Review: not to be missed!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2013
Josephine Tey's best known for her mysteries featuring the suave Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, particularlyThe Daughter of Time; however, Brat Farrar has to be her best book. The novel, which deals with mistaken identity and how appearances can be deceiving -- on many levels -- builds such suspense that you can't put the book down. That's such a cliché, I know, but, in the case of Brat Farrar, it's actually true.By chance, British-born orphan Brat Farrar gets the chance to pose as the long-lost heir to a horse stable in the English countryside. Brat has spent the last years as a cowboy in France, other parts of Europe and America. On Brat's return to England, in a move reminiscent ofThe Prince and the Pauper, a distant relative of the heir, Alex Loding, realizes that Brat's the spitting image of the missing heir, Patrick Ashby. Alex drills Brat on the Ashby family and directs the imposture where Brat would reclaim Patrick's legacy.Thirteen-year-old Patrick disappeared eight years and was presumed a suicide. Since then the estate, The Latchetts, was to go to Patrick's fraternal and slightly younger twin, the mercurial Simon. Needless to say, Simon's none too happy to see his long-lost brother, but Aunt Beatrice -- along with a team of lawyers -- happily accept Brat as Patrick. Despite the initial subterfuge, the reader comes to sympathize with Brat. Will Brat be able to keep up the deception? And what really happened to Patrick those many years ago?Despite having been published more than 60 years ago, Brat Farrar holds up magnificently: Tey does an amazing job keeping readers on the edge of their seats. Don't miss out on this classic suspense story!