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Inspector Cockrill #3
Suddenly at His Residence
In the height of an English summer, Grandfather is found dead in the little Grecian lodge among the rose gardens of his estate. Inspector Cockrill has reason to believe that Sir Richard met with an untimely death, and that the evildoer is among the genteel family gathered at the rural manor. But why on earth would one of the loving brood do such a dreadful thing? Simple: the night he died, cantankerous Sir Richard was arranging to disinherit his offspring for the umpteenth time. Someone took murderous steps to protect their own interests. But the murderer left no scuff in the carefully raked sand paths, no trace on the manicured lawns of Swanswater
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Christianna Brand
86 books110 followersChristianna Brand (December 17, 1907 - March 11, 1988) was a crime writer and children's author. Brand also wrote under the pseudonyms Mary Ann Ashe, Annabel Jones, Mary Roland, and China Thomson.
She was born Mary Christianna Milne in 1907 in Malaya and spent her early years in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess.
Her first novel, Death in High Heels, was written while Brand was working as a salesgirl. In 1941, one of her best-loved characters, Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, made his debut in the book Heads You Lose. The character would go on to appear in seven of her novels. Green for Danger is Brand’s most famous novel. The whodunit, set in a World War 2 hospital, was adapted for film by Eagle-Lion Films in 1946, starring Alastair Sim as the Inspector. She dropped the series in the late 1950s and concentrated on various genres as well as short stories. She was nominated three times for Edgar Awards: for the short stories "Poison in the Cup" (EQMM, Feb. 1969) and "Twist for Twist" (EQMM, May 1967) and for a nonfiction work about a Scottish murder case, Heaven Knows Who (1960). She is the author of the children's series Nurse Matilda, which Emma Thompson adapted to film as Nanny McPhee (2005).
Her Inspector Cockrill short stories and a previously unpublished Cockrill stage play were collected as The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from inspector Cockrill's Casebook, edited by Tony Medawar (2002).
Series:
* Nurse Matilda
* Inspector Charlesworth
* Inspector Chucky
* Inspector Cockrill
She was born Mary Christianna Milne in 1907 in Malaya and spent her early years in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess.
Her first novel, Death in High Heels, was written while Brand was working as a salesgirl. In 1941, one of her best-loved characters, Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, made his debut in the book Heads You Lose. The character would go on to appear in seven of her novels. Green for Danger is Brand’s most famous novel. The whodunit, set in a World War 2 hospital, was adapted for film by Eagle-Lion Films in 1946, starring Alastair Sim as the Inspector. She dropped the series in the late 1950s and concentrated on various genres as well as short stories. She was nominated three times for Edgar Awards: for the short stories "Poison in the Cup" (EQMM, Feb. 1969) and "Twist for Twist" (EQMM, May 1967) and for a nonfiction work about a Scottish murder case, Heaven Knows Who (1960). She is the author of the children's series Nurse Matilda, which Emma Thompson adapted to film as Nanny McPhee (2005).
Her Inspector Cockrill short stories and a previously unpublished Cockrill stage play were collected as The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from inspector Cockrill's Casebook, edited by Tony Medawar (2002).
Series:
* Nurse Matilda
* Inspector Charlesworth
* Inspector Chucky
* Inspector Cockrill
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
April 11, 2020
Published in 1946 and set at the end of WWII, this is the third Inspector Cockrill mystery and has also been published under the title, "Suddenly at his residence."
Sir Richard March has kept his house a shrine to his first wife, the beautiful ballerina Serafita, despite marrying his mistress Bella after his wife's death. On the anniversary of Serafita's death, he expects his remaining relatives to gather for a ceremony and he then spends the night alone in the small lodge where she died. In the house on this anniversary is his wife Bella, her grandson Edward (indulged and neurotic) and Sir Richard's grandchildren Peta (daughter of his eldest son who died in WWI and his heir), Philip and his wife Ellen and Claire (who is having an affair with Philip). Into this cast of characters are a grumpy gardener, his wife, an elderly woman who is all the help they have in wartime and a young lawyer, Stephen Garde who is in love with Peta.
Although Christianna Brand indulges in a little too much stereotyping in this book (girlish hand fluttering, etc), if you perservere you will find a great story. Because Sir Richard is not overly impressed with his offspring and when he discovers Philip and Claire are involved with other, it leads to a heated argument and a change to Sir Richard's will which will result in murder. Brand's work, although successful in it's day, has not aged quite as well as her contemporaries, but there is much to applaud here - some of the scenes of family squabbles, disquiet, suspicion and hurt are brilliantly done. The plot itself is complex, the characters interesting and the interplay between them very real - plus the ending is a real surprise. Good to see this author's work released on kindle for a new audience.
Sir Richard March has kept his house a shrine to his first wife, the beautiful ballerina Serafita, despite marrying his mistress Bella after his wife's death. On the anniversary of Serafita's death, he expects his remaining relatives to gather for a ceremony and he then spends the night alone in the small lodge where she died. In the house on this anniversary is his wife Bella, her grandson Edward (indulged and neurotic) and Sir Richard's grandchildren Peta (daughter of his eldest son who died in WWI and his heir), Philip and his wife Ellen and Claire (who is having an affair with Philip). Into this cast of characters are a grumpy gardener, his wife, an elderly woman who is all the help they have in wartime and a young lawyer, Stephen Garde who is in love with Peta.
Although Christianna Brand indulges in a little too much stereotyping in this book (girlish hand fluttering, etc), if you perservere you will find a great story. Because Sir Richard is not overly impressed with his offspring and when he discovers Philip and Claire are involved with other, it leads to a heated argument and a change to Sir Richard's will which will result in murder. Brand's work, although successful in it's day, has not aged quite as well as her contemporaries, but there is much to applaud here - some of the scenes of family squabbles, disquiet, suspicion and hurt are brilliantly done. The plot itself is complex, the characters interesting and the interplay between them very real - plus the ending is a real surprise. Good to see this author's work released on kindle for a new audience.
December 14, 2023
3.5
I was kept guessing right up until the end. I found the family quite awful, but rather entertaining, and the victim absolutely maddening. The ending got a bit melodramatic.
I was kept guessing right up until the end. I found the family quite awful, but rather entertaining, and the victim absolutely maddening. The ending got a bit melodramatic.
April 12, 2020
I'm reading this with a group and one poster remarks about the characters: They are, as you say, human, flawed, bitchy, resentful and sniping at each other! Bitchy and sniping is overwhelmingly there, and, for me, beyond annoying. It filled many pages. They also had numerous theories about how one or the other could have committed the crime. I didn't like these people and was ever so glad this was short so that I didn't have to spend any extra time with them. I disliked the characters so much that it would have been acceptable to me that they had all conspired to pull off the murder of a man who was himself horrible.
There is a chapter, toward the end, that is so melodramatic and farcical I laughed out loud. That is, until I realized this was meant to be a description of a horrific event, not just someone's imagination of heroism. The book is simply overwritten.
And yet, I like the way Brand writes if it is possible for me to say that immediately following "overwritten". By this I mean I like the way she constructs her sentences in an interesting and varied way. As much as I didn't like the people nor how they treated each other, the dialogue was perfectly reasonable, not stilted nor (horrors!) unrealistic.
This is just 3-stars, and maybe in the lower half of that group.
There is a chapter, toward the end, that is so melodramatic and farcical I laughed out loud. That is, until I realized this was meant to be a description of a horrific event, not just someone's imagination of heroism. The book is simply overwritten.
And yet, I like the way Brand writes if it is possible for me to say that immediately following "overwritten". By this I mean I like the way she constructs her sentences in an interesting and varied way. As much as I didn't like the people nor how they treated each other, the dialogue was perfectly reasonable, not stilted nor (horrors!) unrealistic.
This is just 3-stars, and maybe in the lower half of that group.
April 26, 2024
Review of the audiobook narrated by David Thorn.
One of the best Golden Age mysteries I have ever read. You will not fully appreciate it until everything blows up on the last page.
One of the best Golden Age mysteries I have ever read. You will not fully appreciate it until everything blows up on the last page.
June 30, 2023
Where there’s a will…
The grandchildren of Sir Richard March have gathered at his home to commemorate the death of his late wife, Serafita. This is an annual tradition, carried out for so many years that the emotion of grief no longer plays a part in it. However in the early days following her death Sir Richard had formed a custom of spending the night alone in the lodge in the grounds of the property where she had died, and he still keeps the custom up. All of Sir Richard's children have predeceased him, but each left a child and it's these four young people, Peta, Claire, Edward and Philip, along with Philips’s wife, Ellen, who have congregated for the occasion. Also present are Sir Richard's one-time mistress and now second wife, Bella, and Stephen Garde, who is both a friend to the family and Sir Richard's lawyer. It's 1944, and servants are hard to come by, but the old gardener Brough and his wife keep the place running. In a family tree at the beginning of the book, Brand tells us that by the end two of these people will be victims and one will be a murderer…
The family all seem fond of each other and although Sir Richard tries to be a patriarchal tyrant, mostly they laugh at him affectionately and do their own thing. Every now and then Sir Richard gets huffy about this and changes his will, but no one pays much attention since they all know he’ll change it back when he calms down. But when he loses his temper this weekend and demands that Stephen draft him a new will disinheriting the grandchildren it’s more serious than usual – Sir Richard is an elderly man now with a heart condition and could die at any time. And die he does, while alone in the lodge, where the carefully swept paths show that no one could have entered after he was last seen alive. Inspector Cockrill will have to work out how the murder was done before he can figure out whodunit.
My previous experience with the Cockrill books is that I loved one – Green for Danger – and didn’t love another – Death of Jezebel. This one fell in between. The characters are very well done although none of them are altogether likeable, and the dynamics within this extended family are interesting and quite credible. Bella, the second wife, won my sympathy most, living permanently in the shadow of a first wife who becomes more perfect the longer she is dead. The grandchildren are a mixed bunch. Peta, daughter of Sir Richard’s oldest child and therefore due to inherit the property and most of the money, is nice enough but annoying, always flirting and fluttering, and hopelessly in love with Stephen, who loves her back but can’t declare it since she’s expected to be so much richer than he is. Philip and Claire are having an affair, and are relying on their share of the money so that Philip can dump Ellen and their child and marry Claire. Not the most likeable duo! Ellen, like Bella, got my sympathy for the position this puts her in, although her cold sarcasm makes her hard to like. And Edward, the only one who is Bella’s grandchild rather than Serafita’s, is either mad or a hypochondriac, or possibly both – certainly an attention seeker, either way. He provides much of the humour in the story, though, and improves on acquaintance.
If the book had stuck to the family dynamics and possible motives, I’d probably have loved it. But again there’s a strong howdunit element to the book, never my favourite thing, and like in Death of Jezebel, the how turns out to be so ridiculous it destroys all the credibility given by the strong characterisation. I also find Cockrill a very unsatisfactory detective, mainly because he doesn’t do any real detecting. He simply tries to annoy all the members of the family so that they will quarrel with each other and hopefully let something slip. Luck plays a major part in the solution, although Cocky cockily takes all the credit. The ending is nicely dramatic, though, reminding the reader that the book is set in the dying days of the war, when victory is certain but the dangers are not yet over.
So I have mixed feelings again about this one. I admire Brand’s writing and especially her characterisation, but the howdunit aspects of her plots have a tendency to be far too contrived to be in any way credible. They also bog the books down in repetitive theories, in this case about how someone could have got into the lodge without leaving footprints on the newly sanded paths, which are built up only to be disproved. Lots of people enjoy that kind of puzzle, I know, but I prefer the main focus of a mystery to be on motivations rather than means. The unexpectedly dramatic ending of this one lifted it for me, though, so that in the end I appreciated it more than I expected to at the halfway point.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
The grandchildren of Sir Richard March have gathered at his home to commemorate the death of his late wife, Serafita. This is an annual tradition, carried out for so many years that the emotion of grief no longer plays a part in it. However in the early days following her death Sir Richard had formed a custom of spending the night alone in the lodge in the grounds of the property where she had died, and he still keeps the custom up. All of Sir Richard's children have predeceased him, but each left a child and it's these four young people, Peta, Claire, Edward and Philip, along with Philips’s wife, Ellen, who have congregated for the occasion. Also present are Sir Richard's one-time mistress and now second wife, Bella, and Stephen Garde, who is both a friend to the family and Sir Richard's lawyer. It's 1944, and servants are hard to come by, but the old gardener Brough and his wife keep the place running. In a family tree at the beginning of the book, Brand tells us that by the end two of these people will be victims and one will be a murderer…
The family all seem fond of each other and although Sir Richard tries to be a patriarchal tyrant, mostly they laugh at him affectionately and do their own thing. Every now and then Sir Richard gets huffy about this and changes his will, but no one pays much attention since they all know he’ll change it back when he calms down. But when he loses his temper this weekend and demands that Stephen draft him a new will disinheriting the grandchildren it’s more serious than usual – Sir Richard is an elderly man now with a heart condition and could die at any time. And die he does, while alone in the lodge, where the carefully swept paths show that no one could have entered after he was last seen alive. Inspector Cockrill will have to work out how the murder was done before he can figure out whodunit.
My previous experience with the Cockrill books is that I loved one – Green for Danger – and didn’t love another – Death of Jezebel. This one fell in between. The characters are very well done although none of them are altogether likeable, and the dynamics within this extended family are interesting and quite credible. Bella, the second wife, won my sympathy most, living permanently in the shadow of a first wife who becomes more perfect the longer she is dead. The grandchildren are a mixed bunch. Peta, daughter of Sir Richard’s oldest child and therefore due to inherit the property and most of the money, is nice enough but annoying, always flirting and fluttering, and hopelessly in love with Stephen, who loves her back but can’t declare it since she’s expected to be so much richer than he is. Philip and Claire are having an affair, and are relying on their share of the money so that Philip can dump Ellen and their child and marry Claire. Not the most likeable duo! Ellen, like Bella, got my sympathy for the position this puts her in, although her cold sarcasm makes her hard to like. And Edward, the only one who is Bella’s grandchild rather than Serafita’s, is either mad or a hypochondriac, or possibly both – certainly an attention seeker, either way. He provides much of the humour in the story, though, and improves on acquaintance.
If the book had stuck to the family dynamics and possible motives, I’d probably have loved it. But again there’s a strong howdunit element to the book, never my favourite thing, and like in Death of Jezebel, the how turns out to be so ridiculous it destroys all the credibility given by the strong characterisation. I also find Cockrill a very unsatisfactory detective, mainly because he doesn’t do any real detecting. He simply tries to annoy all the members of the family so that they will quarrel with each other and hopefully let something slip. Luck plays a major part in the solution, although Cocky cockily takes all the credit. The ending is nicely dramatic, though, reminding the reader that the book is set in the dying days of the war, when victory is certain but the dangers are not yet over.
So I have mixed feelings again about this one. I admire Brand’s writing and especially her characterisation, but the howdunit aspects of her plots have a tendency to be far too contrived to be in any way credible. They also bog the books down in repetitive theories, in this case about how someone could have got into the lodge without leaving footprints on the newly sanded paths, which are built up only to be disproved. Lots of people enjoy that kind of puzzle, I know, but I prefer the main focus of a mystery to be on motivations rather than means. The unexpectedly dramatic ending of this one lifted it for me, though, so that in the end I appreciated it more than I expected to at the halfway point.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
April 24, 2023
Green for Danger is author Christianna Brand’s most popular book and the second in the series featuring gruff, perceptive Inspector Cockrill. In that novel, Cockrill figures out the murderer early on, but can’t prove it.
In The Crooked Wreath, Sir Richard Marsh, set to change his will, gets murdered for his effort. But in Brand’s deft hands, the plot is anything but cliché. As in Green for Danger, Cockrill has a small group of suspects — six in this case — but how to prove who he suspects? Except for Marsh’s second wife, the Marsh family’s pretty awful, but none of them seem bad enough for murder.
And that’s my only quarrel with this third in the Cockrill series. The murder — and the ending — seem pretty unlikely to me; still, I’m glad I read it, as Brand’s send-up for the leisure class is worth every minute.
In The Crooked Wreath, Sir Richard Marsh, set to change his will, gets murdered for his effort. But in Brand’s deft hands, the plot is anything but cliché. As in Green for Danger, Cockrill has a small group of suspects — six in this case — but how to prove who he suspects? Except for Marsh’s second wife, the Marsh family’s pretty awful, but none of them seem bad enough for murder.
And that’s my only quarrel with this third in the Cockrill series. The murder — and the ending — seem pretty unlikely to me; still, I’m glad I read it, as Brand’s send-up for the leisure class is worth every minute.
April 18, 2019
This mystery was just not my cup of tea. The characters were so unpleasant with their brittle banter on other characters and events that before long, I didn’t really care who killed Sir Richard and who was next. The book is of its time, perhaps; the father of the baby doesn’t help take care of her, no matter what the circumstances, and it doesn’t occur to any of the characters that he could or should.
June 4, 2020
I wasn't too sure about this for much of the book but I thought it picked up toward the end.
I didn't like the people very much. They seemed to be pretty spoiled. One of them had been acting out for so long he no longer knew if he was putting things on or if he really had a mental problem.
Grandfather gets peeved one weekend and goes off to change his will (again), threatening to disinherit all the grandchildren. Only problem is that he dies overnight. Bad heart? or Murder? Yes, someone took advantage of the situation to kill the old man off! A perfectly decent case is made for each individual. But which one did it?
Plus the war is still going on. Most of the bombing is in London but lately it has been getting closer to the country house. The gardener still serves as a part of the Fire Watch.
I didn't like the people very much. They seemed to be pretty spoiled. One of them had been acting out for so long he no longer knew if he was putting things on or if he really had a mental problem.
Grandfather gets peeved one weekend and goes off to change his will (again), threatening to disinherit all the grandchildren. Only problem is that he dies overnight. Bad heart? or Murder? Yes, someone took advantage of the situation to kill the old man off! A perfectly decent case is made for each individual. But which one did it?
Plus the war is still going on. Most of the bombing is in London but lately it has been getting closer to the country house. The gardener still serves as a part of the Fire Watch.
April 12, 2020
This was ok, not great. The spoiled grandchildren of Sir Richard are gathered for an annual tribute to his deceased first wife. He fooled around on her, and has married his former mistress; but in a darkly humorous twist, he has built up her memory until the entire estate has become a shrine to her. The sarcastic grandchildren tease their cranky grandfather and he gripes at them, disinheriting first one, then another.
I couldn’t understand why all the brittle, snarky, melodramatic characters all seemed to know inspector Cockerill very well, calling him “Cockie”, like a favorite uncle. There was no explanation given as to why that was the case, but it was distracting and rather odd.
They are a very unpleasant bunch, and although I appreciated the snarky humor and thought Brand came up with a clever plot twist at the end, it was such a ridiculously overdramatic ending, I had lost interest. Cockerill doesn’t seem to do much actual investigating, indeed, he eggs on the suspects to accuse each other and theorize over increasingly desperate motives and methods. It began to feel like a particularly ridiculous episode of Midsomer Murders! I don’t think I’ll read further books by this author.
I couldn’t understand why all the brittle, snarky, melodramatic characters all seemed to know inspector Cockerill very well, calling him “Cockie”, like a favorite uncle. There was no explanation given as to why that was the case, but it was distracting and rather odd.
They are a very unpleasant bunch, and although I appreciated the snarky humor and thought Brand came up with a clever plot twist at the end, it was such a ridiculously overdramatic ending, I had lost interest. Cockerill doesn’t seem to do much actual investigating, indeed, he eggs on the suspects to accuse each other and theorize over increasingly desperate motives and methods. It began to feel like a particularly ridiculous episode of Midsomer Murders! I don’t think I’ll read further books by this author.
January 21, 2020
B: I was thrilled by this. Typical country house mystery offering a change of will as motive, but full of interesting red herrings, with many of the suspects theorising about the murders themselves. Its solution is surprising and yet fits within Brand's own bounds of detection. The ending is typically hysterical for her, but really works. Overall, a fun read.
August 11, 2019
Interesting if flawed. Full review at classicmystery.blog
November 4, 2015
First of all, to read this book, i spent a great deal of struggle through the dramatic character's conversation. I don't know, i like conversations, but i find it boring in this book. Not always (especially when they discuss the solution of the impossible situation of the crime), but mostly i find it boring (when they nag at each other). I also hate the way "cockie" (the detective) investigate the crime. For most part he was just a shadow in the background, listening to the suspects bickering about each other. And the ending! Oh, God, i hate that dramatic ending. I survived only by skimming through it. Well, besides the dramatic style that i don't quite like, the idea of the mystery fascinate me. I even find my solution on one of the murder was right. I also notice that Brand laid the facts and clues a little vague to prepare the various solutions to the impossible situation. Very clever! Three stars for you!
August 19, 2017
Spent a few years looking for this book as it was on a top ten list of the best locked room mysteries on the internet. Struggled though awful, dull prose and thought, well at least there'll be a clever solution. The solution was ridiculous.... no wonder it was so hard to find!
January 2, 2018
3.5*
Not bad but nowhere nearly as good as Green for Danger. Cockrill doesn't seem to do much detecting; the book focuses on the family and their reactions to events. David Thorn did a good narration in this audiobook edition.
Not bad but nowhere nearly as good as Green for Danger. Cockrill doesn't seem to do much detecting; the book focuses on the family and their reactions to events. David Thorn did a good narration in this audiobook edition.
June 14, 2017
Sharp writing, fabulous plot, delicious characters, thrilling suspense, and action to the very last page! Love it!
May 14, 2013
Another very fine locked room by Christianna Brand.
I like her novels, all original.
I like her novels, all original.
February 1, 2023
A new to me author from the Golden Age, a "locked room" type of mystery. I was surprised by how humorous this story was, and how witty the dialogue was. Here, six family members are under suspicion for murdering the patriarch, a common enough set up, but unlike many of the similar stories, I found all the characters likeable and sympathetic in their own right. I kept thinking that I didn't want any of them to be the murderer, which rarely happens. The story sped along more like a society comedy than a murder story and the evidence and theories kept shifting. To the end I had no idea who the murderer was (so many twists!) or even how the murder was done!
In the last few chapters as the denouement grows near, the pace suddenly changes in a very dramatic way. It's jarring (but I think it was meant to be), and suddenly it's a fact paced thriller! And then, the poignancy of the aftermath. The comedy is dropped and we see behind the social masks of the characters... And the murderer. It's really very good for such a short mystery and a very clever murder.
In the last few chapters as the denouement grows near, the pace suddenly changes in a very dramatic way. It's jarring (but I think it was meant to be), and suddenly it's a fact paced thriller! And then, the poignancy of the aftermath. The comedy is dropped and we see behind the social masks of the characters... And the murderer. It's really very good for such a short mystery and a very clever murder.
February 14, 2018
Whoever could have killed Grandfather March, who in a fit of temper threatens to disinherit the March grandchildren? Is it the cool, lovely Peta? Or Claire, who just wants her dear Philip? Or Philip himself, torn between his mistress Claire and wife Ellen? Or could it be Ellen, the outsider? The new will favors Bella, the former mistress and present wife of Grandfather March and Edward, the illegitimate grandson, but both are included in the list of suspects, Bella hating to live in Serafita's shadow and Edward with his fugue states. Inspector Cockrill is not really that much of a detective, but what I like in Christianna Brand's writing is how she gives life to each of her characters. Hysterical and melodramatic most of the time, they really make a good reading.
June 13, 2023
First published in1946, but set in 1944, "Suddenly At His Residence" is Christianna Brand's take on the impossible country house murder.
At times overwrought, and intensely theatrical throughout,- this could have been a lost work by Noel Coward- it is nonetheless both gripping and tricksy, spinning solutions and dropping clues and red herring most adeptly.
Although supplied with many conventional trappings- it is, at essence,centred on the murder of a wealthy patriarch, Sir Richard Marsh, who is yet again making changes to his testamentary dispositions- there are refreshing subtleties and a few innovations, with suspect turning on suspect with very plausible use of accusatory theories.Psychology is important here, and not just in the obvious case of the neurasthenic Edward. Many of the characters have unlikeable qualities, yet Brand draws us into pity and a degree of liking for a group of people whose lives are inexorably destroyed by suspicion and death.
Ever-present is a house which has been turned into the shrine of the first victim's first wife, a shallow but shrewd former ballerina,whose presence has an uncanny reality and who plays an important part in the solution.
There is irony a-plenty, from the British title to the loaded last line.A most enjoyable read for those who like their fix of GAD with a twist.
At times overwrought, and intensely theatrical throughout,- this could have been a lost work by Noel Coward- it is nonetheless both gripping and tricksy, spinning solutions and dropping clues and red herring most adeptly.
Although supplied with many conventional trappings- it is, at essence,centred on the murder of a wealthy patriarch, Sir Richard Marsh, who is yet again making changes to his testamentary dispositions- there are refreshing subtleties and a few innovations, with suspect turning on suspect with very plausible use of accusatory theories.Psychology is important here, and not just in the obvious case of the neurasthenic Edward. Many of the characters have unlikeable qualities, yet Brand draws us into pity and a degree of liking for a group of people whose lives are inexorably destroyed by suspicion and death.
Ever-present is a house which has been turned into the shrine of the first victim's first wife, a shallow but shrewd former ballerina,whose presence has an uncanny reality and who plays an important part in the solution.
There is irony a-plenty, from the British title to the loaded last line.A most enjoyable read for those who like their fix of GAD with a twist.
June 26, 2020
This is my third of Brand’s books, and I think very much my favourite.
Lots of classic whodunnit ingredients here - country house, eccentric family, cranky murdered grandfather, a large inheritance... It’s certainly not unoriginal though - Brand does a great job with the characters, who really stand out - their theorising and the red herrings throughout make it a gripping read.
The England at War setting is a nice additional twist, and it certainly ends at a crescendo. I was guessing right up until the last moment.
Lots of classic whodunnit ingredients here - country house, eccentric family, cranky murdered grandfather, a large inheritance... It’s certainly not unoriginal though - Brand does a great job with the characters, who really stand out - their theorising and the red herrings throughout make it a gripping read.
The England at War setting is a nice additional twist, and it certainly ends at a crescendo. I was guessing right up until the last moment.
August 16, 2020
A family gathering at a Country Estate during a wartime Summer, with them they being their troubles and woes from home which in turn lead to a decision from their grandfather that changes all their lives.
Witty, wonderfully sharp and with characters who you constantly want to hear more from! This book was awesome. You could smell the heat from the sun as it scorched the lawns and frayed the tempers of all involved.
Loved it, just still not sure on the detective! This is my 2nd Cockrill novel and I just can't warm to him! Still I'll happily read more!
Witty, wonderfully sharp and with characters who you constantly want to hear more from! This book was awesome. You could smell the heat from the sun as it scorched the lawns and frayed the tempers of all involved.
Loved it, just still not sure on the detective! This is my 2nd Cockrill novel and I just can't warm to him! Still I'll happily read more!
Want to read
April 17, 2019Synopsis: Grandfather is found dead in the Grecian lodge on his estate. Inspector Cockrill finds no trace of the killer on the paths or lawns.
October 17, 2019
Solid Golden Age/locked room tale, excellent characterizations and interactions, protracted and overwrought ending.
August 1, 2023
Complex mystery well worth the read
January 19, 2022
Maybe rushing into yet another Brand when I have only so many left was a foolish idea, but I needed it. And although this is rated a mere 3.5 here on Goodreads, I found out that this was a perfectly crafted family mystery (and I always love a good family mystery,) on top of being a deftly plotted no-footprints mystery, which you don't see too many of. From the very beginning I just loved the characters, even if I didn't necessarily like all of them. I felt that they were all so well-written, that the ones who were likable remained interesting throughut and the unlikable ones still had motivations and personal details which allowed us to empathize with them. Even Mrs. Brough, whom I don't think utters a single line until over halfway through the book, becomes a pivotal part of the whole story. It must be noted that this is especially noteworthy because Brand gives us a list of nine(!) suspects at the beginning who could have killed Sir Richard March after his threat of disinheritance, which for Brand may as well be the equivalent of Ellery Queen's 20,000 suspects in the Colosseum Rodeo. As if having so many suspects wasn't enough of a challenge for Ms. Brand, she ups the ante by giving the most false solutions I've ever seen in a 184-page mystery. By the time the killer is revealed, we are given at least one way that seven of the nine suspects could have gotten into the lodge where Sir Richard was killed without leaving a single footprint. And yet, when that final sentence hits, we suddenly (pun intended) realize that there had been yet another way, the true way, which had been subtly but deftly clued with appearances of important physical clues and some truly sly word choices which I went back to after finishing and which you will too if you read this - and you will definitely have that moment of realizing that everything was right in front of you, the murderer practically shouting their guilt the whole time, yet Brand had pulled the wool over your eyes with you fully aware. In terms of characterization, plot, and mystery, this book really delivers, and the only reason I still think Green for Danger is her best is that GfD has more of that emotional impact which Brand is so good at. Wholeheartedly recommended!
January 8, 2021
Con un mio amico abbiamo parlato del fatto che spesso i delitti impossibili (camera chiusa, neve senza impronte…) figurano in gialli dove l’espediente usato è poco realistico e la psicologia dei personaggi poco curata. Questo non necessariamente è un problema per chi come me si accosta al giallo come lo spettatore di uno spettacolo di magia, ma può non piacere a chi gradisce di più storie più realistiche.
Allora, pensando a un delitto impossibile che possa soddisfare entrambi i tipi di lettore, mi sono ricordato di questo, dove il trucco, pur brillante, è anche verosimile e dove i personaggi sono molto realistici, e ha ripescato un mio vecchio commento (troppo scarno per definirlo recensione, ma comunque spero interessante per inquadrare il romanzo a chi non lo conoscesse, e per farlo tornare in mente a chi l’avesse già letto):
Qui abbiamo il delitto impossibile perfetto: una finissima superficie di sabbia, sulla quale risalterebbero le impronte, impronte che però non ci sono. La dependance nella quale ha passato la notte il vecchio sir Richard March è circondata da questa sabbia, le uniche impronte sono quelle di chi ha trovato il vecchio morto la mattina, ma non ci sono dubbi che la morte sia avvenuta la sera precedente. Nella tenuta ci sono i nipoti del vecchio, sia del primo che del secondo matrimonio. Complessi legami fra di loro, magistralmente spiegati dall’autrice, che si conferma di altissimo livello sia dal punto di vista dell’enigma sia da quello della caratterizzazione dei personaggi (ricorda un poco lo stile di Ngaio Marsh), moventi consistenti ma che si scontrano con l’impossibile realizzazione del delitto. Sarà l’ispettore Cockrill a sbrogliare la matassa, con una soluzione per il delitto impossibile molto brillante e convincente.
Allora, pensando a un delitto impossibile che possa soddisfare entrambi i tipi di lettore, mi sono ricordato di questo, dove il trucco, pur brillante, è anche verosimile e dove i personaggi sono molto realistici, e ha ripescato un mio vecchio commento (troppo scarno per definirlo recensione, ma comunque spero interessante per inquadrare il romanzo a chi non lo conoscesse, e per farlo tornare in mente a chi l’avesse già letto):
Qui abbiamo il delitto impossibile perfetto: una finissima superficie di sabbia, sulla quale risalterebbero le impronte, impronte che però non ci sono. La dependance nella quale ha passato la notte il vecchio sir Richard March è circondata da questa sabbia, le uniche impronte sono quelle di chi ha trovato il vecchio morto la mattina, ma non ci sono dubbi che la morte sia avvenuta la sera precedente. Nella tenuta ci sono i nipoti del vecchio, sia del primo che del secondo matrimonio. Complessi legami fra di loro, magistralmente spiegati dall’autrice, che si conferma di altissimo livello sia dal punto di vista dell’enigma sia da quello della caratterizzazione dei personaggi (ricorda un poco lo stile di Ngaio Marsh), moventi consistenti ma che si scontrano con l’impossibile realizzazione del delitto. Sarà l’ispettore Cockrill a sbrogliare la matassa, con una soluzione per il delitto impossibile molto brillante e convincente.
September 28, 2016
This book didn't impress me much. Partly because, I have read much better mysteries before and also, there was lot of bickering among the characters. This is my first Cockrill mystery and he just appears now and then. There is no interrogation of characters but just sitting back and observing the talk going on.
The whodunnit took me by a surprise but I guessed it too, why funnier was as clear as water from early on, howdunnit was guessable too ( provided, you observe the little cues when the characters are described). The climax was what I call 'dramatic' with bomb blast and stuff.
Lots of wordplay is involved and things don't move much until the last few chapters.
Though this is a golden age mystery, this one can't be called as one of my favourites.
The whodunnit took me by a surprise but I guessed it too, why funnier was as clear as water from early on, howdunnit was guessable too ( provided, you observe the little cues when the characters are described). The climax was what I call 'dramatic' with bomb blast and stuff.
Lots of wordplay is involved and things don't move much until the last few chapters.
Though this is a golden age mystery, this one can't be called as one of my favourites.
April 28, 2015
The perfect classic English country mystery! The cast of characters are brought splendidly to life by Ms. Brand which is very impressive considering the brevity of the book. She has a way of conveying so much with a simple descriptive phrase. Excellent.
March 21, 2021
5 stars. Might have rated it 4 but the last two or three chapters completely blindsided me. I did cry.
For a mystery that's basically a send-up of the whole "patriarch changes his will but gets murdered first" setup this one really stuck with me.
For a mystery that's basically a send-up of the whole "patriarch changes his will but gets murdered first" setup this one really stuck with me.
April 15, 2020
A convoluted plot that just kept treading along. It would have been much better if it had been severely edited.
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