The Wheat from the Chaff:
Mitchell's Best & Worst Books
Best books:
1. The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935)
Surely the most convoluted and original Mitchell novel, set in a witchcraft- and folklore-infested village under the sway of a psychopathic squire, who dies shortly after the death of his wife. The story is seen through the eyes of a young author, Hannibal Jones, who summons Mrs. Bradley to look into a case of multiple identity and insanity.
2. Death at the Opera (1934)
Mrs. Bradley investigates a series of drownings centred around a progressive co-educational school and its students. The clues are first-class, both psychological and material, with more logic than any other of her books; the detection lively (Mrs. Bradley lures a professional wife-killer into a trap); and the solution a fine surprise.
3. The Saltmarsh Murders (1932)
Told by the near half-witted curate Noel Wells, Mitchell's parody of the "Watson-Hastings-Boswell" figure, this classic of bawdy comedy is set in a village populated by pornography smugglers, adulterers, lunatics, and various wantons of all varieties. The telling is lively and humorous, the characterisation memorable, and the plot a gem.
4. Come Away, Death (1937)
Mrs. Bradley in Greece, tending to the insanities of Sir Rudri Hopkinson, an archaeologist who plans to re-enact the Mysteries of Eleusis (and sacrifice his children along the way). The Greek setting is vivid and atmospheric, the mythology appealing to anybody with an interest in the classical world, the murder (decapitated heads) macabre, and the solution well-reasoned.
5. When Last I Died (1941)
The historiographical novel before Josephine Tey ever dreamt of The Daughter of Time. Mrs. Bradley's discovery of a diary supposedly written by Bella Foxley, arrested for the murder of her aunt and her cousin, and who killed herself following her acquittal, leads her through the memories of those connected with the case until she discovers the surprising solution behind what really did go on at Borley Rectory...
6. The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop (1929)
Opening with the discovery of the absence of the squire, continuing with the discovery of his presence, cut up and hung from hooks in the local butcher's shop, and the discovery of a human skull growing in the cliffs, this classic tale of village life features Mrs. Bradley at her wittiest and most discerning, her detection a joy to behold, as she finds a solution Agatha Christie would be proud to have written.
7. The Longer Bodies (1930)
Ever get sick and tired of S.S. Van Dine's murders to secure a large inheritance? Here is Mitchell's take on the matter: the point being that the first victim isn't an heir at all... The characters, especially the nonagenarian and chelonian Mrs. Puddequet, are memorable; Mrs. Bradley's detection from psychological clues showing off her psycho-analytical skills at their best; and the comedy first-class.
8. Death and the Maiden (1947)
A book which the reader either hates or loves, due to the complexity and bizarreness of subject matter: water nymphs seen in the cathedral town of Winchester. The four suspects are well-drawn; Mrs. Bradley at the top of her powers, reasoning from physical clues to find a surprising solution; the descriptions of nature attractive and justified; and the whole a perfect symphony of complexity and characterisation.
9. Merlin's Furlong (1953)
Rich and strange, as Shakespeare said. Witchcraft; grave-robbery; necromancy; voodoo dolls; half-witted undergraduates; cryptic epitaphs--these are the ingredients of one of Mitchell's most attractive and well-plotted stories, Mrs. Bradley managing for most of the story without the presence of Laura Menzies. Completely satisfying--as spell-binding as the witchcraft perpetrated here.
10. Tom Brown's Body (1949)