Shot with Crimson: An evocative murder mystery plays out on the set of Hitchcock’s Rebecca
£7.60
‘Always a delight.’ Sunday Times
I will never understand why murder is considered such a lowbrow speciality in Hollywood.
September, 1939, and the worries of war follow Josephine Tey to Hollywood, where a different sort of battle is raging on the set of Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
Then a shocking act of violence reawakens the shadows of the past, with consequences on both sides of the Atlantic, and Josephine and DCI Archie Penrose find themselves on a trail leading back to the house that inspired a young Daphne du Maurier – a trail that echoes Rebecca’s timeless themes of obsession, jealousy and murder.
Readers love Nicola Upson
‘Oh my, what a delight to read this was. An author absolutely in command of her craft.’ ***** reader review
‘I felt like I knew the Hitchcocks personally. The talent to make that feel likely is really Upson’s draw for me. She never misses a beat.’ ***** reader review
‘One of my favourite things about this author is the detail she brings to the pages and the way she can build tension and truly keep you gripped.’ ***** reader review
‘What’s not to like about a story of Hollywood and murder? . . . She writes in a way that the story flows effortlessly and makes reading easy and a joy.’ ***** reader review
Praise for the Josephine Tey series
‘[A] splendid series.’ The Times
‘There’s a wonderful golden age feel . . . containing wonderful twists and turns which single out Upson as a talented author of historical crime.’ Scotland on Sunday
‘If Josephine Tey were alive, she would be the first to welcome a major talent.’ Daily Mail
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Additional information
| Publisher | Faber & Faber (31 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1657 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 325 pages |
by Lynda Checkley
Why didn’t I know this? Only after finishing the book, which by the way was a fabulous read, did I find out that this is the 11th, yes 11th, book in the Josephine Tey Series. I was aware of this real life crime writer but the fact that she was the main fictional protagonist in a series of books had completely passed me by. From this dear reader you will deduce that this book read well as a stand-alone! The prologue takes place in 1917 in Milton House which has been turned into a hospital for injured soldiers. 10 year old Daphne du Maurier is visiting the house and is asked by an orderly to take a message to someone for him. Fast forward and it is now September 1939 and the country is in the midst of another world war.
Briefly, Josephine travels on Queen Mary to visit her partner in Hollywood where she is working on the Hitchcock film Rebecca. Meanwhile back at Milton House a body has been found and suspicion is that one of the film crew in Hollywood may have been involved. DCI Archie Penrose is sent to investigate the murder whilst Josephine is investigating in Hollywood and feeding back to her friend Archie.
Brilliantly mixing fact with fiction the author has produced a golden age style detective fiction novel that had some good twists and turns and was a very good read. I was more engaged in the story taking place in Los Angeles as I am pretty obsessed with Rebecca, both the book and the Hitchcock film. But the two settings worked well together and the threads met seamlessly at the end. A very enjoyable book, well paced with excellent characters and good misdirection which caught me out.
by Dick Pearson
Nicola Upson really has the knack of invoking a feel of a different age: it feels authentic even if quite possibly it isn’t. This story which isn’t really any form of who-dunnit sets the unreal feeling that my parents described to me about the opening days of the last war. She also set the single sex relationships well in a realistic environment where most people did not approve and get care and tact was required.
Having now had Marjorie Allingham and Daphe DuMaurier in her last two novels, my money is on Dorothy Sayers for the next one!
by Steve B
Clever plot, descriptive writing first rate as always. Dialogue much improved, a few anachronisms, but these may be unintentional rather than deliberate.
by April Cottage
I loved this book and had to ration myself so I didn’t finish it too soon.
I have enjoyed the rest of the series but this was especially good.
by Mrs Daphne SHARPE
The eleventh book in this series, and the pace and intrigue doesn’t let up for a moment.
Dual time lines are 1917 and 1939. The setting is Milton Hall, near Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, that was used by the military as a hospital, during WW1. A young Daphne du Maurier used to visit friends there when she was a child, and she based Manderley, in her film Rebecca there as she had happy memories of that place.
James Bartholomew is working as a set constructor on this film, but he was a patient there in 1917, when a close male friend apparently committed suicide. James never believed this theory, and he wants to understand the reason why Matthew died and who was responsible.
Josephine Tey, a famous author of mystery novels, is on the Queen Mary, travelling to America to visit her lover Marta, who is working for Alfred Hitchcock as location finder for the film Rebecca. The boat is crowded, so many people are trying to escape the onset of war whilst they can.
The film Rebecca is the thread that brings this story together, with its themes of obsession and jealousy. Both James and Josephine are representing the LGBTQ position.
This is a dark, brooding and very atmospheric read. The amount of historical research is wonderful. The painful memories and deep regrets are expressed so well, the reader feels so involved in these intimate accounts. The device of clues and information being exchanged in a transatlantic way is unusual, but works so well. There isn’t the same sort of detective work as previous novels, Archie, her usual close ally in the Police is stuck in London preparing for war, but it all works really well.
by Verity Reads Books (a lot of them)
We’ve reached the start of WW2 now in Nicola Upson’s series about the fictional adventures of the very real Josephine Tey, and this time we have a mystery set across two continents and the return of the Hitchcocks to the series (after they first appeared in book 4, Fear in the Sunlight). This time the film that’s being worked on is Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, and not one of Josephine’s books. Meanwhile, back in England Archie is trying to solve a murder at the house that inspired Manderley. As ever with this series, they are a bit bleaker than your average historical mystery, but this one is at least less awful than the solution to the previous one. Well a bit. But it’s an engrossing read, but just don’t think that these are cozy historicals!
by J. Scott-mandeville
Nicola Upson’s latest Josephine Tey crime story is centred round the making of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film “Rebecca” so there is the Hollywood setting, film stars and directors, and a murder at the centre of things. Using both the backgrounds of Daphne du Maurier, author of the novel “Rebecca”, and the Hollywood scene of the late 1930s, Nicola Upson entwines stories from the First World War, Daphne du Maurier’s growing up, and the making of the movie, into an engrossing story of murder and romance, which continues her fascinating series of novels imagining Josephine Tey in worlds she probably never experienced herself. A thoroughly engaging tale and a great winter evening read, I really enjoyed this latest in Nicola Upson’s series.
by Sally C
Having read and enjoyed all the Josephine Tey series I always look forward to the next book. Nicola Upson is meticulous in her research and can paint a vivid picture as the chapters on board the Queen Mary show. However, I thought the plot was thin compared to previous books and the sub plot about the woman with a grudge against the Hitchcocks added little. The book also seemed rather short, I read through the kindle version in no time at all so maybe I’ll add whisper sync and see if Sandra Duncan’s brilliant narration can save it! Otherwise, very disappointed.