Miss Mitchell wrote approximately 67 mystery novels featuring the sleuth Dame Beatrice Adele Lestrange Bradley. Mitchell's first novel, Speedy Death, prompted a reviewer to write in 1929, "The author...puts so much good stuff into Mrs. Bradley's makeup that it is to be hoped that this is not to be that remarkable woman's only appearance in a mystery story." The reviewer would not be disappointed, as Miss Mitchell wrote her Mrs. Bradley novels over the course of over 50 years.
Dame Bradley is a psychologist for the Home Office by profession and an amateur sleuth by necessity, as murders are always happening in her vicinity. Mrs. Bradley is the author of A Small Handbook of Psychoanalysis, and she is already well along in years when first introduced. Her physical appearance has been noted to be like "a sinister pterodactyl with a Cheshire Cat smile." Despite her unseemly physical appearance, Mrs. Bradley has a exquisitely smooth speaking voice and is adored by children and animals.
Miss Mitchell's novels are known for including rather "unusual" subjects for their time including transvestism, witchcraft, folklore, and supernatural superstitions. Another common element in the Mrs. Bradley mysteries is that many of them are set in school environments. Additionally, Miss Mitchell's fascination with the antiquities of the British Isles lends itself to many of the settings in these novels.
Noted actress Diana Rigg has brought the character of Mrs. Bradley to life, filming an adaptation of Mitchell's first novel Speedy Death for the PBS Series Mystery! In May of 2001, the series has scheduled 4 more Mrs. Bradley mysteries to be shown with Diana Rigg in the starring role. |
