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

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

Shelves: british-fiction-uk-ireland, 2023, 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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Aug 14, 2017 Leslie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, ebook

3.5*

I enjoyed this first Inspector Cockrill mystery, which was a quick read. It wasn't as good as the only other one I have read, Green For Danger; I think Cockrill being friends with the suspects hampered things a bit. ...more

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Oct 22, 2021 Andréa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-isles, mystery-thriller-crime, digital, classics

Despite the handful of suspects, I really had no idea who did it.

Content warning: Lots of anti-Semitic remarks / Jewish stereotypes.

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Aug 20, 2017 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-classic, rread-2017, series-completed

An enjoyable quick read, written in a humorous style that I appreciated. It is the 'standard' impossible murder in a country house of golden-age mysteries: no footprints in the snow, limited list of suspects with unbreakable alibis. On the negative side, the ending is not satisfying and the book is very politically incorrect. ...more

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Aug 06, 2017 Jill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: christianna-brand

Very good story, with likable characters of the time. I really liked Inspector Cockrill finding him very entertaining. Will definitely go on to read more in this series.

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