The Man in the Queue

Inspector Alan Grant Series, Book 1

By: Josephine Tey

Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The first of Josephine Tey's Inspector Grant mysteries concerns the murder of a man standing in a ticket queue for a London musical comedy. With his customary tenacity, Grant pursues his suspects through the length of Britain and the labyrinth of the city.

Public Domain (P)2018 Tantor

Unerringly dull...

Would you try another book from Josephine Tey and/or Jennifer M. Dixon?

Up until now I have loved Josephine Tey's books, but this story and narration is so relentlessly boring, that I am beside myself as to how to describe my disappointment. What a waste of time and money to purchase.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Nothing linked to a Jennifer M. Dixon narration you can be sure!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She added a greater dullness to the entire listening experience.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

Give us more to select from Josephine Tey's body of work, and please give us first rate narrators, instead of this lackluster offering. The other two selections Audible offers are brilliant...namely ''Brat Farrar'' and ''The Franchise Affair'', both well narrated by Carolyn Boyd.

Monotone!

Josephine Tey is one of the legends of The Golden Age of pre-war British detective fiction. She is poorly represented on Audible, her most well known books not available (The Daughter of Time, for example). Unfortunately, the narrator here is not up to par, reading in a sleep-inducing monotone. High time for a new recording with a livelier narrator!

Play at 1.1x speed!

Other reviewers have mentioned the soporific and wooden quality of the narrator. My daughter discovered that the speed must be off, and if played at 1.1x rather than the normal speed, the performance is fairly good and expressive.

Good book, but...

Readers might be put off by the casual use of the term “dago” throughout the early part of this book to denote a person of darker skin or Southern European background. It was written in 1929, when such terms must have been socially acceptable.
Otherwise, the plot is fun and twisty (if a little pat at the end), the details of how the police conducted an investigation in 1929 are quite amazing (bank notes could be traced to individuals!) and the inspector, Alan Grant, is very likable.

So disappointing

The narrator is monotone and boring and the conclusion of the story is such a disappointment.

Great mystery

What a great mystery! Though it was written in 1929 and it reflects some of the prejudice of its time , I enjoyed the book immensely and was able to overlook those things. I agree with other reviews that sometimes the story plodded along but that did not take away from my enjoyment of a story well told. Nicola Upson is correct when she writes that Josephine Tey rates right up there with Agatha Christie. I am looking forward to the next book.

Interesting detective story

Easy listen with convincing voices and interesting locations. Plot twists travel through to the end.

A classic “Golden Age” mystery

The first of the Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey. An excellent example of a mystery from the 1920-1930’s.

Too dated

I’m a lover of historical fiction, especially fiction written in its time. I love Brat Ferrar, and all of the Nicola Upson books, but the repetition of the word “Dego” was unbearable to listen to. It wasn’t like reading Huck Finn, it was more like hanging out with a racist relative.

Loved the even pacing of the narration

lots of times these days I slow the speed down to make a less hectic hearing. such a good writer, always enjoy revisiting inspector Grant, just beautifully produced.