The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey

 Marcia Oshita picked this book for us to read in "her" book group, and since I typically love myteries, I was intrigued to see what she thought a good mystery was. Well, I almost gave up after the first chapter! But I couldn't, since I had bought the book through Amazon and was invested now...And, I was still curious, so I soldiered on.

Tey has an interesting writing style that includes some obscure allusions, foreign phrases, and distinctly British words and phrases that were wholly unknown to me. For some reason, this annoyed me rather than sending me to Google. But I continued on, and it got better. I could get the drift from context clues after awhile, and was able to discern more of what was going on. 

The character of the Inspector was engaging and it was enlightening and sometimes frustrating to hear his thinking and analysis of the crime. He went over details over and over again, and there were a few characters to keep track of. They were all interesting characters, though, so the story began to be enjoyable to me. I loved how reflective and humble Inspector Grant was, and how he listened to his gut...up to a point, and then he realized at last, how his gut was RIGHT on. So good to have someone's conclusions questioned, and he was a model for how to keep your mind going and how others can influence your thiking.

There was some subtle and wry humor which also made the book more enjoyable. It was set in the 1920s, so hysterical women were described in chauvenist ways. Funny. Would I read it again? Maybe...but right now I'm going to take it down the street to Anne Taylor, who is anxious to read it. I'll be interested to see what she thinks of it!