Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2) Read Free

exclaiming,
    “We got hit last month in broad daylight while we were at the supermarket. The no-good SOB took off with all of Marge’s jewelry—her good pieces as well as her costume jewelry.”
    “How did he get in?” Sadie asked.
    “We don’t know,” Marge said. “None of the locks were forced.”
    Tim grimaced. “No sign of a forced entry when I was burgled in the spring, also in the middle of the day. He took my stamp collection, which was worth several thousand bucks. At least my gold coins remained secure in the safe.”
    “It sounds like the thief had access to your homes and knew what to go after,” Joy said.
    Tim stared at her. “What are you implying?”
    “I’m not implying anything,” Joy responded in a cold tone I’d never heard her use before. “I was wondering what strangers had been inside your homes.”
    “We don’t have a cleaning woman,” Marge said. “And Evan and I never leave workmen alone in the house.”
    Tim thought a bit. “I have. On occasion.”
    “I’ve heard of other burglaries in the neighborhood,” Marge said, her eyes wide with anxiety. “We moved to Ryesdale because it was voted one of the most peaceful towns in America.” She turned to her husband. “Maybe we should have stayed in Wisconsin, like my sister begged us to.”
    Evan patted her hand. “Don’t you worry, honey. It’s only a matter of time before they find the guy and throw him in jail.”
    Sadie and I exchanged glances. Finding the thief was one thing, keeping him behind bars was another.
    Five minutes later I opened the door to Corinne and a sad-looking Felicity.   Corinne, slim and angular, her black hair cropped short, was still dressed in her banker’s suit and low-heeled pumps. She tossed out a general greeting as she entered the living room. Felicity sent me an apologetic look.
    “I decided to come, after all,” she said meekly.
    I patted her arm. “I’m glad.”
    The Roberts sisters headed for the two remaining dining room chairs. Tim offered to move so they could sit next to one another, but Corinne shook her head, her lips pressed in a tight seam. Was she angry at Felicity or simply in a bad mood? Probably the latter, I decided. Corinne wasn’t a warm and fuzzy person, but she was always solicitous toward her younger sister, whom she treated more like a daughter than a sibling.
    And what was bugging Joy? Hours earlier she’d been her usual bouncy self.
    I cleared my throat and began my spiel.
    “Josephine Tey is the pseudonym Elizabeth Mackintosh used when writing five of her mysteries. She was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1896. She trained as a phys ed teacher, and taught for some years before returning home to care for her ailing widowed father. She was a private sort of person, and we know little about her personal life. Using the name Gordon Daviot, Mackintosh wrote several plays. Her biggest success was ‘Richard of Bordeaux,’ whose leading actor was none other than John Gielgud.”
    “How fascinating!” Marge exclaimed. “It seems famous people are always crossing paths with one another.”
    Sure they do , I thought cynically, but her husband and Tim nodded. The four young women wore blank expressions.
    I grinned at Joy. “You do know who John Gielgud is, don’t you?”
    She shrugged. “Sure. He played the butler in the old version of ‘Arthur.’”
    Tim laughed. “Gielgud was one of the most famous British actors of the last century, on screen and in the theatre.”
    Felicity glanced at her sister, sitting still as a statue, then looked down at her feet. Were those tears I saw in her eyes, or merely a reflection from the light? I wondered what Felicity had been planning to do tonight before Corinne badgered her to come to the meeting.
    “Lexie?” Evan touched my arm, and I nearly jumped out of my seat.
    “Sorry,” I mumbled. I’d mull over my neighbors’ moods on my own time. After all, I was getting paid to facilitate these meetings. I cleared my