Smallbone Deceased: Difference between revisions
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==Reception and/or Appraisal== | ==Reception and/or Appraisal== | ||
The ''[[New York Times]]'' | The ''[[New York Times]]'' called it "a first-rate job" upon its publication: | ||
<blockquote>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. | |||
<ref>''Criminals at Large: Office Intrigue'', "The New York Times", 5 November, 1950, Margery H. Oates, at </ref></blockquote> | |||
A much later appraisal comes from [[Jacques Barzun|Barzun]] and Taylor's encyclopedic ''[[A Catalogue of Crime|Catalogue of Crime]]'': | |||
<blockquote>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.<ref>[[Jacques Barzun]] & Wendell Hertig Taylor, ''A Catalogue of Crime'', | <blockquote>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.<ref>[[Jacques Barzun]] & Wendell Hertig Taylor, ''A Catalogue of Crime'', | ||
[[Harper & Row]], New York, "Second Impression Corrected", 1973, page 209</ref></blockquote> | [[Harper & Row]], New York, "Second Impression Corrected", 1973, page 209</ref></blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 12:26, 31 October 2016
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
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, Margery H. Oates, at
- ↑ 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.