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Buffet for Unwelcome Guests: The Best Short Mystery Stories of Christianna Brand
Christianna Brand’s fiction features brisk prose, wry twists, plots that lure the reader into a false sense of having figured every contingency, and ironic turns that not only spice the narrative but supply its lifeblood. No one has read a Brand story who has failed to read the last sentence.
Christianna Brand was born Mary Christianna Milne in Malaya in 1907. She spent her childhood in India. At 17 she learned her father had lost all his money. Without a shred of training or experience she found herself faced with earning a living. She held a string of jobs, but lent little distinction to any of them: nursery governess, packer of beaded dresses for export, hostess in a plush nightclub, professional ballroom dancer, model in Bond Street dress shops, and, “most hopeless of all,” secretary.
In 1939, lacking any training in literature or journalism, Mary Milne decided to try writing fiction. Her first novel, Death in High Heels, was rejected by 15 publishers before The Bodley Head took it in 1941 - published under the pen name, Christianna Brand.
Christianna Brand was born Mary Christianna Milne in Malaya in 1907. She spent her childhood in India. At 17 she learned her father had lost all his money. Without a shred of training or experience she found herself faced with earning a living. She held a string of jobs, but lent little distinction to any of them: nursery governess, packer of beaded dresses for export, hostess in a plush nightclub, professional ballroom dancer, model in Bond Street dress shops, and, “most hopeless of all,” secretary.
In 1939, lacking any training in literature or journalism, Mary Milne decided to try writing fiction. Her first novel, Death in High Heels, was rejected by 15 publishers before The Bodley Head took it in 1941 - published under the pen name, Christianna Brand.
- GenresMysteryShort Stories
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 1983
19 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Christianna Brand
100 books135 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 25, 2012
Short stories written by Christianna Brand over the decades from mid-1950s through 1981. Beautifully arranged and edited by Francis M. Nevins Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg, there is also a perfect introduction by Robert E. Briney. The format is that of a meal, with sections entitled “Cockrill Cocktails”, “Choice of Entrees”, “Something to Clear the Palate”, “Petits Fours”, “Black Coffee”. And at the end of the book there is a nifty checklist of all her work up to 1983.
Every story has a zinger at the end, a twist that makes you look at everything that’s come before in a different light. And to make it even more devilish, she always plays fair with the clues. A wicked, wonderful, woman.
Part One: Cockrill Cocktails:
“After the Event”, 1958
— tale told in a club, theatrical, funny, sharp
“Blood Brothers”, 1965
— diabolical twins, murder and accident, and lost affections
“The Hornet’s Nest, 1967
— superb classic, about a wedding and a death
“Poison in the Cup”, 1969
— a doctor’s office, a doctor’s wife, an unplanned pregnancy, gorgeously convoluted
====================
Part Two: Choice of Entrees:
“Murder Game”, 1968
— two men talk in a garden, about life and death, stunning!
“The Scapegoat”, 1970
— a magical sort of locked room, a death, and not much of life either
“No More A-Maying....”, 1974
— free-thinking hippies and close-minded Welsh, and murder
====================
Part Three: Something to Clear the Palate:
“The Niece from Scotland”, 1977
— robbery and flummery, multiplied - superb!
====================
Part Four: Petits Fours:
“Hic Jacet...”, 1967
— beautifully pun-y murder-gone-bad
“The Merry-Go-Round”, 1968
— children, blackmail, and status
“Upon Reflection”, 1972
— a lady waiting in a cab sees a murder, perhaps....
“From the Balcony...”, 1981
— a woman with too much time on her hands, quiet creepiness
====================
Part Five: Black Coffee:
“Bless This House”, 1970
— lonely old woman meets a nice young couple, classic
“Such a Nice Man”, 1972
— scary, sad little bit about rape
“The Whispering”, 1976
— a young girl out for kicks pays dearly; sad, sordid, spectacular
“The Hand of God”, 1981
— a policeman’s kin gets run over; deservedly famous classic
Every story has a zinger at the end, a twist that makes you look at everything that’s come before in a different light. And to make it even more devilish, she always plays fair with the clues. A wicked, wonderful, woman.
Part One: Cockrill Cocktails:
“After the Event”, 1958
— tale told in a club, theatrical, funny, sharp
“Blood Brothers”, 1965
— diabolical twins, murder and accident, and lost affections
“The Hornet’s Nest, 1967
— superb classic, about a wedding and a death
“Poison in the Cup”, 1969
— a doctor’s office, a doctor’s wife, an unplanned pregnancy, gorgeously convoluted
====================
Part Two: Choice of Entrees:
“Murder Game”, 1968
— two men talk in a garden, about life and death, stunning!
“The Scapegoat”, 1970
— a magical sort of locked room, a death, and not much of life either
“No More A-Maying....”, 1974
— free-thinking hippies and close-minded Welsh, and murder
====================
Part Three: Something to Clear the Palate:
“The Niece from Scotland”, 1977
— robbery and flummery, multiplied - superb!
====================
Part Four: Petits Fours:
“Hic Jacet...”, 1967
— beautifully pun-y murder-gone-bad
“The Merry-Go-Round”, 1968
— children, blackmail, and status
“Upon Reflection”, 1972
— a lady waiting in a cab sees a murder, perhaps....
“From the Balcony...”, 1981
— a woman with too much time on her hands, quiet creepiness
====================
Part Five: Black Coffee:
“Bless This House”, 1970
— lonely old woman meets a nice young couple, classic
“Such a Nice Man”, 1972
— scary, sad little bit about rape
“The Whispering”, 1976
— a young girl out for kicks pays dearly; sad, sordid, spectacular
“The Hand of God”, 1981
— a policeman’s kin gets run over; deservedly famous classic
January 13, 2026
Saving the best for last.
This was the last of the three short story collections published during Christianna Brand's life and it appeared in 1983. It's definitely the best of the lot and deserves my four-star rating, but if you've read the first two collections, you may feel short-changed. Of the sixteen stories, ten are repeats from the earlier collections, while only six are new.
It's still a good buy. The introduction is entertaining and informative. In the mid-1970's, Brand attended a series of functions in the U.S. and (according to witnesses) her audiences were wowwed by the charming, slightly flamboyant elderly Englishwoman. By that time, her production of book-length mysteries, romances, and childrens' stories had slowed to a trickle, but she enjoyed talking about her craft and did so with intelligence and wit.
It also explained why many of her stories are set in Wales, although she was born in the Far East and spent most of her life in England. Her husband (a surgeon) grew up in Wales, where his father was a GP in a small mining town. Brand claimed Inspector Cockrill was modeled after her father-in-law, a shrewd man whose job required good detection skills.
There are stories about her pre-writing life and the start of her career as an author. Since (sadly) Brand left no autobiography, I appreciate that information. The introduction is almost worth the price of admission on its own, but the stories are good, too.
Editor Francis M Nevins was responsible for collecting the work of many short story writers, including the great Edward D Hoch. He's a superb judge of quality, which may account for this collection out-shining the previous ones.
The six stories from "What Dread Hand?" and the four from "Brand X" are mostly good. I don't like "The Scapegoat" and would have omitted it. But "The Niece From Scotland", "The Merry-Go-Round", "Such a Nice Man", and ""Bless This House" are wonderful stories.
All six of the new stories are above-average. "Poison in the Cup" features Inspector Cockrill, investigating the sudden death of a trouble-making young nurse whose fantasies threaten the careers of two local doctors. The wife of one of them was determined to stop the damage from occuring and she took drastic action. Will she get by with it?
Many of Brand's stories are lyrical poems to the beauty of Wales and the courage of hard-working country people there. "No More A-Maying..." shows the dark underside of an isolated community where narrow-minded people distrust anything or anyone new or different. In particular, any deviation from strict sexual morality is violently condemned and harshly dealt with. Families will lie to protect their own and the local police are afraid to rock the boat.
"Upon Reflection" is controversial. It concerns the (alleged) sexual crimes of an Arab big-wig in London. The hospital built with oil money is a beauty, but the cabbies claim at least one of the Arab men brutalizes women. His violence resulted in the death of a young woman and now someone has taken revenge. It appears Brand wasn't totally against "street justice." Was she biased against Middle Eastern men and was her bias justified?
"The Hand of God" is another story of an individual taking the law into his own hands. Are we justified in doing so when the legal system fails to sufficiently punish a murderer?
"From the Balcony" shows the paranoia most of us are prone to at some times and about some things. The ending is a typical Brand twist. She knew that many of our worst problems are self-inflicted.
"The Whispering" is a riveting story about a young girl who's not at all what her parents believe her to be. She's a brilliant manipulator whose lies cause the death of an innocent man. Will she ever get what she deserves?
Brand at her best was a shrewd observer of human nature and a talented story teller. I'm looking forward to her book-length mysteries.
This was the last of the three short story collections published during Christianna Brand's life and it appeared in 1983. It's definitely the best of the lot and deserves my four-star rating, but if you've read the first two collections, you may feel short-changed. Of the sixteen stories, ten are repeats from the earlier collections, while only six are new.
It's still a good buy. The introduction is entertaining and informative. In the mid-1970's, Brand attended a series of functions in the U.S. and (according to witnesses) her audiences were wowwed by the charming, slightly flamboyant elderly Englishwoman. By that time, her production of book-length mysteries, romances, and childrens' stories had slowed to a trickle, but she enjoyed talking about her craft and did so with intelligence and wit.
It also explained why many of her stories are set in Wales, although she was born in the Far East and spent most of her life in England. Her husband (a surgeon) grew up in Wales, where his father was a GP in a small mining town. Brand claimed Inspector Cockrill was modeled after her father-in-law, a shrewd man whose job required good detection skills.
There are stories about her pre-writing life and the start of her career as an author. Since (sadly) Brand left no autobiography, I appreciate that information. The introduction is almost worth the price of admission on its own, but the stories are good, too.
Editor Francis M Nevins was responsible for collecting the work of many short story writers, including the great Edward D Hoch. He's a superb judge of quality, which may account for this collection out-shining the previous ones.
The six stories from "What Dread Hand?" and the four from "Brand X" are mostly good. I don't like "The Scapegoat" and would have omitted it. But "The Niece From Scotland", "The Merry-Go-Round", "Such a Nice Man", and ""Bless This House" are wonderful stories.
All six of the new stories are above-average. "Poison in the Cup" features Inspector Cockrill, investigating the sudden death of a trouble-making young nurse whose fantasies threaten the careers of two local doctors. The wife of one of them was determined to stop the damage from occuring and she took drastic action. Will she get by with it?
Many of Brand's stories are lyrical poems to the beauty of Wales and the courage of hard-working country people there. "No More A-Maying..." shows the dark underside of an isolated community where narrow-minded people distrust anything or anyone new or different. In particular, any deviation from strict sexual morality is violently condemned and harshly dealt with. Families will lie to protect their own and the local police are afraid to rock the boat.
"Upon Reflection" is controversial. It concerns the (alleged) sexual crimes of an Arab big-wig in London. The hospital built with oil money is a beauty, but the cabbies claim at least one of the Arab men brutalizes women. His violence resulted in the death of a young woman and now someone has taken revenge. It appears Brand wasn't totally against "street justice." Was she biased against Middle Eastern men and was her bias justified?
"The Hand of God" is another story of an individual taking the law into his own hands. Are we justified in doing so when the legal system fails to sufficiently punish a murderer?
"From the Balcony" shows the paranoia most of us are prone to at some times and about some things. The ending is a typical Brand twist. She knew that many of our worst problems are self-inflicted.
"The Whispering" is a riveting story about a young girl who's not at all what her parents believe her to be. She's a brilliant manipulator whose lies cause the death of an innocent man. Will she ever get what she deserves?
Brand at her best was a shrewd observer of human nature and a talented story teller. I'm looking forward to her book-length mysteries.
July 29, 2021
Delighted to discover Christianna Brand's short stories (and even more excited because she has a bunch of mystery/detective novels too). She belongs to the Golden Age of Detective fiction and from the plotting and clueing I've seen here, belongs with Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr. (Yes, I am that excited!)
Of course, these are short stories of different formats; there is at least one crime in each of them, plenty of clueing, detecting, red herrings, and theories. Some bring to mind the style of Roald Dahl's darker shorts. Great characters and tight plots (unlike the very irritating stories of, say, Ruth Rendell) — definitely give this a shot if you like the genre.
Of course, these are short stories of different formats; there is at least one crime in each of them, plenty of clueing, detecting, red herrings, and theories. Some bring to mind the style of Roald Dahl's darker shorts. Great characters and tight plots (unlike the very irritating stories of, say, Ruth Rendell) — definitely give this a shot if you like the genre.
September 9, 2020
Some fine mystery stories, a few with quite a twist in the end. The style is a bit dated for me.
February 14, 2017
The early stories were engrossing, but the later ones got tedious.
April 12, 2025
After the event (aka Rabbit out of a hat)--3
Blood brothers --2
The hornet's nest (aka Twist for twist) --3
Poison in the cup --4
Murder game (aka The Gimminy Crickets case)--3
The scapegoat --3
No more a-maying ... --2
The niece from Scotland --3
Hic Jacet ... --3
The merry-go-round --3
Upon reflection --3
From the balcony ... --3
Bless this house --4
Such a nice man --2
The whispering --3
The hand of God --2
***
Akin to love --2
Aren't our police wonderful? --2
Clever and quick --3
Cloud nine --2
Cyanide in the sun --3
Dear Mr. Editor --2
Double cross --2
The kissing cousin --2
The kite (aka The king of the air) --2
The man on the roof --3
The rocking-chair --2
The telephone call (aka The last short story)--3
The wicked ghost (aka Death of a ghost) --3
Blood brothers --2
The hornet's nest (aka Twist for twist) --3
Poison in the cup --4
Murder game (aka The Gimminy Crickets case)--3
The scapegoat --3
No more a-maying ... --2
The niece from Scotland --3
Hic Jacet ... --3
The merry-go-round --3
Upon reflection --3
From the balcony ... --3
Bless this house --4
Such a nice man --2
The whispering --3
The hand of God --2
***
Akin to love --2
Aren't our police wonderful? --2
Clever and quick --3
Cloud nine --2
Cyanide in the sun --3
Dear Mr. Editor --2
Double cross --2
The kissing cousin --2
The kite (aka The king of the air) --2
The man on the roof --3
The rocking-chair --2
The telephone call (aka The last short story)--3
The wicked ghost (aka Death of a ghost) --3
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews