Audio only
Length7h 12m
About this audiobook
Book #6 in the Inspector Alan Grant series.
"The mind can play tricks, you know, when it's weary."
Published posthumously in 1952,
The Singing Sands is the last of Josephine Tey's mystery novels featuring Inspector Alan Grant.
Inspector Alan Grant, suffering from stress and anxiety, takes leave from Scotland Yard and heads for the peaceful home of an old friend who lives in the Scottish Highlands. As the night train pulls into Inverness, Grant literally stumbles upon the body of a young man in a train compartment that reeks of whisky – but after informing the steward that the man is dead, he leaves, determined not to allow anything to interfere with his plans for a complete rest.
But he absent-mindedly carries a newspaper away from the scene with him, a newspaper with a cryptic poem scribbled in the margin:
The beasts that talk, The streams that stand, The stones that walk The singing sand.. . That guard the way To Paradise. Thoroughly intrigued by the poem, and unable to shake the memory of the dead passenger, Grant finds his break turning into a Busman's Holiday—but what begins as a leisurely pastime eventually turns into a full-blown investigation that leads Grant to discover not only the key to the poem and the murder, but to reflect on his own state of mind as he begins to recover from his emotional turmoil.
With its themes of mental health, the search for clarity amid chaos, and the conflict between despair and duty,
The Singing Sands is a unique blend of mystery novel and reflective character study... and is a fitting farewell to the much-loved character of Inspector Alan Grant.
Josephine Tey (1896-1952) was a renowned author and one of the most celebrated figures in detective fiction. Tey initially pursued a career in theatre, writing plays before shifting her focus to novels, and her writing is characterised by psychological depth, strong character development, and a subversion of traditional crime fiction norms. Her most notable works include
The Daughter of Time, Brat Farrar, and
The Franchise Affair, and despite her relatively small output, her influence is significant, inspiring future generations of mystery writers.
In 2015, Val McDermid argued that Tey "cracked open the door" for later writers such as Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell to explore the darker side of humanity, creating a bridge between the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and contemporary crime novels.
Audiobook details
GenreMystery and Thriller
Length7 hrs 12 mins
Narrated byKaren Cass
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Series
The Daughter of Time (Inspector Alan Grant Mystery)Josephine Tey7h 5m$2 · $0.00
A Shilling for CandlesJosephine Tey8h 28m$2 · $0.00
Miss Pym DisposesJosephine Tey9h 2m$2 · $0.00
Inspector Alan Grant Mysteries - Complete SeriesJosephine Tey48h 49m$3 · $0.00
The Daughter of TimeJosephine Tey7h 7m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of TimeJosephine Tey7h 3m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of Time (Summarized Edition)Josephine Tey2h 36m$2
A Shilling for Candles (Musaicum Vintage Mysteries)Josephine Tey8h 25m$1 · $0.00
Kif: An Unvarnished HistoryJosephine Tey9h 52m$2 · $0.00
Die Tochter der Zeit (Zusammengefasste Ausgabe)Josephine Tey2h 46m$2
JOSEPHINE TEY - Ultimate Mystery CollectionJosephine Tey66h 51m$1 · $0.00
Brat FarrarJosephine Tey10h 20m$1 · $0.00
British Murder Mysteries - The Josephine Tey CollectionJosephine Tey66h 52m$2 · $0.00
British Murder Mysteries - Josephine Tey CollectionJosephine Tey66h 52m$2 · $0.00
The Franchise Affair (Musaicum Vintage Mysteries)Josephine Tey10h 45m$2 · $0.00
The Singing SandsJosephine Tey7h 46m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of Time (Summarized Edition)Josephine Tey2h 35m$2
Brat FarrarJosephine Tey10h 56m$1 · $0.00
The Collected WorksJosephine Tey66h 11m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of TimeJosephine Tey6h 22m$2 · $0.00
The Natchez Burning TrilogyGreg Iles96h 18m$53 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m$26 · $0.00
Animal 3K’wan6h 33m$20
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Novels & Stories (4 Novels + 56 Short Stories)Arthur Conan Doyle71h 53m$2 · $0.00
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m$8 · $0.00
The Last StrawSharon Sala9h 1m$29 · $0.00
Savy WisdomPeggy McColl2h 53m$15
Raymond Chandler – Ultimate Mystery CollectionRaymond Chandler82h 8m$2 · $0.00
3 a.m. Premium: Books 1–5Nick Pirog15h 27m$25
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m$53 · $0.00
Sign of the MakerBrian Shea7h 13m$17
Will Trent: Books 5–7Karin Slaughter42h$53 · $0.00
No Sin UnpunishedLynDee Walker7h 43m$17
Sherlock HolmesMade for Success14h 22m$25
Sons of War 4: SoldiersNicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams12h 54m$25
Murder in the TowerRoy Lewis8h 23m$20
Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Stories and PoemsEdgar Allan Poe60h 1m$68 · $0.00
The Lord Peter Wimsey Collection: Books 1-6Dorothy L. Sayers46h 10m$135 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m$46 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Dashiell HammettDashiell Hammett36h 36m$2 · $0.00
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