The Voices of the Dead

Nicola Upson

AS London suffers some of its worst bombing in the devastating Blitz of 1941, a top secret mission is under way to transport the National Gallery’s precious artwork from its current temporary home at Penrhyn Castle to a new underground sanctuary deep inside a slate mine in North Wales.

In charge of this delicate operation is the recently married Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard and what he hadn’t expect was to become involved in a 40-year-old murder mystery which will need the help of his good friend and author, Josephine Tey, if he is to solve it.

The Voices of the Dead is the twelfth book in Nicola Upson’s outstandingly intelligent and atmospheric Josephine Tey Mystery series, set principally in England in the 1930s and 1940s, and inspired by the Golden Age of crime writing. For those new to a name which shone brightly in this period, Josephine Tey was a pseudonym used by the enigmatic Elizabeth Mackintosh, a Scottish writer best known for her mystery novels of the 1940s and 50s.

Virtually unknown today, Tey has been given a new lease of life as the lead character in Cambridge graduate Upson’s (pictured left) cleverly plotted novels which see the best-selling author and playwright turn detective to solve cerebral mysteries which often give a voice to the downtrodden silenced by both society and history.

Elegant, sophisticated and beautifully written, these stories blend fact and fiction, contrasting the stark realities of everyday life with the glamorous world of theatre and film during these middle century decades, and exploring hard-hitting issues, many of which are as relevant today as they were back then. And Upson’s army of fans will certainly have stars in their eyes when they join Josephine for this gripping mystery which was inspired by famous English actress Margaret Rutherford and her pivotal role as clairvoyant Madame Arcati in Noël Coward’s play Blithe Spirit, famously written in six days during a holiday in wartime Wales.

Only hours after DCI Charle Penrose married his new wife Virginia at the Actors’ Church in London in May of 1941, London suffered one of the German Luftwaffe’s most destructive bombing raids but he is still hoping to have a short honeymoon in the peaceful Welsh retreat of Portmeirion alongside supervising the transfer of the nation’s priceless paintings to their new home in Manod slate mine.

Also holidaying in Portmeirion is his friend Josephine Tey and her partner Marta Fox, who is filming the artworks relocation for the Crown Film Unit, and Noël Coward who is preparing his new play, Blithe Spirit, amid hopes that Margaret Rutherford will play the eccentric medium.

But when a woman’s body is found in the debris of a roof fall in the mine, Archie and Josephine are plunged into a mystery dating back over four decades. The woman had a wooden sign with two carved initials on it close to her remains… and very soon her discovery threatens to tear apart the close-knit Welsh community. As old secrets start to tumble out, it seems no one is immune to the voices of the dead, not even Margaret Rutherford who was preparing to play Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit back in London’s bomb-damaged West End but is now voicing some very personal concerns and doubts over taking on the role…

The unearthing of the long-buried body in the slate mine opens up a can of worms for Archie and Josephine in Upson’s impressive new outing as dark secrets are slowly and shockingly revealed, and the local community closes ranks to try to keep the truth firmly buried underground. Reunited with her beloved partner Marta, whose filming work for the government has brought her to this corner of Wales, and with good friend Archie caught between his work duties and attempts to enjoy at least a brief honeymoon with wife Virginia, Josephine steps in to investigate the unsettling cold case.

Weaving together fascinating real events and people – not least a delightful homage to larger-than-life Margaret Rutherford whose performance as Madame Arcati remains one of the most celebrated in Golden Age film history – Upson brings us a gripping and absorbing case with links to the world of clairvoyance and a shadowy corner of Welsh history.

Starring a cast of characters from all walks of life, each portrayed with exquisite precision, and with constant reminders of the ever-present dangers of wartime, this entertaining new mystery is imbued with all the intrigue and genuine emotion that we have come to expect from this author’s outstanding series. Classy, clever, and superbly researched and plotted, The Voices of the Dead is a reading pleasure from start to finish.
(Faber & Faber, hardback, £16.99)