. Brazen, insistent, maddening..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Pym, Miss Lux, Miss Hodge (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
From mirth to mystery, the author does a better job with Miss Pym as an amused and amusing bystander at a girls' physical training college in England than as a psychologist-moralist-amateur criminologist. Miss Pym, a retired French teacher, has become famous overnight with her book that debunks psychology. A stay at a school where she has lectured gives Miss Pym a chance to apply her knowledge of human nature, to sleuth about in a killing, in turning up needed evidence. Good characterization of both students and their eccentric faculty makes this a fairly competent job but it is disappointing that the whole does not maintain the same quality as the first half of the book. Strictly feminine fare. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
The New YorkerTey's style and her knack for creating bizarre characters are among the best in the field.

The Saturday ReviewElegantly written, leisurely, amusing, penetrating with a thumping terminal surprise! --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Bentley Publishers (January 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837604478
• ISBN-13: 978-0837604473
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,344,464 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #43 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Tey, Josephine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally absorbing, fascinating characters: Great Mystery!, October 3, 2002

By	"lynkfri13" (Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Pym Disposes (Paperback)

~ ~ - ~ ~
I first read "Miss Pym Disposes" as a young teen, and was immediately swept away into the young woman's physical therapy training school she is visiting. The same happened in re-reading this book as an adult. I was swept away again on this wonderful journey.
~ ~ - ~ ~
Josephine Tey does an astounding job of immersing the reader in the lives, worries, fears, and doubts of the young women attending the school. When an "unlikable" girl is murdered, Miss Pym, and the reader have our eyes focused on all the other girls, wondering about their motives.
But just when you think you understand, the view shifts, and everything has to be reinterpreted.
~ ~ - ~ ~
This is a beautifully written, rich, complex, absorbing mystery. The author's ability to interest us in the lives and dreams of the main characters is phenomenal. You'll find yourself cheering for the girl who is a shy mouse, and resenting the slyness and pettiness of the young woman who becomes the victim.
~ ~ - ~ ~
The surprise ending is inspired. But this mystery's greatness doesn't rely only on a surprising plot twist. What carries us in fascination all through the book is the way the characters come to life. Reading the story, we feel allied with the "guest", Miss Pym, hoping to solve the mystery, but worrying how the outcome will affect the "heroes" that we've come to know and love.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and unsettling, July 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Miss Pym Disposes (Paperback)

The setting of this book (a girls' school) is more claustrophobic than many of Tey's other mysteries, but her exploration of human nature is no less deep. A sullen, unpopular girl is awarded a valuable scholarship, instead of the candidate favored by their classmates and teachers. When the former is found "accidentally" dead under suspicious circumstances, Miss Pym is drawn involuntarily into helping to solve the mystery. Her analysis of who could have done it -- psychologically as well as physically -- is fascinating and logical. And the conclusion is stunning: Miss Pym discovers that her own desire to do "the right thing" is not all that different from the murderer's motives, and the results were no less devastating. The basis of the mystery novel, as a genre, is moral -- find out and punish wrongdoing -- but this is morally complex and will leave you thinking. A winner.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Physician heal thyself, May 11, 2006

By	Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miss Pym Disposes (Paperback)

This is an enjoyable book, but it's not "Daughter of Time." It takes almost 2/3 of the entertainingly descriptive book to get to the mystery. One can guess the mystery, though clues are rare, but the author presents a double-whammy ending that blows you away. Unfortunately, it's a bit disturbing. The title is key to understanding Miss Pym, so-called expert on psychology. However, I think there's another explanation for her "action." After all, she could have acted again. So, to understand the book (whether this is what Tey meant or not), consider that individuals have styles of activity including: compromise, negotiation, directive, collaborative, & avoidance in varying measure. Usually one predominates. Seems to me that the last one predominates here. From a moral point of view (let alone legal), it also seems to me that the book demonstrates the risk of playing God. I don't think I like Miss Pym after all.