Josephine Tey presents the pro-Richard arguments in an unusual way. Published in 1951, the novel is set in the first part of the 20th century. Alan Grant, an inspector from Scotland Yard, was injured while pursuing a suspect. He is laid up in the hospital for weeks recovering from his injuries. Bored out of his gourd, he is looking for something to occupy him. It comes in the form of a picture, a print of this painting of King Richard III: And everything revolves around this. Historical data, books on the life of Richard III and his family, diverse opinions of the characters, etc.

McDermid, Val (16 July 2015). "Val McDermid: the brillliant unconventional crime novels of Josephine Tey". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 18 February 2019. Thanks to some friends, he is offered a mystery to solve. A very old mystery, one with its roots in history which means it is written by historians, which means a combination of invention, speculation, and based only on whatever facts might have been expedient to use at the time. There is no contemporary recorded evidence that the princes were missing from the Tower before Henry VII took over custody of them. It is only at that juncture that the rumours and speculative accusations start to be recorded in historical documents. The Publisher Says: Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is intrigued by a portrait of Richard III. Could such a sensitive face actually belong to a heinous villain — a king who killed his brother's children to secure his crown? Grant seeks what kind of man Richard was and who in fact killed the princes in the tower. No dudo de la calidad histórica de la novela, pero me ha resultado tremendamente aburrida, hasta el punto del tedio.This novel does not neatly fall into a genre. It is regarded as a mystery, possibly because Josephine Tey was an author of mysteries. However if you are looking for a traditional mystery look elsewhere. The crime occurred some 400 years before the investigation related in this novel. Despite the age of the crime it is not a historical mystery of the Ellis Peters Brother Cadfael sort. The investigators are alive and working in the present. At least the present of a book written in 1951. It is a combination of historical fiction, mystery and historical research. One of the investigators is Brent Carradine, a historical researcher. The other is Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard. Together they reach conclusions about Richard III and Henry VII which are at odds with conventional beliefs and Shakespeare. In a way, this is why I love historical fiction, not because it sugar-coats all of the historical information and presents it in an easily digestible narrative, but because it dares to ask questions and share how the actual research of non-fictional topics can be fun. It has the power to inspire people to learn more.

In 1990, The Daughter of Time was selected by the British Crime Writers' Association as the greatest crime novel of all time; The Franchise Affair was 11th on the same list of 100 books. [1]I first read this novel donkeys’ years ago in paper form. This time, when reading it again as a buddy read with two lovely and talented GoodReads pals, Delee and Lisa, I utterly melted as I listened to the amazing Derek Jacobi’s mellifluous voice as the narrator. If you can get The Daughter of Time as an audiobook, be sure to do so! Voted the top crime novel of all time by the UK Crime Writers’ Association, The Daughter of Time is Josephine Tey’s last and most successful book.