Mysterious Mercury et les Grandes Dames

The British mystery tradition has been blessed by a few outstanding women authors whose names [or pen names] are recognized world wide. Below you'll find the few whom I believe meet the criteria of a British Grande Dame [and in parantheses their best known detectives]. Here are the authors whose books have wiled away the many hours of a dog's life, empty of fulfilling work, devoted only to sleeping, eating and other carnal pleasures.

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Josephine Tey [Allan Grant; including The Daughter of Time] The First of the Group & often considered The Greatest.
Dorothy Sayres [Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane]
Agatha Christie [Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple]
Ngaio Marsh [Inspector Roderick Alleyn]
Patricia Wentworth [Miss Maud Silver]

Introducting the Grandes Dames and their protagoniststs, the women who have written carefully plotted mysteries peopled by characters who seem to live & breathe and always full of surprising turns of plot, carefully revealed insights -- and loads of character! Let's examine them one by one.

Josephine Tey [aka Elizabeth MacKintosh]; also wrote as Gordon Daviot.

The Daughter of Time brought the controversy surrounding Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to a wide public audience and is perhaps the most popular defense of Richard. This mystery novel addresses the issue of historical truth. Inspector Alan Grant, trapped in a hospital with a broken leg, is bored senseless. ..This mystery demonstrates that once an idea, right or wrong, becomes "fixed" in a culture, people resist changing their opinions on the matter, even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence." Her book A Shilling for Candles was the basis for Alfred Hitchcok's Young and Innocent.

http://www.r3.org/fiction/mysteries/tey_butler.html

Dorothy Sayres wrote 14 Lord Peter Wimsey novels before devoting herself writing, first for the stage and secondly to Christian discourse. My favorite, Murder Must Advertise. Explore the Dorothy L. Sayres Society website:

http://www.sayers.org.uk/

Agatha Christie "remains the most popular novelist in history, with over two billion of her books sold at a conservative estimate. The rejacketing of her books and new adaptations of Poirot and Marple on ITV have all ensured that e magic of her storytelling continues to reach a contemporary audience and that she continues to be recognised as the undisputed "Queen of Crime." I find her infinitly re-readable. See her official website:

http://uk.agathachristie.com/site/home/

Ngaio Marsh, although a New Zealander, is considered a British Grande Dame. A few of her stories are situated in New Zealand, but for the most part, England is the backdrop and often the theater provides the mise en scene. Frankly, I find Marshs' books pleasurable upon first reading, but lacking the re-readable Mercury Rating evaluation.


Patricia Wentworth [aka Dora Amy Ells], forgotten even by many for whom the Grandes Dames, birthed the wonderful Maud Silver, sleuth, spinster, eccentric dresser, former governess, and altogether a woman of keen insight and the ability to put one over. I enjoyed Miss Silver Comes to Stay.

Although their Mercury Ratings vary by author and title, I can wholeheartedly recommend each author's works to novice readers as yet ignorant of the Grandes Dames of British mystery. And I extend that recommendation to all for whom a good mystery is the bed-rock of civilized life.

Coming Soon: The Lone Inspectors of the current British mystery world and their Mercury Ratings.

Please check out the preceeding 4 mystery authors' entries. And check back soon for upcoming lists, descriptions and evaluations of other mystery series.

Happy reading from your friend, Mercury Murphy Roushanzamir