History Creator / JosephineTey

* PsychoLesbian: The killer in ''Miss Pym Disposes''

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Beau Nash and Mary Innes in ''Miss Pym Disposes''

Josephine Tey (real name Elizabeth MacKintosh, 25 July 1896 – 13 February 1952) was a Scottish writer of mystery novels. Five feature Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, the rest a variety of {{Amateur Sleuth}}s.

Josephine Tey (1896–1952) was a Scottish writer of mystery novels. Five feature Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, the rest a variety of {{Amateur Sleuth}}s.

* WeatherReportNarration: The opening of ''The Franchise Affair'':

* BadHabits: One of the characters in ''A Shilling for Candles'' is a con man who first appears dressed as a monk. (It turns out that he is genuinely, though not sincerely, a member of a small religious order, which he joined with the intention of sweet-talking his way into a position of authority from which he could embezzle its assets.)

* EurekaMoment: In ''A Shilling for Candles'', Inspector Grant solves the murder of a movie star after idly reading an apparently unrelated article in a gossip magazine.

* PassedOverInheritance: In ''A Shilling for Candles'', the victim's will leaves nothing to her last surviving relative nothing but "a shilling for candles".

* RedHerring: In ''A Shilling for Candles'', [[spoiler:the entire subplot referenced in the title. Inspector Grant is much struck by the fact that the murder victim cut off her last surviving relative with only "a shilling for candles", and spends some considerable effort tracking down the relative -- who turns out to be a thoroughly bad lot, and wanted by the police on other charges, but unconnected to the murder]].

* UnexpectedInheritance: In ''A Shilling for Candles'', the murder victim is found to have added a codicil to her will the day before her death leaving several thousand dollars and one of her several properties to a man she had met only a few days earlier. This intended kind gesture causes him a great deal of trouble in the short run, as the police already considered him their prime suspect and now they think they have the motive.
* VillainousBreakdown: The killer in ''A Shilling for Candles'' has one on being confronted by Inspector Grant.

* CharacterOverlap: The lawyer Kevin Macdermott appears in both ''The Franchise Affair'' and ''Brat Farrar''; ''The Franchise Affair'' also has Inspector Grant in a supporting role.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: ''Brat Farrar'' has an interesting use of this trope, as it's about a young man who starts off as the malicious version, passing himself off as a member of a wealthy family who disappeared as a child, but then turns detective when he realizes that the boy he's pretending to be died and anyone not believing his charade is likely to be the murderer.
* DidYouSeeThatToo: In ''Brat Farrar'':
-->Astride the farther lion was a small boy clad in a leopard-skin rug with green baize edging, a seaside pail worn helmet-wise, and nothing else that was visible. A very long brass poker stood up lance-wise from its rest on his bare foot.\\
'It's all right,' Eleanor said. 'You did see it.'\\
'That comforts me quite a bit.'
* DoorstopBaby: The title character in ''Brat Farrar'' was left on the doorstep of an orphanage.

* FinallyFoundTheBody: ''Brat Farrar'' revolves around the disappearance of Patrick Ashby, who left a suicide note but his body was not found. The body turns up near the end of the novel, many years later.

* HighClassGlass: Great-Uncle Charles in ''Brat Farrar'' wears one, "in either eye, according to which hand Charles had free at the moment".
* IdenticalStranger: In ''Brat Farrar'', Brat's DeadPersonImpersonation is inspired by the discovery that he bears a remarkable resemblance to Patrick Ashby. [[spoiler:The orphan Brat discovers at the end of the novel that he's a lost relative, the son of the black sheep of the Ashby family.]]
* IdentificationByDentalRecords: ''Brat Farrar'' this but eventually averts it. Brat doesn't have to deal with matching Patrick's dental history, as the dentist who could have recognized him died along with Patrick's parents, and his records were lost in a fire.
* ImaginaryLoveTriangle: In ''Brat Farrar'', the protagonist's love interest has a romantically-inclined kid sister who tells him that she's going to marry somebody else -- who turns out to be just an old friend, and already married.

* OrphanageOfLove: Mentioned in ''Brat Farrar'':
-->It was a very good orphanage; a great deal happier than many a home he had seen in passing since. The children had loved it. They had wept when they left and had come back for visits; they had sent contributions to the funds; they had invited the staff to their marriages, and brought their subsequent children for the matron's approval. There was never a day when some old girl or boy was not cluttering up the front door.
* PresentDayPast: ''Brat Farrar'' was published in 1949, and mentions British characters going on holiday to France eight years earlier -- which, if the novel is also ''set'' in 1949, would be [[WorldWarII very bad timing]].

* SiblingYinYang: Twin sisters Jane and Ruth in ''Brat Farrar''

Probably her most widely known novel is ''Literature/TheDaughterOfTime'', in which Inspector Grant, stuck in hospital with a broken leg, fends off boredom by re-investigating the historical case of the Princes in the Tower, concluding that RichardOfGloucester wasn't the one who done it.

* DeadPersonImpersonation

* DrivenToSuicide

* IdenticalStranger
* ImaginaryLoveTriangle

* PresentDayPast