Tour de Force

Inspector Cockrill #6

by Christianna Brand

Inspector Cockrill's dull vacation is jolted by a Mediterranean murder. From the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group the dullards of England whom he had hoped to escape by going to Italy. He gives up on the trip immediately, burying his nose in a mystery novel to ensure that no one tries to become his friend. But not long after the group makes landfall at the craggy isle of San Juan el Pirata, a murder demands his attention. The body of a woman is found laid out carefully on her bed, blood pooled around her and fingers wrapped around the dagger that took her life. The corrupt local police force, impatient to find a killer, names Cockrill chief suspect. To escape the Italian hangman, the detective must find out who would go on vacation to kill a stranger.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Italy, Fiction, Golden Age Mystery, Classics

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Christianna Brand (December 17, 1907 - March 11, 1988) was a crime writer and children's author. Brand also wrote under the pseudonyms Mary Ann Ashe, Annabel Jones, Mary Roland, and China Thomson.

She was born Mary Christianna Milne in 1907 in Malaya and spent her early years in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess.

Her first novel, Death in High Heels, was written while Brand was working as a salesgirl. In 1941, one of her best-loved characters, Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, made his debut in the book Heads You Lose. The character would go on to appear in seven of her novels. Green for Danger is Brand’s most famous novel. The whodunit, set in a World War 2 hospital, was adapted for film by Eagle-Lion Films in 1946, starring Alastair Sim as the Inspector. She dropped the series in the late 1950s and concentrated on various genres as well as short stories. She was nominated three times for Edgar Awards: for the short stories "Poison in the Cup" (EQMM, Feb. 1969) and "Twist for Twist" (EQMM, May 1967) and for a nonfiction work about a Scottish murder case, Heaven Knows Who (1960). She is the author of the children's series Nurse Matilda, which Emma Thompson adapted to film as Nanny McPhee (2005).

Her Inspector Cockrill short stories and a previously unpublished Cockrill stage play were collected as The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from inspector Cockrill's Casebook, edited by Tony Medawar (2002).

Series:
* Nurse Matilda
* Inspector Charlesworth
* Inspector Chucky
* Inspector Cockrill

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sixth in the Inspector Cockrill mysteries, first published in 1955, and one I hadn't read before. It sees our dogged Inspector heading out on a conducted tour of Italy and, of course, his heart is softened by a young lady passenger, Louvaine Barker, a famous author. Also on the tour is Mr Cecil, the rather effeminate dress designer we first meet in, "Death in High Heels," published back in 1941, Leo Rodd, a former concert pianist who lost an arm and attracts much female sympathy, his long-suffering wife, Helen, a spinster, named Miss Trapp, whose Park Lane address causes much speculation about her wealth, the vampish Vanda Lane and the flamboyant courier, Mr Fernando Gomez.

As the tour winds around Italy and ends up on the Island of San Juan el Pirata, there is, of course, a rising of tension and a murder. Much is made of the sneered at police work of the locals, who Brand has picking out suspects almost by turn, with the aim of locking up somebody in the damp ridden, ill guarded, prison on the island. Meanwhile, Cookie - at one point shut in a cell, but able to simply walk out as the local guard forgot to lock the door - decides he needs to discover who did the dreadful deed and get everyone back home.

Brand was an excellent crime writer, but her efforts are often over-looked as she has aged badly by modern sensibilities. Mr Cecil is a prime example of a character that was acceptable back in the time her novels were written (indeed British television had such characters long into the Seventies) but who now seems bizarrely stereotypical. In a way, it's a shame, as she wrote very entertaining mysteries and I was pleased to find Inspector Cockrill in this most unlikely location, even if he never seemed to enjoy his holiday very much. Indeed, he seemed to treat the whole event as an ill-advised whim, to be suffered through, until he finally reached home and, I am sure, much preferred being in a police station than a tour bus...

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tour de Force is a great book to try reading during the summer months. This British Library Crime Classic by Christianna Brand has most wonderful hot weather, Italian atmosphere. This is the third mystery novel by this author and...to be honest...I'm beginning to think her books may not be for me.

Although I REALLY want love her mysteries (especially the Inspector Cockrill series), each one I've read has been harder and harder to enjoy. I think I've found a pattern in the mysteries (at least in the titles I've read so far) that doesn't really appeal to me—an "everyday" murder occurs with many people present, very chummy support from all of the people who are considered possible murder suspects, an unexpected murderer is "chosen", events/conversations become confusing and repetitive, and finally, at the very end (last chapter or two of the book), the "real" murderer is revealed.

Even though this plot was clever and the characters very well drawn, I find reading the story itself to be exhausting, confusing and hard to follow. I frequently find myself going back and re-reading multiple chapters over again or discovering that I've suddenly lost the thread of what is going on. For me, it's a frustrating reading experience.

I was reluctant to share my thoughts because this is an author who is considered very good (if not better) by many other mystery reading enthusiasts. I have a number of friends who adore Ms. Brand's writing style and plot lines. And I thought I did, too, until the last two titles I read...which were good...but not, in my opinion, great. It's hard (for me) to go against the popular opinion sometimes.

That said, I think I've been completely spoiled by Agatha Christie's amazing writing style. For almost 40 years, I've read all of her books numerous times and I consider her novels to be the cream of the crop. Although I've tried to read mysteries by 20+ different authors, but I just cannot get into them or appreciate them as much as I should. (Though, Moray Dalton's mysteries are very appealing to me.)

Please give Christianna Brand's mystery novels a try. Even though I don't love them, you might find that they're just what you're looking for. I would love to hear your thoughts on her mysteries (either like or dislike). I'll mostly likely give one more title a try, just in case.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector Cockrill is something of an Anglophile, his opinion of things and people foreign is not very high. But somehow he still manages to get himself on a conducted tour of the continent. And when, on their island resort of San Juan el Pirata, with a disparate bunch of companions, a young woman from their party is murdered, he initially finds himself one of the main suspects; he is far from happy.

But when the local Gerente discover that he is from 'Scotlanda Yarda', he moves down the suspects' pecking order and becomes more heavily involved in trying to discover the perpetrator of the crime. Needless to say, his travelling companions are all on the suspects' list. And they all seem to have something to hide and all seem to have their hidden reasons for committing the crime.

There is always simmering tension lurking just below the surface and it mounts considerably as the suspects become more menacing. But Cockrill is determined and, overcoming great difficulties and many obstacles and ignoring red herrings, he eventually unravels the mystery, much to the relief of the Gerente.

And, after it is all wrapped up, most importantly for himself he makes a heartfelt decision for the future … 'Holidays at Home'!

Christianna Brand's characterisation is first-class and she sets the mystery up in a very Agatha Christie manner all of which helps the novel to live up to its title.

[Calum Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

C:

Just, wow. There's something about Christianna Brand's work that is gleefully trashy, but often she simply cannot help herself from amping things up to the nth degree of melodrama, and this is sadly an example of that. Full of intolerable characters you would certainly never want to meet in real life, there is nevertheless a certain charm to this mystery, with its plotted-out, compact beach cove setting providing an interesting alibi puzzle of sorts. There's also a decent mix of potential types of motive for the killing, even if many of the romantic tangles feel very soapy. Similar in denouement to Nicholas Blake's vastly superior "The Widow's Cruise" (1959), which at least feels measured and justifiable, Brand's approach to the eventual reveal of the who and why of the murder is "gotcha!" writing of the silliest order -- guessable but in no way plausible -- and actually made me furious. Rather surprised that many seem to have given this messy effort a pass, but you can safely consider me not among its fans.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christianna Brand è una delle autrici di gialli più rappresentative del periodo immediatamente successivo alla Golden Age: scrittrice dallo stile peculiare in cui si mescolano raffinatezza, cultura e malizia, creatrice di trame complesse e intricate, fondate su giochi di specchi ed enigmi labirintini e macabri, Brand ha innalzato il genere ad un livello altissimo e ha contribuito in maniera fondamentale a rinnovare l'interesse per "il più grande gioco del mondo", che andava sempre più affievolendosi per l'avvento di nuovi e diversi filoni letterari.
L'autrice è conosciuta soprattutto per la serie con il burbero e astuto ispettore Cockrill, denominato il "Terrore del Kent", il quale, con la sua apparente indifferenza, riesce a venire a capo dei casi più complicati. La grande tecnica narrativa della scrittrice, unita alla costruzione di plot elaborati e calibrati sin nei minimi dettagli, ha reso i suoi romanzi dei capisaldi del genere, talmente apprezzati da venir persino trasposti cinematograficamente (famoso è il lungometraggio tratto dal geniale "Green for Danger").

Una tra le caratteristiche principali

di Brand è la sua abilità nel delineare realisticamente e con grande maestria gli ambienti e la società del suo tempo, con particolare attenzione all'uso della psicologia e della rappresentazione delle pulsioni spesso irrefrenabili dell'uomo: superbo è il ritratto di una normale famiglia medio-borghese anglosassone in "Quel giorno, nella nebbia"; indimenticabile l'atmosfera di cupo presagio e di terrore, scaturita dalla Seconda Guerra Mondiale in atto, di cui è impregnato "Delitto in bianco"; perverso il clima teatrale in "Morte di una strega".
L'ultimo romanzo della serie, summa magistrale di tutte le tematiche care all'autrice, unite ad un tocco di esotismo e un clima vacanziero, è "Tour de force" (1955).

"Tour de force" è un romanzo straordinario, magnetico, in cui l'autrice riesce a fondere, con uno stile raffinato e malizioso, un enigma delittuoso ingegnoso, un labirinto di false soluzioni e illazioni, personaggi ambigui e contorti e un'ambientazione estiva che contribuisce a far emergere un senso crescente di tensione, soffocamento e isolamento forzato, accentuato dalla presenza minacciosa di un assassino subdolo e diabolico.

La storia prende avvio con un Cockrill più irritato che mai: l'ispettore, in trasferta all'estero per una vacanza organizzata tramite l'agenzia Odyssey Tours, durante l'atterraggio dell'aereo a Milano, è costretto a sopportare la stretta possente di una giovane e bizzarra ragazza seduta al suo fianco, divenuta verde per il terrore dell'altezza. Si tratta di Louli, nomignolo con cui si fa chiamare Louvaine Barker, una romanziera dall'aspetto estremamente artificiale per quanto gradevole, con i suoi capelli tinti di rosso con il tuorlo d'uovo, le unghie accuratamente laccate e un viso coperto da un elaborato trucco. Dopo questo difficoltoso volo, i passeggeri sostano a Milano, poi a Rapallo, dove alloggiano in un gradevole e fascinoso albergo. Nel frattempo le varie persone iniziano a socializzare, cominciano a sorgere rivalità e nuovi amori: Louli stringe una forte amicizia con Cecil, un eccentrico e pettegolo stilista, con cui ama parlare di gossip; la guida, l'abbronzato e nerboruto Fernando Gomez, flirta con la signora Trapp, un'anonima signora di mezz'età dagli abiti costosi ma démodé, che possiede però apparentemente il fascino di essere benestante; Louli e Vanda Lane, ragazza timida ma passionale, si disputano l'attenzione del virile Leo Rudd, un ex pianista che ha perso un braccio a seguito di un banale incidente in bicicletta, e che per questo viene accudito con cura quasi maniacale da sua moglie Helen. L'atmosfera si fa un po' tesa quando Leo mostra di non essere indifferente alle avances di Louli, cercando di fuggire dalle attenzioni assidue della consorte, che lo fanno sentire soffocato e inetto. La signora Trapp, invece, resiste ai fendenti galanti di Fernando, pur apprezzandone la cortesia. Vanda Lane, vedendo fallire il suo piano di conquista, dopo aver incantato Leo a Rapallo con i suoi eleganti tuffi, sembra tramare qualcosa. Cecil, in mezzo a tutte queste tresche, gongola, potendo sparlare ora dell'uno e ora dell'altro. L'unico a tenersi fuori da queste dinamiche è Cockrill, perennemente seccato da tutto quel movimento.
Le tensioni sembrano giungere al punto di non ritorno quando Louli e Leo, sotto il chiaro di luna di fronte al mare di Rapallo, pianificano di sposarsi e vivere assieme. Cockrill, casualmente sopra di loro su una terrazza, ascolta il loro discorso e avverte un'aria di tragedia che si profila all'orizzonte. Dopo una breve sosta a Siena, il gruppo, guidato dal solerte Fernando, salpa alla volta di San Juan El Pirata, un'isola vicina alla Corsica, molto caratteristica in quanto fondata dall'omonimo pirata circa 200 anni prima. L'isola è completamente autonoma e, come in passato, pratica il brigantaggio e il contrabbando come mezzi di sostentamento. Un luogo decisamente particolare, in cui labile è il confine tra legalità e illegalità.
Il gruppo risiede nel Bellomare Hotel, un grande ed esotico albergo che possiede una spiaggia privata su cui si accede attraverso vari terrazzamenti.
Tutto farebbe pensare a un soggiorno piacevole, se nella mente di una persona non si stessero aprendo le porte al delitto: un pomeriggio particolarmente caldo, mentre il resto della compagnia va a fare un giro dell'isola, Cockrill rimane in albergo a guardare il panorama dalla balconata del primo piano. Dalle varie stanze che si affacciano sul mare escono prima i Rodd, poi Louvaine, la signora Trapp e Fernando, che si recano sulla terrazza superiore, vicino alle cabine, dove si trova una sorta di scogliera dove ci si può tuffare da un trampolino. Subito dopo arriva Vanda Lane, che, con aria malevola e velenosa, lancia criptiche minacce a tutte quelle persone, riferendo a Cockrill che ognuna di loro in vacanza indossa una maschera per nascondere la sua vera, sporca natura. Lasciando l'ispettore e Cecil perplessi, Lane raggiunge gli altri e, per impressionare Rodd, si tuffa dal trampolino con leggiadria, con il suo costume intero che la fa assomigliare ad una rondine. Poi invita tutti a guardarla dalla spiaggia mentre va a eseguire un particolare tuffo che potrebbe eseguire anche Leo. Le cose non vanno come previsto e, mentre Cockrill si siede su un lettino della terrazza superiore a leggere un romanzo, Vanda Lane, piegando il braccio destro per simulare la menomazione di Rodd, si lancia dal trampolino ma impatta sull'acqua orizzontalmente, facendosi male. Su consiglio della signora Trapp, la ragazza se ne torna nella sua stanza a riposare, mentre gli altri si svagano in vario modo: i Rodd si sdraiano sotto una tettoia, la signora Trapp si isola con uno scudo di ombrelloni sulla spiaggia, Cecil solca le onde con una papera gonfiabile e Fernando si riposa stendendosi su una boa. Louli, che nel frattempo si era tenuta nascosta in una cabina perché le si era rotto il costume, raggiunge Cockrill e si stende accanto a lui, raccontandogli come la Lane l'avesse velatamente minacciata alludendo alla sua relazione segreta con Leo, evidentemente gelosa di lei. Il pomeriggio scorre lento, ognuno si trova sotto lo sguardo vigile di Cockrill. Ma neanche la sua figura istituzionale intimorisce uno scaltro assassino dal commettere un macabro omicidio: verso il tramonto, tornando dalla spiaggia, il gruppo trova il cadavere di Vanda Lane sul letto della sua camera, pugnalata al petto con un fermacarte. La scena sembra avere un aspetto rituale, dal momento che l'assassino sembra aver disposto il cadavere come se fosse su un catafalco: sotto il corpo è stato steso il grande scialle rosso di Louli, le braccia della vittima sono state strette attorno al pugnale e i capelli sono stati sparsi tutti attorno, come a formare una sorta di aureola. Una visione quasi mistica se non fosse per quelle chiazze rosse sulla candida vestaglia, simbolo di violenza, di brutalità, che stride fortemente con l'aura angelica della scena. Chi è stato? E soprattutto come ha fatto l'assassino a eludere la "vigilanza" dell'ispettore Cockrill, che, nella sua posizione, aveva una perfetta visuale di tutta la comitiva?
La situazione si complica quando viene trovato un taccuino della vittima in cui traspare il fatto che stesse tentando di ricattare varie persone, facendo leva su alcuni loro segreti. Ma i problemi non sono certo finiti qui: Exaltida, padrone dell'isola, per timore di ripercussioni sul fruttuoso turismo nel suo piccolo stato con questa vicenda incresciosa, vuole trovare subito il colpevole. Non importa se sia quello giusto: l'importante è che qualcuno venga condannato a morte per non rovinare la reputazione di San Juan. Cockrill passerà delle vacanze d'inferno, in cui, tra false piste, una caterva di soluzioni probabili, arresti sommari e la mancanza completa di indagini rigorose, dovrà usare tutta la sua esperienza e il suo ingegno per venire a capo di un caso intricato e pericoloso. Pericoloso perché Cockrill, in terra straniera, non ha alcuna autorità. E neanche un alibi solido.

"Tour de force" è un romanzo complesso, multiforme, costituito da molteplici livelli in cui si condensano motivi classici della narrativa gialla, uno stile narrativo affascinante e malizioso, toni ironici e parodici e una caratterizzazione psicologica magistrale dei personaggi.

L'opera presenta una struttura nel contempo tradizionale e originale, riprendendo filoni ricorrenti nel genere e innovandoli con tecniche narrative peculiari.
La trama segue il canonico iter del mystery britannico, in cui figurano un preambolo di modesta lunghezza in cui vengono presentati i personaggi e l'ambientazione, si cominciano a delineare i loro rapporti, le dinamiche alla base delle future vicende delittuose, permettendo al lettore di familiarizzare con le vicende, una corposa parte centrale dedicata alle indagini, alla presentazione delle varie ipotesi, che costituisce la sezione più magnetica e adrenalinica della narrazione e la soluzione finale, in cui, dopo un intricato gioco caleidoscopico, si sbroglia la matassa e il climax e la tensione si attenuano, pur nei toni tragici della crudele rivelazione finale.

La parte iniziale del romanzo, dunque, si focalizza in particolar modo sui personaggi e sull'ambientazione, risultando così in larga parte descrittiva. Lo sfondo delle vicende, costituito principalmente da una amena meta vacanziera, un'isola caratteristica del Mediterraneo, rimanda ad uno dei filoni tradizionali del mystery, quello del "delitto in vacanza". Le atmosfere esotiche, il clima caldo e perennemente sereno in un luogo apparentemente idilliaco, l'ozio riposante che una villeggiatura estera fa presupporre, lontana dalla routine quotidiana, dagli impegni lavorativi pressanti, rappresentano difatti condizioni ideali da cui possono scaturire truculenti delitti: in un alone di rilassatezza e di quiete, il delitto risalta maggiormente, come uno squarcio in un dipinto bucolico. Il forte distacco dalla società organizzata, inoltre, scioglie ogni remora e fa emergere con prepotenza le vere pulsioni dell'uomo, non avendo esse più barriere che le reprimono. L'ambientazione inusuale, esotica, lontana dai contesti urbanizzati, poi, dona un fascino ferino, accattivante alla storia, diversificandola dai soliti gialli ambientati in situazioni più comuni e quotidiane. Spinti dunque da queste molteplici ragioni, i più famosi giallisti non si sono lasciati sfuggire la promettente opportunità di collocare i propri gialli in località lontane e straniere, grazie a cui hanno dimostrato che la morte non va mai in vacanza: ne sono un esempio "Corpi al sole" e "Miss Marple ai Caraibi" di Christie, "L'isola della paura" di Berkeley, "Un colpo di pistola" di Carr.
Brand riprende questo filone e lo utilizza per costruire una trama ricca di tensione, di sospetto e di un'atmosfera soffocante, claustrofobica.
L'isola immaginaria di San Juan El Pirata è un paradiso e, allo stesso tempo, un inferno per i protagonisti, in cui alla bellezza e alla piacevolezza del paesaggio marino, alla tipicità del posto, si affianca l'idea di un'enorme trappola che si chiude su tutti loro, soffocandoli, esasperando i loro animi. Se infatti l'isola costituisce una fuga dalla monotonia londinese, essa è altresì sperduta e tagliata fuori dal mondo, retta da un governo indipendente con leggi arbitrarie.
Questo espediente permette all'autrice di macchiare gradualmente l'amenità apparente dello sfondo con un'aura di indefinito malessere e disagio, inserendo elementi di disturbo e di inquietudine che, piano piano, erodono il velo di pace e facendo piombare i personaggi in un incubo senza fine, bloccati su un'isola straniera, privi di tutele e diritti, con un assassino che trama nell'ombra.
L'assenza di leggi precise, l'arbitrarietà del Gerente, il quale vuole salvaguardare unicamente l'immagine dell'isola, rendono l'esperienza ancor più tesa, ancor più pericolosa. Non si tratta solo di scoprire l'assassino, ma anche di sfuggire all'ingiustizia di uno Stato in cui nessuno ha alcun potere, neanche Cockrill, che pur rappresenta l'autorità britannica. Il ritmo dunque assume un andamento vertiginoso mentre il tempo si restringe, in quanto il caso deve essere risolto prima che il capo dell'isola decida di mandare alla forca uno di loro, indifferentemente dalla sua innocenza o colpevolezza.
L'atmosfera diventa dunque pesante, asfissiante, il pericolo si avvicina inesorabilmente.
La scena vacanziera ha inoltre un altro vantaggio, per cui si acuisce la sensazione di paura, di sospetto, fungendo da cortina di fumo anche dal lato dell'enigma: riunisce perfetti sconosciuti che, essendo tali, possono così celare la loro vera natura sotto apparenze normali, sicuri di non correre alcun pericolo di essere scoperti. Tutti indossano dunque una maschera, tutti celano segreti e sono disposti a tutto pur di preservarli. Qualcuno di loro persino ad uccidere, come ha dimostrato il delitto di Vanda Lane.

Altro punto di forza dell'autrice, come in tutti gli altri suoi romanzi, è la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, di cui vengono delineati con estrema abilità le psicologie contorte, le personalità mutevoli.
Brand si conferma una grande descrittrice, dallo stile unico, conturbante e straniante, con cui si distingue da molti dei suoi colleghi: attraverso brevi pennellate, attraverso piccoli e insignificanti dettagli, fa emergere luci e ombre di ogni figura, delinea ma allo stesso tempo sfuma la vera personalità dei protagonisti.
Ogni descrizione è vaga, ha i toni evanescenti di una fiaba nera. Tale senso di indefinitezza fa perdere al lettore le coordinate con cui orientarsi, lo fa disperdere in un abisso di sospetti, di paure, mentre una mano omicida è appostata nell'ombra, pronta a colpire ancora e ancora.
I personaggi si configurano come caleidoscopi di emozioni, di pulsioni, di contraddizioni di cui viene mostrata, spesso con allusioni sibilline, la loro contorta e intricata natura.
Dominano il caos, la confusione, in un labirinto di sospetti sospesi, di certezze che sono continuamente messe in discussione.
Brand, per creare questo clima teso e di costante allerta, si avvale di continui climax ascendenti, di rivelazioni inaspettate a fine capitolo, che sembrano gettare una nuova luce, una nuova prospettiva sul caso, senza però che essa venga definitivamente confermata, ma facendola restare in bilico nell'abisso di copiose illazioni.
La narrazione intricata, enigmatica, piena di svolte e vicoli ciechi, fa piombare il lettore in uno stato di terrore e diffidenza, entro il quale ogni personaggio presenta sfumature contraddittorie, ogni azione assume un significato e il suo opposto, ogni volto sembra celare il ghigno di un assassino assetato di sangue, ogni gesto usuale sembra nasconde una mente malata.
Ciascun indizio conduce a tanti incroci diversi e spesso opposti, ogni teoria sembra corretta, se non fosse per piccolissimi dettagli, abilmente nascosti tra le righe, che smontano interi castelli accusatori. È un continuo lavoro di costruzione e demolizione delle certezze, che ha la capacità di sbalestrare, di stupire e celare in modo subdolo la corretta pista. In breve, l'autrice costruisce un'atmosfera di confusa paura, di endemico sospetto avvalendosi di un approccio relativistico, in cui ciascun elemento risulta vago, inconsistente e multiforme a seconda del punto di vista da cui lo si guarda.

Il campionario di personaggi, poi, è molto interessante, costituendo il fulcro vitale dell'intera vicenda. Brand sa come creare dinamiche, costruire rivalità e tensioni, che possono condurre al delitto. Ogni figura incarna una tipologia umana diversa, conferendo varietà e molteplicità alla narrazione e rappresentando una sorta di intrigante studio quasi naturalistico con cui l'autrice indaga le reazioni degli uomini in un determinato contesto e in contatto con determinate personalità: vi è la spigliata e esuberante Louli, verso cui Cockrill prova un sentimento paterno, e davanti a cui nessuno può rimanere indifferente, in un senso o nell'altro; c'è Leo Rodd, musicista invalido, che si mostra insofferente della sua condizione e cerca di lenire la sua frustrazione facendo nuove conquiste, creando screzi soprattutto tra Louli e Vanda Lane; c'è la signora Rodd, più una madre che una moglie per il marito, sollecita nei suoi confronti, pur essendo consapevole delle sue scappatelle; vi è Vanda Lane, fanciulla timida ma rancorosa, che morirà a causa del suo stesso spirito vendicativo e ricattatore; vi è poi Cecil, stilista pettegolo eppur sornione, che ama creare gossip, tranne che sul suo conto; infine vi sono la signora Trapp e Fernando, che legheranno molto durante il viaggio, anche se ognuno sembra ritroso a formalizzare questa unione per un motivo oscuro e tenebroso.

L'ispettore Cockrill spicca tra tutte queste figure, non solo in quanto figura rappresentante l'ordine nel caos investigativo ed emotivo dei turisti, "deus ex machina" dell'intera vicenda, ma anche perché allevia il clima pesante con sprazzi di involontaria ironia. L'elemento originale che si insinua nella trama dai tratti classici è costituito proprio dal lato parodistico insitamente connesso con la figura del burbero ispettore: Cockrill infatti detesta questa vacanza, si dimostra insofferente verso tutti e non fa che lamentarsi. Sembra quasi che sia scocciato con la sua stessa creatrice per averlo arbitrariamente inserito in un ambiente a lui estraneo, come in un divertente gioco metaletterario. Questa parentesi è funzionale ad allentare un'atmosfera caotica e ambigua, che potrebbe, alla lunga, risultare eccessiva e soffocante.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the time the plane lands in Italy, Inspector Cockrill is already regretting the impulse that led him to join a Conducted Tour of the country. His fellow tourers are the usual mixed bunch and he sees little pleasure ahead in spending time with any of them. But the scenery is beautiful, the sun is shining and by the time the party has arrived on the little island of San Juan el Pirata, he is quite content to sit in the shade and read his detective novel while his companions indulge in the usual holiday occupations of swimming, sunbathing and flirtation. The idyll is destroyed, however, when one of the party is found dead on her bed, stabbed with a souvenir paperknife.

Most of the party had been off on an excursion at the time of the murder, leaving just eight people behind. There’s Louvaine Barker, usually known as Louli, a young but already successful novelist. She has become instant gossiping and giggling friends with Mr Cecil, an effeminate and clearly gay dress designer, with a successful business. Vanda Lane keeps herself to herself somewhat, but seems to have developed an infatuation for Leo Rodd, a former concert pianist who unfortunately lost an arm quite recently in a silly bicycling accident, and has become grumpy and bad-tempered as a result, usually at the expense of his loyal and inoffensive wife, Helen. Miss Trapp is a middle-aged lady, quiet and prim, but rumoured to be wealthy, which may or may not be why she has become the romantic target for the tour’s courier, Fernando Gomez. And then there’s Cockie himself, of course. One of these eight people will become the victim and all the evidence points to the murderer being one of the others. It appears the local police have set their sights on Cockie as their chief suspect, so he decides he’ll have to solve the case to save himself from the gallows…

This turns out to be more of a howdunit puzzle than a mystery of motives. All the suspects were on the beach or in the sea at the time of the murder, and all happened to be within sight of Inspector Cockrill who was reading his book in the hotel gardens which overlook the beach. So the main question is, which of them could have snuck back up to the hotel, committed a murder which Cockrill reckons would have taken about half an hour to set up and clear up afterwards, and get back to their original position without being noticed? The long middle of the book gets bogged down in going over all the possibilities again and again. Meantime, the question of motive is lazily solved by making the victim a blackmailer, so that all the suspects basically have the same motive – that the victim was threatening to reveal a secret. Their secrets, though, really did not seem scandalous enough to warrant murder, not even back in the days when respectability was considered important.

It’s a pity that Brand didn’t spend a bit more time working up some interesting motives and a bit less on timings and alibis. The characters are an interesting if unlikeable bunch, and very well-drawn, and the location is quirky and fun. The island, although technically Italian, was ruled over by a dictatorial Spanish aristocrat for many years and has retained its Spanish culture and language. The governor of the island is still pretty much a petty monarch, and the island works to its own rules. There’s a lot of smuggling, in which the police participate, and they really see murder as an irritating inconvenience that disrupts their smuggling schedule, while the governor simply wishes to find a scapegoat as quickly as possible so as not to allow an unsolved murder to deter tourists. Meantime, Brand makes fun of the English abroad, especially Cockie’s attempts to communicate by speaking very loudly and adding an ‘a’ to the end of random words – “I am from Scotalanda Yarda!” It’s a fun setting, and I gather Brand returned to it again in a later novel.

The lack of a variety of motives had the unfortunate effect of making the actual motive stand out like the proverbial sore thumb, so that I’d worked out whodunit and had a good idea of why at quite an early stage. I even had a reasonable theory of how it had been managed which turned out to be largely accurate. It’s surprising, because usually Brand’s plotting is much harder to see through. Regular visitors will know I’m no Sherlock – if I worked it out, it must be pretty obvious.

So a mixed bag, this one. The plotting is weaker than usual and that led to a lot of repetition in the middle. However, the characters and setting are interesting, and Cockrill is quite entertaining in his attempts to solve the howdunit aspects. I listened to it, narrated by Derek Perkins, who did a very good job. Overall, not one of her very best, but still fills a few hours quite enjoyably.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Alex Atlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing keeping me reading was the drama, but to be honest I found myself skimming through it rather than reading it cause I kept getting bored

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tour de Force cements Christianna Brand, in my estimation, as one of the very few Golden Age mystery writers that could hold their own with Agatha Christie. Christie wrote mysteries that frequently had the power to shock in the final pages, as a network of clues suddenly came together in one inevitable but wholly unforeseen conclusion. It's a very rare gift, and though Brand was considerably less prolific than Christie, she clearly possessed it in similar quantities.

Demerits first: One, this was a bear to get into. My interest didn't pick up until a small ways after the (first?) murder, which doesn't occur for 60 pages. This is typical of Christie as well, but this beginning felt like more of a slog (on the flip side, I read the final 130 pages in one breathless sitting). Second, I had the murderer pegged 50 pages before the reveal. So there was no final shock going on for me. I watched some final reader manipulations from backstage, so to speak.

That said, the puzzle pieces fit together really well. The mystery is 100% fair. When I had the solution, I knew I was right because it fit in a way that nothing else would. And up to that point, Brand did a wonderful job of managing reader expectations and suspicions such that I really had no idea which way was up- there's some really fantastic misdirection here, and I would have fallen for some of the last bit if I'd been just a tad less experienced as an armchair sleuth.

As for the other reviews on here, I 1) be careful- there's a review here with a very visible spoiler that will ruin the entire book. 2) don't understand folks reading this and complaining about dramatic payoff. It's a fair-play golden age mystery. How did this get on your reading list without understanding that fact? The sub-genre regularly shunts the reader out to the back cover once the solution has been revealed. Because the puzzle is the thing.

Anyway, if the puzzle is YOUR thing, I think you'll be pretty durn satisfied here. Another score for Christianna Brand.

[March · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sixth and last of the Inspector Cockrill mysteries, this one relies on a notably unconvincing use of a creaky old trick--what Barzun & Taylor call "an inexcusable case of cousins ." The "clever" dialogue is rather tedious, though, and the solution--despite its absurdity--is one you will see coming a mile off. Comparisons to Christie's Evil under the Sun (1941) are unavoidable; both seem to have influenced Blake's The Widow's Cruise (1959).

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

some of christianna brand's books are brilliant, but maybe i'm just losing my taste for them.
spoiler alert:
this book asks you to believe that an ordinary human being can commit a murder on the spur of the moment and then, in about 2 hours, decide to disguise the murder victim as herself and to "become" the murder victim. This entails rinsing off hair dye and removing false eyelashes from the corpse and dying her own hair, putting on makeup,etc. Now really...

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not know when I have read a twistier mystery! I listened to this one as an audiobook, and five separate times I thought, "How can there still be so much time left? This is the actual solution, right?" Brand's characters are frequently unpleasant, but they seem realistic. An uncomfortable mystery, but a thrilling one!

[Adam Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this started strong - Inspector Cockrill on holiday with a group of British tourists exploring Italy, and ending up on the fictional island on San Juan El Piratta. Following a murder of one of the group, Cockrill has to navigate through the totally corrupt and haphazard legal system of the island and the fact that everyone has something to hide.

Great concept and some very light and humorous writing from Brand, that made me smile if not giggle more than once. That said, this book lost me a bit somewhere in the middle where is seemed to drag and repeat itself in a mildly irritating way.

A moderately good read, but not up to some of Brand's other work.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25*

[Justine Shenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of its time - but loved it. A double bluff and so happy for Miss Trapp!

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, a mystery in the classic tradition, is notable for the unusually high stakes for discovering the murderer's identity. The setting is a politically backward island (fictional) off the coast of Italy, where a member of an eight-person tour is murdered. Local officials find it imperative that the culprit be found and executed as soon as possible to avoid a blow to their tourist trade. Unfortunately, this is not an easy matter, and each of the remaining tour members, including Inspector Cockrill, face the ugly prospect of being selected as a scapegoat.

The unfolding of this tense situation is masterful, but the denouement insufficiently follows through with the various personal dramas. Here Miss Brand shares the plight of many mystery writers who create moving personal dilemmas, but fail to resolve them as satisfactorily as the solution to the mystery.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Can’t believe I’m using a pun but what a tour de force of a book. Starts out a fairly standard (and satisfying!) Christie-esque thriller with a murder among a bunch of tourists on an exotic European vacation. Then it proceeds to deliver a brilliant, sledgehammer series of twists back to back unlike anything I’ve experienced except perhaps in Murder on the Orient Express. Immensely memorable and intricately plotted, this should be way more famous than it is

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A particularly good version of the Golden Age British mystery novel that turns a lot of tropes on their heads. But. Not exactly a pillar of political correctness.

[Laura Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when the “impossible crime” turns out to have multiple solutions. Although the final twist is wildly implausible, it is nevertheless an entertaining summer holiday puzzle.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Cockrill is part of a group on a tour of Italy. On reaching one of the islands a murder is committed. But byy whom and why.
An entertaining historical mystery

[JDL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather unfortunately, I went into this title fully well knowing the solution. More specifically, I knew that there was a surprise part of the solution and I knew what said "surprise" was, although there were other parts of the solution which I still didn't know. Alas, this made it rather easy to figure out the rest of these details, although there were a couple things I had overlooked. On the whole, though, my reading experience was tainted by having been spoiled for it and really the only silver lining of this was that I got to see just how expertly this mystery is clued.
The problem Brand presents here is puzzling: A woman stabbed in her hotel room, with no locked doors or anything, but still a couple of strange details. However, Inspector Cockrill, being one of the unlucky few people on this specific trip, has seen each of the six suspects on the beach outside the entire time between the victim's last appearance and the discovery of the body - in other words, a foolproof alibi for everyone. And Cockie, despite being jailed at one point by the local police, is not the killer.
Of course, Brand weaves her authorial magic and makes each suspect not just a character but a real person, even if some flashes of the written character come through. Leo Rodd is clearly this book's Gervase Eden, the not-physically-perfect guy (in this case an amputee) who still manages to be an unwilling (or in this case pretty willing) girl magnet. But this time he has a wife, Helen, whose mannerisms concerning her husband's adultery make her one of the most interesting characters of them all. Then we have Mr. Cecil, a recurring character who is an unabashedly gay clothing designer, Miss Trapp, a secretive woman who falls for Mr. Fernando the robust but sensitive tour guide, and finally Louvaine "Louli" Barker, a witty and caring writer who falls for Leo. Rounding out this group are Cockie himself, humorously like a fish out of water in this new setting, and Vanda Lane - the victim, who is a snarky student of human nature, and, it turns out, a blackmail addict. You really can't help but care for all of these people, even if the level of not-wanting-anyone-to-actually-be-the-killer is not a great as in Green for Danger.
The setting here is one of the highlights of the whole book. The (fictional) island nation of San Juan el Pirata (apparently situated somewhere near Corsica and Sardinia). With a dictatorial hereditary leader, an incompetent police force just looking for anyone to stick into jail so that they can look competent, a distinct lack of forensic analysis, and a uniquely booming tourism/smuggling business, the island really is just as much of a character as the six suspects, and the unique situation this provides in regards to the crime is very interesting.
Of course, the solution is not only one of Brand's characteristic emotional tugs as you slowly realize the full toll of the consequences of the killer's actions. But Brand takes it a step further, really making you retake everything that's happened since the murder. If I had not known the ending beforehand, this one probably would have completely fooled me, or at least it would have taken a long time to realize what was really going on. The who is as dazzling as it was in Green for Danger, the how should have been obvious in hindsight, and the reason psychologically sound but still unexpected. On top of that and the one big twist, there were a couple of other little twists in this aspect that I hadn't foreseen, including one thing that reminded me of a certain Ellery Queen, which I won't name here.
Overall, this really is a good mystery, and clearly one of Brand's best written. I'm sure it would have been a five if I hadn't known the ending, but alas, it was not meant to be so. So it goes.

[Sakshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, this actually is Christianna Brand's "Tour de Force". I know Green For Danger has wider acclaim, but Tour de Force packs a much greater punch. Brand's signature bevy of false-solutions is simply masterful here.

The actual murder occurs kind of late, around 60 pages into the book. But I like this - as Dame Christie says in Towards Zero, murder is the wrong place to start from. It reminded me of Death on the Nile - a bunch of Brits on a trip, each with their own secrets. The cast of characters here is pretty great - there's Louvaine Barker, a famous novelist, with flamboyant red hair and a flighty, frivolous manner. Yet everyone likes her, including our gruff old Inspector Cockrill. There's the gay fashion designer, Cecil, who also featured in Death in High Heels. There's the one-armed Leo Rodd, pretending to hate the sympathy that women bestow upon his missing arm, yet actually revelling in it. His wife, patiently and unobtrusively at his beck and call, the long-suffering wife who, I wonder, could really do better... There is the unpleasant Vanda Lane, the mysterious Miss Trapp - who turns out to have enormous strength of character later on, and is actually my favourite here - and the bronzed Mr. Fernando, their tour guide. We get a lot of rather forced humor about the kinds of people of trips etc, and then - the murder. Very quickly the outside angle is eliminated, but all those of the closed circle were under Cockie's watchful eye all the time! Ah, but who was watching him? asks the local policeman, and claps him into a cell.

Cockie sneaks out by lucky chance, of course, and from then on the action truly starts. We see case after case being built up against each character, only to have it destroyed by "one brick that won't fit in". This book pulls the most brazen false-solution trick I've ever seen - it shows you exactly how it was done, playing completely fair, yet you're as taken in as the characters! Yes, it was Vanda Lane impersonating Louli, but I honestly didn't see that at all, and thought it was just a most ingenious false solution. Even the Leo Rodd solution was good, using his one arm so well.

A lot of people say that they saw through the twist pretty quickly - but I didn't , till the very end. I guess that's the trick Brand employs - the smartest 20% of her readers will get the trick, and be disappointed, but the other 80% won't and man, they will be completely knocked out. Brilliant book, brilliant writing, brilliant twists - 5/5!

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my fifth Christianna Brand mystery that features Inspector Cockrill, and this is one of his better outings.

This time Cockrill is on vacation in postwar Italy, on a packaged tour, and he finds most of his fellow travelers boring. We have the typical British slice of society: a famous author, a rich spinster, an unhappily married couple, a foppish clothing designer, an introverted young woman, mean and spiteful, all being shepherded by a Continental tour guide, looking for single rich ladies. Cockrill quickly decides his time is better spent reading his mystery novel as the tour slowly winds to the independent island of San Juan el Pirata. One lazy afternoon at the hotel one of the tour group is found murdered, laid out in her bed with a dagger in her chest. Since Cockrill had all of the tour group members in sight, who could have snuck away and murdered the victim? With a crooked police force who's only goal is to find someone, anyone to put away and not disturb the tourists, Cockrill is under the gun to protect the innocent and catch a killer.

Ms. Brand has a reputation for complex mysteries, but this one is simpler than her others. We see how pretty much everyone had a good reason to kill the victim, but how no one could have done it. Cockrill works the impossible mystery and we still have some surprises when it's all over. Well done.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like this, but found it different from those books before, as it read like one of the farcical holiday comedies that they put on TV. Inspector Cockrill, takes a foreign holiday on one of those tours of Italy. His group of travelers include various characters, ranging from some very rich and apparently well-known, to those lesser known like himself. As quite often happens, the holidaymakers begin to pair off. Eventually their tour comes to San Juan el Pirata, an island that is ruled by one man they call The Duke. The whole island relies on tourists buying smuggled goods, from novelties to tobacco and drugs, the police being one of the major parties to the smuggling. Unfortunately, there a murder is committed and Cockrill finds himself to be one of the major suspects. As the police are not so much interested in who actually is the murderer, soon, one by one each of his party becomes suspected, with the penalty being that they would be hanged or worse still left in a prison unfit for human survival. We are taken through the various stories of how each of them could have had the opportunity of murdering the victim.
All in all, it was a fun read with some very comical scenarios.

[russell barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christianna Brand is another author to add to me 'always buy when I spot her books' list.

Compared to the classics, she has quite a brittle style. It's all bright angles and post-war sass and plenty of insight on make-up and 50s fashion, but she also describes her seedy holiday destination setting and her cast of characters with a gloriously over-the-top technicolour palette. Obviously mingled with a large dollop of let's say trad europhobia...

By comparison our hero, Inspector Cockrill, is a dowdy and downey bird. Thrown onto his resources to solve a murder on holiday in the face of local corruption and a medieval police force, there's a nice nod to Poirot has he has to exercise his grey cells rather than being able to collect any actual evidence.

It's got all the elements of a classic crime story: a map, loads of suspects, red herrings, a love interest and a brilliant twist at the end.

It's a crazy book and well worth digging out, if not for the story itself then for her bonkers biog on the back of the Green Penguin editions.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me until halfway through the book to really get into this. Inspector Cockrill is on a guided tour of Italy, but he hates it and it's a mystery why he even decided to come. We get a bit about his fellow travellers, including the gay/effeminate character from Brand's first mystery with a different detective, Charlesworth. It takes a while for the murder to happen, and another while before the sleuthing really gets underway - they are on some island that's its own principality or something, and where the police are basically also the local smugglers. They're only interested in a show of justice.

When the revelations finally start coming, things look a bit better. There are lots of theories and twists. For a while, it even looks like an impossible mystery, since Cockrill himself had a view of all the possible suspects, though he recants this when it's posed to him that ergo, he has to be the murderer. But genuinely, getting up to this point was a slog - the victim was quite awful, so I found myself caring about as much as those local police.

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was originally published in 1955 and has Inspector Cockrill as the the author’s detective. It’s the sixth and last of her novels involving this detective, the best known being Green for Danger.

It’s set in Italy and a fictional island just off the Tuscany coast. The attitudes shown by a lot of the characters and the author are much more racist than you would read in a modern novel. I’m not clear whether it writer is getting at the idea of these sort of holidays, i certainly wouldn’t want to go on one, or whether it’s the inherent attitude of the English, when this was written, against foreigners.

It is an interesting puzzle and I do like the writers style, but you should be aware of the attitudes if you are planning to read it. Did i guess the murderer? Yes, but it didn’t matter.

[Ms Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 1955 mystery from Christianna Brand would make a fabulous film. Rather than endlessly remaking Death On The Nile or Murder On The Orient Express, any film producers who happen to be reading this should give this one a go.

On the Mediterranean tourist island of San Juan de Pirata, a disparate group of British Stereotypes are having a pleasant trip...until one of them is murdered and the rest fall under suspicion. To modern eyes these stereotypes can seem old fashioned: waspish gay man, curvaceous sex bomb, excitable foreigners, corrupt and stupid local police, trembling spinster etc. However, this is 1955 for goodness sake so let them get in with it! And enjoy it.

If the characters seem shallow it's because they are hiding their secrets ready to unveil them at a moment's notice. However. The plot is wonderful and Brand is brilliant at this.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-plotted whodunit. If you're paying attention, you can figure the guilty party. A group of British tourists are on a group tour in Italy. While staying at an island off the coast of Italy that is its own little countr4y, one of the group is murdered. The problem is that none of the seven suspects seems to have had the opportunity, though most of them had a motive. The local police are more interested in finding someone to pin the blame on, rather than find the guilty party. So one of the group, a grumpy detective inspector, leads the investigation. As a puzzle, it was an interesting enough read, but none of the characters stick with you.