Even Murderers Take Holidays and Other Mysteries
Even Murderers Take Holidays and Other Mysteries is a collection of mystery stories by the British thriller writer Michael Gilbert, first published in 2007 by the British company Robert Hale and unpublished in the United States. It contains 25 previously uncollected stories, as well as an introduction by John Cooper and an appendix. Twelve of the stories feature Inspector Petrella, one of the many recurring characters that Gilbert created throughout his long career of writing both novels and short stories. It also has one story featuring Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens, as well as four stories about Inspector Hazlerigg. Gilbert, who was appointed CBE in 1980, was a founder-member of the British Crime Writers' Association. The Mystery Writers of America named him a Grand Master in 1988[1] and in 1990 he was presented Bouchercon's Lifetime Achievement Award.[2] The locales are mostly set in London and its environs. A number of the stories, such as XXXX, have an unexpected grimness about them. "Michael was an exceptionally fine storyteller, but he's hard to classify," said one of his American publishers after his death. "He's not a hard-boiled writer in the classic sense, but there is a hard edge to him, a feeling within his work that not all of society is rational, that virtue is not always rewarded.".[3]
Stories in order
- Introduction, page 7, by John Cooper
- The Girl Who Moved, page 10
- Somebody, page 18
- Amateur Detective, page 25
- Counter Attack, page 35
- Deep and Crisp and Even, page 45
- Camford Cottage, page 97
- Safe!, page 107
- The Revenge of Martin Lucas Field on Colonel Cristobal Ocampas, page 118
- Basilio, page 136 — a second story about Colonel Cristobal Ocampas (see previous story)
- Prize of Santenac, page 158 — a brief appearance by Nap Rumbold
- Villa Almirante, page 165
- The Two Footmen, page 179 — a Sherlock Holmes pastiche
- Trust Little Al, page 195
- By The Pricking of My Thumbs, page 208
- Appendix A, page 221
- Appendix B, page 222
- ↑ Michael Gilbert (obituary), 10 February 2006. Retrieved on 13 November 2012.
- ↑ History of Guests of Honor. Retrieved on 5 July 2014.
- ↑ Douglas Greene of Crippen & Landrau, quoted in The New York Times, 15 February 2006