Heads You Lose

Inspector Cockrill Mysteries Series, Book 1

By: Christianna Brand

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

In the English countryside, one of the well-mannered guests at Pigeonsford Estate may be a murderer in this series debut by an Edgar Award-nominated author.

As war rages in Europe, the citizens of London flee to the country. At Pigeonsford, a group of guests plays cards, drinks tea, and acts polite - but Grace Morland knows the strong emotions that lurk beneath the placid social surface. She's painfully in love with Stephen Pendock, the squire of Pigeonsford, but Pendock's smitten with young beauty Francesca Hart. One afternoon, Fran debuts a new hat, and Grace's jealousy gets the better of her. She exclaims, "I wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch in a thing like that!" She will soon be proven wrong. Grace is found dead with the hat on her head - and her head removed from her neck. To the scene comes the incomparable Inspector Cockrill, who finds that far more than petty jealousy lies beneath this hideous murder.

©1988 Christianna Brand; Foreword copyright 1993 by Jessica Mann (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Good, average mysteries

Agatha Christie she is not, however, she is interesting, and worth getting to know. The criticism of the cultural slurs of the time are accurate, but I find the world we live in today is equally as bad as those times, and while they may not appear in current books I read, I hear them everyday, including antisemitism. The change of narrators from book to book, and I have listened to five, does not affect this series. The books are more character driven, with slow moving plots. For me, the inspector is kind of bland so the narrator does not seem to matter.

Started out with promise….

it starts at an interesting angle, a character with an outsized crush on someone who is oblivious to her. The story really bogged down, and there is a lot of casual antisemitism, which kind is hard to listen to.
The story really bogs down, and some of the characters are really annoying.
The detective himself is almost completely superfluous to the book, he hardly figures it all.
She can write well, there are some interesting parts, but the ending was a big disappointment.
PSA- there is a part where the characters are feeding walnuts to a dachshund - note, walnuts are toxic to dogs, don’t try this at home

Frantic mystery

As a fan of A. Christie or J. Tey this story was disappointing and frantic. Reader was good. Story ok, too many clues and Cockrill not well developed.

Pat, snotty, stupid characters

Was expecting more. Story was full of annoying characters. Ending was too neatly tied up in a bow.
Narrator did great. Character voice distinction was good and consistent. Good narration overall

Nope

I tried several times with this one, but I just can't finish it. I'm not sure if it is the story or the narration, but it is exceedingly dull and doesn't hold my attention.

terrific golden age mystery

Well done lightweight country manor romp. Recommended. Having seen Alastair Sim in the movie version of another Brand novel; Green for Danger couldn't help mentally visualizing him in this Cockrill story. He was a perfect choice for the character as written.

A Murder Mystery As Only The Brits Write

I felt the need to defend this little book from a past bad review…
The British are very subtle in their approach to a cozy Murder mystery ..
And most Americans expect an “ in your face affair”…. I quite liked it , I would suggest though to up the narration speed to 1.3…. Perfect