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lugalante's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Look, it didn't reinvent the wheel or anything but this book definitely kept me on the edge of my seat wondering who the murderer was and if they would strike again. The ending fully surprised me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Death and Blood
captaincymru's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
iphigenie72's review
4.0
A patient dies on the operating table and Inspector Cockrill is called in to make sure nothing untoward happened. The death does seem suspicious and then one of the witnesses is murdered which confirms the first death as a murder too. The suspects are three nurses and three doctors.
I never thought the murderer was the person it was, I believed what the author wanted me to believe. Big fat red herring? Yum. The book was first published in 1944, but is set a little earlier in the blitz. The war is very important to the story especially since it’s a hospital who treats soldiers and where the staff is military.
I look forward to continuing with this author though I’ve heard this is the best book in the Cockrill series. I was waiting for this book to come out as an audio read by Derek Perkins (very good performance) on December 28 2021 and look who finished it on the day it came out… me.
I never thought the murderer was the person it was, I believed what the author wanted me to believe. Big fat red herring? Yum. The book was first published in 1944, but is set a little earlier in the blitz. The war is very important to the story especially since it’s a hospital who treats soldiers and where the staff is military.
I look forward to continuing with this author though I’ve heard this is the best book in the Cockrill series. I was waiting for this book to come out as an audio read by Derek Perkins (very good performance) on December 28 2021 and look who finished it on the day it came out… me.
christinel's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nichola's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I am taking off for casual racism. The racism was in no ways relevant to the plot or characters abd genuinely could have been edited out of this edition.
It is unnecessary and does nothing but tarnish the opinion of the author from the reader.
I mean who compares a prune to a human (regardless of their race?)
That aside, the plot was interesting if the motivations a bit left of centre, which is funny because I felt that in book one as well.
Also someone needs to tell this author that we do not need an 60 year Old falling for a 30 year old. It is nothing but creepy.
Rant over.
Wait, can we talk about Eden for a second.
What a dickhead! I mean a funnt dickhead but a dickhead nonetheless.
It is unnecessary and does nothing but tarnish the opinion of the author from the reader.
I mean who compares a prune to a human (regardless of their race?)
That aside, the plot was interesting if the motivations a bit left of centre, which is funny because I felt that in book one as well.
Also someone needs to tell this author that we do not need an 60 year Old falling for a 30 year old. It is nothing but creepy.
Rant over.
Wait, can we talk about Eden for a second.
What a dickhead! I mean a funnt dickhead but a dickhead nonetheless.
abookishtype's review
1.0
As if I needed proof of what I wrote yesterday about how readers can react to the same book in different ways, I now have Green for Danger, by Christianna Brand, as an exhibit for my case. I first heard about this novel from Nicola Upson’s “Top 10 Golden Age Detective Novels” in The Guardian. I should have known not to trust that list. Half of the list wasn’t even published during the Golden Age. I picked the novel from the list because it was published during the right time period and because I was intrigued by the premise: a man dies during surgery, murdered, during the middle of the Blitz. Sadly, I ended up disliking Green for Danger, for a number of reasons. There are so many other, better books that Upson could have put on her list...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
renie's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
sathyasekar's review
3.0
In the wee hours of the morning, I closed Ms Brand's "Green for danger" with a satisfactory sigh. It is not often that a murder mystery manages to surprise me now. Thanks to having read and re-read Agatha Christie zillions of times, I assumed that I was up to every trick that a mystery author could throw at me. But Ms Brand successfully managed to fob me off. As in Agatha Christie's "Cards on the table", we have a limited set of suspects. The puzzle is tantalizing. You know you should expect the unexpected but the problem was defining the unexpected. Quite brilliantly done.
As much as the solution to the mystery is brilliant, what makes this a most notable work is the picture it paints of the World War and how medical units operated during those days. We get but fleeting peeks into this life but they are what make this book distinguish itself from just-another-murder-mystery. The air raids, the procedures to be taken during air raids, how hospitals and its personnel reacted to such incidents - these are truly captivating. This is not a historical novel - Ms Brand was simply recounting life as it existed then, which makes this more like a live document of the times.
Despite all these positives going for it, the book somehow has a rather "pulpy" feel to it and I strong suspect the rather sloppy romance to be the cause. Ms Brand can write mysteries well enough but she is definitely no romance writer. The romance in fact brought to my mind bad, forgettable scB-grade and some war time Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 40s. I love the movies of that period but the B-graders were pretty obvious. When the book begins to read like such movies, you are turned off.
Inspector Cockrill was good fun for most part, but somehow somehow, not all that memorable at the end of the book. I watched the movie adaptation after completing the book. They have done a marvelous job with it and Alistair Sim is particularly brilliant as Cockrill.
Overall, my rating for this book would be an Average- 2.5 would be an accurate rating.
As much as the solution to the mystery is brilliant, what makes this a most notable work is the picture it paints of the World War and how medical units operated during those days. We get but fleeting peeks into this life but they are what make this book distinguish itself from just-another-murder-mystery. The air raids, the procedures to be taken during air raids, how hospitals and its personnel reacted to such incidents - these are truly captivating. This is not a historical novel - Ms Brand was simply recounting life as it existed then, which makes this more like a live document of the times.
Despite all these positives going for it, the book somehow has a rather "pulpy" feel to it and I strong suspect the rather sloppy romance to be the cause. Ms Brand can write mysteries well enough but she is definitely no romance writer. The romance in fact brought to my mind bad, forgettable scB-grade and some war time Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 40s. I love the movies of that period but the B-graders were pretty obvious. When the book begins to read like such movies, you are turned off.
Inspector Cockrill was good fun for most part, but somehow somehow, not all that memorable at the end of the book. I watched the movie adaptation after completing the book. They have done a marvelous job with it and Alistair Sim is particularly brilliant as Cockrill.
Overall, my rating for this book would be an Average- 2.5 would be an accurate rating.
moreadsbooks's review
3.0
I'll read almost anything that takes place during the blitz, especially if it involves some murder and a lot of witty banter. This would make an absolutely ripping black and white movie that I'd be thrilled to catch on a rainy afternoon, preferably without the book's casual racism.
fbone's review
2.0
This had too much romance in it for my tastes. The author used the character's last name just as often as their first. I couldn't keep track of who was in love with who. And frankly I didn't care. Writing skill was definitely of good caliber but the whole thing fell apart for me.