The Man in the Queue

Inspector Alan Grant Series, Book 1

By: Josephine Tey

Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon

The first of Josephine Tey's Inspector Grant mysteries concerns the murder of a man standing in a ticket queue for a London musical comedy. With his customary tenacity, Grant pursues his suspects through the length of Britain and the labyrinth of the city.

Public Domain (P)2018 Tantor

London atmosphere

Rather slow-moving, but entertaining if you like this sort of thing. Tey was not quite fair in her clues, but the narration made up for it.

old time thriller

loved it! Surprising twist! enjoyable listening while painting another Master piece
the doubts of inspector Grand are understandable

Of its time

I always enjoy Josephine Tey and have read all of her novels. I had forgotten that this one includes many racist epithets which, although of their time, are now an irritant. It's like reading John Buchan - along with the excellent writing and ripping yarn, you have to swallow casual racism and misogyny. Luckily Adam Grant's character evolves. The reading is adequate but rather monotonal, which means that it is difficult to concentrate on the story. Deserves a more lively narration

Play at 1.1x speed!

Other reviewers have mentioned the soporific and wooden quality of the narrator. My daughter discovered that the speed must be off, and if played at 1.1x rather than the normal speed, the performance is fairly good and expressive.

Red Herrings all around

Generally I liked the pace of the story as well as the characters. In the end, I was surprised, and thought there were too many red herrings. If the murderer had not come forward, an innocent man would have been convicted.

While I enjoyed the story, I cannot overlook the repeated use of a racial slur. It quite ruined the book for me, and it is why I gave the book a lower rating. I know it is a reflection of the times, it just felt egregious.

This was my first Josephine Tey, and I will give her another shot since so many people have recommended her to me.

Weak plot

I think there are some holes in this plot. I expected more from this author.

Good book, but...

Readers might be put off by the casual use of the term “dago” throughout the early part of this book to denote a person of darker skin or Southern European background. It was written in 1929, when such terms must have been socially acceptable.
Otherwise, the plot is fun and twisty (if a little pat at the end), the details of how the police conducted an investigation in 1929 are quite amazing (bank notes could be traced to individuals!) and the inspector, Alan Grant, is very likable.

Liked, sort of

As a huge fan of both South Riding & The Franchise Affair, I was unprepared for this overwritten detective tale. Plus, the audio performance was tooo slooow. But, decent enough.

Great Author

I enjoyed this as much as the other books written by this author. they are all very good.

Who would have thought it?I

This was Josephine Tey's first novel. I enjoyed it immensely. My only criticism is that of the narrator. Ms. Dixon was not bad, but the narration could have been more lively. Dixon was too monotone for me. Ms. Tey's writing and storyline are excellent. I just wish she had written more. Enjoy this one, though, and be prepared for a surprise ending!