The Man in the Queue

A clever mystery classic from one of Britain's greatest and most original crime writers

In the packed queue for a popular West End Theatre in 1920s London, the crowd surges forward as the doors open at last... But as they do so, one of their number falls to the ground - a man, stabbed in the back with a stiletto while people jostled for position in the throng. There is nothing in the man's clothes or wallet to identify him, and nothing in his pockets but a revolver... Who is he and who killed him before melting away unseen into the night?

Inspector Alan Grant investigates, and soon is engaged in a breathless manhunt that will lead him from London all the way to the Scottish highlands and back, before the mystery is finally resolved in a way that not even he can anticipate.



Josephine Tey is one of the most brilliant and original of all British crime writers. Born in Inverness in 1896, Tey made her mystery debut with The Man in the Queue in 1929, the book that also introduced Inspector Alan Grant. The Daughter of Time, voted number 1 in the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time list published by the British Crime Writers' Association, is also available from Pushkin Vertigo.