::AMAZON REVIEWS::

A late restoration comedy for mystery readers
How delightful! After much reading of dark and sinister Nordic mysteries, GREEN FOR DANGER. It's a melodramatic yet farcical mystery with shades of late restoration comedy (think Sheridan's "The Rivals"), humour in time of war (think M*A*S*H) and add a dash of detective in rumpled mackintosh (think Peter Falk's Columbo).

Brandt's murder mystery, first published in 1944, is set in England during WW2 at a manor turned military hospital. She begins the novel like a playbill: listing the cast of doctors and nurses (and suspects) through their acceptance of service letters.

The comparison to "The Rivals" and farce comes early in the novel. Brand uses word blunders and intentional misspelling to accompany her use of language and colour to spice up her mystery. While the first victim's wife, Widow 'iggins is a poor Mrs. Malaprop, the author creates many simple errors such as "syren" suits and "animiles." Yet other 50 cents words are spelled correctly: two in one paragraph - lugubriously and encomiums. The Britishisms help, too: Box and Cox, Chalk and Cheese.

By Chapter 2, almost all the principals have nicknames. We have Woody, Freddi, Barney, Don Juan, and plump, little Major Moon showing "funny, little schoolboy expressions." The patients also have nicknames: the oldest is "Pop," the tallest is "Lofty," the shortest, "Tich," and the bald is "Curly." Even Detective Inspector Cockrill earns his childhood nickname of "Cockie."

Colour is dominant and offers a few red herrings. Many examples of the colour green serve as clues. Both patients and medical personnel wear long green gowns - some have green masks. The centre cylinder on Barnes' anaesthetic trolley has a green-coloured and dangerous cylinder of carbon dioxide. The operating theatre is a "shining green place," "a hot. green room." The very title of the mystery GREEN FOR DANGER is self-explanatory.

Sentimentalism also abounds. There are goodly examples of sentimental romantic attachments (shades of Hot Lips and Frank) but the one that pleased this reader was Sgt McCoy's dismay over Joseph Higgins obituary stating that Higgins has Given his Life for Others in an air-raid. (This obit error is also a valuable clue!)

And Brand doesn't forget the double gallant aspect of restoration comedy. Remember the end and re-read the setting of the last paragraphs. Eden calls Woody a gallant person. Gay and gallant. Major Eden, the former Harley Street surgeon, has been all along a gallant of the Sir Anthony Absolute variety. Their tryst occurs amidst a sentimental setting: the paragraph that begins "The apples were young and green upon the boughs..."

Purist formula whodunnit (details)
3 1/2 stars.

I'm reviewing the Carroll & Graf 1989 hardcover edition of this book, (dark blue book club binding with a green dust jacket, 172 pages), which features a two-page Preface by H.R.F. Keating (The Perfect Murder (Inspector Ghote Mystery)), and a five-page Introduction by Otto Penzler (The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series).)

The setting for this mystery is early World War II small-town England and revolves around six murder suspects (this is not a spoiler as we're told this up front), three of whom are physicians and the other three being V.A.D.s (nurses). The first murder transpires in the operating theater and the medical team initially sees the fatality as nothing more than an anesthetic death; however, local police Inspector Cockrill soon unearths a number of possible underlying motives for what turns out to be a clear homicide, committed by a resolute killer.

The backdrop of the diminutive Heron's Park military hospital, its staff trying to function during a period of extreme rationing and while German bombs and "doodlebugs" (V-1 Buzz Bombs) rain down on everyone (and which is why there are so many emergency surgeries), generates a potentially savory ambiance. Christianna Brand's evocation of multiple love angles throughout the story somewhat additionally benefits the overall tale. The author pretty much challenges the reader to guess who the killer is and I must confess that I was successfully decoyed, even though I typically unmask the killer(s) in a timely manner better than half the time.

In both the Preface and the Introduction one encounters the hackneyed allusions to Christie, Sayers and others - but, (as is clearly elucidated in Penzler's Introduction), this mystery tale is not a "Golden Age" type cozy murder, which I think a lot of mystery enthusiasts might anticipate since the book was originally published in 1944. Here we have more of a contemporary Ellery Queen-type detective mystery and the story therefore lacks many of the Edwardian mechanisms which a number of us devour with such great heartiness, such as we find in the writings of the Grand Dames and in some of the writings of the more renowned male mystery authors such as Doyle and Upfield (Mr. Jelly's Business.)

While this story is generally a good one I still felt that Brand missed the chance to inject the savory wallpaper and the colorful principals into this account that cozy murder fans fancy so much. Brand's characters come off as utterly human, demonstrating few personal eccentricities. There is little literary expansion of their respective backgrounds and so we don't get to know them all that intimately. Everything is on the table here and the sub-plots manifest little more than window trimming.

Another cumbersome aspect of Brand's story is that these suspects are not of a single household (family members, servants, and guests) as we so often encounter in the classic British mystery - as a result, it's tough for the reader to grasp a mental image of each principal, an actuality which may have been employed by design. In other words, Brand launched a new era of British mystery, and one which departed in style from its much-beloved predecessors.

My only direct criticism of the work is chiefly in regard to the lengthy and tiresome chatter (dialogue) between the suspects as to who among them could have committed the murders. Inspector Cockrill's tactic to pressure his prime suspect into a confession by having these folks all tailed round the clock is equally grueling for the reader. To be precise, this tale drags in places.

In summary, my view is a subjective one but it's still a perspective which is shared by many of my peer readers. I didn't feel that this story effectively compared with the superlative art of Christie, Sayers, Tey, Marsh, and all the others which gave rise to the "Golden Age" of the traditional British mystery. If Brand's writing does compare at all to an earlier writer, I would have to say that Austin Freeman's mysteries are candidates, ergo: The Mystery At Number 31, New Inn. I would normally not attempt to make a point of Brand's approach to the detective novel had this particular book not been lauded as one of the great mysteries of all time. Therefore, I'm going to recommend this one only to fans of the more contemporary mysteries.

An excellent whodunit...
This one is well worth the price and will stand a quick holiday-at-the-beach read or a more careful, detailed approach. The illustrations are an unexpected treat.

Clever, Ironic, Meticulous: A Great Classic of the Mystery Genre
Born in 1907 in Malaya, Mary Christianna Milne Lewis worked as everything from a governess to a nightclub dancer before discovering her niche as an author with the novel DEATH IN HIGH HEELS. Although she is now best known as the creator of the "Nurse Matilda" stories for children, by the time of her 1988 death she had written seventeen mystery novels; while not as well known in the United States as the works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Nygio Marsh, they have remained popular in England and Europe and are often considered classics of their kind.

Published in 1944, GREEN FOR DANGER is generally regarded as Brand's best work. Set in an somewhat impromptu English hospital at the height of the Blitz, the story opens with the unexpected death of a patient during what should be a routine surgery--a death which draws the unwilling attention of Brand's re-occuring detective Inspector Cockrill, who is more than willing to dismiss the idea of foul play until one of the nurses involved in the surgery is found stabbed to death on the same operating table. As the investigation evolves, it becomes clear that the killer must be one of six involved with the unexpectedly dead patient, a situation which allows for considerable tension as the story progresses.

Although the plot is remarkably clever and the characters extremely well drawn, GREEN FOR DANGER is particularly famous for its medical setting. Brand presents the surgical proceedures of the era with tremendous clarity and readability; few have equalled her presentation, much less bested it. The novel's war-time period also adds considerable interest to the story and is equally central to the work. These two elements interlock for a fascinating read from start to finish.

As already noted, Brand's novels are not particularly well-known outside of England and Europe. This is a pity: she is a witty, surprisingly ironic writer who knows how to spin a classic English mystery. Fans of the genre who come to her works for the first time are sure to be delighted.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A classic mystery of the late golden age
This book may not be as well known among mystery fans as it deserves to be. Wonderful plotting, touches of humor, a memorable detective, and a fascinating setting - what more can one ask for? I think one mark of a great mystery is that it can be re-read with pleasure, and this one qualifies - read it twice to catch all the red herrings you fell for the first time!