''Tom Brown's Body'' is a 1949

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

by the British writer

Gladys Mitchell Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell (21 April 1901 – 27 July 1983) was an English writer best known for her creation of Mrs Bradley, the heroine of 66 detective novels. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Stephen Hockaby and Malcolm Torrie. Fête ...

. It is the twenty second in her long-running series featuring the

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

and amateur detective

Mrs Bradley Beatrice Adela Bradley is a fictional detective created by Gladys Mitchell. Mrs (later Dame Beatrice) Bradley is Mitchell's most significant and long-lived character, appearing in 66 novels that were published between 1929 and 1975. Life Mrs B ...

.Reilly p.1089 The title refers to both the novel ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'' and the song '' John Brown's Body''. Mitchell had previously used a school setting for her earlier work ''

Death at the Opera ''Death at the Opera'' is a 1934 mystery novel, mystery detective novel by the British writer Gladys Mitchell. It was the fifth novel in her series featuring the psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley. It was published in the United Stat ...

''.

Synopsis

In the countryside searching for a book by once of her ancestors on

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

, Mrs Bradley acquires it from a local witch. However a murder of one of the

schoolmasters The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

at the nearby

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

draws her interest, particularly as it appears to be linked with witchcraft.

References

Bibliography

* Klein, Kathleen Gregory. ''Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary''. Greenwood Press, 1994. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Walton, Samantha. ''Guilty But Insane: Mind and Law in Golden Age Detective Fiction''. Oxford University Press, 2015. 1949 British novels Novels by Gladys Mitchell British crime novels Novels set in England British detective novels Michael Joseph books {{1940s-mystery-novel-stub