Mystery
![Christianna Brand - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_christianna_brand.jpg)
Tour de Force (The Inspector Cockrill Mysteries)
Inspector Cockrill's dull vacation is jolted by a Mediterranean murderFrom the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group bores: 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.
Editorial Reviews
"A perfect evening's entertainment. Seize at once upon Tour de Force." -The New York Times Book Review "One of the great masters of English detective fiction." -Francis M. Nevins, author of Cornell Woolrich "[Brand] could construct puzzles with the best of them." -Elizabeth George, editor of A Moment on the Edge
Readers Top Reviews
L O'connorS RiazPriy
Inspector Cockrill goes abroad for the first time on a conducted tour of Italy. His companions on the holiday are a very mixed bunch, a famous novelist, an embittered former concert pianist who lost his right arm in an accident, accompanied by his long-suffering wife, a flamboyant fashion designer, a prim spinster and a quiet and apparently innocuous young woman, Vanda Lane. When the group is staying on a small meditteranean island, one of the party is murdered, and it falls to Inspector Cockrill to find out who, the local police being worse than useless. I cannot help agreeing with a previous reviewer who says that this is no Agatha Christie. Although the story is quite clever and the characters not without interest, I couldn't help thinking as I was reading it how much more amusing it would have been had Christie written it. The women in particular are all sad, desperate and lovesick, there are none of the strong female characters Christie enjoyed creating, no eager, adventurous young girls or good-humoured, independent spinsters. And Poirot would have enjoyed himself on the holiday much more than Cockrill. And the denoument is just too far-fetched to be believable, even Christie might have had trouble pulling it off.
Henry L.MdbmlouiseNe
This is a dated "whodunnit" or a tongue-in-cheek put down of the foibles of the English when they go abroad. A must miss.
Daureen R. Matera
If you like many twists and turns you’ll really enjoy this book! So many interesting characters, and so many possibilities!
Kindle
Poor Inspector Cockrill! On a holiday tour, he finds himself with a seemingly impossible crime on a corrupt island where the local police want to pin the death on any stranger, regardless of guilt or innocence. I feel smug indeed as I for once managed to figure out the solution before Inspector Cockrill ( or at least before he revealed it!). The descriptions of the tourists in general, and the ones on his tour in particular made the book imho.
