The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time was the first required reading for my medieval history course (HSTAM 235: Medieval Mysteries), and I found it completely delightful. The protagonist of this work is an English police officer who was injured on the job and is laid up resting at a small hospital. A highly perceptive detective with a wry wit, Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is unused to boredom and inactivity, and struggles immensely with the tedium of convalescence. That is, until his vivacious actress friend brings him a folio of paintings of faces. Grant's intuitive ability to read criminals' faces snags on one mysterious portrait - a suffering, noble face Grant is dismayed to learn is that of the barbaric Richard III. His curiosity deeply piqued, Grant teams up with a charmingly oafish young history buff to unravel the mystery of the murder of the princes in the tower. Fascinating analysis with a surprising conclusion. (And a bonus reference to our illustrious ancestor, Sir Robert Brackenbury.) Delicious language enhances this very enjoyable thriller.

Journey to the Hangman

This was another good Bony mystery, with a very eccentric strong character, Melody Sam.  Not really a spoiler, but a hint at a spoiler:  the plot is a little reminiscent of Hound of the Baskervilles.  And, as the book cover suggests, Bony's skill as a tracker is key to the solution of the last of three seemingly unrelated murders in a remote Western Australia town, founded, owned, mayored and bartended by the intermittently musical and binging Melody Sam.  Quick and enjoyable read!