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Green for Danger (Inspector Cockrill #2)

Christianna Brand

Start date: November 1, 2023

Finish date: November 30, 2023

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our November group read.
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What Members Thought

Jun 03, 2023 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1940s, 2023, british-library-crime-classics, crime-fiction, crime-fiction-uk, page-to-screen

Read earlier, this one I REALLY enjoyed, most especially because I never guessed the who.

full post is here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2023/06/...

Green for Danger is book number two in Christianna Brand's Inspector Cockrill series, preceded by the series opener, Heads You Lose (which I'm reading now). I'm just thrilled that it is a part of the British Library Crime Classics collection, since the copy I've had for eons is an old mass market paperback in pretty beat-up condition. I enjoyed Green Read earlier, this one I REALLY enjoyed, most especially because I never guessed the who.

full post is here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2023/06/...

Green for Danger is book number two in Christianna Brand's Inspector Cockrill series, preceded by the series opener, Heads You Lose (which I'm reading now). I'm just thrilled that it is a part of the British Library Crime Classics collection, since the copy I've had for eons is an old mass market paperback in pretty beat-up condition. I enjoyed Green for Danger so very much that I immediately bought the remaining books, including preordering Death of Jezebel (also new from British Library Crime Classics and arriving in August) -- that's how very good it is. Now I want to read everything in this particular series.

World War II serves as the backdrop for this clever, well-plotted closed-circle mystery, which takes place at a former sanitorium now serving as military hospital at Heron's Park just outside of Heronsford in Kent. The seven main players have all been called to duty there, and they are introduced one by one (along with a bit of each person's backstory) via their acceptance letters which are being delivered by postman Joseph Higgins. The male contingent consists of Dr. Gervase Eden, a surgeon from Harley Street, Mr. Moon, another surgeon hailing from Heronsford, and Dr. Barnes (Barney), a local anesthetist; the women are Jane Woods (Woody), who has been called as a VAD nurse as have Esther Sanson and Frederica (Freddi) Linley, and finally Sister Marion Bates. Offering the tiniest bit of a clue as to where this story is headed, as Higgins takes himself and his bicycle up the hill leading to Heron's Park, the author tells us that he "could not know that, just a year later, one of the writers would die, self-confessed a murderer."

As a person who often figures out the who long before the big reveal comes, I have to say that I was extremely delighted not to have done so this time. I actually had two different suspects in mind but Brand came along and pulled the rug right out from under me. That's not too surprising, since the author sort of toys with her readers by planting doubts (and thereby possible motives) about each of the seven suspects. In hindsight, all of the clues were definitely there, and it was like a "how did I miss that?" kind of moment when Brand actually unmasked the killer. Add to this the very realistic and credible sense of place and the atmosphere that the author delivers pretty much from the start, all making Green For Danger a pitch-perfect mystery.

I have the old black-and-white film (1946, Pinewood Studios) on DVD as part of my Criterion Collection movies, so I watched it right after finishing the novel. While it deviates a bit from the book I could have cared less. Alastair Sim definitely steals the show here in the role of Inspector Cockrill, often playing his scenes for laughs, which at times given the dark and actually somewhat sinister atmosphere underlying this film, can be a welcome relief. He is eccentric, but underneath his quirkiness there is definitely a sense that he is a wise detective with a keen sense of justice. The supporting cast, including Trevor Howard, also does a great job.

I would definitely recommend both book and movie, in that order. ...more

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Jan 12, 2018 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gr-group-read, 2023, mystery, 2018

5/25/23

Finished a re-read this week. It held up. Just as enjoyable this time. Although I was trying to remember who the killer was all the while.

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The second volume in Inspector Cockrill from author Christianna Brand. Her husband was a surgeon and they lived near the hospital. She thought she should volunteer or something. They told her the best thing she could do would be to keep on writing. This book takes place in a hospital ...more

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Oct 31, 2023 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tbr-with-gr-groups, library-book, audiobook

4.5 stars - this was an excellent golden age mystery, set in 1940 at a military hospital in the Kentish countryside. The book opens with an elderly postman delivering letters to the hospital, then dives right into concise thumbnails of the letter writers, three nurses and three doctors, wrapping up their private lives and preparing to report for duty at the hospital. We’re told in an instance of chilling foreshadowing that the postman will soon be dead, as will one of the six, who will die an ac 4.5 stars - this was an excellent golden age mystery, set in 1940 at a military hospital in the Kentish countryside. The book opens with an elderly postman delivering letters to the hospital, then dives right into concise thumbnails of the letter writers, three nurses and three doctors, wrapping up their private lives and preparing to report for duty at the hospital. We’re told in an instance of chilling foreshadowing that the postman will soon be dead, as will one of the six, who will die an accused murderer.

Next we are in the hugger-mugger of air raids, blackouts, and terrifying routine of a wartime military hospital; the author brilliantly evokes the backstories, friendships and flirtations of the staff as they cope with this new wartime life of no privacy, no rest, lousy food, lousy quarters, long hours, terror alternating with boredom, and unrelenting pressure.

At first I was afraid I’d mix up the three nurses and doctors, but Brand quickly distinguished them for me. The wry humor and dialogue and great characters made this mystery a treat. The old postman is brought in during an air raid, badly injured; the doctors decide to stabilize him and operate in the morning, he’s put behind screens next to the nurse’s station (or “bunk”, sounded like a cubicle with glass walls affording the nurses a chance to observe the ward, but no privacy if a patient isn’t asleep).

Before the old man goes into surgery in the morning, his wife visits and he complains to her of “goings-on” between nurses and doctors in the “bunk” during the night. Then he goes into surgery and dies on the table. When it’s determined it was murder, Inspector Cockerill, Brand’s series detective, is called in.

I’ve read at least one other mystery by this author, and was distracted by everyone calling the inspector “Cockie” like he was a celebrity or favorite uncle, but it was never explained how everyone seemed to know him. Here, it actually made sense, as he was a local detective and had known several of the local suspects for years, some since childhood.

There’s another murder, and then two attempted murders; Cockie believes he knows who did it, but must have proof for a jury. The suspects are taken off duty, isolated and watched constantly by police officers; Cockerill wants to pressure the killer into confessing.

This was a fascinating part of the investigation, I couldn’t imagine it being allowed today! It does work, but with a sneaky twist - I was sure I knew whodunnit, but I was wrong and switched to another suspect - wrong again, didn’t really see it coming, but it did make sense. Very exciting, a bit heartbreaking, and definitely recommended.
...more

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May 15, 2025 Sonia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2025

Loved this. It read like a radio play and the author broke the fourth wall frequently which added to the “you are there” quality of the experience. I’m looking forward to reading more of this author’s work. Recommended for those looking to read about what it was like during the blitz in England. Oh, and it was a very good whodunnit.

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Sep 05, 2012 Laura Anne rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-isles, classic-film-adaptation, mystery, world-war-ii

2023 Re-read: May be Brand's best mystery, which only improves when I imagine Alastair Sim as Inspector Cockrill.

2012: A military hospital during the blitz, endless dim corridors and the drm-drm of the aeroplanes overhead; I figured out the killer's modus operandi, but the overlapping love triangles, jealousies, and secrets kept me second-guessing the killer's identity until the last moment. ...more

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Nov 23, 2014 Becky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015reviews

Reading Green for Danger was like watching a soap opera--for better or worse. It definitely had its enjoyable moments now and then. But I can't say it was really a great fit for my reading taste. (Not that it was smutty. Just a lot of messy, oh-so-dramatic twists and turns, some of which related to their love lives.)

I wanted to read Green for Danger because it's a vintage mystery published during World War II. It is also set during the war and focused on the war. All of the characters--all of t ...more

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Apr 07, 2023 Annarella rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, golden-age-mystery, netgalley2023

Christianna Brand writes clever mysteries and I liked her characters and find her mystery well plotted.
Somehow they don't work for me, I like them but I don't love them.
This is a good story and I recommend to anyone who loves Golden Age mysteries. The final decision will be left to the reader as the book is good even if I'm not a fan
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine ...more

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Mar 13, 2024 Laurie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I was legitimately surprised by the reveal of the killer (after being quite sure - three separate times - that I knew who it was) but the characters were all so unlikeable, and the plot was so convoluted that in the end I still wasn’t 100% sure why it all happened and how.

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