''The Worsted Viper'' is a 1943

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 specu ...

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 crime fiction, detective novels. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Stephen Hockaby and Malcol ...

. It is the fifteenth in her long-running series featuring the

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

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 ...

.Reilly p.1089 Bradley was one of a number of investigators active during the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Golden Age proper is usually taken to refer to works from that period, this type of f ...

. Much of the novel takes place on the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

. In 2000 it was adapted for an episode of the television series ''

The Mrs Bradley Mysteries ''The Mrs Bradley Mysteries'' is a British drama series starring Diana Rigg as Adela Bradley, and Neil Dudgeon as her chauffeur George Moody. The series was produced by the BBC for its BBC One channel between 31 August 1998 and 6 February 2000, ...

'' starring

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Tracy Bond, Teresa di ...

Synopsis

When three of her former students on a boating holiday in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

discover a body in a cottage, they call in the assistance of Mrs Bradley.

References

Bibliography

* Klein, Kathleen Gregory. ''Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary''. Greenwood Press, 1994. * Miskimmin, Esme. ''100 British Crime Writers''. Springer Nature, 2020. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1943 British novels Novels by Gladys Mitchell British crime novels British mystery novels British thriller novels Novels set in Norfolk British detective novels British novels adapted into television shows Michael Joseph books Mrs Bradley novels {{1940s-mystery-novel-stub