Legendary Detectives, BeatriceBradley

[Pic Gladys Mitchell]
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In the 1930s, a golden age of detective stories, Glady Mitchell along with GK Chesterson, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayer formed the “Detection Club.” Chesterson gave us Father Brown. Christie gave us both Hercule Peroit and Mrs. Marple, Sayers gave us Harriet Vane/Lady Wimsey. Mitchel gave us Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, perhaps the first of the girls-kick-butts heroines through 66 novels.
[PIC Detection Club]  photo DetectionClub_zpsxpxlgfsj.png
Beatrice Bradley is no shrinking violet, being as physically strong and adept as she is mentally. This eccentric detective ranks with the best of literary sleuths of all time.
Eschewing the subservient role most women of her era, she is far from cuddly, indeed described as somewhat cold-blooded. She is gaunt, lean, sinewy, and strong. She is formidable in bearing, and especially so when provoked.
[Here Pic of Diana Rigg as Bradley from BBC TV “Speedy Death”]
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Her method is the epitome of the omniscient school. She lays her trap with precise location and timing and then coaxes her hapless prey into taking the bait. She is never at a loss, and nothing ever takes her by surprise. It is precisely when the “criminal genius” thinks he has her bested that she springs her trap.
No mere male can best or even equal her mentally or physically. She routinely puts them in their places by addressing them with the term “child.”
She is somewhat charmed: the shot fired at her, like the stone falling or tossed from the parapet, may take her by surprise, but never hits her. The elderly sleuth is light on her feet, stronger than she appears, and is possessed of a sixth sense that warns her when things aren’t quite as they should be. It is not so much that she is fey as that her subconscious mind warns her of danger in the nick of time. With her almost super-human power of observation, her vast knowledge of human behavior, and her uncanny ability to see the big picture, no mere genius can possibly outdo her.
She is well and appropriately educated, holding multiple doctorates and is an expert or master of psychiatry and psychology giving her an unequaled understanding of human nature. Like Hercule Peroit, she uses the little grey cells to solve crimes. In appearance and manner, however, she is the polar opposite of the persnickety Belgian detective. With a combination of intellect, grit, and single-minded determination, she attacks her cases, coming at them with a profound understanding of human nature and forensic science.
In eccentricity, she is a match for Sherlock Holmes. She was in her day, to put it mildly, a detective of a different sort. Utterly fearless and much more agile and strong that she appears. She is not a warm and cuddly woman, not a grandmotherly sort, nor the timid soul such as other famous female sleuths of the day. Not attractive, but wiry, all gristle and brains.
Call her cases, cozies, but don’t for a minute think that she is.
[Speedy Death]
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[Come Away Death]  photo ComeAwayDeathGMitchell_zpsj3wg2fpr.jpg
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Published on October 08, 2021 08:58 Tags: cozy-detectives, detectives-mystery, sleuths
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A.R.  Simmons
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