Heads You Lose (Inspector Cockrill #1) in Reading the Detectives

Aug 02, 2023 Anissa rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023, british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, christmas-and-winter-mysteries

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 found with their head cut off. This is set in the winter and usually, something I'd wait to read when the season synchs but you never know how long something will be in KU so I jumped in. I will give 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 found with their head cut off. This is set in the winter and usually, something I'd wait to read when the season synchs but you never know how long something will be in KU so I jumped in. I will give Brand credit for a great set up and her writing is exceedingly readable. Vivid descriptions of the murder(s) and the characters were appreciated.

Sadly the women in this story were some of the dippiest, silliest specimens I've come across in a long while. Sisters Fran and Venetia were awful and I don't mean I needed to like them, simply that they were so ridiculous I didn't care about Fran's plight or her love life, which the story clearly wanted me to. The first victim was so off-putting that their being dispatched was just fine as it was one less pain to bear. There's a copious amount of anti-Semitism and while it was on brand for the time and type of characters featured here, it really wore on my pace of reading. It sometimes reminded me of Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery by E.C.R. Lorac which I loved. That had one character in particular slinging her slurs so I got to focus my ire and there were plenty of other characters who didn't go in for that nonsense. There was no way to sequester it in Heads You Lose. Even the dog, Aziz got on my nerves but I honestly think it was more his owners that I couldn't actually stand. Inspector Cockrill wasn't in this as much as I'd hoped or expected but when he was, I liked him. The solution in the end was a wild one and was also difficult to squint into something that worked for me. So. I don't recommend this one. Not even free on Kindle Unlimited.

I have more Brand books to read and this in no way deters me from looking forward to those. Until I find otherwise, I'll assume this was one of her worst as all works can't be winners. ...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Any Christianna Brand re-issue will be welcomed by me and it is wonderful to see her books appearing on kindle. Best known for her series of Nurse Matilda childrens books, she also wrote many excellent crime novels. This is the first Inspector Cockrill book and, as so often in Golden Age Detective stories, we are in the familiar territory of the house party. Set during WWII, Stephen Pendock is the Squire of the local village. Staying with him are Lady Hart, a friend of the family, her granddaugh Any Christianna Brand re-issue will be welcomed by me and it is wonderful to see her books appearing on kindle. Best known for her series of Nurse Matilda childrens books, she also wrote many excellent crime novels. This is the first Inspector Cockrill book and, as so often in Golden Age Detective stories, we are in the familiar territory of the house party. Set during WWII, Stephen Pendock is the Squire of the local village. Staying with him are Lady Hart, a friend of the family, her granddaughters Francesca and Venetia, Henry Gold (Venetia's husband) and James Nicholl (Fran's suitor). Their neighbour, Grace Morland, also has a visitor - Pippi Le May - and two servants also enter the plot: faithful Trotty, Grace's maid, and Bunsen, Pendock's butler.

At the very beginning we are told that from amongst these people will be found two victims and a murderer. Indeed, shortly after the story begins, one of the members of the party are found horribly decapitated and it seems that someone from among the group must be the murderer. Suspicion and jealousy follow this outrage, as Cockrill finds his task hampered by the bonds which tie his alleged suspects. Other books featuring Inspector Cockrill are:

Heads You Lose (1941)
Green for Danger (1944)
Suddenly at His Residence (1946) (aka The Crooked Wreath)
Death of Jezebel (1948)
London Particular (1952) (aka Fog of Doubt)
Tour De Force (1955)
The Three Cornered Halo (1957)
The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook (2002)

Green for Danger is probably the most famous of Brand's crime novels, made into a movie featuring Alistair Sim. However, if, like me, you prefer to read a series in order then you will want to read this first. It is fair to say that some of Brand's work has not aged well and there is a distinct lack of political correctness there that will jar with modern readers. However, if you enjoy Golden Age Detective fiction, you will undoubtedly be able to overlook these modern sensibilities and enjoy the story for what it is and when it was written. ...more

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Aug 15, 2017 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, mystery, hot-read

Finally read my first Inspector Cockrill story. (********** this computer)

I've long loved the movie of Green for Danger (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038577/?...) 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.

Finally got pushed into reading this one (a buddy read) and I really enjoyed it. The murders were a little grisly. Love the part where they are at the inquest and the coroner is going over the injuries an ...more

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Oct 05, 2023 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Any Christianna Brand re-issue will be welcomed by me and it is wonderful to see her books appearing on Audible. Best known for her series of Nurse Matilda childrens books, she also wrote many excellent crime novels. This is the first Inspector Cockrill book and, as so often in Golden Age Detective stories, we are in the familiar territory of the house party. Set during WWII, Stephen Pendock is the Squire of the local village. Staying with him are Lady Hart, a friend of the family, her granddaug Any Christianna Brand re-issue will be welcomed by me and it is wonderful to see her books appearing on Audible. Best known for her series of Nurse Matilda childrens books, she also wrote many excellent crime novels. This is the first Inspector Cockrill book and, as so often in Golden Age Detective stories, we are in the familiar territory of the house party. Set during WWII, Stephen Pendock is the Squire of the local village. Staying with him are Lady Hart, a friend of the family, her granddaughters Francesca and Venetia, Henry Gold (Venetia's husband) and James Nicholl (Fran's suitor). Their neighbour, Grace Morland, also has a visitor - Pippi Le May - and two servants also enter the plot: faithful Trotty, Grace's maid, and Bunsen, Pendock's butler.

At the very beginning we are told that from amongst these people will be found two victims and a murderer. Indeed, shortly after the story begins, one of the members of the party are found horribly decapitated and it seems that someone from among the group must be the murderer. Suspicion and jealousy follow this outrage, as Cockrill finds his task hampered by the bonds which tie his alleged suspects. Other books featuring Inspector Cockrill are:

Heads You Lose (1941)
Green for Danger (1944)
Suddenly at His Residence (1946) (aka The Crooked Wreath)
Death of Jezebel (1948)
London Particular (1952) (aka Fog of Doubt)
Tour De Force (1955)
The Three Cornered Halo (1957)
The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook (2002)

Green for Danger is probably the most famous of Brand's crime novels, made into a movie featuring Alistair Sim. However, if, like me, you prefer to read a series in order then you will want to read this first. It is fair to say that some of Brand's work has not aged well and there is a distinct lack of political correctness there that will jar with modern readers. However, if you enjoy Golden Age Detective fiction, you will undoubtedly be able to overlook these modern sensibilities and enjoy the story for what it is and when it was written.

This is well read by Derek Perkins. I look forward to listening to the rest of the Inspector Cockrill books and I am delighted to find Brand's work more accessible, having been so long out of print. ...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Jenn Estepp rated it it was ok

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes, libraries-are-great, kindling

I thought it was mediocre but serviceable until we got to the end and then I hated it so much that if it were a real book instead of a kindle book I would have thrown it across the room in disgust.

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Jul 19, 2017 ShanDizzy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! I did not see that ending coming! This was a brilliant mystery! I will definitely finish the whole series if this 1st story is anything to go by.

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May 16, 2011 Abbey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: myst-set-andor-auth-uk, reviewed, myst-fems-project, vintage, myst-police, series

HEADS YOU LOSE, Christianna Brand, 1941, Inspector Cockrill #1, rural England, early in WWII. Some plot elements extremely "dated" now; still entertaining, but not her best work. Three-and-one-half stars out of five.

A 40ish spinster with a nasty tongue is found dead in a ditch, her head cut off, having recently quarreled with pretty nearly everybody she knew at The Big House near a small village. Beautifully wrought timetable plot mixed with “lunatic at large” overtones, focused on a wealthy hou ...more

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Sep 30, 2018 Nanosynergy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-espionage, series, british, fiction, fiction-1940s, 2018read

First book in the Inspector Cockrill series (first published in 1941). Good 1940s mystery - although the anti-semitism sentiments of the 1940s period makes it an uncomfortable read at points. One of the husbands/lead characters is Jewish. While this fact is not central to the mystery, there are anti-semitic comments sprinkled throughout the book.

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Apr 29, 2023 Laura Anne rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, british-isles

The solution/motivation was the weakest element, but otherwise a good puzzle and a memorable (and shocking) murder mystery. Another negative point: antisemitism from some characters.

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