Customer Reviews

Tour De Force

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A well-plotted, clever, fun tale of a British tour group's visit to an island near Italy but governed by Spain. One of the tourists is murdered, naturally. The local police just want to arrest *someone*; they can always arrange to hire some "witnesses" later. So Inspector Cockrill's vacation turns into a busman's holiday and he investigates, after informing the local officers "Me--Scotalanda Yard!". Lots and lots of clues, and plenty of red herrings. I correctly guessed the solution, but Brand almost convinced me I was wrong. I was impressed by the non-judgmental depiction of a gay character, pretty progressive considering that the book was first published in 1955. A witty book, and (hooray) one of several Brands currently in print.

Born in 1907 in Malaya, Mary Christianna Milne Lewis worked as everything from a governess to a nightclub dancer before discovering her niche as an author with the novel DEATH IN HIGH HEELS--and then delighting mystery lovers with the later GREEN FOR DANGER. Although she is now best known as the creator of the "Nurse Matilda" stories for children, by the time of her 1988 death she had written seventeen mystery novels; while not as well known in the United States as the works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Nygio Marsh, they have remained popular in England and Europe and are often considered classics of their kind.

Published in 1955, TOUR DE FORCE is the last of Brand's books to feature re-occuring character Inspector Cockrill--who on this occasion is taking a package tour of Italy. Unfortunately for Cockrill, the package throws him in with a group of tourists that range from a philandering and former concert pianist, his career ended by the loss of an arm; his very long suffering wife; a famous and very flamboyant novelist; a questionable tour guide; and, of course, a murderer. And the murder occurs in a most unfortunate location: an obscure Italian island where the authorities are more interested in arresting somebody to end the case than they are in catching the killer.

Brand's plot is a twisty as anything Christie created and her sense of character and location bring Marsh to mind--but she has her own distinct tone of voice, warm, witty, and pleasant. She also has a great gift for that classic of the English murder mystery, "the red herring," and where TOUR DE FORCE is concerned it will be the rare reader indeed who can draw identity, motive, and process together to fully identify the killer before Brand makes the revelation. Indeed, if TOUR DE FORCE has a flaw, it is that Brand is a shade too good at her own game, and some may find her conclusion a shade too twisty.

Even so, TOUR DE FORCE is certainly an entertaining novel, one that you begin to read at six in the evening and suddenly find yourself finishing up, after a single long sitting, several hours later. Lots of fun and recommended to all mystery fans--particularly those fond of the classic English style.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This book was really a lot of fun. It's a classic whodunit with plenty of clues as well as some red herrings so that you can really try to figure it out for yourself. Well written as well.

In this book we have Brand's Inspector Cockerill out of his element. He is on holiday in Italy, and feeling somewhat like a fish out of water. This feeling only intensifies when a murder occurs. The lady that is killed is one of their party, and the list of suspects is quite short, including Cockerill himself. Cockerill can't get over the way this murder is being investigated. Nothing like this would ever happen in "Jolly Old". He knows he has to figure it out himself because the local police are hopeless. There are a lot of twists and turns in this plot, and countless red herrings. The characters are a bit typecast, but the book is still fun none the less. Done in the tradition of the Golden Age, this book is a page-turner, and I enjoyed it.

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.