Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson

By Tracy -


Release Date - April 2013

Nicola Upson
Harpercollins

Book Review by Bob Walch

The fourth novel in this series featuring mystery writer Josephine Tey joins the famed writer with another literary/film luminary, Alfred Hitchcock. It is Tey’s fortieth birthday and she is celebrating at the village of Portmeirion, Wales. The famed director is up to his old tricks. He loves playing practical jokes, but the murder of an actress and some other individuals casts a solemn pall over the festivities.

Chief Inspector Archie Penrose, who is present for the Tey celebration, investigates but pretty much draws a blank. 
 
Flash forward 18 years and Penrose discovers that three women have been murdered on the Hollywood set of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. There’s a connection, quite obviously, to the previous crimes in Wales and it’s up to Penrose and Tey to sort everything out to make sure justice is served in this case that spans a two different time periods.

If you delight in clever British period mysteries that take time to develop and feature a cast of eccentric characters, this well plotted whodunit will be much to your liking. Nicola Upson took a risk making a real life, legendary crime writer the central figure here but she’s done a fine job resurrecting this grande dame of the Golden Age of detective fiction.

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