Product Description

On his train journey back to Scotland for a well-earned rest, Inspector Grant learns that a fellow passenger, one Charles Martin, has been found dead. It looks like a case of misadventure - but Grant is not so sure. Teased by some enigmatic lines of verse that the deceased had apparently scrawled on a newspaper, he follows a trail to the Outer Hebrides. And though it is the end of his holiday, it is also the beginning of an intriguing investigation into the bizarre circumstances shrouding Charles Martin's death...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34282 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Spectator
‘Josephine Tey has always been absolutely reliable in producing original and mysterious plots with interesting characters and unguessable endings’

From the Publisher
A classic mystery from the Golden Age of detective fiction.

About the Author
Josephine Tey is one of the best-known and best-loveed of all crime writers. She began to write full-time after the successful publication of her first novel, The Man in the Queue (1929), which introduced Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard. In 1937 she returned to crime writing with A Shilling for Candles, but it wasn't until after the Second World War that the majority of her crime novels were published. Josephine Tey died in 1952, leaving her entire estate to the National Trust.

Customer Reviews

A Classic
I received this book as a gift in my early teens and it sparked a life-long interest in classic British crime and mystery - particularly the highly covetable Penguin green back paperback editions.
The Singing Sands not only has a great storyline but a wonderful sense of atmosphere in its description of the beautiful Highlands. In this, Tey writes marvellously well - I could taste Grant's horrible hotel breakfast with its yellowy soda scones.
Well worth reading if you have an interest in this genre.

a brilliant read which sustains interest to the end
first read this 25 years ago, and have periodically re-read ever since. gripping, fine detail, strong ending (unlike some other Tey work, unfortunately). worth visiting the real singing sands. a more modern, less pompous, Buchan in style.

Tey at the top of her form
This (posthumously published) novel shows Tey at her best. Inspector Alan Grant, on his way by train to Scotland for a long-overdue spell of R&R, is on hand when a young man's body is found in an adjoining compartment. By accident, he finds himself in possession of a clue that hints that something wasn't right about the young man's death; in his pursuit of the truth, he travels as far as the Hebrides and meets characters ranging from a lovely widow who looks good in waders to a world-famous Arabian explorer, a young pilot friend of the deceased, and the unforgettable Wee Archie. The story line seems to ramble at times, but the conclusion is highly satisfying. Thoroughly enjoyable.