A Murder of Quality
£13.85
murder in the old style - I think this is one of the first Le Carre novels, and Smiley appears in it for some reason or another, even if it is not a spy novel.Murder has happened at a private school. A boy has been killed.Based on this premise, Smiley has to become acquainted with the small inner life of this school, its apparent grandeur and fashionable respectability, and its mean everyday life which hides behind the surface. Investigation is a way to expose the inanity of British society in the 50s before the great crisis of the 60s.Very well written as all Le Carre works, this is your novel if you like Agatha Christie, if you prefer murder in the parish yard instead of the gutter crime of the black series.
Has he lost his Marples?? - A very weird cul-de-sac on the Smiley trail casts George as a male heir to Miss Marple in a bonkers and highly unconvincing murder mystery. I d imagine Le Carre had fun writing this and he puts out his stall on a number of class issues, and it is fun to read, but it is as slight as they come and surely only to be treated as a novelty item.
Smiley goes Agtaha Christie - An early day George Smiley is called to solev an murder mystery at one of the nations best public schools. Here you ll find many familiar elements which made Le Carre greater novels: a younger Smiley, an elitist environment and down to earth police inspectors. Smiley is not as much drawn out as in later novels, but is there allright. A Murder of Quality is one of Le Carre finer sketches, a prelude of much what was to come. The books reads perfectly as a Murder Whodunnit, much like Agatha Christie, but with familair Le Carre characters. Between the lines, Le Carre takes a dig at some of teh snobbish and extraordinary characters of a public school.I ve read it at one go, didn t bore me at all. Recommended
Makes a change - ... This is a murder mystery in the classic mould. It is also a sideways glance at class, via the ludicrous tradition and snobbery of an English public school.We learn a little more about George Smiley [we never learn much, but every book sheds a little more light]and we see him in an unfamiliar setting.The plot is well structured and, as ever, lucidly written. The whodunit element is present, but it isn t too hard to outguess George and get to the murderer quite swiftly. I read this in one sitting-it is not a long book, but it is every bit as satisfying as the author s more sustained efforts.Recommended.Bill
A slightly bizarre detective story. - This doesn t really fit into le Carre s series of spy mysteries. Nevertheless, it is a great story with a clever plot. It is certainly well worth a read but missing it out wouldn t affect the logical flow of his other books.