Thu 29 Oct 2020
A Mystery Review by Ray O’Leary: CHRISTIANNA BRAND – Death in High Heels.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[3] Comments
CHRISTIANNA BRAND – Death in High Heels. Inspector Charlesworth #1. John Lane/The Bodley Head, UK, hardcover, 1941. Scribner, US, hardcover, 1942. Carroll & Graf, US, paperback, 1989. Film: Marylebone, UK, 1947 (with Don Stannard as Inspector Charlesworth).
A great title for foot fetishists, but it turns out that footwear has nothing to do with the story. This was Ms. Brand’s debut novel, and does not feature her series detective Inspector Cockrill.
Miss Doon, one of two chief assistants to a Mr. Bevan (and one of his many bedmates) who owns and operates an exclusive Dress Shop, dies from oxalic poisoning (Oxalic apparently being used to clean hats), and it turns out that most of her associates who had Opportunity for the crime also had Motive. Young Inspector Charlesworth, one of those innumerable upper-class policemen of the “Golden Age” of British Mysteries, is assigned to the case and immediately develops a crush on the chief suspect, a married saleswoman.
A good example of the Classie British Mystery Novel (though not a great one} with credible characters, some humor — including a chapter where Charlesworth becomes convinced that one of the suspects has killed his (the suspect’s) boyfriend and put his body in a trunk at the Lost and Found – and enough witty dialogue to get over the quiet parts.
The Inspector Charlesworth series –
Death in High Heels (n.) Lane 1941
Death of Jezebel (n.) Bodley Head 1949 [with Inspector Cockrill]
London Particular (n.) Joseph 1952 [with Inspector Cockrill]
The Rose in Darkness (n.) Joseph 1979
October 29th, 2020 at 10:19 pm
It’s interesting that this was also Charlesworth’s debut as well as Brand’s, and he doesn’t have another case on his own for almost 40 years.
To fill the gap in between, a little Google searching reveals the following:
This review of DEATH OF JEZEBEL suggests that he and Cockrill worked together on that one as equal partners:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2020/07/03/death-of-jezebel-1948-by-christianna-brand/
The same seems to hold true for LONDON PARTICULAR:
https://classicmystery.blog/2018/09/06/london-particular-aka-fog-of-doubt-by-christianna-brand/
October 30th, 2020 at 4:14 pm
Wit was always the calling card of Brand’s best books. She may not quite be on the same tier as Christie, Marsh, Sayers, and Allingham, but she isn’t far off it.
October 30th, 2020 at 4:23 pm
Some friends I know think she actually does belong in that top tier but for some reason, she never seemed to catch on with the general mystery reading public. The one I read, long ago, I found disappointing, but I think I was too young at the time to appreciate it.