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Death in High Heels (Inspector Charlesworth #1)

Christianna Brand

Start date: January 15, 2022

Finish date: February 9, 2022

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Next in our series of Christianna Brand buddy reads
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What Members Thought

Jul 06, 2015 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Christianna Brand (1907-1988) is now best remembered for her children's books, "Nurse Matilda". However, she was a very well known crime writer and it is a wonderful thing to see some of her books being re-released on kindle. Brand's best known series was Inspector Cockrill, who made his debut a year after "Death in High Heels", which was her first novel written in 1941. With Cockrill she wrote seven books, including the second in the series, regarded by many as her masterpiece, "Green for Dange Christianna Brand (1907-1988) is now best remembered for her children's books, "Nurse Matilda". However, she was a very well known crime writer and it is a wonderful thing to see some of her books being re-released on kindle. Brand's best known series was Inspector Cockrill, who made his debut a year after "Death in High Heels", which was her first novel written in 1941. With Cockrill she wrote seven books, including the second in the series, regarded by many as her masterpiece, "Green for Danger". "Death in High Heels" features Inspector Charlesworth, who did not make another appearance after his debut until "The Rose in Darkness", published in 1979, and the second (and last) to include this highly likeable detective.

When we meet Charlesworth he is a young man who is as interested in his love life, and string of girlfriends, as he is in his career. For this reason he is assigned the death of a young woman in Christophe Et Cie, an exclusive dress shop in Regent Street. This is very much a vanished world - a shop with mannequins who model the outfits, an emotional dress designer and sales staff who are chosen for their ability to be decorative as much as their sales skills. It is essential to say here that this was not a PC world and there is much in this book that may jar modern sensibilities, not least the way Mr Cecil (the overly emotional dress designer) is openly found amusing by Charlesworth and others in the book. Obviously, you will either accept the book as a product of its time or prefer to read more modern authors, but it is worth mentioning I think that some of the attitudes would be unnacceptable now. It is also a fact that women seem to faint a lot in this book, but again, it is worth overlooking the negatives in this novel and concentrating on the positives.

Brand was an author who wrote with great humour and her characters, although sometimes stereotyped, are interesting and sympathetic. Christophe Et Cie is owned by Mr Bevan, and he has caused much jealousy by planning to open a new branch at Deauville, to which some members of staff hope to be chosen for. There is resentment, jealousy, dislike, worry about divorce, difficult relatives and love affairs for Charlesworth to unravel and contend with. For Charlesworth, there is also the beautiful girls, especially the lovely Victoria. This is also a portrait of a vanished era and way of life and a great mystery to unravel. This is very much a Golden Age Detective story, with clues you can work out - although I am always pretty hopeless at picking "who done it". It is fun, enjoyable and a joy to read. Having collected this authors books for many years, I am happy to have her books in a new format for a new audience to enjoy. If you like authors such as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, etc, you will probably enjoy this. ...more

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May 02, 2025 Rosario added it

Shelves: dnf

I listen to a great podcast called Shedunnit and they recently had an episode on Christianna Brand. This book was one the presenter had as one of her favourites, and it sounded really interesting, being set in a big dress shop in London and making that work a bit like one of those country house mysteries where you have a closed circle of suspects.

And that element was really good! I loved this lost world, with mannequins and designers and difficult customers. And really, it made me realise that I listen to a great podcast called Shedunnit and they recently had an episode on Christianna Brand. This book was one the presenter had as one of her favourites, and it sounded really interesting, being set in a big dress shop in London and making that work a bit like one of those country house mysteries where you have a closed circle of suspects.

And that element was really good! I loved this lost world, with mannequins and designers and difficult customers. And really, it made me realise that we don't get enough mysteries set in workplaces. A lot could be made out of the rivalries and petty jealousies, the posturing and quirks. I wonder if it's that most authors don't have experience working in offices, because having worked in them all my adult life, I can really see the potential!

Unfortunately, that was all I liked. I really disliked Brand's characterisation, and how most of her characters felt cartoonish and completely ridiculous. I did not believe in a single one. With a good author, even a preposterous character can have a kernel of truth at the centre that makes them work, but I really did not see this here. And my absolutely least favourite was our detective, Inspector Charlesworth. He was an utter and complete idiot and a total ninny. He felt like a particularly idiotic and immature 12-year-old, not like a grown man and a trained detective.

Additionally, I'm usually pretty good at accepting the more dated elements in books written a long time ago and that this would have been the attitude at the time, however jarring today. But the way Mr Cecil was treated by our detectives for being gay was just something else. Part of it was Charlesworth's stupidity, and I just couldn't take his sniggering and mocking. But the way the narrator described him (girlish hips, etc.) was beyond the pale for me.

I have no idea if the mystery itself is well done or not. The way things are set up is interesting, and it had potential, but I refuse to wade through the antics of these horrific characters to find out. ...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-series-first-novel, crime-fiction-uk, crime-fiction

One of two books by this author to feature young Inspector Charlesworth of Scotland Yard, Death in High Heels focuses on a murder that happens in a dress shop. Originally written in 1941, this one is a joy to read, because it is a good, old-fashioned piece of crime fiction where you are given lots of clues, a solid list of suspects and a fun mystery to try to solve. I didn't guess (I was wrong twice) so I was quite happy, and will most likely read other books by this author.

basic plot (no spoil ...more

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Nov 23, 2021 Bev rated it liked it

Shelves: british-mystery, mystery, vintage-mystery, police-procedural, mount-tbr-2021, bought-2013

Brand's debut mystery takes place in a posh dress shop where Mr. Frank Bevan, proprietor and manager, is getting ready to shake things up. Everyone is sure that he is going to send Miss Doon (his especial favorite) off to manage the sales floor of a new branch in Deauville. But at the last minute, those honors go to Miss Gregory, Bevan's secretary and right-hand girl. Miss Doon was set to go to lunch with Bevan to celebrate her promotion--but winds up having lunch in the staff room instead. Hour Brand's debut mystery takes place in a posh dress shop where Mr. Frank Bevan, proprietor and manager, is getting ready to shake things up. Everyone is sure that he is going to send Miss Doon (his especial favorite) off to manage the sales floor of a new branch in Deauville. But at the last minute, those honors go to Miss Gregory, Bevan's secretary and right-hand girl. Miss Doon was set to go to lunch with Bevan to celebrate her promotion--but winds up having lunch in the staff room instead. Hours later, Miss Doon is dead from oxalic poisoning--some crystals were apparently sprinkled on her portion of curried rabbit.

Where did the oxalic acid come from, you might ask. Well, Mrs. Rachel Gay and Mrs. Victoria David had gone to the chemist's to get a small quantity to use to clean straw hats. The stuff gets spilled twice and a number of the staff have an opportunity to get their hands on some of it. When Inspector Charlesworth comes to investigate the suspicious death, he finds that some had opportunity to get the poison, but no opportunity to use it on the food. And some had plenty of opportunity to use it, but no opportunity to get hold of it. And among those who had both there are few motives for doing away with Miss Doon. Then another near-poisoning happens and Charlesworth is baffled. Another inspector is brought in to help clear the muddle and then....Charlesworth has a flash of insight while interviewing one of the suspects. Has he finally solved it?

Honestly, I found this quite exasperating. Throughout 90-some percent of the book Inspector Charlesworth is a most unpromising detective. There are points of interest that absolutely escape him and I can't believe it took 162 pages (and another inspector pointing it out) for him to confront the idea that maybe the intended victim wasn't really the person that died. I'm not saying that's the solution--maybe it is and maybe it isn't--but it was an obvious thing to consider as soon as everyone had told the story of that last fatal luncheon. It also never occurred to him to go talk to the chemist who supplied the oxalic acid. And, then, of course, there's his weakness for lovely young women and the fact that he "just knows" that Victoria David couldn't have murdered and attempted to murder anybody. Fingerprints on a glass? Pooh-pooh. There must be an explanation. Or maybe we can just pretend they aren't there. Again, I'm not saying she really is guilty (or that she really isn't), but I don't care for watching the detective tie himself into pretzels to avoid considering her a legitimate suspect.

And then there's the pacing. This thing dragged...and dragged.We went through the evidence several times and went through convoluted discussions of who might have and who didn't and who could have and who possibly couldn't have and it twisted my thoughts into pretzel shapes. The best of the book was when Charlesworth was interacting with Sergeant Bedd (and Bedd is able to one-up him on a few points) and the scenes in the dress shop environment. I could tell that Brand had worked in a dress shop--the attention to detail really gives the reader a sense of the atmosphere of a high-class shop. I was also surprised by the ending--I had considered the culprit, but then got so sidetracked by the various solutions Charlesworth proposed and his mental gymnastics in avoiding fitting Victoria up as the villain of the piece that I lost sight of that particular solution. ★★ and 3/4--not quite a three-star read.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks. ...more

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

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

Death by poisoning at a posh dress shop brings an impressionable young Inspector in among a bevy of lovely young women. Nicely done timetable plot but rather slow, and far too much detail and sub-plots that don’t go anywhere but just seem added in to obfuscate. And the multiple points-of-view aren’t done smoothly, making things rather confusing at times.

But over all this is a tidily wrapped up, strongly plotted and very well-characterized first novel by an author who went on to become one of th ...more

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Jul 23, 2024 Ellen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I think this is Christianna Brand’s first novel. All her characteristics are there. Really good!

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May 05, 2024 Christine PNW rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-my-hoard-2024, 2024

I really liked this and now I have to go track down the other Inspector Charlesworth books.

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Jan 12, 2022 Jill rated it it was ok

Shelves: jill-s-eighth-year-challenge, christianna-brand

I understand this book was the first she had written in the mystery genre, as up until now, it had been children's books. I'm pleased that this wasn't the first of her books I had read, as to me it was a dud. Her Inspector Cockrill books also contained a couple of duds, but taken overall she had also written some rather good mysteries. This book was set in a high-class ladies dress shop in London, however it could have been in any office or factory anywhere, as it was about a group of workers th ...more

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Jul 14, 2013 Lynnie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: golden-age-detective-story, read-in-1990s, crime, read-in-2024

This was a deightful mystery set in a dress shop. The book was published in 1941 but I'm assuming it's set earlier as there is no mention of the world war.
Brand writes with great wit and the five beautiful shop girls ran rings around the young detective who was completely out of his depth. Lots of red herrings and twists and a very good plot.
...more

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