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Book Summary and Reviews of The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson

The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson

The Death of Lucy Kyte

A New Mystery Featuring Josephine Tey (Josephine Tey Mysteries)

by Nicola Upson

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  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Jun 2014, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In this atmospheric, intriguing historical mystery brimming with psychological tension, an unexpected inheritance plunges beloved British mystery author Josephine Tey into a disturbing puzzle of dark secrets eerily connecting the present and the past.

When Josephine Tey unexpectedly inherits Red Barn Cottage from her estranged godmother, the will stipulates that she must personally claim the house in the Suffolk countryside. But Josephine is not the only benefactor - a woman named Lucy Kyte is also in Hester's will.

Sorting through the artifacts of her godmother's life, Josephine is intrigued by an infamous death committed on the cottage's grounds a century before. Yet this old crime - dubbed the Red Barn murder - still seems to haunt the tight-knit village and its remote inhabitants. Is it just superstition, or is there a very real threat that is frightening the locals? Could the truth be related to the mysterious Lucy Kyte, who no one in the village admits to knowing?

With a palpable sense of evil thickening around her, Josephine must untangle historic tragedy from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle from beginning once more.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Upson lays out the suspicious events gradually, but amply rewards her readers' patience with a satisfying resolution that feels true to life rather than pat." - Publishers Weekly

"For more patient readers, the contemplative tone and historical detail yield their own rewards, along with a couple of clever surprises. " - Kirkus

"A worthy addition to this intriguing series starring a real-life mystery writer and set in between-the-wars England." - Booklist

This information about The Death of Lucy Kyte was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Beckyh

The Death of Lucy Kyte
Josephine Tey is one of my favorite authors so when I discovered that another author was writing using Ms. Tey as her protagonist I was intrigued. In this outing Josephine inherits a cottage in a village still under the influence of a murder that occurred in that same cottage many years ago.

Surprisingly the will that grants Josephine the cottage contains an enigmatic bequest to Lucy Kyte who “may take whatever she wants” from the cottage.
THE DEATH OF LUCY KYTE is an engaging and convincing mystery on several levels. First – who is Lucy Kyte? No one will admit to knowing her – and this in a village of few persons who all know each other. Second – what does Lucy want? Related mysteries abound. The mysteries are all connected and satisfactorily resolved by book’s end.

The characters are clearly drawn. The plot is tightly woven and original. Altogether an enthralling book.

5 of 5 stars

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Author Information

Nicola Upson Author Biography

Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. She has worked in theatre and as a freelance journalist, and is the author of two non-fiction works and the recipient of an Escalator Award from the Arts Council England. Her debut novel, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey--one of the leading authors of Britain's age of crime-writing. Her research for the books has included many conversations with people who lived through the period and who knew Josephine Tey well, most notably Sir John Gielgud. The book was dramatised by BBC Scotland for Woman's Hour, and praised by PD James as marking "the arrival of a new and assured talent". Nicola lives with her partner in Cambridge and Cornwall.

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