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Review
Beautifully elegant, satiric and witty (Telegraph )
Review
Beautifully elegant, satiric and witty Telegraph
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Le Carre's second novel: 'A Murder of Quality' was first published in 1962 and features George Smiley after he has retired from MI6. I should start this review by saying that this novel is in no way like le Carre's excellent espionage novels, so if you are expecting something in the vein of `The Spy who Came in from the Cold' or `Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy' then you may be disappointed. That is not to say that this isn't a good novel - it is - but it is more of a `whodunnit' murder mystery, rather like an Agatha Christie or Josephine Tey, and if you approach the book with this in mind, it makes for an entertaining and enjoyable read.
Stella Rode, wife of a master at Carne School, an ancient place of education with its cloisters and its mention in the Doomsday Book, is not quite the right sort; she is from the North, is Chapel instead of Church of England, uses lace doilies and has china ducks on her wall. Even the boys at the school secretly ridicule her realizing she is not `quite the ticket'. Mr. Rode, ex-grammar school boy, who has carefully watched his `betters', tries hard to emulate them, but Stella Rode refuses to be other than what she is, and is often an embarrassment to her socially aspirant husband. Stella is generally considered to be a very down-to-earth person - however, when she confides to her Minister at the chapel that she thinks her husband is planning to murder her, he thinks she is delusionary. But then, one bitterly cold, snowy night Stella Rode is bludgeoned to death in her own home. Enter George Smiley, having temporarily moved away from the world of espionage, he is called upon to help the police investigate Stella's brutal murder and, as Smiley probes deeply beneath the respectable façade of Carne School, he uncovers quite a bit more than he expected to find.
I found this book to be an entertaining read, with a lovely old fashioned feel to it and I enjoyed le Carre's descriptions of Smiley's surroundings; I could almost feel the crisp coldness, the chill of the icy air and the crunch of snow under the feet as Smiley walked towards the Rode house in the moonlight looking for clues to Stella's murderer. In fact whilst I was reading this book in front of the fire, the first of this year's snowflakes fluttered past my window making an ideal setting for this traditional and agreeable murder mystery story.
4 Stars.
Stella Rode, wife of a master at Carne School, an ancient place of education with its cloisters and its mention in the Doomsday Book, is not quite the right sort; she is from the North, is Chapel instead of Church of England, uses lace doilies and has china ducks on her wall. Even the boys at the school secretly ridicule her realizing she is not `quite the ticket'. Mr. Rode, ex-grammar school boy, who has carefully watched his `betters', tries hard to emulate them, but Stella Rode refuses to be other than what she is, and is often an embarrassment to her socially aspirant husband. Stella is generally considered to be a very down-to-earth person - however, when she confides to her Minister at the chapel that she thinks her husband is planning to murder her, he thinks she is delusionary. But then, one bitterly cold, snowy night Stella Rode is bludgeoned to death in her own home. Enter George Smiley, having temporarily moved away from the world of espionage, he is called upon to help the police investigate Stella's brutal murder and, as Smiley probes deeply beneath the respectable façade of Carne School, he uncovers quite a bit more than he expected to find.
I found this book to be an entertaining read, with a lovely old fashioned feel to it and I enjoyed le Carre's descriptions of Smiley's surroundings; I could almost feel the crisp coldness, the chill of the icy air and the crunch of snow under the feet as Smiley walked towards the Rode house in the moonlight looking for clues to Stella's murderer. In fact whilst I was reading this book in front of the fire, the first of this year's snowflakes fluttered past my window making an ideal setting for this traditional and agreeable murder mystery story.
4 Stars.
Format:Kindle Edition
This book, written before Le Carre was well known, introduces Smiley in a non-espionage guise. It has the style and tension for which he is famous and is a good read but not his best (try "A Call for the Dead", another early novel).
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A Murder Mystery for George Smiley...
10 Aug 2011
Format:Paperback
George Smiley, formerly of the British Secret Intelligence Service, now fidgeting in unhappy retirement, gets a call from a wartime colleague. Miss Ailsa Brimley runs a small newspaper; one of her subscribers has sent a letter predicting her own murder. On the heels of the letter comes news that the woman in question has been brutally murdered at Carne, a very old and very private school. Who else should take the puzzling case but a former spymaster?
Such is the premise of "A Murder of Quality", John LeCarre's very decent second novel, first published in 1962. Smiley, who has connections at Carne, undertakes a private investigation with the tacit approval of the local police, who suspect a local mentally disturbed woman. Smiley's investigation leads him deep into the plotting, petty politics, and jealousies of the school staff, where he finds many suspects and more than a few lies.
The murder mystery is carefully plotted; the solution may not be obvious until late in the novel. LeCarre works in some harsh satire on private schools, but the real fun may be watching him fill out the character of the non-heroic Smiley, who would go on to feature in several of LeCarre's hard-edged but excellent espionage novels. "A Murder of Quality" is highly recommended to fans of LeCarre and of George Smiley.
Such is the premise of "A Murder of Quality", John LeCarre's very decent second novel, first published in 1962. Smiley, who has connections at Carne, undertakes a private investigation with the tacit approval of the local police, who suspect a local mentally disturbed woman. Smiley's investigation leads him deep into the plotting, petty politics, and jealousies of the school staff, where he finds many suspects and more than a few lies.
The murder mystery is carefully plotted; the solution may not be obvious until late in the novel. LeCarre works in some harsh satire on private schools, but the real fun may be watching him fill out the character of the non-heroic Smiley, who would go on to feature in several of LeCarre's hard-edged but excellent espionage novels. "A Murder of Quality" is highly recommended to fans of LeCarre and of George Smiley.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A Murder of Quality
12 Mar 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
This is a great story. Somewhat different theme from the usual Le Carre spy story but as usual well written and full of intrigue. The Afterwords written at two different times in his life are also well worth a read. They hit to the core of an English public (private) school system that is being supported by oprdinary taxpayers who get no benefit. Just as in other countries such as Australia.
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