SHOT WITH CRIMSON (Josephine Tey #11) by Nicola Upson will be released on November 7, 2023 by Crooked Lane Books.
With war breaking out in Europe, author Josephine Tey travels to Hollywood to join her girlfriend on the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s latest film, Rebecca. While on the train ride across the American West, Josephine prevents one of the studio workers from committing suicide. Like Josephine, James Bartholomew is on his way back to Hollywood after shooting scenery at the country estate that inspired Daphne du Maurier’s Manderley. Meanwhile, back in England, Josephine’s friend, DCI Archie Penrose, is investigating the murder of a woman who worked at the estate that the film crew just left—and it’s not the woman who James Bartholomew confesses to have murdered. Through transatlantic phone calls, Josephine and Archie work together to find the killer and also solve a mysterious death that dates back to the first World War.
Mystery writer Josephine Tey is back in another novel that has her working with a detective chief inspector at Scotland Yard to solve mysteries set throughout England. While an interesting story, I will admit that I did not enjoy SHOT WITH CRIMSON as much as I did the previous novels. The focus on the novel seemed more about Hitchcock’s family and the filming of Rebecca than it was on the murder. Since they were on two different continents, Josephine and Archie weren’t really investigating together. Archie was the only one who was really investigating the murder while Josephine supplied him with info that she picked up while on set. In the end, it was still an enjoyable novel.
I do enjoy the way Nicola Upson includes other real-life people in the Josephine Tey novels. Alfred Hitchcock and his family, actors Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, producer David O. Selznick, and author Daphne du Maurier all make appearances in SHOT WITH CRIMSON.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.