A Shilling For Candles

tags: Josephine Tey, mystery

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

From Goodreads

A woman's body lay limp on the beach. And while the waves lapped gently at her scarlet-tipped toes, twisted in her hair was an article which screamed murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case would become a nightmare of too many clues and too many motives. For the woman was the famous screen actress, Christine Clay. And the world was full of people who wanted her dead.

 I revisited my Josephine Tey Kindle collection of novels for lack of books to read. I was pleasantly surprised I liked this one published in 1939, the second novel featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. I didn't like him in the novel The Daughter Of Time. I will read the rest of the novels in the collection soon.

IMHO, Josephine Tey wrote a great mystery story and I liked her humor also, but I am still not convinced that her Alan Grant hero is a likeable character.  I find him slow and lacks oomph. But it's just me. 

Recommended for mystery novel readers.

The Pale Blue Eye

tags: gothic, historical fiction, mystery 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart.

Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.

This book was recommended to me when it came out many years ago but I didn't read it because I was disappointed in some books with fictional version of real people *cough* The Alienist*cough*.  After watching the Netflix movie based on this book, I immediately borrowed and devoured the book in 2 days. 

The movie is mostly accurate and some of the dialogue are lifted from the book almost word for word. My only regret is I should have read the book first to know if I would miss the early clues scattered here and there, beginning at around page 50. Maybe I noticed them because I already know the outcome. 

Knowing the ending did not lessen my enjoyment of the book because the parts with Edgar Allan Poe are the highlights of the novel as well as the movie. The book is so much better IMHO and there are many parts from the book that are altered for the movie. Both are highly recommended.

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