Marilyn Levinson
continues her new Golden-Age of Mystery series with Murder the Tey Way. Josephine Tey’s novels become the focus of main
character Lexie Driscoll’s book club. We learn more about Lexie when her sister
arrives on her doorstep in need of help. Both sisters face changes in their
lives and choices they must make. But change also occurs to another set of
sisters who live next door to Lexie. When a body is found in Lexie’s backyard
moving may be her only remedy!
Please welcome Marilyn Levinson back to WWK. E. B. Davis
Give our readers a plot synopsis of
Murder the Tey Way, if you would.
Lexie
Driscoll is now living in Ryesdale, Long Island, in a home owned by her
boyfriend, architect Allistair West, who is currently in London on a
work-related project. At a Golden Age of Mystery book club meeting, Lexie
learns that some of the members’ homes have been burgled. During a discussion
of Josephine Tey’s books, Lexie’s sister Gayle arrives, terrified because she’s
witnessed her boyfriend’s murder. She knows the murderer, a dirty cop, is sending
someone after her. The following morning, a local handyman is found dead in
Lexie’s backyard, and Lexie fears her sister may have murdered him, thinking
he’s been sent to kill her. Still, Lexie’s certain her sister could never
murder anyone, and so she sets out to find the murderer as she does her best to
keep any mention of her sister from
homicide Detective, Brian Donovan. As Lexie and Brian grow closer, Lexie is
determined to tell Allistair of the new state of affairs, but each time she’s
daunted by the physical distance between them. A book club member is murdered. Lexie
peels away layer after layer of secrecy and criminal behavior of the various
members until her final encounter with the murderer.
This Golden-Age of Mystery book club contains diverse
members; school teachers, a school guidance counselor, a lawyer, a former FBI
agent, a banker, a clerk, and retired dairy farmers. How did you decide on the
professions of each character, some of whom became suspects?
I didn’t
consciously decide on the book club members’ professions until I began to
write. I taught high school Spanish many years ago, and so I found it natural
to include teachers and a guidance counselor in the club. And I know several
lawyers. On one of my trips abroad, I’d met a married couple who’d been dairy
farmers in the Midwest. Somehow they wormed their way into my book. And I
thought a former FBI agent who was currently a soccer mom would be a fun
addition.
Deceiving appearances is one theme that reoccurs in your
book. What the truth is can be surprising, maddening, happy, or deceitful. You
chose many outcomes, why?
My
characters often have secrets. Secrets add a dimension because they refer back
to a character’s history, background, or a hidden vice or personality flaw. In Murder the Tey Way, one secret involves
a change of identity. Though we usually take people on face value, rarely is
someone what he or she seems. And sometimes innocent people, like my character Evan
Billings, find themselves entrapped in a bad situation through no fault of
their own.
Joy was a great addition to this book and a wonderful
secondary character. How did Lexie and Joy get to be good friends?
Joy and
Lexie bonded immediately when Joy joined the Golden Age of Mystery book club.
They both have a spirit of adventure. Lexie lives two houses away from Joy. Joy
finds Lexie’s company a wonderful reprieve from the never-ending demands of
motherhood.
Is Ryesdale a real Long Island town?
No, it
isn’t, but I know just where it would be on the map – a middle-class town in central
Nassau County.
I was surprised by Lexie’s sister, Gayle. Except for both
having had disastrous romantic relationships, Gayle is nothing like Lexie is
she?
They are as different as any two sisters can be. Gayle is
kind of a lost soul. She drifts from one situation to another and lacks Lexie’s
ability to focus and achieve long-term goals. Gayle admits she’s always been
jealous of Lexie. Lexie proves her love and support by doing everything she can
to protect Gayle from her boyfriend’s murderer. Brian Donovan helps Gayle confront
him. The experience brings the two sisters closer than they ever were.
Lexie is at a crossroad in her romantic relationship. What
brought her to that point?
Lexie
doesn’t trust her judgment, when it comes to men. Her two marriages have been
disasters. She likes Allistair West and knows he’s a great catch, but that
special spark is lacking. She shares this spark with Detective Brian Donovan,
but wonders if he’s going to be reliable and the right man for her because of
his demanding job.
I was surprised by the biographical information you gave on
Josephine Tey. Did her stories contain physical action that harnessed her
physical education teaching? Tell our readers about Tey, if you would.
Lexie’s
book club members read the book Miss Pym
Disposes, which takes place in a phys ed training school similar to the one
where Josephine Tey taught. She taught a few years, then returned home to care
for her ailing father. Her real name is Elizabeth Mackintosh, and she was born
in Inverness. She wrote most of her mysteries using the name Josephine Tey. She
also wrote plays under the name of Gordon Daviot. The most famous of them was Richard of Bordeaux. John Gielgud played
the leading role. Though her output of mysteries is small compared to Agatha
Christie’s, Tey’s books are so outstanding they ensure her a lofty position as
a Golden Age of Mystery author.
What of Josephine Tey’s writing helped Lexie solve the
mystery in Murder the Tey Way?
The study
of analyzing faces is something Tey believed in. This is the premise of The Daughter of Time, and what inspires Tey’s detective Alan Grant to prove that
Richard the Third did not kill his nephews. Lexie studies the face of Johnny Scarvino
to determine if he’s as evil as Felicity claims he is. She also studies the
photo of Corinne strangling Felicity’s ferret to analyze Corinne’s expression.
There is a cross study of sisters in your novel. The
relationships are very different. Is it better to know too much or too little
in sibling relationships?
There are
two sets of sisters in this novel. One is Lexie and her younger sister Gayle.
They are very different, but care for one another. The events that take place
in Murder the Tey Way bring them
closer. The other set of sisters is Felicity and Corinne Roberts. Corinne, an
accomplished banker, controls Felicity’s life. Felicity is fragile and needs
sisterly attention, but not to the extent that Corinne takes things. Felicity
tries to break free of her sister’s control. In the end, the relationship
proves to be symbiotic.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I plot my
outline, but make several changes as I write.
What classic mystery writer will Lexie’s group read next?
I’m not
sure. Perhaps Nero Wolfe. Or Ngaio Marsh.
Beach chair or mountain bike, Marilyn?
Perhaps
beach chair at this point in my life. <g>