≡ Read Gratis The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey Robert Barnard 9780684842561 Books

The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey Robert Barnard 9780684842561 Books

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The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey Robert Barnard 9780684842561 Books

This book offers an intriguing story, all the more intriguing because it is based on a real case from eighteenth-century Scotland. A teenage servant claims that she has been held against her will in the rural manor house of two elderly women. The home's owners, the mother and daughter Sharpe, cannot believe the charges, but they also have little ability to dispute them. Their lawyer, Robert Blair, seems to be the only person in the small town who believes in their innocence.

In this book Tey has produced an excellent mystery. I was certainly riveted to see how the story would resolve. Tey presents the Sharpes' case as if they are innocent, but as the plot progresses it becomes more and more difficult to see how they could possibly not be guilty. The servant, Betty Kane, appears to have absolutely disappeared during the week when she claims to have been held hostage. I couldn't wait to find out what had really happened to Betty, and this is a mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the end. It also highlights the vagaries of small-town life, and the sort of gothic horror that can come from an entire town turning against you.


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The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey Robert Barnard 9780684842561 Books Reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed this Josephine Tey story - reading breathlessly to see how everything would be brought to rights. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did find the ending fulfilling. The mystery was at last completely solved, but the very end left you delightfully uncertain about what would happen next - just as you had been the rest of the story. Knowing the protagonists, it's easy to come up with justifications for a variety of endings.

The story doesn't have the twistiness or the tightness of an Agatha Christie mystery, but it was still very interesting to see how she progressed through the story to the final denouement.
How can you protect your livelihood, your reputation, your assets against lies? The story is about how this eventually plays out with (not surprising for this vintage) character roles based on class, but also action based on values. The initial plot device of a well-devised lie which gains momentum in public communication is all too familiar.
I'm ashamed to say that I've never read Josephine Tey until now. Thanks to a list I stumbled across online (The Greatest Crime Novelists on Their Favorite Crime Novels Ever), I was intrigued by Louise Penney's description. The story unfolds so beautifully and the writing is remarkable in the way it conveys a sense of place and time. There are few joys in life that are better than pausing in the middle of a great novel to say to yourself, "God, I love this book!"
I was drawn to read Josephine Tey's work because she was identified by P.D. James as one of England's best mystery writers in her book, "About Detective Fiction." I chose The Franchise Affair because it was available on my .

The Franchise Affair is unusual in that there is no murder. Instead, a 15 year old local girl, Betty Kane, accuses Marion Sharpe and her mother of kidnapping, beating and holding her hostage in their home, The Franchise, for 30 days. Betty then escapes and calls the authorities. The Sharpe's deny even knowing Betty, let alone kidnapping her. Yet the girl gives a very accurate description of their attic which the authorities find credible. In addition, a local tabloid gets hold of the story and the Sharpe's become victims of harassment and destruction of their property.

The Sharpe's hire local lawyer, Robert Blair, to help them. Blair takes over the detecting reins when he become convinced Kane is lying. But why is she lying? What is she covering up? Blair sets out to find the truth and is determined to expose Kane as the liar he believes she is.

The characters are well developed and the plot is credible considering it was written after WW2 and there are no cell phone records, credit card receipts or forensic techniques yet available to prove or disprove a case. A very good read.
This isn't the most famous of Josephine Tey's mysteries, but it is perhaps the best. That's despite the fact that it is a mystery without a murder. Instead, the question is the truthfulness of a young girl, who swears that she was abducted by two women living in a lonely house, who kept her prisoner for three weeks until she was able to escape. The reader tends to doubt this, since we follow the story from the perspective of the lawyer for the two women, who is convinced of their innocence. But if Betty Kane wasn't being held prisoner, where was she? The mystery is engrossing, the characters interesting and convincing, and the writing delightful.

It should be noted that Ms. Tey's writing may offend some readers, indeed it has clearly offended at least one reviewer, who cites it as sexist and classist. It is, from the perspective of 2017 -- Ms. Tey clearly preferred the upper classes to the "lower orders", and some of the comments about Betty Kane are sexist. But this brings us to the issue of presentism these books were written in the 1950's, when such attitudes were very widespread. That doesn't make them right, but it does (for me at least) make it possible to ignore the attitudes I dislike, and read the book for the mystery and the characterization. Presentism does spoil some books for me -- Evelyn Waugh, for example -- but not Josephine Tey.
I am now obsessed with Josephine Tey and her books. I've purchased 4 more to read. I could read this book over and over again. What a fantastic author and her story kept me interested the whole time. New mystery writers always seem to lose my interest somewhere in their books, sometimes I get back into it... sometimes it's lost in terrible writing. Not this author, she's a classic for a reason.
The two women she accuses of the crime are extremely likable to the attorney they call to help them, but no evidence to disprove the accusations can be found. Meanwhile the two accused "witches"' become targets of violence from their community. Inspector Grant has a very minor role in this one, and the attorney becomes the main character, doing his best to find evidence to help clear the accused, who have become friends. An enjoyable read.
This book offers an intriguing story, all the more intriguing because it is based on a real case from eighteenth-century Scotland. A teenage servant claims that she has been held against her will in the rural manor house of two elderly women. The home's owners, the mother and daughter Sharpe, cannot believe the charges, but they also have little ability to dispute them. Their lawyer, Robert Blair, seems to be the only person in the small town who believes in their innocence.

In this book Tey has produced an excellent mystery. I was certainly riveted to see how the story would resolve. Tey presents the Sharpes' case as if they are innocent, but as the plot progresses it becomes more and more difficult to see how they could possibly not be guilty. The servant, Betty Kane, appears to have absolutely disappeared during the week when she claims to have been held hostage. I couldn't wait to find out what had really happened to Betty, and this is a mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the end. It also highlights the vagaries of small-town life, and the sort of gothic horror that can come from an entire town turning against you.