Gladys Mitchell facts for kids

Gladys Mitchell (born April 21, 1901 – died July 27, 1983) was an English author. She was famous for creating the detective character Mrs. Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, who appeared in 66 of her detective novels. She also wrote books using the names Stephen Hockaby and Malcolm Torrie. People admired her work during her lifetime, but it has been less known since her death.

About Gladys Mitchell's Life

Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was born on April 19, 1901, in Cowley, Oxford, England. Her father, James, was a gardener, and her mother was Annie. Gladys went to Rothschild School, Brentford and The Green School. From 1919 to 1921, she studied at Goldsmiths College and University College London.

After finishing college, Gladys became a teacher. She taught history, English, and games at St Paul's School, Brentford until 1925. She then taught at St Ann's Senior Girls School in Hanwell until 1939. In 1926, she earned a diploma in European History. She started writing novels while still teaching.

In 1941, she joined Brentford School for Girls and stayed there until 1950. After a three-year break, she took a job at Matthew Arnold School, Staines. There, she taught English and history, coached hurdling (a type of running race), and wrote the school's annual play. She retired in 1961 and moved to Corfe Mullen, Dorset. She continued to write until she passed away at age 82 on July 27, 1983.

Gladys Mitchell never married. She was interested in architecture and writing poetry. She also studied the ideas of Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist. Her friend, the detective novelist Helen Simpson, encouraged her interest in witchcraft.

Gladys Mitchell's Books and Stories

Gladys Mitchell wrote at least one novel every year throughout her career. Her first novel, Speedy Death (1929), introduced her most famous character, Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley. Mrs. Bradley is a very smart psychoanalyst (someone who studies the human mind) and author. She appeared in 65 more novels. Mrs. Bradley and her assistant, Laura Menzies, often shared strong opinions on social and philosophical topics, which seemed to reflect Gladys Mitchell's own views.

Gladys Mitchell was an early member of the Detection Club. This was a group of famous detective writers, including G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers. In the 1930s, she was considered one of the "Big Three women detective writers." However, she often liked to challenge the usual rules of detective stories. For example, her first novel, Speedy Death, has a very surprising plot twist. She also made fun of Agatha Christie's style in books like The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop (1929).

Her plots and settings were often unusual. She included themes like Freudian psychology (the study of the mind), witchcraft (seen in The Devil at Saxon Wall [1935]), and even supernatural elements like naiads (water spirits), Nessie, ghosts, and Greek gods.

Besides her 66 Mrs. Bradley novels, Gladys Mitchell also wrote other types of books. She used the name Stephen Hockaby for a series of historical novels. She used the name Malcolm Torrie for another series of detective stories, which featured an architect named Timothy Herring. She also wrote ten children's books under her own name.

After her death, Gladys Mitchell's work was not as widely read for a while. However, three of her novels published after she died sold well in the 1980s. Her books were also adapted for radio by the BBC Radio 4. Speedy Death (1990) and The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop (1991) were both made into radio plays, with Mary Wimbush playing Mrs. Bradley.

In 1999, a BBC television series called The Mrs Bradley Mysteries was made, starring Diana Rigg. However, the TV show changed some of Mrs. Bradley's characteristics and altered the plots.

By the mid-1990s, only one of her novels, The Rising of the Moon (1945), was still regularly printed. But a new interest in her work began around 2005. A collection of her short stories, Sleuth's Alchemy, was published by Crippen & Landru. Many of her older books have since been reissued by different publishers, making them available to new readers.

Some of her most popular books, which show her unique style, include:

• The Saltmarsh Murders (1932)
• Death at the Opera (1934)
• The Devil at Saxon Wall (1935)
• The Rising of the Moon (1945)
• The Dancing Druids (1948)
• Tom Brown's Body (1949)
• Groaning Spinney (1950)
• Nest of Vipers (1979)
• The Greenstone Griffins (1983)