Short Story Wednesday: "Clever and Quick" by Christianna Brand

 

This is a very clever short story about a couple who earn their living acting in the theater, but are not getting roles any more. They are running out of money to support their lifestyle, and are fighting over whether to get rid of their au pair girl.

I made a discovery after reading this short story. I can tolerate unsympathetic characters much better in short stories. No one in this story was likable, but that wasn't an issue for me, probably because I don't have to spend a lot of time with them. And, of course, the number of characters is limited in a short story.

The introduction to this story says:

In the short-story form, Brand specialized less in pure detection than in the twist-upon-twist double-or-triple-cross crime story of which “Clever and Quick” is a prime example.

I read this story in A Moment on the Edge, an anthology edited by Elizabeth George. I believe the story was also published as "Madame Thinks Quick." Although I think of Christianna Brand as a Golden Age mystery author, this story was first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1974.

A Moment on the Edge consists of 26 short stories by women, selected by Elizabeth George. The stories are in chronological order by copyright date. The first story is "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell from 1917, an excellent story which I had read before and was worth rereading. The last two stories are from 2001, one by Joyce Carol Oates and one by Minette Walters. 

I have only read the first nine stories in the anthology, and will continue reading them. 

Mathew Paust wrote about this anthology and the story by Joyce Carol Oates at Crime Time.

B. V. Lawson wrote an overview of the anthology at In Reference to Murder.

Green for Danger: Christianna Brand

Description from Goodreads:  "Set in a military hospital during the blitz, this novel is one of Brand's most intricately plotted detection puzzles, executed with her characteristic cleverness and gusto."

I recently finished reading and reviewing Heads You Lose, the first novel in the Inspector Cockrill series by Christianna Brand. I was disappointed in that book, but I expected to like this one much more and I did.

Per the bibliography at Fantastic Fiction, this was the 3rd book she published and it was published three years after Head You Lose. In that time, it appears that Brand developed her writing abilities a great deal, and the book has much more character development.  

As in Heads You Lose, Inspector Cockrill has a limited set of suspects who could have committed the murder. And again all of the suspects seem to be fine, upstanding members of society (in this case, working at a military hospital during the war, many of them volunteering for the assignment). Granted, some have their flaws or secrets, but not any that point towards the inclination towards murder.  In this book, however, I found the suspects more fleshed out and more interesting. The plot moves more slowly, but there is more depth.

One thing of interest... The character of Inspector Cockrill is not developed in detail. You get a description, you get hints of what he is like, but very little back story. In both of the books I have read, he knows some of the suspects (which would seem to be a problem), but that is about all we know. The emphasis is on the suspects and what they are going through. This is not necessarily a negative. In other reviews I have read, there are indications that you can read the books in any order, so I can concentrate on the ones I can find and not worry about getting them in order. (This is an obsession with me in most cases.) On the other hand, most mystery writers of this time that I like a lot do have detectives (amateur or otherwise) that are more developed, more interesting. Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers.

Another plus for me is the time period and setting.  This novel was set in World War II in England, during the Blitz, near London. I enjoy mysteries set in the period leading up, including and following World War II. Since this one was written during the period, it is from the point of someone actually living the experience.

My copy of this book (cover shown above), a paperback published by Carroll & Graf in 1989, has four illustrations, which was a pleasant surprise and did help in picturing the characters. I tried to find out some background on the illustrations, to no avail.

There is a very good movie based on this book, also titled Green for Danger. I did see it a while back, but want to watch it again now that I have read the book. We like old movies and this one was very enjoyable.

I like to include other reviews that I have enjoyed:
I have recently enjoyed many reviews at In So Many Words. Also includes a link to her post about the movie.
At a blog new to me: A Work in Progress.  She also had a post on cozy mysteries that I enjoyed.

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
Vintage Mystery Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge

Heads You Lose: Christianna Brand

About Christianna Brand. From the author description at Goodreads.

"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."


I was surprised to find out that Christianna Brand had only written seven mysteries featuring Inspector Cockrill. With that few, I could easily read them all. But after reading this one, I am not so sure I want to.  I have read some of her novels in the distant past I am sure, but it is long enough ago that I don't remember which ones.

Most of the action takes place in a mansion outside a small village. The owner of Pigeonsford Estate has five friends currently visiting when the murder takes place. Inspector Cockrill has known most of this group for years. It appears that one of them must be the murderer but he can't believe it is any of them.

What are my issues with this book? I am not sure. I felt the pacing was good, and read the book in less than two days ... fast for me. I did not have to force myself to finish it. I love the country house mystery sub-genre. But I think the characters were a bit shallow for me and I could not get to like them.

The revelation of the culprit was also a disappointment. I had considered that this character was the most likely suspect, but the explanation left me cold.  On the other hand, I know that mystery writer's essentially are creating fantasy situations that the reader must accept. Had I enjoyed the journey to the end more, I would have ignored my disappointment.

This is the first book in the series, and only the second novel published by Brand. I have read that Green for Danger, the second book in the series, is much better, and I am reading that next. I hope to find that I like it. I have seen the movie based on the book (also titled Green for Danger), and enjoyed it a lot. I know that the movie is a bit different, and I have (conveniently) forgotten the ending, so that won't be a problem.

Other reviews:
At a lovely site featuring Vintage Penguin paperbacks: A Penguin a week

Full of information: at the Golden Age of Detection Wiki

In-depth, and with great comments: at Mystery*File

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
Vintage Mystery Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge
1st in a Series Challenge
Merely Mystery Reading Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge