Christianna Brand


Mary Christianna Lewis, known professionally as Christianna Brand, was a British crime writer and children's author born in British Malaya.

Biography

Brand was born Mary Christianna Milne in Malaya but spent most of her childhood in England and India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant, and governess. Brand also wrote under the pseudonyms Mary Ann Ashe, Annabel Jones, Mary Brand, Mary Roland, and China Thompson. Christianna Brand served as chair of the Crime Writers' Association from 1972 to 1973.
She married Roland Lewis.
Her first novel, Death in [High Heels (novel)|Death in High Heels], was written while Brand was working as a salesgirl, the idea stemming from her fantasies about doing away with an annoying co-worker. In 1941, one of her best-loved characters, Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, made his debut in the book Heads You Lose. The character would go on to appear in seven of her novels. Green for Danger is Brand's most famous novel. The whodunit, set in a World War II hospital, was adapted for film by Eagle-Lion Films in 1946, starring Alastair Sim as the Inspector. She dropped the series in the late 1950s and concentrated on various other genres as well as short stories. She was nominated three times for Edgar Awards: for the short stories "Poison in the Cup" and "Twist for Twist" and for a nonfiction work about a Scottish murder case, Heaven Knows Who. She is the author of the children's series Nurse Matilda, which Emma Thompson adapted to film as Nanny McPhee.
Her Inspector Cockrill short stories and a previously unpublished Cockrill stage play were collected as The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook, edited by Tony Medawar.
Mary Lewis died on 11 March 1988, aged 80. Her estate was valued at £96,417. She was the cousin of the illustrator Edward Ardizzone.

Novels

As Christianna Brand

Novels featuring Inspector Charlesworth
  • Death in High Heels
  • ''The Rose in Darkness''
    Novels featuring Inspector Cockrill
  • Heads You Lose
  • Green for Danger . Serialised in the United States as Danger List
  • Suddenly at His Residence . Serialised in the United States as One of the Family
  • Death of Jezebel
  • London Particular
  • Tour de Force
  • ''The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook''
    Novels featuring Inspector Chucky
  • Cat and Mouse
  • ''A Ring of Roses''
    Non-series titles
  • The Three Cornered Halo
  • Court of Foxes
  • The Honey Harlot
  • ''The Brides of Aberdar''
    Collections
  • What Dread Hand? :
  • *The Hornets' Nest
  • *Aren't Our Police Wonderful?
  • *The Merry-Go-Round
  • *Blood Brothers
  • *Dear Mr Editor...
  • *The Rose
  • *Akin to Love...
  • *Death of Don Juan
  • *Double Cross
  • *The Sins of the Fathers...
  • *After the Event
  • *Death of a Ghost
  • *The Kite
  • *Hic Jacet...
  • *Murder Game
  • Brand X
  • *The Niece from Scotland
  • *A Miracle in Montepulciano
  • *Such a Nice Man
  • *I Will Repay
  • *How the Unicorn Became Extinct
  • *The Kite
  • *Charm Farm
  • *A Bit of Bovver
  • *The Blackthorn
  • *The Hilltop
  • *How Green Is My Valley!
  • *Bless This House
  • *Spring 1941
  • *Murder Hath Charms
  • *An Apple for the Teacher
  • *Pigeon Pie
  • *Madame Thinks Quick
  • *The Scapegoat
  • Buffet for Unwelcome Guests
  • *After the Event
  • *Blood Brothers
  • *The Hornet's Nest
  • *Poison in the Cup
  • *Murder Game
  • *The Scapegoat
  • *No More a-Maying...
  • *The Niece from Scotland
  • *Hic Jacet...
  • *The Merry-Go-Round
  • *Upon Reflection
  • *From the Balcony...
  • *Bless This House
  • *Such a Nice Man
  • *The Whispering
  • *The Hand of God
  • The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook :
  • *Inspector Cockrill
  • *After the Event
  • *Blood Brothers
  • *The Hornet's Nest
  • *Poison in the Cup
  • *The Telephone Call
  • *The Kissing Cousin
  • *The Rocking-Chair
  • *The Man on the Roof
  • *Alleybi
  • *The Spotted Cat
    Books for children
  • Welcome to Danger juvenile mystery, also published as Danger Unlimited
  • Nurse Matilda, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
  • Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
  • Nurse Matilda Goes to Hospital, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone

    As Mary Roland

  • ''The Single Pilgrim''

    As China Thompson

  • ''Starrbelow''

    As Annabel Jones

  • ''The Radiant Dove''

    As Mary Ann Ashe

  • ''Alas, for Her That Met Me!''

    Unpublished novels

  • Take off the Roof
  • Jape de Chine or ''The Chinese Puzzle''

    Non-fiction books

  • ''Heaven Knows Who''

    Uncollected short stories

As Mary Brand

As Christianna Brand