The Princes in the Tower (The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey)

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
Date:	11/10/06 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Based on the "Princes in the Tower" story

Disadvantages: None

Josephine Tey is a well known writer in the crime fiction field, although I have to admit this is the first of her books I have read. Her first book was written in 1929, but the majority of her books were published after the Second World War. As a contemporary of Agatha Christie, she does not seem to have maintained her fame; certainly her books are not easily available in High Street book shops or libraries. However, if this book is anything to go by, it is a shame. This story was an unexpected one; nevertheless, I was gripped from page one and will definitely be looking out for her books in the future.

The story
Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard has been injured during the course of duty and is hospitalised for the foreseeable future. Bored out of his mind, he spends days staring at the ceiling, unable to bring himself to read any of the fashionable books her friends bring in. Grant believes that he has the gift to tell a criminal by the expression in his face; so when a friend brings in a series of portraits, he is intrigued by one of Richard III, supposedly the murderer of his nephews, the Princes in the Tower, who stood in the way of his accession to the throne, yet does not look capable of such a foul deed.

His interest is further piqued when he begins research into the murders. The more he reads, the more he is convinced that Richard was wrongly accused of the murders of his nephews. Can Grant use modern forms of detection to find the answer to a crime committed five hundred years before? And if it wasn’t Richard, then who was responsible for the deaths of the two young boys?

The characters
To be honest, we find out very little about any of the characters in the book. The whole premise of the book is the story. Luckily, this is more than strong enough to make up for the lack of character development.

Conclusion
I have always been interested in the story of Richard III and his nephews and I was aware that there is controversy about the truth of the story. Although this is fiction and cannot be taken as the truth (although it is at least based on historical theories), I found it totally intriguing and have been encouraged to read more works, fictional and otherwise, on Richard.

The development of the book was excellent, because we follow the story as it unfolds before Inspector Grant. First, we find out the supposed truth; that Richard III was an evil man who was determined to become King of England and swept all barriers to his dream out of the way. Then, as Grant works his way through the historical volumes that he can lay his hands on, he finds that there are many other theories as to the truth, some seemingly more likely to be true than the traditional version. This drip-feeding of facts were what made the book so very readable and I found it very difficult to put the book down. It did slow down a little towards the end, but as the book wasn’t very lengthy anyway, this didn’t matter too much.

I’m not generally a fan of crime fiction that is based on crimes that took place many years before. I’ve read several about Jack the Ripper and the fact that nothing can really be proved is irritating. However, in this case, the fact that the conclusion to the story may not be the correct one didn’t make the book any less enjoyable. Josephine Tey’s writing is fresh and inspiring, despite the fact that the language is sometimes a little old-fashioned, which was an added bonus to a story that has fascinated many for centuries.

One thing that would have made the book easier to read is a family tree. At times, it was difficult to follow the names of Richard’s many relations, especially because many of them had the same names. Apparently some versions do have this; unfortunately the one I had didn’t.

I really do recommend this book. I’m giving it four stars because of the lack of character development and the fact that the story isn’t exactly an original one, but it was still a cracking good read. The fact that it has inspired me to want to read more about that period of history is also a bonus.

The book is available from play.com for £5.49. Published by Arrow Books, it has 224 pages. ISBN: 0099430967

Summary: Fascinating reading based on historical fact