Books are a wonderful way for coworkers and friends to share experiences, even when we’re miles, states, and countries apart. Hearing about what someone is reading is like taking a 5-minute vacation. Each week, one Piper team member will answer the question, “What are you reading?” and take you on a well-deserved, 5-minute vacation.
This week Steve is reading The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey.
“The suspense ratchets up quickly and becomes unbearable.”
STEVE SAYS…
Can you have a mystery without a murder? With Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair, you can. This 1948 novel turns on one key question: Who is lying? In a sleepy English village, a semi-aristocratic mother and daughter, living in shabby gentility, find themselves faced with a shocking accusation. A young woman claims that they kidnapped her, imprisoned her, and forced her into servitude. The claim sounds preposterous, but if Betty Kane is lying, how does she know so much about the interior of the house and its inhabitants? Meanwhile, Marion Sharpe and her mother are rather isolated in their house and barely making ends meet, and they’ve had no luck finding or keeping servants. The neighbors aren’t rushing to their defense.
The beginning is rather slow, but once attorney Robert Blair starts looking into the case, the suspense ratchets up quickly and becomes unbearable. One minute, you’re convinced that Betty Kane has been victimized by these two self-centered, out-of-touch aristocrats. The next minute, you’re certain the Sharpes are victims of a plot to wreck their reputations. You can never be sure until the climax, when all is revealed.
Take a look at the cover of the mass-market paperback, below. Does the model look familiar? That head lying on the box of chocolates belongs to Debbie Harry, who worked as a model before she went on to stardom as the lead singer of Blondie.
AMAZON DESCRIPTION
Robert Blair was about to knock off from a slow day at his law firm when the phone rang. It was Marion Sharpe on the line, a local woman of quiet disposition who lived with her mother at their decrepit country house, The Franchise. It appeared that she was in some serious trouble: Miss Sharpe and her mother were accused of brutally kidnapping a demure young woman named Betty Kane. Miss Kane’s claims seemed highly unlikely, even to Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, until she described her prison — the attic room with its cracked window, the kitchen, and the old trunks — which sounded remarkably like The Franchise. Yet Marion Sharpe claimed the Kane girl had never been there, let alone been held captive for an entire month! Not believing Betty Kane’s story, Solicitor Blair takes up the case and, in a dazzling feat of amateur detective work, solves the unbelievable mystery that stumped even Inspector Grant.
HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
Tell Steve what you thought in the blog comments below!
