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The Man in the Queue (Inspector Alan Grant, #1)

Josephine Tey

Start date: June 1, 2016

Finish date: June 30, 2016

Discussion: Group reads

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What Members Thought

Jan 01, 2012 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, london, 1901-1950, scotland

After a long absence, Alan Grant returns to my life. (Which is a different way of saying "I haven't read this in a long time".) It's obvious that Josephine Tey didn't originally intend to write mystery novels: not to in any way belittle mystery novels, which I love, but there is an intelligent uniqueness to her story and her writing that is a pure joy, an approach to the task which is fresh and unique.

Alan Grant is … lovely.

A friend noted in her recent review of a different edition that she After a long absence, Alan Grant returns to my life. (Which is a different way of saying "I haven't read this in a long time".) It's obvious that Josephine Tey didn't originally intend to write mystery novels: not to in any way belittle mystery novels, which I love, but there is an intelligent uniqueness to her story and her writing that is a pure joy, an approach to the task which is fresh and unique.

Alan Grant is … lovely.

A friend noted in her recent review of a different edition that she was made a bit uneasy by the oft-repeated word "dago". I decided to read this on the spur of the moment, and a little ways in remembered that part of the discussion that followed her review, and was a little surprised that I had not encountered the epithet. Before long, Alan Grant dubs the mysterious suspect "the Levantine" – and a minute later I started wondering if that was where "dago" used to be; I questioned it because it didn't seem to mean the same thing. By the time I finished the book and realized that "dago" had never appeared, it was clear that at some point a more politically correct edit had taken place. Unfortunately the edit was more politically than typographically correct – there were a number of spelling errors. It also wasn't terribly correct topographically, as the Levant consists of "The countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt", which I think would be a much different sort of complexion than the descriptions of our lad imply.

It's a lovely, gorgeously written story, this, and I'm glad that the casual racism of another time has been erased (though I'm interested in the mechanics of that). It isn't so much a Whodunnit, in which the reader can follow along and figure out who the killer is – I'm fairly sure that's impossible, as the story is written. But it is a terrific Howdunnit, as well as a terrific Howsolvdit – a portrait of a very good and unique detective doggedly following up any thread to find answers to who had the opportunity (and means, and motive) to stab The Man in the Queue. It's a psychological study, in a way – how people (or at least 1920's Londoners) can be standing in line in front of or behind or nearby someone who is murdered, and never see a thing; the mindset of a very intelligent detective relentlessly hunting his suspect, and how that changes when the suspect becomes a man to him; the mindset of the hunted man, whose friend is dead, whether he was the one who killed him or not.

I can't think of another detective – perhaps not even another fictional character – quite like Alan Grant. He is thoughtful, insightful, brilliant, and could have been anything – and has chosen to take his "flair" into the field of homicide investigation. It's not quite fair to the poor killers (which is as it should be). His thought processes are clearly illustrated, and it's a pleasure to follow them. It's also a pleasure that, while he's clearly more intelligent than his colleagues, they aren't idiots – the police are uniformly (pardon the pun) depicted as sharp and hard-working. Nice for a change.

(Reading "Ray Marcable" did not make an impact for a chapter or so, and then I let it sound in my head – and groaned. She wouldn't … Oh. She would. But surely the British Theatah wouldn't / didn't…? I mean, that's just awful.)
...more

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Dec 25, 2018 Susan in NC rated it liked it · review of another edition

I listened to the audiobook and read the ebook off and on over a couple weeks- I found Tey’s writing enjoyable, but I didn’t feel pulled back to the book, never a good sign.

I wanted to catch up with the Reading the Detectives group on the Inspector Grant series, and I like reading series in order, so I will continue on. I enjoyed seeing Grant put the massive machinery of Scotland Yard in motion after a man is found stabbed in a line of theater-goers, but the ending was a bit coincidental for me, ...more

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Sep 14, 2021 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, audio, theatah, scribd

If I were ever going to give a book by Josephine Tey less than five stars, it would probably be now. I won't - that's a ridiculous notion - but ... The almost innocent racism, the misanthropy and contempt for the obese ((view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Becky rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018reviews, 2018goodrule-old

First sentence: IT was between seven and eight o'clock on a March evening, and all over London the bars were being drawn back from pit and gallery doors. Bang, thud, and clank. Grim sounds to preface an evening's amusement.

Premise/plot: Some murder mysteries make you wait for the murder to occur. That is not the case with Josephine Tey's The Man in the Queue. In the first chapter, the body is discovered. As the line--the queue--moves forward, a man collapses to the ground: he's dead. He was murd ...more

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Feb 19, 2021 Nanosynergy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-espionage, series, fiction, british, fiction-1920s, 2021read

First in the Josephine Tey Inspector Grant series (1929). Uneven writing, but some nice characterizations and overall story. Painful amount of racism and stereotyping that was likely the norm of the time. Book talked about a "race train" - something I've never heard about before. Appears to have been a train that took you to the horse races, but not much found in my Google searches. If someone has more info on what a 'race train' was, post in comments. ...more

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Nov 27, 2021 Laurie rated it it was ok

I loved the first book I read by Josephine Tey (The Franchise Affair), but I didn’t like this one very much at all. I found it convoluted and confusing, awkwardly paced, and the twist ending came out of nowhere and made no logical or emotional sense with what came before it.

But what I really hated about this book is that Alan Grant is such a bad detective. Throughout this mystery, nearly all of the advances he makes, including solving it at the end, are either an unlikely lucky accident or the w ...more

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Feb 21, 2019 Laura Anne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, british-isles

Well-written; and while I liked the opening scenes and the chase scenes in the latter third, the middle was a slog. Moreover, the lead detective's case hinges on coincidences and racial profiling. (view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Jenn Estepp rated it liked it

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes

certainly not my favorite tey, but solid enough and a nice experience from the academic standpoint. i do look forward into delving into the other novels that feature grant.

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