La señorita Pym es una ex profesora de francés reconvertida en una celebridad debido a haber escrito una especie de bestseller. Es invitada por una amiga suya, que dirige una prestigiosa escuela femenina de Educación Física para dar una clase magistral sobre el tema que domina.

Llega para dar una charla a las alumnas y es testigo de ciertos hechos que la invitan a prolongar su estancia una y otra vez. Toda la carga reposa en las observaciones de Lucy
Pym sobre lo que ve a su alrededor y sobre sí misma.

Describe muy bien el ambiente en la escuela de señoritas y hace que pongas cara a multitud de personajes secundarios, un montón de jóvenes que parecen que no han roto un plato en su vida. Hasta entonces el ambiente se ha ido enrareciendo hasta el momento en el que sabes que algo malo va a ocurrir y a quién. Porque el crimen no ocurre hasta el último tercio del libro.

No es una novela de misterio como tal, aunque la sinopsis así lo indique, la "intriga" no es para tanto y no dura más que unas pocas páginas, aunque creo que se resuelve correctamente.
En las últimas páginas, tiene más mérito la reflexión de la protagonista sobre la justicia que el suceso en sí.

Una lectura agradable y entretenida que he disfrutado.

Este libro catalogado como de misterio no ha sido lo que esperaba.
Se suponía una trama detectivesca pero hasta el final que hay un misterio (último 25%) es una historia que narra la vida de unas estudiantes en una escuela.
Lo positivo es la forma en que esta narrado y el pequeño giro final (algo predecible además).
Muy por debajo en cuanto al género de otros libros de la autora.

This was such a treat. Why isn’t Josephine Tey better known?! It was perfect - started out like one of the mid-century women’s books I like and turned into a really well done mystery. The mystery is so late in the book I just didn’t see how it would all happen and be resolved so quick! The long set up is so perfect as you really get to know the characters much better than you might in a whodunnit that happens much earlier on. I loved it. I was already interested in other Teys but now I’m really looking forward to them!

This is rather rare for me but almost half way through the book I just thought that there is no point continuing .... The fact that this is not an easy read that you can breeze through it, made it pointless for me to struggle through something that was not giving me any pleasure, while I had a stack of other books "in waiting". I believe I picked it up having read some recommendations of books set in a school and the author and time it was written intrigued me. I can see why contemporary crime writers, especially women writers, consider Josephine Tey a game changer in the genre. I found the writing really good with vivid and well observed characters that give immediately a sense of time and place, but are also quite challenging given the time the book was written. Also, in contrast with other reviewers who picked on what would today be, rightly so, considered offensive / racist language, I thought that the original version, without sanitized corrections, reflects the time and the true nature of the characters. I did find however, some of the author's thoughts that alluded to the relation of facial characteristics and behavior quite disturbing but, as I did not finish the book, I cannot say with certainty that this was a prevailing element in the book.
So, what made me abandon the book .....
The story itself, or rather the non-story .... Lucy Pym, a celebrity psychology author, visits a Physical Education Academy for girls, where an old school friend is head teacher, to give a talk and ends up staying a few days. We are to understand that all is not as innocent as it seems and that something bad will happen .... BUT nothing really happens for a long time and the build up to some sort of conflict or sinister act was just not strong enough to sustain my interest. I acknowledge that this is not a plot driven story but the flipside is that with over 20 teacher and pupil characters, it just became impossible for me to follow, let alone empathize with any of them. Again, I should say that Tey, through her main character, makes some very interesting observations about herself as an independent, professional woman, and her social environment but this is fiction, not just a social commentary. Perhaps I will revisit some time in the future but for now, it is goodbye.

¡A mis brazos, Josephine Tey! ¿Le voy a dar cinco estrellas porque la autora hace exactamente lo que yo hubiera hecho? Por supuesto. Hay que darle un premio por esa deliciosa crueldad.

Josephine Tey tiene el don de crear tensión de la forma más sutil. No pasa nada, pero hace que sientas esa atmósfera ominosa donde sabes que va a pasar algo malo. Porque el crimen no ocurre hasta el último tercio del libro. Hasta entonces el ambiente se ha ido enrareciendo hasta el momento en el que sabes que algo malo va a ocurrir y a quién. Todo en una apacible escuela femenina con simpáticas jovencitas que parecen no haber roto un plato en su vida.

Y por cierto, eso es terminar en todo lo alto.

It’s only February but I’m guessing this is going to be my best book of 2022. It takes about 40 pages to get into the rhythm of the writing, you need to let the book teach you how to read it, but then Itll keep you reading nonstop. There is real love, wisdom, joy and threat in the human condition here. The death doesn’t happen until over 2/3 to the end of the book and the killer…well, you must read it. The end will just kill you.

La contraportada me hizo pensar que se trataba de un whodunnit clásico británico y sin embargo no se trata de eso exactamente. De hecho no es más que una historia bucólica y costumbrista. La parte de " misterio" se reduce a las 20 páginas del final. Un poco de pérdida de tiempo.

This is one of Tey's stand alone novels and it's an interesting mystery even if the actual mystery only crops up in the final couple of chapters. The rest of the book is focussed on building up character studies of Miss Pym and the numerous girls and teachers at a private school and in this regard it's enticing and entertaining.

Pym is a great character, not afraid to detail her thoughts on those she meets and her self reflections and foibles, while the psychological aspects are interesting (even if there is a reliance on physiognomy and era specific stereotypes - to be read with a critical eye now).

The actual event of the mystery is telegraphed early but the final few chapters are intriguing and there is a complete rug pull in the final pages which felt almost black mirror like in impact.

I enjoyed spending time with these characters and will happily continue to read Tey's works.

Not a fan. Dated.

Louisa May Alcott or Henry James meets Edgar Allen Poe (which is arguably a formula for Oscar Wilde?)...I loved the soothing women's college scenes and was appropriately shaken by the turns.

Some of the throwaway expressions around race and sexual violence are "of their time" deeply offensive to a modern conscience. This is the rare case where I actually wish a publisher would release a trivially edited version to preserve the author's intent.

I'm not convinced that Tey knew much about gymnastics, because the otherwise sharp descriptions are extremely vague every time the characters go into the gym. On one hand, Miss Pym clearly has no interest and the novel is from her perspective. On the other hand, even a literal description of the action is absent and this is relatively important to the plot.