"The Spotted Cat, and Other Mysteries"

The British writer Christianna Brand wrote a number of very good mysteries, though today she really is remembered for only one, "Green for Danger." Her work, and her detective, Inspector Cockrill, really deserve introduction to a wider audience. So it's a pleasure to bring "The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook" to your attention. This collection of all the Inspector Cockrill short stories (plus a hitherto-unpublished play), written between the 1950s and 1980s, from Crippen & Landru's "Lost Classics" series is reviewed on our Classic Mysteries podcast this week. You can listen to the full review here.

Inspector Cockrill, who stars in this collection, is a memorable character, in part because - unlike too many other fictional detectives - he is not always right. In some of the best stories here, in fact, he makes some erroneous judgements which, ironically, lead to a satisfactory ending to a given case.

But even beyond Inspector Cockrill, you will meet some fascinating villains here - including a couple in that unpublished play, "The Spotted Cat," who are truly terrifying. For any number of reasons - weakness, greed, stupidity, jealousy - they commit murder - and they they run up against Inspector Cockrill. The characters, and their stories, are memorable.

The collection includes a fine introduction from Tony Medawar who provides a great deal more information about Christianna Brand. it also includes Brand's own essay about Inspector Cockrill, originally written for Otto Penzler's indispensable "The Great Detectives."