Christianna Brand was a meticulous and street-smart writer whose plots and surprises rival those of the best of Golden Age mystery novels, while her characters, with their verve, sparkling talk, and matter- of-fact morals, extend the boundaries of such fiction. Underscoring Brand's achievement is the enduring acclaim for her best-known work, Green for Danger (1944), which is included in Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books by H. R. F. Keating (1987). In addition, her Cat and Mouse (1950) was included by Julian Symons in "Crime: The Hundred Best Stories" in 1959 in The Sunday Times (London), and her second novel, Heads You Lose (1941), was a "$1,000 Red Badge Prize Mystery" in the United States in 1942. She received additional achievements and recognition, including awards for short stories, throughout her career. Brand published a dozen crime and mystery novels, twice that many crime stories, and one nonfiction crime work. In addition to her crime works...