The Man in the Queue

Inspector Alan Grant Series, Book 1

By: Josephine Tey

Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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.

Great mystery

What a great mystery! Though it was written in 1929 and it reflects some of the prejudice of its time , I enjoyed the book immensely and was able to overlook those things. I agree with other reviews that sometimes the story plodded along but that did not take away from my enjoyment of a story well told. Nicola Upson is correct when she writes that Josephine Tey rates right up there with Agatha Christie. I am looking forward to the next book.

Too dated

I’m a lover of historical fiction, especially fiction written in its time. I love Brat Ferrar, and all of the Nicola Upson books, but the repetition of the word “Dego” was unbearable to listen to. It wasn’t like reading Huck Finn, it was more like hanging out with a racist relative.

A classic “Golden Age” mystery

The first of the Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey. An excellent example of a mystery from the 1920-1930’s.

Interesting detective story

Easy listen with convincing voices and interesting locations. Plot twists travel through to the end.

Loved the even pacing of the narration

lots of times these days I slow the speed down to make a less hectic hearing. such a good writer, always enjoy revisiting inspector Grant, just beautifully produced.