Mystery Monday: Christianna Brand - From Inspector Cockrill to Nanny McPhee

Mystery Monday: Christianna Brand - From Inspector Cockrill to Nanny McPhee  

I love the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and have read books written by dozens of authors from this era. I thought I had heard of nearly every one of these writers, but was pleasantly surprised recently to stumble on yet another one.

If you’re familiar with the Nanny McPhee movie starring Emma Thompson, then you’ve already been exposed to Christianna Brand who wrote the Nurse Matilda series in the late 1960s. Prior to writing short stories and children’s books, Ms. Brand penned mystery series for adults that featured three different inspectors.

Born in 1907 as Mary Christiana Milne in British Malaya, she was raised in India. She returned to England to attend a Franciscan convent school, but left at aged 17 to enter the workforce. One blogger surmised it was because her father lost his wealth. Whatever the reason, she held a wide variety of jobs such as governess, dress packer, ballroom dancer, model, and shop girl. It was during this last position she was inspired to write (under the pen name Christiana Brand) her first mystery, Death in High Heels as a result of an annoying co-worker. Six more books featuring Detective Inspector Cockrill followed as well as two other mystery series.

The second in the Cockrill series, Green for Danger, was optioned in 1944 by the J. Arthur Rank Corporation and made into a movie in 1946 starring Alistair Sim as the inspector. The plot takes place at Heron’s Emergency Hospital, and the victim dies on the operating table. The nurse is convinced the death was not an accident and Cockrill is brought in to investigate. Having served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment at the hospital where her husband, Roland Lewis, was working, Brand again used her experiences to help her craft her story.

Scholars and critics alike attest to her clever plotting, twists and surprises, and sense of humor. Three of her pieces were nominated for Edgar Awards; two short stories: “Poison in the Cup” and “Twist for Twist,” and the non-fiction Heaven Knows Who. She served as Chair of the Crime Writers Association from 1972-1973. In addition to her successful career as a mystery novelist, she wrote children’s books during the 1960s.

Brand said in an interview, “I write for no reason more pretentious than to simply entertain.”

She succeeded.

Have you read any of Christianna Brand’s books?

Mystery Monday: Ruth Sawtell Wallis Anthropologist and Novelist

Mystery Monday: Ruth Sawtell Wallis 

Anthropologist and Novelist

Better known in the academic world of anthropology for her research and discoveries, Ruth Sawtell Wallis wrote mystery novels. Her first, Too May Bones, was published in 1943. She received an undergraduate degree in English from Radcliffe College, after which she traveled to Europe as part of her graduate program in anthropology at Columbia University. A brilliant scientist, Ruth went on to receive her doctorate and began to teach at the University of Iowa. A year later, she married Professor Wilson Dallam Wallis, and as was typical of the era, lost her job as a result. Over the years she was able to work in her field intermittently, and she also collaborated on books with her husband.

According to her obituary written by a colleague, Ruth began to write mysteries in 1940 while recovering from a serious illness. Her books involve academic settings, and anthropology plays an integral part in the solution to the crimes. Set in a museum, Too Many Bones won the Red Badge Prize for best mystery of the year. When her novels were written, there were no “sub-genres” in the mystery book industry, however, hers may very well be the first in that now popular sub-genre.

Check out the map from the back of the dust jacket! Perhaps another first in the mystery genre.

Ruth conveys her feelings about women’s treatment in academia, especially wage differences, through her main character, Kay Ellis. Unusual for the time, Ruth also includes two African-American characters who have their own subplot. Unfortunately for readers, she only published five novels during a ten year period. The good news is they can be found for reasonable prices at any number of online sites.

Mystery Monday: Who is Helen McCloy?

Mystery Monday: Who is Helen McCloy?

Courtesy AZQuotes

When one's parents are an author and a newspaper editor can a daughter choose any career but that of a novelist? Similar to children of actors who grow up to be actors, perhaps it is the same with writers.

Born on June 6, 1904, Helen Clarkson received a top-shelf education. She attended the Brooklyn Friends School run by the Brooklyn's Quaker community then following graduation traveled to France and studied at the Sorbonne. Remaining in France, she obtained a job with Universal News Service (a Hearst company). Five years later she quit to become an art critic and contributor to the London Morning Post.

Returning to America in 1932, Helen began to write mysteries and created the pseudonym Helen McCloy. Her first novel, Dance with Death, was published in 1938. Success came quickly, and she published one book a year for the next ten years. Helen continued to publish books until the late 1970s, half of which were part of her Dr. Basil Willing series, the other half were stand alone novels.

Hailed by many critics as one of the greatest writers, Helen explored topics such as the psychology of Fascism, human sensory perception, and the concept of doppelgängers. Her characters have detailed life histories that are explored throughout the novel. Vivid description enables readers to immerse themselves in each scene.

Helen was an active member of Mystery Writers of America and was its female president in 1950. In 1971, she helped found MWA's New England chapter. She was named MWA Grand Master in 1990, and the organization offers a scholarship named in her honor. She passed away in 1994, leaving a long legacy in the mystery writing community.

Mystery Monday: Who is F. Wills Croft?

Mystery Monday: Who is F. Wills Croft?

Thanks again to The Passing Tramp for introducing me to yet another author from the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction.” Though largely forgotten in the shadows of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett, F. Wills Croft was a prolific and well-known author during his years of publication (1920 to 1957).

Freeman Wills Croft was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1879. His father passed away before he was born, and his mother married a vicar. Raised in religious home, he attended Methodist College and Campbell College. Croft was apprenticed to his uncle as an engineer in the railway system. He was quite good at his trade. By the time he left the trade to write full time, he was an Assistant Chief Engineer and had been involved in several high profile projects.

His career influenced his writing. In fact many of his stories contain a railway theme, and his focus on the apparently unbreakable alibi often centered around the intricacies of railway timetables. According to Mike Grost, Croft was a founder of the “Realist School” of detective fiction. Today those books are called police procedurals.

Crofts most famous character, who appeared in many of his books, is Inspector Joseph French. The antithesis of Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, French is a middle class police officer who is serious about his job. A family man, he has a wife and two children. In a nod to Croft’s religious upbringing, French neither drinks nor smokes.

Who is your favorite author of detective fiction from “The Golden Age?”