''Tour de Force'' is a 1955

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'' ( ...

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 author

Christianna Brand Mary Christianna Lewis (née Milne; 17 December 1907 – 11 March 1988), known professionally as Christianna Brand, was a British crime writer and children's author born in British Malaya. Biography Christianna Brand was born Mary Christi ...

.Rielly p.170 It was the sixth novel in a series featuring the fictional police detective Inspector Cockrill. It was the last full-length novel in which Cockrill appears, although he features in some short stories. His sister Henrietta also features in the 1957 novel ''The Three Cornered Halo'' which uses the same setting as this work.

Synopsis

Against his better judgement Cockrill travels for a holiday on a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

island republic off the coast of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. When a murder is committed he becomes the initial suspect for the local investigating officer, whose methods he find inept. He sets out to solve the crime himself.

References

Bibliography

* Bargainnier, Earl F. & Dove George N. ''Cops and Constables: American and British Fictional Policemen''. Popular Press, 1986. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1955 British novels Novels by Christianna Brand British mystery novels British detective novels Michael Joseph books {{1950s-mystery-novel-stub