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The Franchise Affair | 
| Author: Josephine Tey
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.05
You Save: £4.94 (62%)
New (8) Used (2) from £3.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 144839
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0099452022
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780099452027
ASIN: 0099452022
Publication Date: July 3, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 2 - 3 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, UK *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Curious Mystery December 3, 2006
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the sort of book that is set for school English Literature classes. It is well written in a fairly old English style and if there is a teacher/lecturer around to analyse and explain each chapter then it might be more enjoyable but if you want a read without too much thinking then you might find it a bit tedious and boring. The whole plot centres around a lawyer trying to prove that a girl was only describing a house that she claims she was held in as a slave and prisoner from the outside of the house, and that she had never actually been in there. Its ok but not a riveting read.
 Engaging, compelling, very English mystery. One of the best May 7, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is about as perfect an English mystery story that you can imagine. Elegantly written, intriguingly plotted and an immensely satisfying denouement. Robert Blair is a quiet, professional, country solicitor in a quiet, sleepy, English country town until a phone call from a lady in trouble turns his live upside down. The beauty is that it doesn't turn him upside down. He remains Robert the dependable solicitor throughout, just caught up with a serious crime and new passion which makes him take stock of his way of life. Each character is fully drawn, utterly believable and for the most part warm and engaging, with the exception of the criminals of course, who you don't want to like anyway.
Tey's skill shines through in her reflection of English society, in her passion for the study of faces and ultimately in her force of will which means that the mystery, rather than sub-plots or socially commentary, remains paramount at all times. Yet she doesn't need multiple murders or gratuitous volience or complicated plot swings to keep the reader's interest or to keep the plot moving. Scraps of evidence emerge not by chance but as the result of hard detective work and acute observation. An easy and engaging read, this is the perfect way to spend an enjoyable lazy afternoon.
 A great read January 7, 2005
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I saw the film of The Franchise Affair years ago, but have only just tracked down the book. It is, as others have pointed out, an unusual detective story, not having to resort to multiple murders to grab the reader's attention. The pace is deceptively leisurely, very much reflecting the characterisation of the solicitor turned amateur sleuth at the centre of the novel, but I still found it highly compelling. I liked the way the little snatches of evidence appeared, sometimes in favour of the victim and sometimes in favour of the accused, which kept the whole thing very finely balanced. I also very much appreciated the fact that we, as readers, were kept utterly in the dark about the existence and testimony of the last witness; when the final revelations were made, it was as much of a surprise to me as to the assembled court-room. Tey writes extremely well, and I am now on the look-out for other books by her.
A detective novel without murder! October 29, 2000
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Can you imagine a detective novel without murder and blood ,but still interesting? This is such a book-marvelous! Tey used an interesting case to arouse audiences' curiosity, and make you think about humanity-why does the girl need to set up the poor family? She even doesn't know them.. Anyway, this is a good book...read it!!
An unusual crime novel. October 31, 1998
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book stands out among other British crime novels of its time due to the quality of its writing (strikingly apparent within the first two pages) and the unusualness of its subject matter (not a murder). Some British readers may find the stiff-upper-lip-ness irritating (this was even worse in the film version with Michael Dennison and Dulcie Gray). Still, well worth a read.
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