Miss Pym Disposes

This is an enjoyable book, but it's not "Daughter of Time." It takes almost 2/3 of the entertainingly descriptive book to get to the mystery. One can guess the mystery, though clues are rare, but the author presents a double-whammy ending that blows you away. Unfortunately, it's a bit disturbing. The title is key to understanding Miss Pym, so-called expert on psychology. However, I think there's another explanation for her "action." After all, she could have acted again. So, to understand the book (whether this is what Tey meant or not), consider that individuals have styles of activity including: compromise, negotiation, directive, collaborative, & avoidance in varying measure. Usually one predominates. Seems to me that the last one predominates here. From a moral point of view (let alone legal), it also seems to me that the book demonstrates the risk of playing God. I don't think I like Miss Pym after all.

~ ~ - ~ ~ I first read "Miss Pym Disposes" as a young teen, and was immediately swept away into the young woman's physical therapy training school she is visiting. The same happened in re-reading this book as an adult. I was swept away again on this wonderful journey.~ ~ - ~ ~ Josephine Tey does an astounding job of immersing the reader in the lives, worries, fears, and doubts of the young women attending the school. When an "unlikable" girl is murdered, Miss Pym, and the reader have our eyes focused on all the other girls, wondering about their motives.But just when you think you understand, the view shifts, and everything has to be reinterpreted.~ ~ - ~ ~ This is a beautifully written, rich, complex, absorbing mystery. The author's ability to interest us in the lives and dreams of the main characters is phenomenal. You'll find yourself cheering for the girl who is a shy mouse, and resenting the slyness and pettiness of the young woman who becomes the victim.~ ~ - ~ ~ The surprise ending is inspired. But this mystery's greatness doesn't rely only on a surprising plot twist. What carries us in fascination all through the book is the way the characters come to life. Reading the story, we feel allied with the "guest", Miss Pym, hoping to solve the mystery, but worrying how the outcome will affect the "heroes" that we've come to know and love.

Not really a member of the mystery genre, Miss Pym Disposes nevertheless keeps you fascinated. Her characters are complete and rich, and her setting descriptions create a true mental ambience. I agree with the previous reviewer who said the ending was a little weak. But I would have loved to know more about Miss Pym and Alan, wouldn't you?

I first read "Brat Farrar" when I was about 14 years of age. Over the 20 years since then I have read all of Josephine Tey's other books, most recently, "Miss Pym Disposes".If you have not read her other works, my advice is not to start with this one. Having said that, it is well worth reading. Her ability to create exactly the right atmosphere is amazing, definitely one of those "I cant put this down until I finish it" experiences. However, to my mind, the ending is just "wrong" - I cant say more than that without giving it away - hence the four stars instead of five.

The setting of this book (a girls' school) is more claustrophobic than many of Tey's other mysteries, but her exploration of human nature is no less deep. A sullen, unpopular girl is awarded a valuable scholarship, instead of the candidate favored by their classmates and teachers. When the former is found "accidentally" dead under suspicious circumstances, Miss Pym is drawn involuntarily into helping to solve the mystery. Her analysis of who could have done it -- psychologically as well as physically -- is fascinating and logical. And the conclusion is stunning: Miss Pym discovers that her own desire to do "the right thing" is not all that different from the murderer's motives, and the results were no less devastating. The basis of the mystery novel, as a genre, is moral -- find out and punish wrongdoing -- but this is morally complex and will leave you thinking. A winner.