Two for Sorrow – Nicola Upson

Read as part U of the “Along the Library Shelf” reading journey

Chosen because

Very limited choice for U, but this looked a meaty crime thriller with one or two unusual features.

The Review

As the book opens in 1930’s London, Josephine Tey, an author, is drafting chapters for her latest book, not her usual detective novel but an account of a real crime from 30 years previous involving some notorious ‘baby farmers’ and the impact on those who were present at their execution in Holloway Gaol.

At the same time she is, rather reluctantly, caught up in the glamorous whirl of London society, for her centred on the splendid Cowdrey Club which provides a pied-a-terre for independent, professional women such as her and also supports the adjacent college of nursing.

Conveniently for a crime writer she is pally with Inspector Penrose of the Yard; he clearly holds a torch for her, as do a couple of her lady friends, but she’s keeping all (and I mean all) her options open. In the meantime it’s all very genteel with afternoon tea, visits to the theatre and dress fittings for a gala ball at the club, until a shockingly contrasting crime is perpetrated and Penrose’s investigations unearth a possible connection to Tey’s work in progress.

Is it just coincidence (unlikely) or is the aftershock of the 30-year-old crime still reverberating a generation later? Penrose does the detecting while Josephine’s concern is sorting out her own personal life.

It’s a clever, pleasingly complex, crime novel given depth by the inclusion of accurate period detail (the baby farmers, the execution, the Cowdray Club and even Josephine Tey all existed as portrayed). Upson unpicks her tangled threads with a nicely paced precision, punctuated with occasional, unexpected, intrusions of violence and passion, to arrive at a satisfying ending not without a surprise or two along the way.

Read another?

This is the third book featuring crime novelist Josephine Tey’s adventures, and frequent references in this book to past events has made me curious for the full back story; and there is nothing in this one to put me off seeking out ‘An Expert in Murder’ or ‘Angel with Two faces’.