Josephine Tey is one of my favorite authors so when I discovered that another author was writing using Ms. Tey as her protagonist I was intrigued. In this outing Josephine inherits a cottage in a village still under the influence of a murder that occurred in that same cottage many years ago.
Surprisingly the will that grants Josephine the cottage contains an enigmatic bequest to Lucy Kyte who “may take whatever she wants” from the cottage.
THE DEATH OF LUCY KYTE is an engaging and convincing mystery on several levels. First – who is Lucy Kyte? No one will admit to knowing her – and this in a village of few persons who all know each other. Second – what does Lucy want? Related mysteries abound. The mysteries are all connected and satisfactorily resolved by book’s end.
The characters are clearly drawn. The plot is tightly woven and original. Altogether an enthralling book.
5 of 5 stars

I had a difficult time getting in to this book, but perhaps it came from too many interruptions. Once I got into the flow of the story (about halfway through), I was hooked. It is a combination of several stories -- a factual murder over 100 years ago, a childless actress obsessed with the stage but especially the stage production of this murder and the actress' goddaughter, an author and lover of the arts as well. The goddaughter, Josephine, inherits the estate of the recently deceased actress, Hester. Through the process of cleaning out the estate, Josephine slowly finds herself being pulled into the mystery of the age-old murder (of Maria) that continues to affect so many lives. Wrapped in the story is the mystery of who is Lucy Kyte. Hester's will states that Lucy can have whatever she wants from the cottage. But who is Lucy? Where did she go? How does she fit in to the picture? The story speaks to the lives of 4 women (including Lucy) who lived different lives, followed different paths and yet were all marked by tragedy, wanting, regret and a need for forgiveness. Can voices from the past still be heard? Does a spirit have the ability to still touch a heart or does the heart they are speaking to have to already be cracked in order to let it in? This was a touching story about how there are times that the truth just has to be told -- no matter how long it takes to surface. What did Lucy take from the cottage? I hope she took the knowledge that even in death we can learn to breathe again.

the premise of the book is interesting. But if you have not read prior novels with this character, you will have a hard time understanding the issues in her modern day life