Suddenly At His Residence, Christianna Brand

There’s something a little same-y about Brand’s writing, particularly between this book and Green for Danger. There are similarities in setup (the small group of suspects), the ingenious plotting to hide the crime, the interactions of the characters as they each blame and suspect the others, and of course the method of detection. Although you couldn’t map the characters one-to-one as being similar, I feel like I’d know this was one of Brand’s books. That makes sense to some degree — after all, it’s the same detective — but it produced such a similar tone and story arc that it felt a little strange to me.

One thing Brand was undeniably good at is ratcheting up the tension for the reader. So many accusations, so many jagged little edges of wounds and half-healed jealousies… and someone in the group is a killer; someone in the group is allowing the others to be suspected.

Like Green for Danger, this isn’t the most comfortable cosy read as a result. I think I liked it more, though — I got a little more interested in the characters and which of them did the crime. The ending of this is pretty harrowing, in a whole different way to Green for Danger. As there, justice is ultimately served, but not through a trial and due process; that is one of the major tropes of Golden Age crime that gives me very iffy feelings.

Rating: 3/5