Heads You Lose, Christianna Brand
Heads You Lose, Christianna Brand
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Heads You Lose

Author: Christianna Brand

Narrator: Christianna Brand

Unabridged: 5 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/06/2021


Synopsis

In the English countryside, one of the well-mannered guests at Pigeonsford Estate may be a murderer in this series debut by an Edgar Award–nominated author.

As war rages in Europe, the citizens of London flee to the country. At Pigeonsford, a group of guests plays cards, drinks tea, and acts polite—but Grace Morland knows the strong emotions that lurk beneath the placid social surface. She's painfully in love with Stephen Pendock, the squire of Pigeonsford, but Pendock's smitten with young beauty Francesca Hart. One afternoon, Fran debuts a new hat, and Grace's jealousy gets the better of her. She exclaims, "I wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch in a thing like that!" She will soon be proven wrong. Grace is found dead with the hat on her head—and her head removed from her neck. To the scene comes the incomparable Inspector Cockrill, who finds that far more than petty jealousy lies beneath this hideous murder.

About Christianna Brand

Christianna Brand (1907-1988) was one of the most popular authors of the Golden Age of British mystery writing. Born in Malaya and raised in India, Brand used her experience as a salesgirl as inspiration for her first novel, Death in High Heels, which she based on a fantasy of murdering an irritating coworker. The same year, she debuted her most famous character, Inspector Cockrill, whose adventures she followed until 1957. The film version of the second Cockrill mystery, Green for Danger, is considered one of the best-ever screen adaptations of a classic English mystery.

Brand also found success writing children's fiction. Her Nurse Matilda series, about a grotesque nanny who tames ill-behaved children, was adapted for the screen in 2005, as Nanny McPhee. Brand received Edgar Award nominations for the short stories "Twist for Twist" and "Poison in the Cup", as well as one for her nonfiction work Heaven Knows Who. The author of more than two dozen novels, she died in 1988.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anissa on August 04, 2023

Before this I'd only read a couple short stories by Christianna Brand which I really enjoyed (thanks British Library Classic Crime reissues!) so I came across this on Kindle Unlimited and decided to give it a read. The blurb was promising. A country house murder with a small group and someone's been......more

Goodreads review by Jan C on August 15, 2017

Finally read my first Inspector Cockrill story. (********** this computer) I've long loved the movie of Green for Danger ([URL not allowed] and had that book on my shelf for several years. But was having trouble getting into it. Then the books started coming out on Kindle. Fina......more

Goodreads review by Ivonne on January 06, 2018

I owe Martin Edwards, solicitor, writer and editor, a debt of gratitude. Without his anthology, The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories, I should never have heard of British author Christianna Brand or of her clever creation, Inspector Cockerill. He so charmed me with his mocking deflation o......more

Goodreads review by Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) on November 20, 2016

An enjoyable read. I first heard of Brand when reading the wartime diaries of Nella Last, who read her books with great pleasure. Last had to keep such books from her husband Will, or read them aloud "editing" as she went, as anything violent or unpleasant upset him. It's a safe bet, then, that she......more

Goodreads review by Otto on April 01, 2013

The first book featuring Inspector Cockrill, this Golden Age mystery was first published in 1941. Against the backdrop of WWII, a group of friends have gathered in a country manor house, the Pideonsford Estate. But perhaps some friendships aren’t all that close, and soon heads begin to roll. Literal......more