Smallbone Deceased: Difference between revisions
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{{Image|Michael Gilbert Portrait - smaller.jpg|left|100px|Michael Gilbert on the back cover of [[Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens]], 1982}} | {{Image|Michael Gilbert Portrait - smaller.jpg|left|100px|Michael Gilbert on the back cover of [[Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens]], 1982}} | ||
'''''Smallbone Deceased''''' is a British mystery novel by [[Michael Gilbert]], first published in the United Kingdom in 1950 by [[Hodder and Stoughton]] and in the United States by [[Harper & Row|Harper & Brothers]]. It was Gilbert's fourth novel and, like the three earlier ones, featured [[Chief Inspector Hazlerigg]] as its official investigator. A practicing lawyer himself, Gilbert set the novel in a London solicitor's office. | '''''Smallbone Deceased''''' is a British mystery novel by [[Michael Gilbert]], first published in the United Kingdom in 1950 by [[Hodder and Stoughton]] and in the United States by [[Harper & Row|Harper & Brothers]]. It was Gilbert's fourth novel and, like the three earlier ones, featured [[Chief Inspector Hazlerigg]] as its official investigator. A practicing lawyer himself, Gilbert set the novel in a London solicitor's office. An unofficial investigator, but one who is coordinating with Hazlerigg, is [[Henry Bohun]], in his only appearance in a Gilbert novel. A [[parainsomniac]] (a person who needs only a very few hours of sleep per night), Bohun is a qualified certified accountant who is hired by the firm—he also appears in a number of short stories. | ||
The book was ranked 64th in the ''[[The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time]]'', published in 1990 by the British-based [[Crime Writers' Association]].<ref>{{cite book |year=1990 |editor1-last=Moody |editor1-first=Susan |editor1-link=Susan Moody |title=The Hatchard's Crime Companion: 100 top Crime novels |location=London |publisher=[[Hatchards|Hatchard]] |isbn=978-0-904-03002-0 |oclc=60057335}}</ref> Five years later, it was ranked 80th in the ''[[The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time]]'', published by the [[Mystery Writers of America]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Penzler |first1=Otto |author-link1=Otto Penzler |editor1-last=Friedman |editor1-first=Mickey |title=The Crown crime companion: the top 100 mystery novels of all time |location=New York |publisher=[[Crown Trade Paperbacks]] |isbn=978-0-517-88115-6 |oclc=31605503}}</ref> | The book was ranked 64th in the ''[[The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time]]'', published in 1990 by the British-based [[Crime Writers' Association]].<ref>{{cite book |year=1990 |editor1-last=Moody |editor1-first=Susan |editor1-link=Susan Moody |title=The Hatchard's Crime Companion: 100 top Crime novels |location=London |publisher=[[Hatchards|Hatchard]] |isbn=978-0-904-03002-0 |oclc=60057335}}</ref> Five years later, it was ranked 80th in the ''[[The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time]]'', published by the [[Mystery Writers of America]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Penzler |first1=Otto |author-link1=Otto Penzler |editor1-last=Friedman |editor1-first=Mickey |title=The Crown crime companion: the top 100 mystery novels of all time |location=New York |publisher=[[Crown Trade Paperbacks]] |isbn=978-0-517-88115-6 |oclc=31605503}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 19:32, 2 November 2016
Smallbone Deceased is a British mystery novel by Michael Gilbert, first published in the United Kingdom in 1950 by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States by Harper & Brothers. It was Gilbert's fourth novel and, like the three earlier ones, featured Chief Inspector Hazlerigg as its official investigator. A practicing lawyer himself, Gilbert set the novel in a London solicitor's office. An unofficial investigator, but one who is coordinating with Hazlerigg, is Henry Bohun, in his only appearance in a Gilbert novel. A parainsomniac (a person who needs only a very few hours of sleep per night), Bohun is a qualified certified accountant who is hired by the firm—he also appears in a number of short stories.
The book was ranked 64th in the The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time, published in 1990 by the British-based Crime Writers' Association.[1] Five years later, it was ranked 80th in the The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time, published by the Mystery Writers of America.[2]
Reception and/or Appraisal
Margery H. Oates at the New York Times called it "a first-rate job" upon its publication:
When an anonymous corpse is found in a office strong box, when a trustee disappears and a young partner becomes erratic, the... atmosphere becomes tense... The author is a lawyer who looks at the law and the people in it with equal parts of mirth and wisdom. [3]
A much later appraisal comes from Barzun and Taylor's encyclopedic Catalogue of Crime:
Two splendid murders on the premise of a London solicitor. The motives ae good, and one must call excellent the detection by Inspector Hazlerigg and an amateur assistant, who enjoys parainsomnia. As a bonus we are given a method of mortgaging property already fully mortgaged, and a pleasant bit of fooling about the Ascheim-Zondek test and its antecedents. All in all, Gilbert's masterwork.[4]
The Guardian's obituary of Gilbert by H. R. F. Keating described the novel as:
a classic of the genre...rich with everyday details of a law practice, both good and naughty, dancing too with pawky humour; at the same time it sets a puzzle to please the most exigent of readers.[5]
The Telegraph's obituary of Gilbert also praised it as "one of his finest novels".[6]
References
- ↑ (1990) The Hatchard's Crime Companion: 100 top Crime novels. London: Hatchard. ISBN 978-0-904-03002-0. OCLC 60057335.
- ↑ The Crown crime companion: the top 100 mystery novels of all time. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-517-88115-6. OCLC 31605503.
- ↑ Criminals at Large: Office Intrigue, "The New York Times", 5 November 1950 at [1]
- ↑ Jacques Barzun & Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime, Harper & Row, New York, "Second Impression Corrected", 1973, page 209
- ↑ Keating, HRF. Obituary: Michael Gilbert, 10 February 2006. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.
- ↑ Michael Gilbert, 10 February 2006. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.