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Title: The Franchise Affair (Intermediate Level) by Margaret Tarner, John Milne, Josephine Tey ISBN: 0-435-27233-0 Publisher: Delta Systems Co Pub. Date: February, 1995 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $5.75 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A very enjoyable novel
Comment: THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR is an unusual detective novel. There is no murder; in fact, the question at the heart of the story is whether there is a crime at all. A young girl named Betty Kane accuses two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, Mrs. Sharpe, of kidnapping her, beating her, and holding her prisoner at their house, the Franchise. The girl gives a damningly accurate description of the attic in which she was supposedly imprisoned. Inspector Grant makes the barest of appearances in this novel; instead, the detective reins are taken over by a lawyer named Robert Blair, who is convinced that the girl is lying.
Josephine Tey's novels are noted for their unconventional plots, and THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR is no exception. Unlike Christie, who usually withholds her revelations until the very end, Tey pieces the puzzle together step by step, allowing the reader to see the truth come together as the story progresses. And while the plot may lack the brilliance and ingenuity of Christie, it is clever and well-constructed.
THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR is more than just a mystery; it is an incredibly rich and satisfying novel. The characters are well-developed, the story is engaging, the writing is crisp and literate, and there is plenty of social commentary on English life in the early 1900s.
Rating: 4
Summary: An Excellent Novel
Comment: Josephine Tey's 1949 THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR is frequently described as a mystery or a detective novel. In fact, it is nothing of the kind; it is instead a tale of the emotional tension and legal maneuvering that occurs in the wake of a highly publicized false accusation.
Elderly Mrs. Sharpe and her highly individualistic daughter Marion reside on the outskirts of a rural English community in a decaying mansion known as Franchise. Although considered eccentric by locals, they are tolerated--until an attractive schoolgirl named Betty Kane claims that she was kidnapped, beaten, and held prisoner by the Sharpes for a month. Betty Kane's story is convincing enough to draw both the interest of Scotland Yard and the national press, but Sharpe's solicitor recognizes her for what she is: a vicious creature eager to conceal her real activities from her unsuspecting family. And even as the press comes down hard on the side of the girl and the locals turn on the Sharpes, he sets out to expose Betty Kane before the world for the liar she is.
The story itself is extremely credible, the characters remarkably well drawn, and Tey writes in a very elegant style that offers enough detail to perfectly capture the story, characters, and locales without overplaying into excess. A truly enjoyable work; recommended.
--GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--
Rating: 5
Summary: Opaque dark blue eyes
Comment: Josephine Tey is remarkable for the broad subject range of her books and for fine writing. A similarity in her books is that she writes about people with insecure identities. It begins as a story of kidnapping and assault and is improbable given the characteristics of the two women who live at The Franchise. Robert Blair, solicitor for Mrs. and Miss Sharpe, sees a look of triumph on the alleged victim's face when she manages to describe some luggage accurately. Robert's aunt feels that odd people live at The Franchise. The maid in the aunt's house is having a round of excessive religious enthusiasm Robert finds. Robert wonders whether his life is so placid that a stranger's jeopardy stirs him. The girl is a prosecuting counsel's dream of a victim. A tabloid then blows the matter wide open. An observer feels the Sharpes are incapable of insane conduct. The case is not sub judice and so the press is free to comment. The tabloid story actually supports a defense investigation since the girl's picture is published and anyone who knows something about her absence for a month may view it. It is discovered that the victim has a photographic memory. The victim's mother had gone dancing with officers during World War II. The girl did go bus-riding during her vaction. Robert determines that she could have seen the details of the house from the top of a double decker bus.
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