''Death in High Heels'' is a 1941

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

by the British author Christianna Brand. Her debut novel, it featured Inspector Charlesworth, a young

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

with

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, who is called in when a young woman is murdered at an upmarket

dress shop A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''de ...

in London's

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

. The same year Brand published '' Heads You Lose'' her first novel featuring her best known detective Inspector Cockrill and she did not return to a solo sequel featuring Charlesworth until ''The Rose in Darkness'' in 1979. However Charlesworth did make appearances in the Cockrill novels ''

Death of Jezebel ''Death of Jezebel'' is a 1948 mystery crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either ...

'' (1948) and ''

London Particular Pea soup fog (also known as a pea souper, black fog or killer fog) is a very thick and often yellowish, greenish or blackish fog caused by air pollution that contains soot Atmospheric particulate matter, particulates and the poisonous gas sulphu ...

'' (1952).

Adaptation

In 1947 it was made into a film of the same title starring Don Stannard,

Elsa Tee Elsa Tee (1917–2006) was a British actress. Selected filmography * ''Heaven Is Round the Corner'' (1944) * ''Twilight Hour'' (1944) * ''Here Comes the Sun'' (1946) * ''Death in High Heels'' (1947) * ''School for Randle ''School for Randl ...

and Veronica Rose. It was produced as a second feature at Marylebone Studios and distributed by Exclusive Films.Goble p.53

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Hoffman, Megan. ''Gender and Representation in British ‘Golden Age’ Crime Fiction''. Springer, 2016. 1941 British novels 1941 debut novels Novels by Christianna Brand British crime novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in London British detective novels The Bodley Head books {{1940s-crime-novel-stub