Michael Gilbert (1)Recensioni

The only work slightly comparable is definitely Michael Innes’ Death at the President’s Lodging. There is a campus, which is locked at night, a bunch of quirky intellectual canons and vergers, and associated gardeners. The dean of the whole place is fairly decent at being the dean, the reader supposes, but not too excellent at knowing how to deal with attempted murder and the like. The dean calls his nephew hoping for an unofficial, but still police-involved, assistance. The nephew calls Inspector Hazlerigg, who really does not have much of a personality. I get the idea that he is a larger, athletic fellow. However, he does not really do much to distinguish himself in this novel – besides being the authority of the Yard.

There is a lot of coming and going to Evensong. There is a choir and they are dressing for sessions and then disrobing afterward. There are tea times and there are flower beds. The detectives are going to have a smoke and pull out their papers and go over the case – again.Overall, this is a good read. It is not a story that all readers will enjoy. There is too much detail work, maybe there are just too many characters?

Overall the book is pretty lightly witty and written well with a strong sense of place around the solicitors office this all takes part in, and the mystery does work well mechanics wise and ties in cleverly with lots of minor scattered clues but... I admit I found the ending a little unsatisfying emotionally even though technically it's totally fine. I think the problem is that there are so many characters in the book which inevitably means they only get so much attention and even though the writer handled each character deftly enough that they all gave a good impression it's still hard to keep track of them and they don't really get a chance to have any particular emotional depth. The ending really doesn't go into any sort of depth with the wrapping up and the motive although technically legitimate doesn't feel satisfying.

3 stars is maybe a bit mean but the denouement is so important in mystery novels and I just didn't get that sense of satisfaction and understanding and emotional payoff that I really look for even though the rest of the book is technically highly proficient and deftly handled.

These six masters include Ellery Queen, in what is his, to me, best short novel. I think the conclusion is truly surprising.
Michael Gilbert seldom produces anything but a masterful work, and this is another, with Patrick Petrella as the chief protagonist. It gives such a great look at England's criminal underground.
Ed McBain is a favorite to lots of people, though not to me. You will probably like this entry.
Georges Simenon is another I don't much care for. I've wondered why and think maybe it's at least partly because the original is in French and what I read is a translation. Madame Simenon has a prominent part in this story and that helps.
Erle Stanley Gardner is an uneven writer. This is rather contrived, but interesting.
Finally, this John D. MacDonald story is not about Travis McGee, is not, in fact, part of any series, but is an interesting story, one we might need to laugh at ourselves about.
All in all, this is a good collection.

Michael Gilbert quickly, apparently with this book right here, became a standard and a dependable in British crime fiction.
I know I have been a fan since the first of his works I read, especially his Calder and Behrens entries.
Any time you're looking for something light but engrossing, nearly always you can count on Michael Gilbert. "Smallbone Deceased" is a classic.

A good, solid, classic mystery; I enjoyed it very much.

The London legal firm of Horniman, Birley and Craine is a respected one which caters largely to the aristocracy—except then the body of a client is found crammed inside a deed box. Between them the newly qualified John Bohun, who's recently joined the firm, and Inspector Hazlerigg of Scotland Yard must figure out who killed the aptly named Mr Smallbone, and why. A classic puzzle mystery with some good dry humour and some neatly observed characters. A really solid way of scratching the whodunnit itch.

Petrella

astounding - learned more about espionage in this one effort than in many other titles combined

excellent combination of court drama and WWII resistance history

fairly certain I have read this - in California - not available MCL but requested copy from Blackwells when they can find one and put one on Biblio wishlist

Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert is a 1950 mystery novel. The author, being a lawyer himself, set this mystery in a London solicitor’s office and, as Dorothy Sayers did for advertising in Murder Must Advertise, gives the reader a fishbowl look at the inner workings of a 1950s law office.

The day to day business of contracts, trust funds and conveyance work is shattered with the discovery of a body concealed in a large deed box. Investigating the case is Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Hazlerigg, ably assisted by Henry Bohun, a new employee of the firm of Horniman, Birley and Craine. As the employees of the firm, including secretaries, clerks and partners are interviewed, plenty of red herrings are dished out and the police are kept busy tracking down alibi’s and finances.

The author uses his knowledge to give Smallbone Deceased an authentic setting, adds in some interesting characters and plenty of witty conversation to give this clever puzzle some depth and originality. Overall this was a very enjoyable read.

Victoria Lamartine, an ex-French Resistance fighter and now hotel worker is standing trial for the murder of her former manager in France, and alleged lover, Major Eric Thoseby. A seemingly straightforward trial as she is the only logical suspect.
Just before her trial she changes her defence counsel, and solicitor. The latter, with help try and find new evidence.
It took a few chapters to get into the book but then I came interested in the story and really enjoyed the unfolding of this well-written story.
Originally published in 1951
A NetGalley Book

A good old-fashioned mystery with an assortment of simple and complex characters. Again I was somewhat surprised I enjoyed it more than I anticipated. While a death was being thoroughly investigated; I was struck by the beauty of the close, as well as the dynamics of the community, the intelligence of many of the characters including the investigators. A few humorous diversions were welcome and appreciated.

Novel moved at a good pace, was engaging, and well-written. I would definitely read more of Gilbert's novels.

"Apart from the Roman Church, who are acknowledged experts of human behaviour, there is nobody quicker than a solicitor at detecting the first faint stirrings of a scandal: that distinctive, that elusive odour of Something which is not quite as it Should Be." (Opening of Chapter 3)

A smelly human body is found abandoned in a law firm's sealed deed box. The body belongs to a Mr. Marcus Smallbone, a mysterious client of the firm. It's agreed that there's been foul play and this brings in Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Hazelrigg to investigate. Hazelrigg in turn enlists the help of a young newly-qualified solicitor in the firm, Henry Bohun. He is a unique individual who requires little sleep and has some diverse vocations to fill the night time hours while the rest of the world sleeps.

Each of Hazelrigg and Bohun investigates in his own way to eventually discover the killer's identity. There's another suspicious death along the way to up the ante. It's a twisty classical puzzle mystery, heavy in legal jargon and rigamarole, which is set within the law firm and involves the cast of characters which inhabit it. It's an excellent detective story and pleasant entertainment, almost whimsical to read. All the acclaim it has received is well earned.

Very much enjoyed this one. At first had a bit of trouble telling the women apart, but eventually it all came together. Lots of clues, some nice misdirections, very little of this modern angst/grit/trouble-life-outside-of-crime-solving that detracts from the main story--all in all a good satisfying read, and I'll happily seek out others by the same author.

Also, quite funny at times, in a dry British way (the kind of humor where some people might not realise a joke is being made), with some inventive writing which adds to it (at one point, a character was musing in a long paragraph about what might have happened, which was interrupted by a very short sentence something like "What? Oh, a cat." and then right back to more musing. I like that sort of thing).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!

The book started out great with a court room drama that was headed towards disaster as the defendant changed her legal advisors at the very last minute and her new barristers struggled for time to prepare a case that seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Thrilling stuff.
Unfortunately, once a little time is granted, the story changes into action mode, where we see threats, stabbings, and people digging up dirt from the past. Yep, this was so boring. I often had to flip back to a previous chapter to find out why we were where we were and what we were trying to accomplish. Seriously, this was not good.
What made the book worse was the ending. Just when I hoped we’d be able to get back to the sparkle of the first chapters, the book plunged into a diatribe on morality.
Now, I understand that this section reflected the mores of its time, or at least the mores of a certain strata middle-class England and – from what I have read – the English legal system at the time. However, as a reader I was not in the mood to put up with outright mysogyny and acceptance of double-standards that was portrayed in the story. What irked me most was that the social issues that were depicted could have been, and only a couple of decades later probably would have been!, picked up as part of the legal drama. But no. Instead of taking apart the bias toward the defendant instilled in both society inside and outside of the court room, Gilbert decided to present a pedestrian solution that seemed to have been pulled out of a hat. It was all very, very disappointing, especially because my first encounter with Gilbert’s work in [Smallbone Deceased] not long ago had me hope that Gilbert could be another author I would want to read more by.½

Beautifully written whodunnit, but set in a World War II prison of war camp in Italy. Full of surprising moments and lots of convincing detail about what it was like to be a prisoner, and the precariousness and arbitrariness of life during the war. Recommended.

Italy, 1943. A prisoner of war camp run by the Italians. The activities are as varied as the prisoners: escape attempts, plays put on by the POW theatre troupe, rugby…and murder? One of the more unpopular prisoners has been found dead in the Escape Committee’s prime tunnel, and they have to make sure he’s not found there, or the game is up. But at the same time, who killed him? One of the POWs is elected to solve the case. Will he find out whodunnit, or will his detective career end with the death meted out to spies?

I really liked this mystery. The plot is an excellent hook, and the environment is richly imagined. All the clever escape attempts and mechanisms to undermine the defences of the camp reminded me very much of Hogan’s Heroes, which I watched a lot of when the local retro channel aired it. But I did think that slightly irreverent of me to take interest in, because Michael Gilbert was himself an officer in the British Army and served in a POW camp himself in Italy around the time the story is set. So this story probably contains more of the autobiographical than his other novels, and there were probably many more harrowing details of his time there that would not have made their way to the pages of this particular book.

I would absolutely recommend this if you like closed-circle mysteries and are interested in WW2.½

Great fun and a swiftly paced page turner so I gave it a high rating --for me--within its genre. A French woman is accused of murdering a British major, and the mystery centers on events in wartime France where the woman was a member of the resistance working with the British. The tale develops and the mystery is gradually solved as the author skips between the British courtroom trial and the adventures of the young lawyer sleuth seeking evidence in France. The characters were likeable and the courtroom proceedings interesting and entertaining while the structure of the story was solid.

A Harper novel of suspense

A Harper novel of suspense Orig. published serially as The trial of Victoria Lamartine

Sharp, witty as hell, and perfectly puzzling is Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert, a classic British crime novel from the mid-century.

Set in post-WWII Britain, the book sparkles with sardonic remarks, and stars a full cast of engaging, or distrustful, or reliable, or secretive characters, all of whom, major and minor, are as fully drawn as any Agatha Christie tale. Quaintly typical of the era, gender roles are highly segregated into male (lawyers) and female (secretaries) divisions. Other than that, the feel of the book is fairly contemporary.

The plot is complex and the motive device may seem confusing to some readers because of all the legalese involved. But Gilbert is very good at explaining terms and conditions, in spite of the language barrier that professional legal jargon and non-"English" speaking readers on the western side of the Atlantic may find unfamiliar.

You may think, after those remarks, that the novel is dry and boring, only to be enjoyed by solicitors and barristers. It isn't, and this reader appreciated the honesty with which the author revealed the identity of the perp. For an intelligent, laugh-out-loud-funny and well paced read, you can do no better if well-mannered British detective fiction is what you like served with your tea.

Anthology of memories and observations of (mostly) English prep schools, taken from a wide variety of memoirs. The book is arranged by subject matter across a number of chapters. Very well written and very well selected. Obviously targeted toward a narrow audience, which I think I happen to fall into. I found it enjoyable.

This book is an excellent blend of whodunnit murder mystery, detective thriller and courtroom drama. The story is set in post WW2 years, but there's a backstory centres on events occurring in France during the German Occupation in the war. The language is not dated even though the book was written in 1951.

It begins with an accused killer changing her legal defence team on the eve of the beginning of her trial. Her previous team wanted her to plead guilty and throw herself n the mercy of the court. The suggestion is that they did not want to mount a vigorous defence out of either laziness or a lack of financial incentive. A new team comes in to prove that she's innocent.
The story opens literally on the courtroom steps and moves through the trial process. This process is presented in clear language with minimal arcane legal jargon. The barristers are seasoned and act professionally, no phoney rhetoric or histrionics.

Alternating with the court proceeding is the story of the detective work undertaken by a junior defence solicitor and a veteran British commando. The solicitor travels to France while the veteran stays in England. However, both face danger from people wanting to thwart their inquiries.
The author is good at building suspense. With the detectives, it's the tension of the thriller -- can they elude their pursuers? In the courtroom, it's a race against time to find the information to prove the defence case before the end of the trial.

All in all, it's a brilliant work of crime fiction: suspenseful, well-plotted and fast-paced with an ensemble cast of interesting characters. The description of post war rural France adds to the atmosphere in a meaningful way too. It's one of those books you want to read in one sitting.
The comprehensive Introduction written by Martin Edwards provides insight into the author and the book.

Recommended reading.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an advance reading copy of this eBook of the British Library Crime Classic edition. The comments about it are my own.