The Man in the Queue

by Josephine Tey

Overview

Inspector Alan Grant searches for the identity of a man killed in the line at a theater and for the identity of the killer-whom no one saw. A long line had formed for the standing-room-only section of the Woffington Theatre. London's favorite musical comedy of the past two years was finishing its run at the end of the week. Suddenly, the line began to move, forming a wedge before the open doors as hopeful theatergoers nudged their way forward. But one man, his head sunk down upon his chest, slowly sank to his knees and then, still more slowly, keeled over on his face. Thinking he had fainted, a spectator moved to help, but recoiled in horror from what lay before him: the man in the queue had a small silver dagger neatly plunged into his back. With the wit and guile that have made Inspector Grant a favorite of mystery fans, the inspector sets about discovering just how a murder occurred among so many witnesses, none of whom saw a thing.

Josephine Tey was a pseudonym used by Elizabeth Mackintosh, a Scottish author best known for her mystery novels. She also wrote as Gordon Daviot, under which name she wrote plays with an historical theme. In five of the mystery novels, all of which except the first she wrote under the name of Tey, the hero is Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. (Grant appears in a sixth, The Franchise Affair, as a minor character.) The most famous of these is The Daughter of Time, in which Grant, laid up in hospital, has friends research reference books and contemporary documents so that he can puzzle out the mystery of whether King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the Princes in the Tower. Grant comes to the firm conclusion that King Richard was totally innocent of the death of the Princes. In 1990, The Daughter of Time was selected by the British-based Crime Writers' Association as the greatest mystery novel of all time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781774649862
Publisher:	Rare Treasure Editions
Publication date:	02/01/2025
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
File size:	286 KB

About the Author

Josephine Tey was a pseudonym of Elizabeth Mackintosh. Josephine was her mother's first name and Tey the surname of an English Grandmother. As Josephine Tey, she wrote six mystery novels including Scotland Yard's Inspector Alan Grant.

The first of these, 'The Man in the Queue' (1929) was published under the pseudonym of Gordon Daviot , whose name also appears on the title page of another of her 1929 novels, 'Kit An Unvarnished History'. She also used the Daviot by-line for a biography of the 17th century cavalry leader John Graham, which was entitled 'Claverhouse' (1937).

Mackintosh also wrote plays (both one act and full length), some of which were produced during her lifetime, under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot. The district of Daviot, near her home of Inverness in Scotland, was a location her family had vacationed. The name Gordon does not appear in either her family or her history.

Elizabeth Mackintosh came of age during World War I, attending Anstey Physical Training College in Birmingham, England during the years 1915-1918. Upon graduation, she became a physical training instructor for eight years. In 1926, her mother died and she returned home to Inverness to care for her invalid father. Busy with household duties, she turned to writing as a diversion, and was successful in creating a second career.

Alfred Hitchcock filmed one of her novels, 'A Shilling for Candles' (1936) as 'Young and Innocent' in 1937 and two other of her novels have been made into films, 'The Franchise Affair' (1948), filmed in 1950, and 'Brat Farrar' (1949), filmed as 'Paranoiac' in 1963. In addition a number of her works have been dramatised for radio.

Her novel 'The Daughter of Time' (1951) was voted the greatest mystery novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990.

Miss Mackintosh never married, and died at the age of 55, in London. A shy woman, she is reported to have been somewhat of a mystery even to her intimate friends. While her death seems to have been a surprise, there is some indication she may have known she was fatally ill for some time prior to her passing.

Editorial Reviews

Inspector Alan Grant painstakingly, fascinatingly identifies the body, then chases suspects up to the Highlands of Scotland and all around the town.”

Daily Express

With his appealing baritone, Golden Voice Stefan Rudnicki draws listeners into this first outing of Inspector Alan Grant. An unidentified man is stabbed while waiting in a long line to see the final London performance of a popular musical comedy. Grant can't understand how none of the others in the queue saw anything. Nonetheless, he takes the few clues he has and begins his dogged investigation. Rudnicki's portrayals of Tey's characters work well. His voice demands attention, and his insights into both major and minor characters are first-rate. The book was first published in 1929, so Tey's Inspector Grant has no fancy forensics at his disposal. He solves the mystery just by employing intelligent detective work. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

MAY 2025 - AudioFile