Gideon's Day

This is the first in a series written under a pseudonym by extremely prolific crime writer John Creasey, and purports to be a more "realistic" sort of mystery, chronicling a day in the life at Scotland Yard. Superintendent George Gideon is our protagonist and we follow him as he deals with the various crimes that make their way across Scotland Yard's desk, particularly an ongoing operation against a series of mail van robberies. In this way it's kind of like a book version of Barney Miller (although the book came first).

Overall I liked this book. There were a few stereotyping issues, given that the book was published in 1955: there's a sinister Chinese drug lord, probably a cliché even back then, and Gideon's thoughts about his wife, show more Kate, where he muses about how she's still pretty even though she's putting on weight in the usual middle-aged places. And some of the drug busting scenes had a "REEFER MADNESS" kind of feel that provided unintentional comedy.

But what really impressed me about this book was how it did not appear to have contracted First in Series Syndrome. Even though this is the first of a great many Gideon novels, it feels like an entry in a long-standing series; the characters are introduced with a minimum of fuss and just enough backstory to orient ourselves without drowning in unnecessary detail. A good start to the series, which I will be continuing to read. show less

Gideon's Day was a very interesting police procedural. Originally published in 1955, and written by J.J. Marric, a pseudonym for author John Creasey, this is the first in a series. The Gideon of the tile is Superintendent George Gideon of Scotland Yard. The book follows Gideon from the time he arrives at work in the morning until he gets home late at night.. This was just one day in the life of a man who is dedicated to his job. He balances his home life with his police work, but obviously gives more time to his job then he does to his wife and six kids.

Gideon spends his day in the juggling of various cases that include hunting for a child murderer, continuing to investigate a series of postal mail van robberies, and following up on show more the hit and run death of a fellow detective accused if taking bribes. Gideon gives his best to each case and his honourable, analytical approach to each case is admirable.

There are some issues with stereotyping of characters as Gideon deals with an evil Chinese drug lord and less than classy “East-Enders” but the reader gets a clear picture of how crime was dealt with in the 1950s and the values of the day. The book didn’t feel like the first in a series, as the author didn’t waste any time in setting the scene, we are immediately thrust into the situation. I was totally pulled into the story and plan to now look for more of these books. show less

I was not sure what exactly to expect of this novel, except the rather obvious crime novel of the 1950s. I have to say that it is rather unique because the whole novel is structured, for the most part, as following one very long day of Superintendent George Gideon. The novel is from the perspective of a higher-ranked lawman, so unlike typical police procedurals that follow the grunt work of beat cops and bulls, the reader gets a different view of the operations.

Overall the novel is fully-contained; though there are over twenty Gideon novels to read, one could read this novel and be happily satisfied without having to read further. I intend to read further, I have a few more Gideon novels here until I need to acquire the ones I do not show more yet have. Definitely for fans of police procedural mysteries as well as for British crime fiction fans. show less

GIDEON'S DAY, published under the pseudonym of J.J. Marric, really was the forerunner of those police procedurals which have become so popular in recent decades. It precedes by 10 years the works of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo in the Martin Beck series.
There were eventually 22 titles in the Gideon series 1955-1978 (2 of them posthumously).

Of course many of us remember the television series too.
On YouTube there is a segment of the colour film with Jack Hawkins playing George Gideon.
The television series starred John Gregson.

What strikes you as you listen is how busy Gideon's day actually was, so many things happened. George Gideon was a pretty fiery character who demanded high standards of himself and all who worked with him. His day show more begins with him dressing down a subordinate whom he has discovered is taking bribes from a London drug peddler. Within the hour the man has been killed in a driving hit-and-run.

I'm looking forward to following this up with GIDEON'S NIGHT and GIDEON'S WEEK. show less

Well, I'm still on the search of a good British series. I doubt this is it, but I will read the second in the series before giving up the fight.

This first book details a day in the life of Chief Inspector George Gideon. A very long day, with ups and downs one needs a score card to keep it all straight. It introduces a couple of crime elements, which may or may not reoccur in subsequent titles, plus a few of the police characters, which surely will.

I happened upon John Creasey's name in [Stephen King]'s [On Writing].

Gideon of Scotland Yard investigates an armed robbery, a murdering rapist, the shooting of a store clerk, a jewel robbery and a shoot-out with a bank robber.
Somewhat dated, but still a good read.
J.J. Marric is the pseudonym of John Creasey.

England, London, ca 1955
Indeholder "Præsentation af Gideon fra Scotland Yard", "1. Gideons vrede", "2. Gideon går en tur", "3. Fosters søster", "4. Chang", "5. Barnemorderen", "6. Menneskejagt", "7. En enlig gammel kone", "8. Dækspor", "9. Postvognsrøveriet", "10. Find det dæk", "11. Birdy", "12. To historier om smykker", "13. Tyven", "14. Murphy-banden strammer nettet", "15. Urolige mænd", "16. Et fredhelligt sted?", "17. Det største kup", "18. Tunnelen", "19. Flugten", "20. Dagen er slut".

Den første i en lang serie om George Gideon, øverstbefalende kriminalkommissær i Scotland Yard. Han er 49 år, har været gift med Kate i 25 år og de har seks børn, Tom på 26 år er den ældste. Prudence er 18 år og lige bestået show more eksamen som violinist. Priscilla på 15, Matthew på 14, Penelope på 12, Malcolm på 8. Mellem Prudence og Tom var der et barn mere, men det døde. Parret bor i et pænt to-etagers hus med kvist i Fulham, Harringdon Street.
I et forord fortæller forfatteren at han er glad for at Scotland Yard opfandt stillingen som øverstkommanderende kriminalkommissær fra Metropolitan politiet nogle få år før han fik brug for den. Han har snakket med mange ved Scotland Yard og kendte deres første chefkommissær George Hatherill og har fået god hjælp af dem. Ideen er at kunne skildre politiets arbejde fra flere sider på en gang og derfor er en konstrueret historie som denne bedre end fx en erindringshistorie fra en enkelt politimand.

Wikipedia på George_Gideon giver lidt mere information om den fiktive person.

Gideon starter dagen med at give kriminaloverbetjent Eric Foster en voldsom skideballe. Gideon er sikker på at Foster tager imod bestikkelse fra bagmanden Chang, men har ikke helt solide beviser endnu. Gideons næstkommanderende Lemaitre har kendt Gideon i snart femogtyve år og er ikke vant til at se ham så vred. Kort efter skideballen bliver Foster kørt ned og dør. Gideon opsøger Chang og møder til sin overraskelse Fosters søster, Florence Foster, der men hun går uden at lade sige mærke med noget. Chang er heller ikke meddelsom. Tilbage på kontoret sætter Gideon gang i grundige undersøgelser af begge søskendes liv og levned. Florence er gift med en Addington, men er separeret og bor i Chelsea.
En Arthur Sayer er ven med familien Saparelli og moderen Lucy Saparelli er ude at hente de andre børn. Arthur lukker Dorothy Saparelli på 9 år ind i lejligheden, da hun kommer hjem, mens Lucy er ude. Desværre for alle parter finder han på at slå hende ihjel med en kniv og skænde hende. Han flygter ud i byen, men bliver snart lokaliseret i en biograf. Der er også et uopklaret mord på en Jennifer Gay Lee, som de gerne vil snakke med ham om. England har stadig dødsstraf, så galgen venter barnemordere. Nogle røverier mod postvogne har stået på i lang tid og politiet mangler stadig spor. En gammel kvinde Annie Sharp på 72 bliver slået ihjel, rovmord for nogle få pund. Lidt held giver politiet et brugbart fingeraftryk af drabsmanden, en Arthur George Ferrell. Overraskende nok viser et dækaftryk fra postvognsrøverierne at gå igen i drabet på Foster. Florence Addington får at vide at broderen er død og giver politiet mange oplysninger, fx at Eric havde overraskende mange penge at bruge på møbler og malerier til deres i forvejen dyre lejlighed.
En stikker, Birdy Merrick, bliver jaget af Murphy-bandel efter at have fortalt Gideon om Chang og Foster. Hans kone Ethel Merrick er så nervøs at hun fortæller Gideon noget, som kan koste Birdy en tur i spjældet, for han er sikrere i politiets hænder.
En kammerpige for Lady Muriel og Mr Simister, Rose Bray på 16 år, bliver udsat for et røveri, da hun opdager en tyv, der er ved at hugge Lady Muriels smykker. Tyven kalder hende Rosie, så han må have bekendte indenfor. Florence og Gideon får tilsammen gjort Chang så nervøs at han begynder at lave fejl. Birdy bliver fanget af Lefty og Ali, men en lokal kapellan blander sig og får uskadeliggjort Ali og giver førstehjælp til Birdy. En Mazzioni bliver fanget på dækaftrykkene, men Chang sender en advokat Ledbetter til undsætning med et falsk alibi.
En Alec Fitzroy har lagt en plan for at røve en bankbox, der døgnåbent og det lykkes næsten, men en årvågen betjent og en årvågen kunde lægger mærke til uregelmæssigheder og politiet lægger en ring om bygningen. Fitzroy får sig skudt fri ved at såre tre betjente, men må efterlade byttet. Lemaitre får fat i en Luke Shipham, kaldet Shippy, og her er byttet fra seneste postvognsrøveri. Og man finder også en forbindelse mellem Chang og indsmuglede marihuanacigaretter.
Så dagen ender rimelig godt, men lidt sent for Gideon. Og hans kone har været flink og stillet smørrebrød frem til ham og er også i snakkehumør, da han kommer hjem.

Her er lidt om George Gideon og hans kone Kates forhold og ditto om Lemaitre og hans kone Fifi. show less