Blue plaque recognition for Highland crime writer
Josephine Tey's writing was adapted for radio, TV and film
At a glance
Inverness crime writer Josephine Tey is to be recognised with a commemorative blue plaque in her home city
Tey, who died in 1952, wrote crime and mystery novels and her work was adapted for radio, TV and film
Writer Jennifer Morag Henderson and Inverness City Heritage Trust campaigned for the plaque
It will be installed at the site of Tey's former family fruit shop
- Published
A Highland crime writer whose work was adapted for radio, TV and film has been recognised in her home city with a commemorative blue plaque.
Josephine Tey, whose real name was Elizabeth MacKintosh, was the daughter of a fruiterer from Inverness. She lived from 1896 to 1952.
She wrote eight crime novels, including A Shilling for Candles - upon which filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock based his 1937 film Young and Innocent.
Author Jennifer Morag Henderson, who wrote a biography of Josephine Tey in 2015 and led a campaign for the blue plaque, said Tey had been a major figure in the "golden age" of crime fiction.
Writer Jennifer Morag Henderson led a campaign for a blue plaque for Josephine Tey
Henderson said: "I believe a celebration of Tey’s life and work in her hometown is well deserved, with her works being translated into numerous different languages and still available to buy in print almost a century on from first publication."
The plaque will be installed in Castle Street in Inverness city centre at the site of Tey's family shop and business.
The building, one of the oldest in Inverness, is being redeveloped by Highland Housing Association (HHA).
Inverness City Heritage Trust supported Henderson's campaign.
Project manager Alison Tanner said: “It has been great to work alongside Jennifer with the support of HHA to celebrate a fantastic writer at an iconic and historic building, that will soon help breathe new life into the city centre.”
Alfred Hitchcock based one his films on Tey's work
Tey's writing included mystery novel, The Daughter of Time, which BBC Radio 4's A Good Read described as "one of the most important books ever written".
A play called Richard of Bordeaux, which she wrote under the pen-name Gordon Daviot, ran in the West End in London for more than a year before transferring to Broadway.
But Tey shunned the limelight, and in later life lived in Inverness where she kept house for her widower father.
Before her writing career took off, she was a PE teacher and had worked mainly in England.