Scan barcode
A review by robinwalter
Death of Jezebel by Christianna Brand
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? It's complicated
3.5
This was my third Brand, and my last. The best thing about this story was way it made constant references to the awful ineptitude of Cockrill in "Green for Danger". The appalling travesty of the bungling "reveal" in that story left me mad as hell and utterly bewildered at all the rave reviews. "The Crooked Wreath" was even worse as detective story, with country Bumpkin Cockrill doing exactly no detecting at all.
The mystery in this story was well constructed, but it suffered the same fundamental flaw as the other two - Cockrill. A bungler in "Green for Danger" and a family friend and spectator in "The Crooked Wreath", he did nothing in this story for overcome the contempt in which I held him.
He actually says at the end, when the villain has finished explaining how it was done, "I knew it all along". I do that too at the end of murder mysteries on TV, but it doesn't make me a great detective. Ditto for "Cockie".
The mystery in this story was well constructed, but it suffered the same fundamental flaw as the other two - Cockrill. A bungler in "Green for Danger" and a family friend and spectator in "The Crooked Wreath", he did nothing in this story for overcome the contempt in which I held him.
He actually says at the end, when the villain has finished explaining how it was done, "I knew it all along". I do that too at the end of murder mysteries on TV, but it doesn't make me a great detective. Ditto for "Cockie".