A Shilling for Candles (1936)

by Josephine Tey

A Shilling for Candles is the second mystery by Josephine Tey featuring Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, published seven years after his creation in The Man in the Queue. In the book, Tey really gets into her stride. You immediately feel invested in the characters and their lives as you try and figure out what on earth happened to the famous actress whose death, at the bottom of a cliff, is under investigation. As with many of Tey’s books, the descriptions of the British countryside are beautiful. A Shilling for Candles opens on the South Coast of England, on the cliffs overlooking the English Channel.