The Franchise Affair

The Franchise Affair, published in 1949, is Josephine Tey's ingenious reworking of the eighteenth-century Elizabeth Canning case. When a teenage girl accuses Marion Sharpe and her elderly mother of imprisoning her in their isolated country house, the evidence and public opinion are overwhelmingly against them. Robert Blair, a quiet country solicitor drawn reluctantly into the case, must find the truth before mob justice destroys two innocent lives. Tey crafts a gripping legal thriller that explores how easily prejudice and hysteria can override reason.