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in Three by Tey, Macmillan Company (1954)
Description
A unique and absorbing standalone mystery, Miss Pym Disposes is an essential addition to the Josephine Tey collection. Bestselling author Lucy Pym is initially thrilled to be invited to lecture at Leys Physical Training College. The girls are eager to learn about psychology, her pet subject, and she finds herself inspired by their discipline, humour and determination. However, a tragic accident in the gymnasium reveals a darker side to the school, and unexpectedly Miss Pym finds she must draw on her psychological expertise to trace who, of all these wholesome girls, has violence on the mind.
User reviews
LibraryThing member TadAD
I really enjoyed this book but, if someone specifically wanted a mystery, it probably wouldn't occur to me to recommend it. Why? Well, the book is 235 pages long, the mystery doesn't occur until page 179, and the majority of the remaining pages aren't focused on attempts to solve it.
Instead, the
When all is revealed at the end, it all seems right, both to Miss Pym and the reader, because we've all come to know these people and have some understanding of their desires and their capabilities.
Definitely recommended.
Instead, the
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reader is given the opportunity to watch the responses of the individuals, to participate in their reactions to adversity and their struggles of conscience. And that is the strength of this book. The "mystery" is just a vehicle; what Josephine Tey has really crafted here is a study of characters and she's done it extremely well. They seem real enough that you feel you've met someone very much like them at some point in your life.When all is revealed at the end, it all seems right, both to Miss Pym and the reader, because we've all come to know these people and have some understanding of their desires and their capabilities.
Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Miss Pym Disposes is the second book by Josephine Tey that I have read and she is rapidly becoming a favorite mystery writer. She produces a well written, tightly plotted story that although slightly dated and with the inclusion of a couple of throw away racial comments that grated, held my
Set in the isolated world of a Women’s Physical Training College, Miss Pym, as a current best seller of a book on psychology, arrives as a guest lecturer Meaning to leave the day after her lecture, she succumbs to this insulated world of young women and eventually stays through to the end of the year and the graduating exercises. She enjoys getting to know and becoming attached to some of these young women. She also enjoys the sense of belonging and she experiences.
Rather than a full blown mystery or whodunit, this book examines moral questions and a person’s responsibility to pass on evidence, even if it is extremely damaging. Miss Pym makes her choices based on her belief in psychology and on what she feels is the right and just thing to do. Whether she is correct or not, the reader is left to judge.
This book is by no means a fast paced action thriller, instead we are gently led through the last days of the term and the impact that certain decisions have on everyone. Great characterizations help to move this book along and keep it interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Pym Disposes.
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attention throughout. Set in the isolated world of a Women’s Physical Training College, Miss Pym, as a current best seller of a book on psychology, arrives as a guest lecturer Meaning to leave the day after her lecture, she succumbs to this insulated world of young women and eventually stays through to the end of the year and the graduating exercises. She enjoys getting to know and becoming attached to some of these young women. She also enjoys the sense of belonging and she experiences.
Rather than a full blown mystery or whodunit, this book examines moral questions and a person’s responsibility to pass on evidence, even if it is extremely damaging. Miss Pym makes her choices based on her belief in psychology and on what she feels is the right and just thing to do. Whether she is correct or not, the reader is left to judge.
This book is by no means a fast paced action thriller, instead we are gently led through the last days of the term and the impact that certain decisions have on everyone. Great characterizations help to move this book along and keep it interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Pym Disposes.
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LibraryThing member RubyScarlett
This is excellent and utterly different from anything I've read before. The psychological study is minute, the humour sharp and quotable, the characters detached yet devatastingly human. I don't know what to call this insofar as this is as much a character study of various female students in the
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forties as it is a mystery novel that advocates applied psychology and body language reading to solve crimes. It is a good whodunnit (though I'd guessed the final twist, it was still quite smart) but it's not its primary purpose, its primary purpose is to look at the consequences of murder on people's lives. It's a pity Tey doesn't delve into more politics with such material and such quality writing, there was so much potential of scope there what with the setting with girls being sent to various positions around the country without having any kind of say into it, but I suppose that's why Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night is a masterpiece and Miss Pym Disposes is a Really Good Book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eat_Read_Knit
For a crime novel, the crime is a very small part of the book. It takes place very near the end, and there is little in the way of investigation. The bulk of the book involves the titular Miss Pym - a psychologist or sorts, and a former teacher - visiting a physical training college for girls, and
First published in 1946, it's very interesting as a period piece: the atmosphere and attitudes of the period are displayed in detail, although it seems more 1930s than 40s, and I am curious to know whether it was written before or during the war and only published after. There's a lot of detail on the structure and functioning of the college which reflects the author's own experience.
The plot is, I think, the weakest part. Or possibly the strongest, depending on how you look at it. There is a lot of deliberate vagueness and ambiguity, and those who like to know exactly whodunnit, and how, and why, will be disappointed. Those who like things a little less clear cut may find it very intriguing. The decision-making - of the college principal throughout the book, and of Miss Pym in certain places but particularly at the end - is also interesting. The title plays on the phrase "man proposes, God disposes", and Miss Pym certainly does a lot of the disposing - playing God, if you like - throughout the book. The arbitrary decisions of the principal (and one decision in particular) also fit into this theme. Miss Pym herself discusses this with another character at one point: how and why should people make decisions? Should they take a course of action to help one person, knowing another could be harmed - or do they allow the first to be injured to keep the other safe?
It's really not much of a crime novel. But it is a passably interesting novel on the theme of ethics.
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getting to know the staff and students, and becoming a part of the community. The characters - not just sketched but sustained in detail through the books - are very strong.First published in 1946, it's very interesting as a period piece: the atmosphere and attitudes of the period are displayed in detail, although it seems more 1930s than 40s, and I am curious to know whether it was written before or during the war and only published after. There's a lot of detail on the structure and functioning of the college which reflects the author's own experience.
The plot is, I think, the weakest part. Or possibly the strongest, depending on how you look at it. There is a lot of deliberate vagueness and ambiguity, and those who like to know exactly whodunnit, and how, and why, will be disappointed. Those who like things a little less clear cut may find it very intriguing. The decision-making - of the college principal throughout the book, and of Miss Pym in certain places but particularly at the end - is also interesting. The title plays on the phrase "man proposes, God disposes", and Miss Pym certainly does a lot of the disposing - playing God, if you like - throughout the book. The arbitrary decisions of the principal (and one decision in particular) also fit into this theme. Miss Pym herself discusses this with another character at one point: how and why should people make decisions? Should they take a course of action to help one person, knowing another could be harmed - or do they allow the first to be injured to keep the other safe?
It's really not much of a crime novel. But it is a passably interesting novel on the theme of ethics.
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LibraryThing member wildbill
The first book I read by Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, was many, many years ago. Only recently did I find out about this book and read it.
The story is set at Leys Physical Training College in an English village and the author attended a similar school in Birmingham, U.K. Miss Pym is a
The plot moves well and the crime, though unexpected, is a natural outcome of the preceding events. As in all good mysteries there is an end and then a final surprise twist to the plot which is the final ending. The plot contains a number of surprises but none of them are contrived. At the end Miss Pym holds a clue which would seem to solve the crime but she is conflicted about revealing it. This conflict is based upon her feeling for the people involved and her fear that the law will not provide justice. The final twist is a surprise to Miss Pym and left me with more questions about Miss Pym's decision.
This book is very well written. It is not only entertaining but thought provoking. Ms. Tey ( Elizabeth Mackintosh) was an excellent writer. She died in 1952 and her books have remained in print since that time. Even if you are not a mystery reader you should seriously consider reading this book and finding out for yourself.
The story is set at Leys Physical Training College in an English village and the author attended a similar school in Birmingham, U.K. Miss Pym is a
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retired teacher who wrote a best seller on psychology and became a celebrity. The Head Mistress of the college is a childhood friend of Miss Pym's and invites her to visit for the graduation festivities at the school. The crime that provides the mystery does not take place until about three quarters of the way into the book. Prior to the crime we are introduced to the characters who consist of the staff and students at the school. The descriptions of the characters and their dialogue are well done and you get to know them quickly. There is also some well written description of the countryside surrounding the school.The plot moves well and the crime, though unexpected, is a natural outcome of the preceding events. As in all good mysteries there is an end and then a final surprise twist to the plot which is the final ending. The plot contains a number of surprises but none of them are contrived. At the end Miss Pym holds a clue which would seem to solve the crime but she is conflicted about revealing it. This conflict is based upon her feeling for the people involved and her fear that the law will not provide justice. The final twist is a surprise to Miss Pym and left me with more questions about Miss Pym's decision.
This book is very well written. It is not only entertaining but thought provoking. Ms. Tey ( Elizabeth Mackintosh) was an excellent writer. She died in 1952 and her books have remained in print since that time. Even if you are not a mystery reader you should seriously consider reading this book and finding out for yourself.
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LibraryThing member ben_a
Well observed Tey, with the odd setting of a women's physical training college. A typical Teyian format, in that the crime does not surface until near the end, and most of the action consists in understanding characters and how they interact.
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Josephine Tey is one of my favorite authors, and though this novel isn't as well-known as her Daughter of Time or Brat Farrar I still consider it a standout and one of my favorite mystery novels.
Like Dorothy Sayer's mystery Gaudy Night, this novel is set at a women's college--but not the rarefied
One review complains the novel is "plodding," and Tey certainly takes her time in this one. Nothing much happens through three-quarters of the book. This isn't a suspenseful novel, but more a psychological study. Most mysteries start with a murder, then add one or two by the end, with Clues(tm) along the way. Here it's more that the subtle clues of character are what builds up to the tragedy. Action packed this is not.
This is one of the most memorable mysteries I've ever read, to a great extent because of the twist at the end. And yes, in a puzzle piece Agatha Christie sense, it's a good twist, but the impact of it for me was so much more than that of any Agatha Christie I've read, because of the consequences and because of how in its way it's so subversive of the whole tidy cozy mystery genre and amateur sleuthing. The title takes on a rather significant meaning at the end.
Like Dorothy Sayer's mystery Gaudy Night, this novel is set at a women's college--but not the rarefied
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Oxford of Sayer's Harriet Vane. This is set at Leys, a British college of "Physical Training" with subjects like gymnastics, ballet, kinesiology, anatomy, diet and hygiene. Lucy Pym is a the bestselling author of a pop psychology book and a visiting lecturer and friend of the headmistress. She remarks to a student from Brazil, Teresa, known as "The Nut Tart" that she sees the students as normal and healthy. But Teresa, as an outsider, has a different view, and that's the first hint we get there might be more to this bunch. (And incidentally--one example of Tey's deft storytelling is that she uses idiom and syntax to indicate Teresa isn't a native English speaker instead of using the usual hard-to-comprehend phonetic spellings and elisions that make a foreign speaker come across as an uneducated moron.)One review complains the novel is "plodding," and Tey certainly takes her time in this one. Nothing much happens through three-quarters of the book. This isn't a suspenseful novel, but more a psychological study. Most mysteries start with a murder, then add one or two by the end, with Clues(tm) along the way. Here it's more that the subtle clues of character are what builds up to the tragedy. Action packed this is not.
This is one of the most memorable mysteries I've ever read, to a great extent because of the twist at the end. And yes, in a puzzle piece Agatha Christie sense, it's a good twist, but the impact of it for me was so much more than that of any Agatha Christie I've read, because of the consequences and because of how in its way it's so subversive of the whole tidy cozy mystery genre and amateur sleuthing. The title takes on a rather significant meaning at the end.
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LibraryThing member Figgles
A meditation on hubris, perhaps self referential to the idea of an author playing god? Not perhaps her most likeable book but humanised by self doubt (must check where it comes in her canon). I do like the humanity of Miss Pym.
LibraryThing member MusicMom41
I’m not sure this qualifies as a mystery although all books by Tey are generally categorized as mystery. This is a novel about a somewhat lonely, likable English woman who was a French teacher until she wrote a book on psychology (generally just using common sense to refute some the “learned
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opinions” being bandied about) and accidentally became a celebrity. She is invited to be guest speaker at a girls’ Physical Training School where she becomes involved with several of the girls lives. When she decides to ignore and cover up an infraction of one of the students she sets in motion a chain of events that that has far reaching repercussions. When I went through my “Josephine Tey phase” many years ago I couldn’t get into this book and so hadn’t read it. From a more mature perspective this may be one of her best – and that’s saying a lot from my memory of how much I liked the others. Show Less
LibraryThing member ccayne
Tey writes beautifully. The portrait of the boarding school is priceless and all the characters are finely drawn. I didn't like this as much as Brat Farrar but it certainly had its own charms.
LibraryThing member lahochstetler
This is a rather odd sort of mystery, as for most of the book there is no mystery at all. Miss Pym, a pop psychologist, spends a week in residence at a girls' school. Much of her time is spent getting to know the students, and noticing how bucolic and normal everything seems to be. Then, one girl
That something terrible happens near the end of the book. What appears to be an accident might be something more sinister, at least it seems so to Miss Pym. This is really a backwards sort of book. Most of the book is spent studying the characters, before there is any hint of nefarious activity.
What I found most interesting about this book was that it provided a look into a competitive girls' boarding school. Without giving too much away, I was never able to figure out why the headmistress made the decision that she did. The slight on which the whole mystery turns was essentially inexplicable.
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is terribly slighted by the headmistress, and it becomes clear to the reader that something terrible is about to happen. That something terrible happens near the end of the book. What appears to be an accident might be something more sinister, at least it seems so to Miss Pym. This is really a backwards sort of book. Most of the book is spent studying the characters, before there is any hint of nefarious activity.
What I found most interesting about this book was that it provided a look into a competitive girls' boarding school. Without giving too much away, I was never able to figure out why the headmistress made the decision that she did. The slight on which the whole mystery turns was essentially inexplicable.
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LibraryThing member bunwat
Set in a girls college during the forties, this witty and well written mystery opens a window for me on a time and place different enough to be oddly fascinating. Tey has a great gift for characterization, and also the ability to resist making her heroine entirely likeable or wise.
LibraryThing member emanate28
Not much of a mystery, but a delightful tale of life in a girls' college. This is my 2nd Josephine Tey book, after "The Man in the Queue". Ms. Tey does a wonderful job of depicting characters that are subtly quirky and somehow likeable/lovable. Like "The Man in the Queue", the "mystery" in this
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tale is very simple with hardly a trick, and there's not much detection or crime-solving involved (e.g., as compared to Agatha Christie or PD James), but it was a pleasure to read (it reminded me of the pleasure of reading Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford"). Show Less
LibraryThing member kathleen586
Miss Pym Disposes is very engaging, with a variety of well-drawn characters. The story takes place at a physical training college for young ladies, which made an interesting setting. The plot is character-driven rather than action-driven so the story is more slow-paced than a typical mystery. In
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fact, the mystery doesn't really start until about 2/3 of the way through the book, but I didn't mind. Miss Pym gets herself into a moral dilemma and I was questioning her decision until the very last page. Show Less
LibraryThing member krsball
My favorite Josephine Tey book. Her writing is great and the plot is character driven. LOVE this book. One of my favorite things about this book is that it took me chapters to figure out when it was set--masterful writing.
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Miss Pym, an "amateur" student of psychology, is invited down for a weekend at an old school friend's women's college. Scandals, cheating and at last, murder rip through the quiet little school, leaving Miss Pym and the reader shaken and depressed.
LibraryThing member japaul22
I picked this up off of my shelf needing something totally brainless to read. It is really hot here in D.C. (actual temps in the upper 90s and heat index in the 100s) and I've been working outside all week. This book was the perfect thing to read amongst all of that.
Some of Tey's books have
Some of Tey's books have
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annoyed me because they reflect the racist notions of a different generation, but this one basically avoids that by being set in an all-girls college. Miss Pym goes there to give a lecture on psychology and ends up enamored with the girls and life there. She stays for a week or two and is witness to some jealousies and crimes. I thought this was written with a lot of insight and subtlety for a mystery and I enjoyed it. I've read six of Tey's mysteries and this and Brat Farrar are my favorites. Show Less
LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
don't worry! No spoilers, just a small synopsis ahead.
Miss Pym Disposes, by Josephine Tey, is one of those books that sneak up on you at the end, and sort of catch you unprepared for the ending. It is a very good book, and Josephine Tey has never let me down.
The basic plot is this (I can't say too
I really can't say more, because I don't want to ruin the book - suffice it to say that there is a twist and taht it comes up out of nowhere.
I would recommend the book; be aware that Josephine Tey died in 1952, so the action takes place a long time ago, and thus is not a modern mystery. However, I think the message in the story is a propos to our current time, so it makes for a good read.
Miss Pym Disposes, by Josephine Tey, is one of those books that sneak up on you at the end, and sort of catch you unprepared for the ending. It is a very good book, and Josephine Tey has never let me down.
The basic plot is this (I can't say too
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much or it will wreck it for anyone who may want to read this book): Set in England, at a woman's college that specializes in physical training, Miss Lucy Pym, a specialist in Psychology, has come to be a guest lecturer. While she's there, a very unpopular student is awarded with a prize job that everyone thought should go to the student who was the smartest and most well-liked of all of the graduating seniors. Even Miss Pym realizes ther's been some kind of weird mistake in this placement; she had caught the student cheating on a final exam. This girl ends up dead, mysteriously, and the killer leaves behind only one clue, but her death is ruled "death by misadventure." Miss Pym is the finder of the clue, and she wonders what she should do: should she tell the headmistress, or keep her findings to herself and let "God Dispose?" I really can't say more, because I don't want to ruin the book - suffice it to say that there is a twist and taht it comes up out of nowhere.
I would recommend the book; be aware that Josephine Tey died in 1952, so the action takes place a long time ago, and thus is not a modern mystery. However, I think the message in the story is a propos to our current time, so it makes for a good read.
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LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
Invited by an old school friend to give a lecture on psychology at a girl’s athletic college, Miss Pym - one of the most approachable fictional mystery-solvers that I’ve ever read – discovers a sinister undercurrent to the driven but seemingly normal surface life of the girls and staff. If
The charm of the setting and characters would have made this story an instant favourite, but I also deeply enjoyed the prolonged, relaxed lead-up to the crime; we are immersed in the world of the girls’ studies and career concerns so that when the curiously unlikable and duplicitous Rouse is given the opportunity of a prestigious teaching post over the more natural choice of the brilliant Innes, the impact is properly felt by the reader as much as by their confused and outraged peers.
It’s a lovely work of crime fiction despite the unchallenging plot, with a sort of frothy girl-school good nature and underlying human nature that make an interesting mix, and Tey’s writing style is delightful. Its isn’t close to the brilliance of the gripping The Daughter of Time, but it has so much charm of its own that I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless; it would have been an easy five-star rating, if not for the casual racisms thrown in here and there. I have, in the past, rated books with five stars despite this bias against even ‘era-appropriate’ turns of phrase, but in all honesty, they spoiled my enjoyment of this book a measurable, if small, amount, and I’m choosing (both arbitrarily and pointlessly) to reflect it, because if my enjoyment wasn’t perfect, I can't really justify rating it as though it was.
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Miss Pym is hardly a ‘detective’ in the usual sense, the crime itself is also almost beside the point of the novel; for much of the book, we see hardly any hint of anything amiss at Ley’s, and are content to simply wallow in the amiable guest’s pleasant reception by the girls, and to join her in her character assessment of them. In the end, the character of Miss Pym, as well as the girls, is tested.The charm of the setting and characters would have made this story an instant favourite, but I also deeply enjoyed the prolonged, relaxed lead-up to the crime; we are immersed in the world of the girls’ studies and career concerns so that when the curiously unlikable and duplicitous Rouse is given the opportunity of a prestigious teaching post over the more natural choice of the brilliant Innes, the impact is properly felt by the reader as much as by their confused and outraged peers.
It’s a lovely work of crime fiction despite the unchallenging plot, with a sort of frothy girl-school good nature and underlying human nature that make an interesting mix, and Tey’s writing style is delightful. Its isn’t close to the brilliance of the gripping The Daughter of Time, but it has so much charm of its own that I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless; it would have been an easy five-star rating, if not for the casual racisms thrown in here and there. I have, in the past, rated books with five stars despite this bias against even ‘era-appropriate’ turns of phrase, but in all honesty, they spoiled my enjoyment of this book a measurable, if small, amount, and I’m choosing (both arbitrarily and pointlessly) to reflect it, because if my enjoyment wasn’t perfect, I can't really justify rating it as though it was.
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LibraryThing member sdunford
plodding, plodding, plodding, and then tiresome
LibraryThing member JonRob
I hadn't read this for ages, and enjoyed it more than I expected to; the setting of a women's physical training college is well-drawn, as are most of the characters. It's rather hard to credit Lucy Pym's fame as the author of a book on psychology, but if you overlook that she's a likeable sleuth,
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and her problem in dealing with her findings are probably the best part of the book. One oddity is that, although the book was first published in 1946, there is no mention of the war, which makes one wonder if it had been written pre-war and only published some years later. Show Less
LibraryThing member amelish
More like... "Miss Tey Exposes." A murder mystery consisting entirely of exposition, because Miss Pym is interested in Psychology. Oooooh how interesting.
LibraryThing member SChant
An OK read - but more girls boarding-school mystery that thrilling murder.
LibraryThing member benfulton
Really liked the character analyses. I thought the final unmasking was a bit obvious, with the surprise twist being the misdirection to a different character earlier. Not a good example of the English countryhouse genre - for all the characters, there are very few serious suspects, but again, not
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to be read as a murder mystery, bur rather as character profiles with a murder in the background. I don't think I understood more than half of what was going on at the school. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cassandra2020
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey - Good
I do love these older crime novels. This one was written in 1946 and whilst there was the odd 'ouch' moment (one in particular) it has stood the test of time.
Miss Pym has written a psychology book that has been well received and this has caused an old school
goes swimmingly well and Miss Pym stays on so that she can see the end of term Demonstration.
But there's an undercurrent. A couple of incidents occur and Miss Pym knows who the culprit is. Should she intervene or should she dispose her own justice?
I do love these older crime novels. This one was written in 1946 and whilst there was the odd 'ouch' moment (one in particular) it has stood the test of time.
Miss Pym has written a psychology book that has been well received and this has caused an old school
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friend to invite her to speak at a boarding school where she is Headmistress. The school focuses on physical fitness, training girls to be Gym Teachers and Physiotherapists etc. All goes swimmingly well and Miss Pym stays on so that she can see the end of term Demonstration.
But there's an undercurrent. A couple of incidents occur and Miss Pym knows who the culprit is. Should she intervene or should she dispose her own justice?
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Language
Original publication date
1946
DDC/MDS
| Fic Mystery Tey |