Green For Danger

I’ve filled a gap in my education at long last by catching up with the film of Christianna Brand’s finest whodunit, Green for Danger. Alastair Sim, who plays Inspector Cockrill, received much acclaim for his witty performance, and the praise accorded to the film seems to me to be entirely justified (though one reviewer’s comment that ‘the plot is superfluous’ had me well and truly baffled.)

I first read the book as a teenager and I doubt if there are many better detective stories set during the Second World War. The wartime setting is integral to the story-line, not mere background, and the mystery is ingeniously contrived. I’ve always liked the title of the novel, and borrowed it for a CWA anthology of crimes in the countryside a few years back.

Brand was a very clever writer, with a flair for plot. She is often praised for her characterisation too, although at times I find some of her more highly strung creations a bit irritating. Her short stories are well worth seeking out, because her gifts were especially well suited to the short form. A relatively recent collection is The Spotted Cat, edited by Tony Medawar and published by Crippen & Landru.

Brand was obviously quite a character in real life. CADS magazine recently reprinted her recollections of fellow members of the Detection Club. Indiscreet and very entertaining.