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Welcome to the Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard MEGAPACK®!

“Josephine Tey” was one of several pseudonyms used by Elizabeth Mackintosh (1896–1952), a Scottish author best known for her mystery novels. I have chosen to release this volume under this particular pseudonym since 5 of the 6 volumes were first published under it. (She published the first book as by “Gordon Daviot,” a name she primarily used for plays with historical themes.)

In five of six novels in this series, the hero is Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. (Grant appears in a sixth, The Franchise Affair, as a minor character—but it is included here for completeness.) The most famous of these is The Daughter of Time, in which Inspector Grant, while laid up in hospital, has friends research reference books and contemporary documents so that he can puzzle out the mystery of whether King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the Princes, in the Tower.

The Daughter of Time was the last of Tey's books to be published during her lifetime. In 1990, the British Crime Writers' Association selected it as the greatest mystery novel of all time. One final crime novel, The Singing Sands, was found in her papers and published posthumously. It is last in this collection.

The Franchise Affair also has a historical context: although set in the 1940s, it is based on the 18th-century case of Elizabeth Canning. It also placed on the British Crime Writers' Association list of the 100 greatest mystery novels of all, taking 11th place.

About a dozen one-act plays and another dozen full-length plays were written under the name of Gordon Daviot. How she chose the name of Gordon is unknown, but Daviot was the name of a scenic locale near Inverness where she had spent many happy holidays with her family. Only four of her plays were produced during her lifetime. Richard of Bordeaux was particularly successful, running for 14 months and making a household name of its young leading man and director, John Gielgud. (Showing some self-referential humor, Tey writes of Inspector Alan Grant that “he had in his youth seen Richard of Bordeaux; four times he had seen it.”)

Enjoy one of the great mystery series of all time!

—John Betancourt

Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

www.wildsidepress.com

ABOUT THE SERIES

Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK® ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

The MEGAPACK® ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This has included John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Sam Cooper, Helen McGee and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK® ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com.

Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

TYPOS

Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com.