A house that can’t rest
A crime that won’t fade…

When crime writer Josephine Tey inherited a remote Suffolk cottage from her godmother, it came full of secrets. Sorting through the artefacts of her godmother’s life, Josephine is intrigued by an infamous murder committed near the cottage a century before. Yet this old crime – dubbed the Red barn murder – still seems to haunt the tight-knit village and its remote inhabitants.
As Josephine settles into the house, she knows that something dark has a tight hold on the heart of this small community. Is it just the ghosts of the Red Barn murder, or is there something very much alive that she needs to fear?
Trapped in this isolated community and surrounded by shadows of obsession, abuse and deceit, can Josephine untangle history from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle beginning once again?

Praise for The Death of Lucy Kyte:

‘In probably her best book, Upson has Tey inheriting a remote Suffolk cottage close to the site of the notorious Red Barn murder a century earlier. Hoping for a rural idyll, Tey becomes unsettled by sinister events at the cottage and anxious to discover the identity of Lucy Kyte, a mysterious woman mentioned in her godmother’s will. What she unravels is chilling and unexpected, a tragic story of lives wrecked by disappointment and suspicion. This is historical crime fiction at its very best.’ The Sunday Times’ Top 50 Best Crime and Thriller Novels of the Last Five Years

‘Nicola Upsons Josephine Tey mysteries are a class above the usual crime fiction. They shimmer with a love for their pre-war setting and the artistic circles Tey, a real-life detective novelist, frequented. Her choice of sleuth was a masterstroke of literary theft … Upson has researched her heroine, anti-hero, cameo parts, and stage with aplomb to create a novel that charms until the dagger strikes and then, as Hitchcock once explained, it provides the public with beneficial shocks.’ Independent on Sunday

 ‘Upson legitimately uses [Tey] as an avatar to meld a golden-age plot with modern frankness, and Tey’s creative process mirrors her own concern about blurring fact and fiction. A smart, playful pleasure in an increasingly adventurous series.’ Financial Times

‘Curiously touching and psychologically compelling.’ The Sunday Times

‘Upson expertly weaves fact with fiction in this haunting and brilliantly executed book.’Stylist

‘With a well-made plot and a fascinating cast of female characters, both haves and have-nots, this is an assured addition to an excellent series’ Guardian

‘ … Great writing, an evocative setting, and all set against the charming backdrop of Britain between the Wars’ The Hoopla