This is the ninth bookin the Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey series and I've loved every one of them.

Josephine and her good friend Archie Penrose gather, together with some friends and a surprise guest, to spend a quiet Christmas on St Michael's Mount.

Of course, Christmas is anything but quiet, murders and mysteries a-plenty!

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Another great cozy mystery from Upson in this series. This time it's set in Cornwall. It was amazing, atmospheric. Absolutely a pleasure to read at this time of the year. If you're a cozy mystery fan, you should get it.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

First thing first I’m a fan of Josephine Tey series and was more than happy to have the pleasure of reading this ARC.
I think this is the best installment in this excellent series, a perfect Golden Age mystery that mixes some of the Golden Age tropes (closed circle of suspects, the atmosphere of a weekend in the country) with a modern touch making them fascinating.
I loved the mix of historical and fictional characters. I found both Marlene and Hilaria well rounded and fleshed. The character development is excellent and I loved the empathy of the author toward the more frail or damaged characters.
The historical background is excellent and well researched, I loved the references to historical facts and the attention to the details.
The island setting could have been a bit claustrophobic but I wished to visit the Mount St Michael and see the places the author describes so well.
Last but not least the mystery part. It’s very complex with some subplots, red herrings, twists and turns. The solution came as a surprise and I wasn’t able to guess the culprit even if I tried.
A gripping and highly entertaining page turner I couldn’t put down and kept me reading till late in the night.
It’s strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Faber&Faber for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Nicola Upson's ninth instalment in her Josephine Tey series is a fitting homage to the golden age tradition of the Christmas mystery. Upson's series features as her heroine a fictionalised characterisation of real life "golden age" crime writer Josephine Tey (author of the classic The Daughter of Time, one of my own all time favourite books).
The Dead of Winter opens with a chapter set during Christmas 1920, as then young detective sergeant Archie Penrose attends the scene of a domestic tragedy, the details of which will haunt him for years to come.
The remainder of the book is set in December 1938, in a nervous Britain poised on the brink of World War 2. Josephine Tey and her partner Marta agree to join their good friend DCI Archie Penrose for Christmas at St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall. Archie's lifelong friend, the Hon. Hilaria St. Aubyn, is hosting Christmas at her castle home for a select group of guests, in order to raise much needed funds to assist in the evacuation of Jewish refugees from Europe. Archie's own role in the festivities is to accompany and provide personal security for the guest of honour, German-born actress Marlene Dietrich, who is sympathetic to the fundraising cause.
As the guests make their way to Cornwall, heavy snowfalls begin, eventually leaving the island and its inhabitants cut off from the mainland over Christmas - the perfect setting for a classic Christmas mystery!
Unbeknownst to Josephine and her fellow guests, a murder has already been committed on St. Michaels Mount as they arrive, shortly followed by the discovery of a dramatically posed body - one of the Christmas guests - on Christmas morning. Josephine and Marta, aided by their gracious host Hilaria and the unexpectedly practical Dietrich, support Archie in his efforts to identify and apprehend the murderer or murderers amongst them.
Upson's prose is beautifully crafted and evokes the style of the golden age (albeit with the occasional contextual f-bomb!), and her cast of characters intriguing and well-developed. St. Michael's Mount is a remarkable setting and Upson skilfully incorporates architectural and other detail into the story - the depth of her research for this novel is evident.
To use more than one person who actually lived as characters in a fictional work is not an exercise to be entered into lightly. Upson's portrayals of both Tey and Dietrich are thoughtful, sympathetic and, as far as I can tell, quite consistent with their real-life personae.
The Dead of Winter is another well-executed instalment in a delightful series. It was an absolute pleasure to read.
My thanks to the author, publisher Faber and Faber Ltd. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title in advance of its publication on 5 November 2020.

Faber and Faber have been publishing the very best crime novelists for many many years. One of their latest titans is Nicola Upson. Her series featuring Josephine Tey and Archie Penrose gets better and better.
Like the real Josephine Tey and writers like Ngaio Marsh she is able to write a mystery in which the crime is almost irrelevant. Her strong point is the realism of her characters and her understanding of the moralities of 1930s England.
Marlene Dietrich is beautifully and compassionately drawn. St Michael's Mount is the perfect setting for a novel that pays homage to all those great Golden Age conventions. I'm sure Josephine Tey would approve and applaud.

This was a good read with lots of well-developed and likeable characters. It's also a book that is very self-aware, with nods to the standard plots of "country house" murder mysteries and how they unfold.

I enjoyed the setting of a Britain on the eve of the Second World War. I think it gets across how the anxiety about the coming war and its impact on people's lives affects people in a very realistic way.

There are some really great characters to love and hate. Gerald, an abusive husband, is horribly believable. It's nice that Upson has two gay women in a relationship at the centre of the novel too, with no fuss made about that.

I liked how the women characters come across as independent and confident.

The plot is good too. The book begins with a description of a horrific murder 18 years previous to the main story. The reader is left wondering how this relates to the main story, and which characters might appear in both of them.

It's a very easy book to read, engaging and thought-provoking. I will look to reading more of Upson's books.

Death Interupts Festivities....
The ninth in the Josephine Tey series of historical mysteries, December 1938 and Christmas is approaching. Death interrupts festivities, however, as Josephine and friends gather hoping for a festive Cornish Christmas. With a wonderfully evocative setting, a colourful cast and a solid plot this is another thoroughly enjoyable read and a fitting entry into this excellent series.

Although not my favourite so far, this latest in Nicola Upson's most excellent series of Josephine Tey novels provides interesting fare for newcomers and old hands alike.

The setting is magnificent- St Michael's Mount- and is atmospherically evoked, While the plot is less convoluted and the construction in some ways simpler than previously, the interplay of the 1938-present with events of twenty years earlier is neatly handled. The immediate-prewar period is skilfully made real and the mingling of historical and imagined characters is effective. There are nice touches-one character is reading his "Christie for Christmas", for instance, and the appearance of Marlene Dietrich allows some good and pertinent points to be made about support and opposition to fascism at that time.

Thoroughly enjoyable, literate and well-written. What could be better to recommend than this for a dark December evening?

Do spend time with Josephine, Marta , Marlene and Archie in this "Upson for Christmas".

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber& Faber for the digital review copy.

"it was the day that stripped the joy from christmas"

This is my first Nicola Upson novel, but unbeknownst to me it was actually the ninth in long running series. That is my fault for not checking beforehand, but luckily this can be read as a standalone.

The Josephine Tey series follows, you guessed it, Josephine Tey. She was a real life crime writer, and this series blends fact and fiction in a really interesting way, where it become difficult to tell what is truth and what has been embellished.

This book feels like what an Agatha Christie novel would be if it were set at Christmas on a Cornish island. We follow a large cast of characters, isolated on an island for Christmas in 1938. WW2 looms on the horizon, and the festivities are dampened by not only by the impending war but by two brutal deaths that took place in their midsts. There is a killer among them, but who?

That sounds like something I would absolutely adore, and at the beginning I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing and characters. However, as the novel continued, I became more and more bored and couldn't even bring myself to theorise about the mystery. I must acknowledge that some of my feelings are almost definitely influenced by the time at which I read this. I was going through exams, and as such, quite stressed. I could only read between 10-20 pages of this a day, which definitely could have impacted the extent to which I became invested in the story. But at the same time, I never really felt the urge to read more than that, and most of the time felt like I just wanted to get it over with so I could move on to other things.

This book felt quite simple and archetypical. I think my lack of enjoyment was partly to do with misplaced expectations. I have been reading quite a few modern mystery/thrillers recently, and have become accustomed to their twisty, dramatic nature. In comparison, this felt slow and unexciting. While I know it was meant to mirror the tone and pace of older whodunnits, it wasn't my cup of tea. If you have enjoyed more classic and old timey mysteries, I would definitely recommend this one! The Christmas element makes it perfect for the upcoming holiday season, but also introduces some darkness and grittiness for readers who want something more than a fluffy Christmas rom-com.

As for the actual resolution, I found myself a little underwhelmed. Two murders take place, and the first I found a little predictable. The second, we experience near the beginning- meaning that we can't even try to guess what happened. The stakes didn't feel all that high, and as a result I never felt that underlying tension or suspense that keeps me going.

Overall, I want to make it clear that this is by no means a bad book. In fact, I think it was written quite well. However, the execution wasn't done in a way that made me all that invested and I found the resolution to be a bit anticlimactic. I think this is definitely a case of its not you, its me. Other readers will undoubtably adore this, but I wasn't quite the target audience.

★★☆☆☆.5 stars

Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd for this ARC

Release Date: 5 November 2020

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. The Dead of Winter is the ninth book in Nicola Upson’s intriguing Josephine Tey series. It can be read as a stand-alone. This series combines real people, places and events with fictional characters in a mystery that leaves you guessing as to how much of it is real and how much imagined. A house party charity fundraiser for refugees from Germany in December of 1938 has a diverse group of people gathering for Christmas on St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall. When the weather cuts the castle off from the mainland, and it turns out that there are connections from the past between several of the guests, at least one of whom is not who they are pretending to be. Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose has more on his hands than escorting a famous movie star when the body of one of the guests is found on Christmas morning. The story follows the conventions of mysteries written by the likes of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers but with a twist similar to those of Josephine Tey, who, of course, appears as a character in this book. I enjoyed it very much and do recommend it. Publishing Date: November 5, 2020 #TheDeadOfWinter #NicolaUpson #FaberAndFaberLtd #HistoricalMystery #MysteriesAndThrillers #MysterySeries #bookstagram #bookstagramer

There's something about whodunnits in wintery isolated settings this year. I've read The Guest List, Snow and One by One is the next book I've planned to read.

The Dead of Winter also takes place on an isolated location, namely St Michael's Mount in Cornwall in 1938. An exclusive charity event has been planned by the owner of the Mount in order to support displaced Jewish children from Germany.

The police officer Archie has been invited since he's an old friend of the owner Hilaria St. Aubyn. She has invited a celebrity to attend as well hoping that it would bring about some publicity for the Mount and its cause. Archie in turn invites his two friends Josephine and Marta.

You might have guessed it. The guests all have their own backstories and as they arrive on their location one by one, they find out that the Mount will be isolated for a few days due to bad weather. They are ready to celebrate Christmas, so they don't mind until one of them ends up dead and the only one who could've done it has to be among them.

I felt that this book was a little bit short. It's strange to say, but the action and investigation started half way through and it wasn't enough to fully grip me although I found the ending to be satisfying.

The story is told through the eyes of around eight different characters, which means part of the first half you'll have to guess who was who. Then when the action gets going the novel has ended.

I like that this novel is in a way based on real life. Josephine Tey is apparently the Agatha Christie of her time, the celebrity is also well-known and St Michael's Mount was in hands of Hilaria St. Aubyn back then. I didn't mind that there are 8 novels about Josephine prior to this one. Sure, I don't know the characters as well as fans of this series will do but I still enjoyed the story.

All-in-all it's an OK read. The setting didn't feel as isolated or grim as I would've liked it to, and there are a few too many characters for such a short novel. It's an interesting whodunnit though with a few twists and turns I didn't expect.

This is the ninth book in the Josephine Tey mystery series. In this instalment Josephine and her lover Marta, join her close friend Chief Inspector Archie Penrose and an assortment of guests for Christmas on the island of St Michael’s Mount.

What should have been the quintessential English country Christmas takes a far more sinister turn when two murders occur as bad weather leaves the island’s inhabitants cut off from the mainland.

The character’s were well written and the mystery kept me in suspense until very near the end. All in all I should be able to give this book 5 stars however the ultimate pointlessness of the crimes left me feeling rather let down.

***** VERY SLIGHT SPOILER HERE *****
Ultimately their deaths accomplished nothing and the perpetrator(s) gained nothing from their deaths so the whole thing left me wondering what the point had been!

I would certainly recommend the series and I thought the setting and the richness of the 1930s period setting was beautifully realised. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I am quite willing to concede that that could be my personal tastes coming into play.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ***

A lovely book. A traditional murder mystery, Christmas setting, historical, and gripping. I enjoy this series very much indeed.

When I started reading the book, I didn’t know it was a book in a series. But that doesn't stop you from enjoying the story.I don't know why the series is called Josephine Tey, because Archie played the main role in this book and he was awesome.I didn't care for J.Tey. The murder mystery was not a mystery, more like "why did you do it?". So I don't know if i will read other books in this series
It was a fun easy story before sleep and i enjoyed it :)

This is the first book I've read by Nicole Upson and I hadn't appreciated I was reading a book in a series. This though can be read as a stand-alone novel,

I absolutely loved the setting here - St Michael's Mount at Christmas. So atmospheric! The idea of characters being trapped in a castle on an island with very little connection to the outside world while a storm brews around them is what enticed me to read the book. I also loved the idea that author Josephine Tey, who wrote her own crime novels, might be there in Marple Mode to solve the crimes that take place on the island during the fateful storm. Added to these fantastic ingredients, Marlene Dietrich makes an appearance as one of the guests and therefore, suspects.

Overall, the novel was very readable and I wanted to keep returning to the story to see where it would lead. I would have ideally liked: more snow to add to the tension - it only lasted one night on the island so it wasn't quite the "relentless blizzard" I'd anticipated; to have Tey take the lead on solving the crime, rather Inspector Penrose and to not have had revealed so early-on the murderer in at least one of the deaths.

I am very grateful to have been offered the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Faber & Faber and Nicola Upson.

3.5*

Josephine Tay and Archie Penrose are together again. This time to solve two murders on the St Michael’s Mount, where they are spending Christmas. Full of interesting characters, including a very famous Hollywood actress and touching on the start of Nazism this is a very fascinating read.

The Dead of Winter contains everything you need from a classic Christmas whodunnit - a disparate group of guests at a castle, including a Scotland Yard inspector, a glamorous Hollywood film star and classic crime author Josephine Tey, cut off from the mainland by a snow storm, and a body found brutally murdered on Christmas morning. This is an excellent mystery, perfect for curling up with in front of a roaring fire on a winter’s evening.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for an advance copy of The Dead of Winter, the ninth novel to feature Josephine Tey and DCI Archie Penrose.

Christmas 1938 and Josephine, her lover Marta and Archie have been invited to the castle on the island of St Michael’s Mount, off the coast of Cornwall. Archie is there to escort a world famous film star, but these duties are interrupted by the discovery of two dead bodies. Cut off from the mainland by snowstorms, Archie is on his own.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Dead of Winter which is a fascinating tale, both for the murder mystery and the seamless incorporation of real life historical figures. I’m not naming the famous film star but it certainly made me look at them in a completely different light. The author has a knack for humanising these distant figures, although Wikipedia supplied the real detail. I couldn’t help but to want to know more.

The plot held my attention throughout and while the reader learns early on what happened in the case of one body and makes it more a study of guilt and self betrayal, the second body is much more of a puzzle. It has a couple of clever twists, a convoluted motive and again involves guilt, but of a different kind. I had no idea and blindly followed the author’s path. I thought it was really clever that the movie star points Archie in the right direction.

I don’t read this series primarily for the plot. I love the marriage of fiction with real people and places as it’s always a guessing game as to who’s real and who’s fictional. The author helpfully fills in some of these blanks in her afterword. There is a certain wistfulness in this novel as the characters can feel the winds of war and don’t know if this will be their last Christmas. It is well done in that it is there, as is the spectre of Nazism, but not over gilded. It gives a good sense of the era.

The Dead of Winter is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. A nice old fashioned 'who dunnit', great characters and a great storyline.

Thanks to Faber and Faber and NetGalley for a copy of this to review.
Josephine Tey and Marta Fox are asked to a charity Christmas event by Archie Penrose. He is to accompany a world famous actor to the event, in the ancestral home of one of his Cornish childhood friends.
From the beginning, the atmosphere for a golden age mystery builds- romantic remote setting with a dark history, glamorous and not so glamorous strangers, secrets and lies galore, inclement weather cutting off the protagonists and hampering the investigation of suspicious death.
The metaphorical storm clouds are also brewing with Britain and Europe on the brink of war.


This is the ninth in the series of books featuring a fictionalised detective writer and playwright Josephine Tey and her friends, which weaves historical figures and events with fiction to create a real feel for the period and the people inhabiting. This may be the best of them yet.
This can definitely be read as a seasonal stand-alone, ideally by the fire while the storm rages outside.