Smallbone Deceased
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 did not review the book upon its publication. 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.[3]
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.[4]
The Telegraph's obituary of Gilbert also praised it as "one of his finest novels".[5]
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.
- ↑ 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.