Josephine Tey

Author profile

born

in Inverness, Scotland, The United Kingdom

July 25, 1896

died

February 13, 1952

gender

female

website

http://www.r3.org/fiction/mysteries/tey_butler....

genre

Mystery & Thrillers, History, Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Josephine Tey was a pseudonym of Elizabeth Mackintosh. Josephine was her mother's first name and Tey the surname of an English Grandmother. As Josephine Tey, she wrote six mystery novels featuring Scotland Yard's Inspector Alan Grant.

The first of these, 'The Man in the Queue' (1929) was published under the pseudonym of Gordon Daviot, whose name also appears on the title page of another of her 1929 novels, 'Kit An Unvarnished History'. She also used the Daviot by-line for a biography of the 17th century cavalry leader John Graham, which was entitled 'Claverhouse' (1937).

Mackintosh also wrote plays (both one act and full length), some of which were produced during her lifetime, under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot. The district of Daviot, near...more Josephine Tey was a pseudonym of Elizabeth Mackintosh. Josephine was her mother's first name and Tey the surname of an English Grandmother. As Josephine Tey, she wrote six mystery novels featuring Scotland Yard's Inspector Alan Grant.

The first of these, 'The Man in the Queue' (1929) was published under the pseudonym of Gordon Daviot, whose name also appears on the title page of another of her 1929 novels, 'Kit An Unvarnished History'. She also used the Daviot by-line for a biography of the 17th century cavalry leader John Graham, which was entitled 'Claverhouse' (1937).

Mackintosh also wrote plays (both one act and full length), some of which were produced during her lifetime, under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot. The district of Daviot, near her home of Inverness in Scotland, was a location her family had vacationed. The name Gordon does not appear in either her family or her history.

Elizabeth Mackintosh came of age during World War I, attending Anstey Physical Training College in Birmingham, England during the years 1915-1918. Upon graduation, she became a physical training instructor for eight years. In 1926, her mother died and she returned home to Inverness to care for her invalid father. Busy with household duties, she turned to writing as a diversion, and was successful in creating a second career.

Alfred Hitchcock filmed one of her novels, 'A Shilling for Candles' (1936) as 'Young and Innocent' in 1937 and two other of her novels have been made into films, 'The Franchise Affair' (1948), filmed in 1950, and 'Brat Farrar' (1949), filmed as 'Paranoiac' in 1963. In addition a number of her works have been dramatised for radio.

Her novel 'The Daughter of Time' (1951) was voted the greatest mystery novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association in 1990.

Miss Mackintosh never married, and died at the age of 55, in London. A shy woman, she is reported to have been somewhat of a mystery even to her intimate friends. While her death seems to have been a surprise, there is some indication she may have known she was fatally ill for some time prior to her passing.(less)

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Josephine Tey's Books

Average rating: 3.96 · 21,393 ratings · 2,170 reviews · 17 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 8,427 ratings — published 1951 — 64 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Man in the Queue 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 2,618 ratings — published 1929 — 31 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 2,358 ratings — published 1946 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 2,053 ratings — published 1936 — 32 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 2,008 ratings — published 1949 — 29 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 1,612 ratings — published 1948 — 33 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 1,181 ratings — published 1952 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction) 3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 906 ratings — published 1950 — 25 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Three By Tey: Miss Pym Disposes, The Franchise Affair, and Brat Farrar 4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1949 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Four, Five and Six 4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1951 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Josephine Tey…

Series by Josephine Tey

Inspector Alan Grant (6 books)
by Josephine Tey, Robert Barnard (Introduction)
3.954686197451471 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 16,794 ratings

Quotes by Josephine Tey

“The trouble with you, dear, is that you think an angel of the Lord as a creature with wings, whereas he is probably a scruffy little man with a bowler hat.”
― Josephine Tey, The Franchise Affair

16 people liked it

“If you think about the unthinkable long enough it becomes quite reasonable.”
― Josephine Tey

10 people liked it

“It's an odd thing but when you tell someone the true facts of a mythical tale they are indignant not with the teller but with you. They don't want to have their ideas upset. It rouses some vague uneasiness in them, I think, and they resent it. So they reject it and refuse to think about it. If they were merely indifferent it would be natural and understandable. But it is much stronger than that, much more positive. They are annoyed.

Very odd, isn't it.”
― Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time

10 people liked it

See all Josephine Tey's quotes »

Polls

Which book would you like to read for our November 1 - December 1 History group read?

The Greatest Knight The Story of William Marshal by Elizabeth Chadwick

14 votes, 38.9%

The Reluctant Queen The Story of Anne of York by Jean Plaidy

12 votes, 33.3%

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

6 votes, 16.7%

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

2 votes, 5.6%

Victoria Victorious The Story of Queen Victoria by Jean Plaidy

2 votes, 5.6%

36 total votes

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