Smallbone Deceased
 Cover of Harper & Row first edition | |
| Author | Michael Gilbert |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime |
| Published |
1950 (Hodder and Stoughton, U.K.) 1950 (Harper & Row, U.S.) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 253 (1st edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-340-32037-2 |
Smallbone Deceased is a British crime novel by Michael Gilbert, first published in 1950 by Hodder and Stoughton (U.K) and Harper & Row (U.S.). Inspired by Gilbert's career as a solicitor, the novel is set in a London solicitor's office.
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
- ↑ Moody, Susan, ed. (1990). The Hatchard's Crime Companion: 100 top Crime novels. London: Hatchard. ISBN 978-0-904-03002-0. OCLC 60057335.
- ↑ Penzler, Otto. Friedman, Mickey, ed. 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
- ↑ Jacques Barzun & Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime, Harper & Row, New York, "Second Impression Corrected", 1973, page 209
- ↑ Keating, HRF (10 February 2006). "Obituary: Michael Gilbert". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ↑ "Michael Gilbert". The Daily Telegraph. 10 February 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2016.