Michael Gilbert (1) (1912–2006)

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 show more 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. show less

The deed boxes found in a mid-20th-century London solicitor’s office usually contain paper deeds. However, one deed box at the firm of Horniman, Birley and Craine contains evidence of a much fouler deed: the body of Marcus Smallbone. And as if that weren’t enough scandal, the fact of the body being found where it was suggests strongly that someone involved in the firm committed the crime. It’s up to Inspector Hazlerigg to figure out who it was.

I found this a highly satisfying entry in show more the British Library Crime Classics imprint and well worth inclusion on the “best crime novel” lists it’s been added to over the years. Gilbert worked for a law firm and deploys this expertise to advantage without overwhelming the general reader. The writing style is smooth and Inspector Hazlerigg in particular gets some good one-liners—I do like a detective who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and I like when characters in detective stories accuse each other of reading too many detective stories. It’s a bit of a cliche now, I think, but in the classic crime novels it’s always delightfully meta. show less

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 show more 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. show less

"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 show more 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. show less