Fog of doubt [Hardcover]

Christianna Brand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1953

Rosie, the naughty little nymphet around whom Christianna Brand weaves her witty and mysterious web, recounts to her family a series of fibs that results in their supposing the unfortunate suitor, Raoul Vernet, to be her base seducer. On a night of dense London fog, with everyone alibied, Raoul is discovered having been hit over the head with a blunt instrument.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (1953)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1135797544
• ISBN-13: 978-1135797546
• ASIN: B0007E55DG
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,289,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly ingenious tour-de-force, March 18, 1998

By 

Enrique F. Bird (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fog of Doubt (Brand, Christianna) (Paperback)

On re-reading after many years, this should be 5 stars, not 4!

This is a tour-de-force, with the "modus operandi" revealed in the very last line of the book. A master of the classic detective story with stricly defined and adhered to limits, Brand is at the same time an original. There is no other writer like her . The book suffers somewhat in the middle as to clarity, but, believe me, this is a plotter (and a device) of the first order. Second only to her GREEN FOR DANGER and better than the best of many others.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is Ms. Brand's personal favourite!, March 5, 2007

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fog of Doubt (Brand, Christianna) (Paperback)

Ms. Christianna Brand was quite vocal in describing this particular book as her favourite of all the books she had written. It is an extremely complex mystery, that is very ingeniously plotted. And you do not find out what actually happened until the very end. The murder was set in the middle of a real English fog, and that prevailing atmosphere penetrates througout the book. Everyone, and I mean everyone is conveniently alibied, and it is difficult for even Cockie to figure out how it was done. The book is very tricky, and you have to be on your toes as you read it. The list of suspects is small, and the plot is as tight as it gets. This is a really good book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 and 1/2 stars, April 18, 2011

By 

egreetham (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fog of Doubt (Brand, Christianna) (Paperback)

This novel, though the author's favorite, is no "Green for Danger," truly a classic detective novel. The story has many wonderful Golden Age touches, and seems to resemble Allingham in feeling more than Christie. The atmosphere is wonderfully conveyed, the writing humorous and observant, but the characters, especially Rosie, strain willing suspension of disbelief. The treatment of Rosie's behavior and morals, natural enough for the period in which it was written, may seem just too old-fashioned to overlook for some readers, as may a casual use of a term which no thoughtful person would employ today.

"Fog of Doubt" is self-indulgently emotional. When that sentimentality is played off against the structure of a British hospital in the middle of World War II in "Green for Danger," it works very well. But unalloyed, it is not successful. "Fog of Doubt" is entertaining and densely plotted, but it shows its age.