Michael Francis Gilbert

One of the most versatile of the English school of Mystery writers

Michael Gilbert was born in 1912, which makes him pretty much the oldest of the old grandmasters of English mystery novelists who have survived to the end of the 20th century (Eric Ambler was another, and he just passed away in 1999). His books range from classic detective stories, courtroom dramas, police procedurals, to espionage, but they all have his characteristic voice (and a lot of recurring characters, even though he doesn't stick to any one hero for more than a book or so). I don't know his biography but can guess the background from how he defines his 'good man': British Public School educated, literate (and he has him spout great obscure poetry), rugby-player (or boxing champion who hasn't had his brains knocked out, also a good player of squash), learned in the law or something similar, a WW2 veteran who had a Good War, an expert Bridge player -- things like that. His books, no matter what sub-genre of mystery they are in, all exhibit the same satirical sense of humor and neat sense of bad vs. good. His knowledge of northern Italy and Austria is comprehensive enough to show that he knows it as much as he does London and the legal system. Extremely literate, Gilbert is not irritatingly coy about it like Innes or Dexter. His cases involving trials are as good as Cyril Hare's, and much more amusing. He is perhaps the best of the "Post-War" writers in the classic golden-age sense, because even in his thrillers there is always a mystery plot.

Here are quick summaries of all his books (that I know of, and I just spent a month or so rereading all of them; the best are starred):

• Close Quarters (1947) -- Murder in a cathedral close. Very talky and lots of alibi timetabling. Good debut, but flawed by the elaborate FW Crofts boring meticulousness.

• He Didn't Mind Danger (1948) -- Gangster thriller about post-war black market. Very dated now, especially in its morality. These days a real rat is a drug dealer, not a 'smuggler'. Who cares now? My older friends now brag about all the black-marketing they did back then when they were in the occupation army in Germany.

• *** Smallbone Deceased (1950) -- A classic in the lawyer setting, which is Gilbert's specialty. Body is found mummified in a deed box. This is what one could call a perfect murder mystery of the 'Golden Age'. Perhaps his best book.

• *** Death Has Deep Roots (1951) -- Marvellous and tricky trial story with a complicated flashback plot going back to the French Resistance in WW II. A superb heroine (she deserves to be named: Vicky Lamartine). Prosecution case is very weak, though -- why did this ever come to court? A totally satisfying story with a great courtroom trial.

• ** Death in Captivity (1952) -- Murder in a prisoner-of-war camp (WW II Italy). Very unusual. One of his best. Would make a marvellous movie in this sub-genre.

• Fear to Tread (1953) -- More black market stuff, but more interesting than the 1948 effort.

• The Country House Burglar (1955) -- Not a bad English village cozy, but no big deal.

• * Be Shot for Sixpence (1956) -- Really excellent spy novel. That epigraph from Tennyson is very good (see below). The hero is a wiseacre, but the story works well.

• * Blood and Judgment (1959) -- Police procedural with Patrick Petrella. Nice 'bucking the system' theme. Petrella is one of the 'best' cops in the literature. You'd have no qualms about hanging around with this guy.

• The Doors Open (1962) -- A good story about villainy in the stock market, if one cares about that sort of thing.

• * After the Fine Weather (1963) -- Excellent 'Cold War' spy novel about neo-Nazis in the Tyrol. Setting is obviously first hand, not from a guide book. (Who are these American writers who don't know Norfolk from Suffolk that set themselves up as 'English' authors? Gilbert is not Austrian, but he knows the territory, not just visiting it on holiday to find a setting.)

• The Crack in the Teacup (1966) -- Nicely done story about small-town corruption and politics. Epigraph is from Auden.

• ** Overdrive (1967) -- Shenanigans in high-finance. The "Lucille/Loo-Seal" gambit in this book is hilarious (an ad campaign). Not really a mystery, but a fine book about dirty tricks.

• The Family Tomb (1969) -- Set in Italy, a nice story about Etruscan art smuggling.

• The Body of a Girl (1972) -- Police procedural, involving gangsters, a predecessor in setting of the excellent Katie Steelstock book -- read that instead, although this book has nice things that were dropped in the other.

• The 92nd Tiger (1973) -- A hack (detective) actor is hired as defence minister of an Arab sheikdom; very funny, but could have had a better plot.

• Flash Point (1974) -- Politics and legal mayhem; typical Gilbertian story about corruption in high places.

• The Night of the Twelfth (1976) -- English prep-school mystery, another one of Gilbert's specialty settings.

• The Empty House (1978) -- Spy novel; hero is an accountant. Not especially memorable.

• *** The Killing of Katie Steelstock (1980) -- A TV actress is murdered, and somebody is framed for it; a marvellous story, one of the author's best. ID of the murderer is a real surprise for once, even though that solution is age-old (with Gilbert you can usually spot the villain very soon). [That's a wonderfully alliterative title too]

• ** End-Game (1982) -- Probably Gilbert's best effort in the 'police thriller' category. Accountants and London homeless tramps and crooked high financiers. Ranks up there with Ed McBain.

• The Black Seraphim (1984) -- Back to the ecclesiastical background of Close Quarters, but better done. Still, the politics of churchy people, like Oxford dons, is rather boring, even if they are as vicious as anybody in high finance (they are boring too).

• The Long Journey Home (1985) -- A 'chase' novel in the classic tradition; hero hunted by the Mafia, crooked tycoon, etc., a Household/Buchan.

• Trouble (1987) -- A roman á clef; racial prejudice in London, street gangs, etc. Well-written, but who cares about this subject? (Not fair -- I don't, but many people do.)

• *** The Queen against Karl Mullen (1992) -- Beautifully done courtroom drama, an obnoxious South African secret policeman framed by political enemies. Best book ever written by an 80-year-old. This is WONDERFUL, ranks with Smallbone, Steelstock, and Deep Roots.

• ** Game Without Rules (1962-67) -- Middle-aged British spies, Mr Calder and Mr Behrens and the dog Rasselas; they might be scholarly aristocratic types, but ruthless as hell. One of the finest bits of dialogue:
  Mr Behrens said, raising his voice a little, 'If I were to lift my right hand a very well trained dog, who has been approaching you quietly from the rear while we were talking, would have jumped for your throat.'
  
  The colonel smiled. 'Your imagination does you credit. What happens if you lift your left hand? Does a genie appear from a bottle and carry me off?'
  
  'If I raise my left hand', said Mr Behrens, 'you will be shot dead.'
  
  And, so saying, he raised it.

• ** Mr Calder and Mr Behrens (1982) -- More of the same, and of course very good.

• * Petrella at Q (1972-77) -- Gilbert's best cop (much more impressive than the Hazlerigg of the early books); good procedurals.

• Young Petrella (1956-66) -- Collected magazine stories about this South London (also North London) cop.

• Anything for a Quiet Life (1990) -- Skulduggery in a seaside resort as experienced by an elderly lawyer.

• The Man Who Hated Banks, and Other Mysteries (1997) -- A miscellaneous roundup of previously uncollected stories, from Hazlerigg to Petrella. [Available from Crippen and Landru]

• The Curious Conspiracy, and Other Crimes (2002) -- Another compilaton of previously uncollected stories from the incomparable Crippen and Landru. A pity, however, that Gilbert has never returned to Calder and Behrens stories.

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