Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson

 

Josephine Tey Mystery #8

350 pages

Blurb

Summer, 1915: a young woman falls to her death at Charleston Farmhouse on the Sussex Downs. But was it an accident?

Twenty years later, Josephine Tey is faced with the accusation that it was murder, and that she was complicit in the crime. Can she clear her name and uncover the truth, exposing the darkest secrets of that apparently idyllic summer?

 

Review                        

It’s been years since I last read a Josephine Tey mystery by Nicola Upson. I loved the first three when I discovered them and I’m not sure why I stopped reading them, but it was obviously a mistake. When I saw this latest title on the shelves in the library where I work, I picked it up immediately and that was a great decision.

The timeline in this story is spread out over 33 years with the first death happening in 1915 and the second in 1948 and involves a lot more than ‘just’ two suspicious deaths. And, as much as I love mysteries, especially well plotted ones like this, I have to admit that the secondary plot (if you can call it that) intrigued me more. I’ll get back to that.

In 1915 Josephine travels to the Sussex Downs to help supervising a group of schoolgirls who are spending their summer working on a farm run by Harriet and George, two women with a passion for horticulture and also for each other. The true nature of their relationship is a closely guarded secret, but when Josephine arrives on the farm, she soon recognises it for what it is, and she isn’t the only one. One of the girls has made an anonymous phone call to accuse the women in charge of Charleston Farmhouse of indecent behaviour. When that girl subsequently dies under suspicious circumstances, Josephine isn’t the only one suspecting foul play, but the subsequent inquest rules it death by misadventure, and that should have been the end of it.

Twenty years later a newspaper article brings the events from 1915 back to the fore while implying that the girl was murdered. and that Josephine is somehow implicated in the deed or the covering up thereof. Josephine wouldn’t be Josephine if she took the accusation lying down and it isn’t long before she’s investigating what really happened. Her quest reunites her with several people she hasn’t seen for in over twenty years and brings back memories of a special but also painful and confusing time of her life.

Which brings me to the sub-plot. The two women who own and run Charleston Farmhouse are in a relationship. They are very discrete because they know the world at large doesn’t approve but living in close quarters with a group of girls on the cups of adulthood means that their secret isn’t safe.

Josephine falls for and starts a relationship with Jeannie, a young woman her own age she meets in Sussex. As everything falls apart after the girl dies, Josephine experiences first-hand how the world feels about women who love women, and it pushes her to make a hurtful decision.

For me, that was the real story in this book. Since it also plays a huge role in the mystery and its resolution, you could call it the theme of this novel. How much are we willing to endure for love? How much are we willing to put at risk? Is love enough when the rest of the world turns its back to you? How far are we willing to go to protect those we love? In fact, book could just as easily have been called ‘The Things We Do for Love’. Because when pushed enough, love, in all its wonderous and obsessive forms, can make us do the most amazing and shocking things.

Long story short; Sorry for the Dead is a wonderful book containing a fascinating mystery and an equally interesting background story. Well plotted and a very smooth read, this story was a joy to read.