To Love and Be Wise

TO LOVE AND BE WISE is one of the best of the eight novels of Josephine Tey. The reader will be confused along with Inspector Alan Grant until the very last as to what happen to Leslie Searle. Insp. Grant met Ms. Searle very briefly at a London party and thought no more about him until he was sent to Salcott St. Mary to investigate the drowning of the young man who had been visiting the home of a beloved radio commentator. This one will have you back tracking to check to see if you've missed a clue unknown to Insp. Grant. Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and QUALIFYING LAPS. Writing as a Small BusinessHaintsThe Bluegrass Dream: A Wilderness Adventure of Early Settlers

Of the 7 (she wrote 8) of her "mysteries" that I've now read, this is IMHO one of the best. It's not as good as the fantastic "Daughter of Time" but in a class with (but maybe not quite as good as) "Brat Farrar." It's much better than "A Shilling of Candles." Essentially, if you read Tey mysteries in the order written, you will see her getting better and better. As many have written, it's a shame we don't get to see what she might have written had she lived longer. As one of her later novels, this one includes several familiar characters: Inspector Grant (the protagonist), Marta Hallard (whose character is greatly rounded out herein), Jammy Hopkins (a cameo so to speak), & Grant's favorite Sgt., Williams. The book includes considerable humor and funny dialog as well as some lovely or interesting phrasing: "It is very dreadful being suspended from a spider's thread," "So disheartening for a woman, don't you feel, to be weighed against a rabbit, and to know that she will inevitably be found wanting," "One of the secrets of a successful life is to know how to be a little profitably crazy." It's the only one so far that gives the reader even a ghost of a chance to guess the ending--though it's almost impossible here too. The ending is reasonable but hardly likely. One does wonder about Grant's dearth of romance considering the appearance of several women to whom he seems attracted. Not Tey's forte apparently. Still, this is a fine mystery novel, not dated, but comparable to some of the better ones being produced today.

Marta Hallard is an actress, Alan Grant a Detective-Superintendent at Scotland Yard. Grant is useful as an escort. Leslie Searle, an American and a photographer, is invited to spend the weekend at Salcott St. Mary at the home of Lavinia Fitch and Walter Whitmore and other family members. Leslie Searle seems to be famous. Lavinia's sister, Emma, dislikes him. Emma's daughter Liz, secretary to her Aunt Lavinia, likes him very much. Toby Tullis, an actor, has a place in Salcott. He is so famous he is surprised that Searle has never heard of him. Perhaps Searle, who photographs celebrities, is having him on. Walter and Searle decide to do a book together. Walter is a broadcaster for the BBC. His trademark is an unself-conscious friendliness. Liz is engaged to Walter. Lavinia feels a wrongness and a fascination with Searle. Liz is clearly fascinated. The book plan is for Walter to do the text and for Searle to provide the illustrations. It is to be a portrait of a particular river its entire length, from the source to the sea. The pair intends to use a canoe. The work is to have the title CANOES ON THE RUSHMERE. At the start they are to sleep in a cave. Five days later they walk into the pub, the Swan, where they usually drank. The men seemed to have been having a personal discussion and none of the others ventured to their area. Afterwards Searle said that Walter left in order to avoid throttling him. Searle disappears. Alan Grant arrives to question the BBC commentator, Walter Whitmore. He reported the disappearance the morning following the evening at the pub. Grant thinks the disppearance has an aspect of the sawn lady about it. Grant asks Walter if Searle is the person he purports to be, a photographer of celebrities. Perhaps Searle lost his way in the dark and fell into the river. The room Searle occupied is devoid of atmosphere. Walter Whitmore seems to be deteriorating, visibly. The press has reached him. Grant's friend Marta functions as a sounding board. The next development is that Searle's shoe is discovered. The solution to the mystery is another instance of Josephine Tey's (Elizabeth McKintosh's) resourceful use of an identity theme.

This is one of Josephine Tey's lesser known mysteries. "Daughter of Time" and "The Franchise Affiar" are, perhaps better known. This novel is in the Inspector Grant series and concerns the disappearance of a young man whom Grant had met briefly at a party.The writing and atmosphere of this novel are both excellent. Unlike some other Tey novels, I enjoyed this one more for the characters and setting, rather than plotting. Tey has a fine ear for dialogue and humor and Grant is a pleasure to go detecting with.