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Inspector Chucky
Cat and Mouse: A Novel
A London writer falls into a trap of romance and false identity
Katinka Jones spends her days beautifying, trying out the latest ointments, corsets, and creams in order to pass the information on to the thankful readers of Girls Together. When not immersed in a mud bath, she answers advice letters, and none are so compelling as those of Amista, a Welsh girl in love with a modern-day Heathcliff. Amista’s dramatic stories and beautiful descriptions of her village spark Tinka’s interest. For her next holiday, Tinka travels to Wales, where she finds that beauty-product salesmen aren’t the only people who lie.
No one in Pentre Trist has heard of Amista, and no one will admit to writing the letters. As she tries to learn the identity of her pen pal, Tinka stumbles into an ancient Welsh mystery. The letters may have been lies, but the danger they described is all too real.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1950
47 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Christianna Brand
101 books136 followersChristianna 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Her Inspector Cockrill short stories and a previously unpublished Cockrill stage play were collected as The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from inspector Cockrill's Casebook, edited by Tony Medawar (2002).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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 26, 2021
Discounted | Weird. | The protagonist makes the same bad decisions over and over, and the justification is nonsense. But I was pleased to get a classic cozy mystery with a Welsh setting. That's why I bought the book, and that setting was successful.
November 14, 2019
A riveting thriller. However . . . That said, the plot twists afforded maximum tantalization, and Ms. Brand's trenchant observations of human nature were, by turns, hilarious and moving.
July 20, 2017
I was so sure that I had figured out the solution, only to find out at the end how wrong I was!
I really enjoy Brand's mysteries but this is the first non-Inspector Cockerill one I have read (but not the last!).
I really enjoy Brand's mysteries but this is the first non-Inspector Cockerill one I have read (but not the last!).
September 7, 2020
I’m rounding this up a bit. The plot twists were nifty, but the rather shrill tone of the narrative irritated. Brand needed to sharpen the satire; she can do funny, but this missed.
October 29, 2013
Christianna Brand's Cat and Mouse is a book that has haunted me since the first time I read it 30 years ago or more. Maybe it was just because I was much younger but "haunted" is indeed what this book has done to me. Just thinking about it creates a creepy atmosphere around me!
I found this in an old brown edition from The Detective's Book Club. It made the story look intriguing from the start. I knew nothing about the story or the author and I dove right in.
The heroine, Tinka Jones, gives advice on beauty to readers of a girl's magazine. She answers their letters and particularly notes the letters of a girl named Amista who talks about her village and the guy she's in love with. Her letters are enough to make Tinka take her vacation to Wales to meet Amista. Just one problem, when she arrives there, no one knows who Amista is. As she struggles to find out who wrote the letters, the atmosphere become unsettling and Tinka begins to doubt what she thought she knew. The ending is not to be missed and I had no idea what was coming. Boy, do I love that in a book!
The atmosphere of this mystery is exactly what you would expect from a visit to a desolate house in rainy Wales. You can feel the gloom and the chill and the shadows closing in on you. Such a perfect read if you have a rainy afternoon to spend with a book. It's a forgotten classic in my opinion and Christianna Brand is a master of the mystery well worthy of modern re-reads.
I found this in an old brown edition from The Detective's Book Club. It made the story look intriguing from the start. I knew nothing about the story or the author and I dove right in.
The heroine, Tinka Jones, gives advice on beauty to readers of a girl's magazine. She answers their letters and particularly notes the letters of a girl named Amista who talks about her village and the guy she's in love with. Her letters are enough to make Tinka take her vacation to Wales to meet Amista. Just one problem, when she arrives there, no one knows who Amista is. As she struggles to find out who wrote the letters, the atmosphere become unsettling and Tinka begins to doubt what she thought she knew. The ending is not to be missed and I had no idea what was coming. Boy, do I love that in a book!
The atmosphere of this mystery is exactly what you would expect from a visit to a desolate house in rainy Wales. You can feel the gloom and the chill and the shadows closing in on you. Such a perfect read if you have a rainy afternoon to spend with a book. It's a forgotten classic in my opinion and Christianna Brand is a master of the mystery well worthy of modern re-reads.
May 13, 2025
3.5 stars
I love Christianna Brand and Wales, so I was super excited about this one. But Gothic isn't really my thing, even in a semi-paraody like this. Yet something about it kept me turning the pages, and I finished it in two days. Loved how the cat and mouse theme was woven throughout.
I love Christianna Brand and Wales, so I was super excited about this one. But Gothic isn't really my thing, even in a semi-paraody like this. Yet something about it kept me turning the pages, and I finished it in two days. Loved how the cat and mouse theme was woven throughout.
May 10, 2025
Not Cocky but Chucky! Very good.
June 14, 2025
Brilliant. Absolutely loved this. Gripping from start to finish.
Read
May 24, 2025i mean this as a genuine, wholehearted compliment, this book felt like being 13 and finding a james patterson book and staying up all night to read it.
December 24, 2017
Originally published in 1950, this gothic "who done it" shows its age a bit, but is still a compelling story, although these days I would hope the heroine would have run for her life long before the suspenseful denouement. The Welsh setting adds something to the story, and fortunately there's a short glossary of Welsh pronunciation and definitions for some of the commonly used terms. If you're looking for an old fashioned thriller you might take a look at this one.
January 29, 2022
“Probabilmente nasconde una moglie pazza nell’attico, come in Jane Eyre.”
Un giallo del 1950, inglese, molto particolare, con incursioni nel rosa e nel cozy. Non abbiamo il solito Cockrill, personaggio ricorrente della Brand, ma quello che io chiamo “detective per caso”. Qui il ruolo è svolto da Catherine detta Katinka, “giornalista” per un femminile dozzinale fatto di consigli di bellezza e di posta del cuore. Ed è proprio una frequentatrice assidua della rubrica della posta del cuore, una certa Amista, a scrivere sistematicamente a Katinka e a farle venire il desiderio di incontrarla di persona. Ma una volta arrivata nel villaggio, nessuno sembra conoscere Amista. Ma allora… chi manda le lettere? E perché? Ma questo è solo l’inizio..
Ottimamente riuscita l’ambientazione, il paesino gallese con il suo maniero in campagna e tutti i topoi del Galles letterario. I personaggi sono volutamente sopra le righe, il che attira i sospetti del lettore che, come in un gioco di prestigio, volgerà le sue attenzioni da uno all’altro dei personaggi, costruirà teorie che dureranno lo spazio di un capitolo, crederà di vedere dei collegamenti che poi lo porteranno fuori strada.
Gli ultimi cinque o sei capitoli sono un susseguirsi di colpi di scena, di rivelazioni una più stupefacente dell’altra fino al gran finale, con il consueto disvelamento.
Tuttavia, rispetto alle aspettative create, e rispetto alla fama (meritata) dell’autrice, che io amo molto, mi è piaciuto ma meno di quanto avrei voluto e mi sarei aspettato. Purtroppo, non riesco a dirvi le mie perplessità senza fare spoiler. Vi invito comunque a leggerlo, è un bel romanzo oltre che un bel giallo. E magari dopo che lo avete letto lo commentiamo insieme, con avvertenza di spoiler. O se preferite mandatemi una lettera, come quelle che Amista mandava a Katinka.
Un giallo del 1950, inglese, molto particolare, con incursioni nel rosa e nel cozy. Non abbiamo il solito Cockrill, personaggio ricorrente della Brand, ma quello che io chiamo “detective per caso”. Qui il ruolo è svolto da Catherine detta Katinka, “giornalista” per un femminile dozzinale fatto di consigli di bellezza e di posta del cuore. Ed è proprio una frequentatrice assidua della rubrica della posta del cuore, una certa Amista, a scrivere sistematicamente a Katinka e a farle venire il desiderio di incontrarla di persona. Ma una volta arrivata nel villaggio, nessuno sembra conoscere Amista. Ma allora… chi manda le lettere? E perché? Ma questo è solo l’inizio..
Ottimamente riuscita l’ambientazione, il paesino gallese con il suo maniero in campagna e tutti i topoi del Galles letterario. I personaggi sono volutamente sopra le righe, il che attira i sospetti del lettore che, come in un gioco di prestigio, volgerà le sue attenzioni da uno all’altro dei personaggi, costruirà teorie che dureranno lo spazio di un capitolo, crederà di vedere dei collegamenti che poi lo porteranno fuori strada.
Gli ultimi cinque o sei capitoli sono un susseguirsi di colpi di scena, di rivelazioni una più stupefacente dell’altra fino al gran finale, con il consueto disvelamento.
Tuttavia, rispetto alle aspettative create, e rispetto alla fama (meritata) dell’autrice, che io amo molto, mi è piaciuto ma meno di quanto avrei voluto e mi sarei aspettato. Purtroppo, non riesco a dirvi le mie perplessità senza fare spoiler. Vi invito comunque a leggerlo, è un bel romanzo oltre che un bel giallo. E magari dopo che lo avete letto lo commentiamo insieme, con avvertenza di spoiler. O se preferite mandatemi una lettera, come quelle che Amista mandava a Katinka.
October 13, 2025
This is an unusual book within Christianna Brand's mysteries. Published in 1950, this sits between some of her most popular books, Death of Jezebel in 1948 and London Particular in 1952. Both of the previous titles are Inspector Cockrill titles though, whereas this features the oddly named Inspector Chucky, a character she did not return to until 1977 with A Ring of Roses, now sadly out of print. However, this first novel featuring Chucky has now been reprinted with a lovely cover of the Welsh hills, and any revival of Brand is, for me, a cause for celebration.
Tinka Jones is a Welsh reporter, working in London for the publication, 'Girls Together.' Under the assumed names 'Miss Friendly-wise,' and 'Miss Let's be Lovely,' Tinka and her colleague, enjoy reading letters from a reader names Amista. Amista writes in for advice about a man named Carlyon, her guardian. When Tinka takes a holiday in her native Wales, she decides on a whim to visit Amista, only to find that everyone denies her existence.
Carlyon is, indeed, handsome - living in a remote house with two servants. Tinka feels something is mysterious and amiss, while she is viewed with suspicion due to her job as a journalist. Chucky is also visiting and, when Tinka hurts her ankle, she ends up staying the night and becomes determined to uncover what is going on in the house. This is a romantic mystery, with lots of twists and turns. Chucky rather annoys Tinka, who is the main character, but I hope that the second book will be reprinted. Brand is, in my opinion, an excellent Golden Age detective writer and I am pleased her work has recently had more attention.
Tinka Jones is a Welsh reporter, working in London for the publication, 'Girls Together.' Under the assumed names 'Miss Friendly-wise,' and 'Miss Let's be Lovely,' Tinka and her colleague, enjoy reading letters from a reader names Amista. Amista writes in for advice about a man named Carlyon, her guardian. When Tinka takes a holiday in her native Wales, she decides on a whim to visit Amista, only to find that everyone denies her existence.
Carlyon is, indeed, handsome - living in a remote house with two servants. Tinka feels something is mysterious and amiss, while she is viewed with suspicion due to her job as a journalist. Chucky is also visiting and, when Tinka hurts her ankle, she ends up staying the night and becomes determined to uncover what is going on in the house. This is a romantic mystery, with lots of twists and turns. Chucky rather annoys Tinka, who is the main character, but I hope that the second book will be reprinted. Brand is, in my opinion, an excellent Golden Age detective writer and I am pleased her work has recently had more attention.
July 20, 2018
Originally published in 1950, and moves at a different pace from most modern detective fiction. It's very atmospheric, mostly set in an isolated Welsh house, with echoes (deliberate) of Jane Eyre and Rebecca. There is a twist in the ending, but I'm sure I've read this years ago & did know what was coming. I enjoy old novels because they give such a vivid picture of day-to-day life, social history really comes alive. I'm amazed how much people drank & smoked in the 40s & 50s. The heroine of this book is an advice columnist on a women's magazine, regretful that her career has stalled, and acutely aware that she's unlikely ever to marry & have children, as most of the men of her generation were killed in the war, but trying her best to be cheerful and make the most of what she has.
Read
October 5, 2025What a funny book! Both amusing but peculiar too. End of the day, it's a jolly murder mystery romp in South Wales, and very enjoyable for that. It also packs in a ton of twists. The mystery itself is well disguised while still being foregrounded — many times I felt "oh, I should have noticed that", which speaks of superior mystery writing to me. The one failing of the book is the improbable behavior of the protagonist, Tinka Jones. Very likeable, well-rounded, and even with a good level of self-awareness, she seems to make some very bad choices for a seemingly smart person. Overall it is all a bit improbable, but well-constructed and enjoyable for that. Didn't make me miss my stop, but at least had me standing on a station platform to finish the book after I'd got off the train.
October 31, 2025
There was a skeleton of quite a good suspense story in here, but it ended up swamped by melodramatic over-writing (some of the descriptions of more unpleasant aspects, like , verged almost on horror, which is not at all my thing). If you're going to have even a chance of convincingly selling the (classic, let's admit) type of suspense story that requires the heroine to make impulsive, counter-intuitive, and dangerous decisions, you need to do it with restraint, not keyed up to the highest pitch of emotion and implausibility on every page!
May 29, 2025
What a weird book. It's sort of like Jane Eyre on steroids. Set in South Wales, the story revolves around a women's magazine writer who comes home to the Swansea area and decides to visit a correspondent to the magazine. She visits a lonely house, where there is no woman, except an older nurse, until another woman, younger, but horribly disfigured, appears. It's not clear who's telling the truth about the disfigured woman since her husband is angry then flirtatious, then murderous. The twists and turns are mind bending, but Miss Jones, our protagonist, is rather hysterical.
May 22, 2025
Maybe it's my fault, but I found this book hard-going. The on-off relationship of the two main characters was, frankly tedious and when it was 'on' the description is, what I would imagine to be, 'Mills and Boon'. Whilst this is described on the British Library back cover as 'a lurid love letter to Gothic melodrama', I found the language in Chapter 14 irritatingly anachronistic for a novel published in 1950 and set in, what was then, the current day.
July 28, 2025
Just loved this creepy psychological Hitchcockian thriller set in Wales. Couldn’t put it down. It’s more of a what happened mystery than a whodunnit, with a generous dollop of du Maurier gothic coupled with a Colombo-style detective who keeps popping up in surprising places. Many interesting female characters, and our heroine is a sort-of jaded agony aunt in a woman’s magazine. What’s not to love? A 5-star in pure enjoyment although not great literature.
May 11, 2025
Twisty, somewhat dark story set in the Welsh countryside. More a thriller than a whodunnit, there are some Ethel Lina White vibes here but in Brand’s unique style.
Took me a few chapters to get into the writing style but I was certainly gripped by the twists, and the lead character who’ll just make you want to keep shouting ‘stop making silly decisions!’
Took me a few chapters to get into the writing style but I was certainly gripped by the twists, and the lead character who’ll just make you want to keep shouting ‘stop making silly decisions!’
June 23, 2025
Katinka, a glamorous writer for a girls' magazine, finds herself at a loose end on while on her holiday in Wales. She decides to visit the magazine's most frequent correspondent, newly-married Amista. However, when she arrives at Amista's, she's told that there's no such person and never has been. However, Katinka can't let it go. When she hurts her ankle and is forced to stay at the house, she finds herself investigating what happened to Amista while falling for her charming husband.
On the whole, I found this novel annoyingly silly. The melodrama was pumped to the max. The narrative, frequently focalised through Katinka, was overwrought. Katinka's emotions were all-over-the-place and pivoted from strange solution to strange solution. There were a few cunningly placed clues for the reader to find but, on the whole, I found the novel just ok.
On the whole, I found this novel annoyingly silly. The melodrama was pumped to the max. The narrative, frequently focalised through Katinka, was overwrought. Katinka's emotions were all-over-the-place and pivoted from strange solution to strange solution. There were a few cunningly placed clues for the reader to find but, on the whole, I found the novel just ok.
October 29, 2025
One of the few Christianna Brands that didn't hit for me, although I'll reread it at some point and see if that changes. I was annoyed at the setup for the mystery and the dithering it required of the heroine.
December 30, 2017
Gothic romantic suspense, not really my cuppa. If it's yours, cheers to you and here you go.
December 15, 2017
Good read
The ending is totally surprising. It sneaks up and leaves the reader almost breathless. A bit difficult at the beginning, it soon captures and then shocks.
The ending is totally surprising. It sneaks up and leaves the reader almost breathless. A bit difficult at the beginning, it soon captures and then shocks.
July 5, 2025
This was a struggle to finish. Main character repeatedly making same mistakes.
February 9, 2025
**ebook**
Tinka Jones writes an advice column for a girly magazine. She becomes enamored with one writer in particular - Amista - a young, beautiful girl from Tinka’s home country who is in love with a man 10 years her senior. When Tinka visits home and finds herself with nowhere to go, she decides to use the time to call on her pen pal - and quickly learns that not is all as it seems. No one at the residence seems to know who Amista is, and Tinka gets a spooky feeling about the place. She will seek to find out who is Amista, and what has happened to her?
This novel was… interesting. The story was a bit hard to follow at times, and a bit slow to develop, but I truly enjoyed the characters and the vocabulary was fun.
Tinka Jones writes an advice column for a girly magazine. She becomes enamored with one writer in particular - Amista - a young, beautiful girl from Tinka’s home country who is in love with a man 10 years her senior. When Tinka visits home and finds herself with nowhere to go, she decides to use the time to call on her pen pal - and quickly learns that not is all as it seems. No one at the residence seems to know who Amista is, and Tinka gets a spooky feeling about the place. She will seek to find out who is Amista, and what has happened to her?
This novel was… interesting. The story was a bit hard to follow at times, and a bit slow to develop, but I truly enjoyed the characters and the vocabulary was fun.
June 12, 2025
Well written psychological howdunnit as opposed to whodunnit.
Could have been filmed by Hitchcock - can almost see the colours and style of Vertigo.
Will definitely read more Christianna Brand!
Could have been filmed by Hitchcock - can almost see the colours and style of Vertigo.
Will definitely read more Christianna Brand!
October 9, 2025
Do you know the feeling that you thought that you knew what to expect despite having just some loose information but when you get there, you find yourself questioning everything?
In Cat and Mouse this happens to Katinka Jones, who is the agony aunt of a magazine called Girls Together. As she is already in the area of Wales where a longtime correspondent lives, she decides to drop in unannounced. But despite the descriptions of the isolated house on top of a mountain and the handsome widower matching to a T, nobody seems to know Katinka’s correspondent. Who is behind the name Amista and what happened? A joke or something more sinister?
You won’t be surprised to find me saying that I loved the premises. In this story by Christianna Brand we don’t find another friend of Inspector Cockrill in need but rather meet Inspector Chucky who to he honest made me ponder if he was the real deal or in on it.
The setting is amazing and if Alfred Hitchcock read this book, I am utterly surprised that he didn’t turn it into a movie. IMHO it has some Jane Eyre & Rebecca vibes but I most definitely also heard the music of Hitchcock’s thrillers in my head.
And when I just thought that I had worked it out, it all took a new turn.
Chriatianna Brand is certainly a favourite amongst the #BritishLibraryCrimeClassics series and I am hoping for many more to be re-published.
Thank you @bl_publishing for sending me a copy of Cat & Mouse! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
The book was a gift but opinions are all my own.
In Cat and Mouse this happens to Katinka Jones, who is the agony aunt of a magazine called Girls Together. As she is already in the area of Wales where a longtime correspondent lives, she decides to drop in unannounced. But despite the descriptions of the isolated house on top of a mountain and the handsome widower matching to a T, nobody seems to know Katinka’s correspondent. Who is behind the name Amista and what happened? A joke or something more sinister?
You won’t be surprised to find me saying that I loved the premises. In this story by Christianna Brand we don’t find another friend of Inspector Cockrill in need but rather meet Inspector Chucky who to he honest made me ponder if he was the real deal or in on it.
The setting is amazing and if Alfred Hitchcock read this book, I am utterly surprised that he didn’t turn it into a movie. IMHO it has some Jane Eyre & Rebecca vibes but I most definitely also heard the music of Hitchcock’s thrillers in my head.
And when I just thought that I had worked it out, it all took a new turn.
Chriatianna Brand is certainly a favourite amongst the #BritishLibraryCrimeClassics series and I am hoping for many more to be re-published.
Thank you @bl_publishing for sending me a copy of Cat & Mouse! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
The book was a gift but opinions are all my own.
Want to read
January 14, 2020Synopsis: Tinka Jones is a beauty adviser. She decides to visit Amista, one of her fans in Wales, but can't find her after an extensive search.
April 30, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews