Elinor Nauen

I was having one of those thrashy days where I couldn't settle down to anything. I needed a book with snow in it. I searched for "snow" "winter" "cold" and maybe even "Christmas." After rejecting a couple of horrible soft-porn romances, I lit on Nicola Upson's Secrets of Winter. What a treat! I'd never heard of her or her series about Josephine Tey but this one was great. Tey-the-character is the writer, whose detective friend is the model for Tey-the-writer's Alan Grant. Secrets of Winter was full of beautifully described snow & an elaborate but fun plot. I have since read the first in the series, which was a bit macabre for my taste but I do plan to try at least a couple more.  

Best known for The Daughter of Time, a defense of Richard III, Tey's mysteries are a great pleasure. When I come upon a line like "the yelling crowd asparagus-packed into the long Georgian room," I know I'm going to have fun.

Josephine Tey's funeral was held the day I was born.  Read More