Interwar hospital puzzle - good characterization and just plain fun ( )

An excellent addition to this series.

The first novel by the author I have read, though I have read a very good short story, the merit of which could have been based on one great idea, so it was important to see if it could be continued. Based on this novel, yes it can.

A mid 1940s 'cottage mystery', in which a defined limited number of suspects are established early on, other than in this case, the number is 7 members of what I would call a English MASH unit in England with a significant number of other people milling around.

Given my adverse comments on other cover pictures of the BLCC I have reviewed, I would like to say this one is excellent!

Brand is clever in playing person against each other even though they are are in fact all good friends.

The depiction of the English people under the WW2 bombing is realistic, compared to my other reading, but not as to those who have not explored there.

In the end it is a tragic event that leads to all of this.

Very much a Fair Clue book.

Very much recommended if interested in:
- Christiana Brand
- 1940's crime
- golden age crime

Big Ship

12 April 2023 ( )

1942. Seven letters have been sent to the hospital delivered by Postman Higgins. Only for Higgins to die on the operating table. DI Cockrill determines there are seven suspects for this one death. All are suspect for the next death. What motive could any of them have, and who is the guilty party. How many have to die before Cockrill arrests the killer
An entertaining, well-plotted and well-written WWII mystery, with its cast of varied characters. A good addition to the series which can easily be read as a standalone story ( )

Christianna Brand's Green for Danger is a recent release in the British Library series re-releasing classic crime fiction. Green for Danger is my favorite title in this series thus far, and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good, classic mystery novel, particularly one set during WWII.

The novel opens as a postal carrier bicycles uphill to a large building that has been transformed into a hospital during the Blitz. He's carrying seven letters. We're told at the end of this brief introduction that within a year he'll be dead, murdered by one of the seven who received a letter that day. It's a great set-up.

The suspects are all doctors or nurses working at the facility. At first it appears that none of them has a motive for murder, but that changes as the novel progresses. An Inspector Cockrill (apparently a figure who appeared in several of Brand's novels) is sent in to solve the crime. Cockrill is a sort of WWII-era Columbo, a quick thinker despite a somewhat disorganized and disheveled persona. He serves as an excellent hub around whom the suspects orbit.

The suspects are a close group—in some ways too close. The women are housed together in tight quarters. One doctor is a serial seducer, a friend, but also a rival, of the remaining doctors. Romances, brief and ongoing abound. There are also tragedies from the past that emerge as possible motives. Brand does an excellent job of parceling out clues that keep each of the suspects in the running until the book's denouement, which—at least for me—came as a real surprise.

Green for Danger is typical of its time (it was originally published in 1944) in terms of its gender-based assumptions, which can cause a roll of the eye every few chapters. But if a reader can get past this stereotyping, the novel is a truly compelling read that will leave readers guessing until the end.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title fro the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )

closed-circle-mystery, suspense, suspicion, thriller, 1940, British-detective, British-crime-classics, golden-age-mysteries, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-setting, hospital, jealousies, Kent, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, obsession, secrets, the-blitz*****

First published in 1944.
Set in a Kentish military hospital in 1940 which was commandeered for civilian use during The Blitz.
This classic whodunit drove me nutz trying to identify the killer. I needed some of the included info to guess the cause of death (due to changes in procedures, etc. over the years). I never did put together the motives until the end. Terrific character definition, especially Inspector Cockrill.
This story was even made into a film in 1946.
In the US, I have never seen a cannister of CO2 in a healthcare setting, and all Oxygen cannisters are green regardless of size since well before 1964.
I requested and received an EARC from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
Despite not including the excellent and informative Introduction by Martin Edwards, I gave my eyes a rest and bought the audio narrated brilliantly by Derek Perkins. ( )