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The Crime of the Century
  
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The Crime of the Century (Hardcover)

by Kingsley Amis (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 141 pages
  • Publisher: Hutchinson; New edition edition (2 Mar 1989)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0091738075
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091738075
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,001,379 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

When a series of murders performed by a killer with a peculiarly thin blade take place in London, Detective Superintendent Bill Barry is recalled from retirement. Doctors, psychologists, lawyers and politicians join in the hunt, but the biggest crime is yet to come. First published as a six-part serial in "The Sunday Times" newspaper in 1975, readers were encouraged to send in their own solutions to the mystery after episode five. For the first time, the winning entry is published here in book form, together with Amis' own denouement. Kingsley Amis is also the author of "Jake's Thing", "Stanley and the Woman", "The Old Devils" and "Difficulties with Girls".

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Book, 16 Nov 2007
A terrific book, as I believe I've already said, but a Kingsley Amis book and so not necessarily to be appreciated by the reader of 21st-century American-trash crime novels. Patterson, Reichs etc. This is a brilliantly accessible, funny and compelling story - Amis always a champion of these attributes, and no snob - but if you're used to 3-page chapters then perhaps it isn't for you.

The review below inspired me to write this. Now the book will average 3 stars, which still isn't good enough.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars The Crime of the Century was Kingsley Amis thinking he could write a Crime Novel !!!, 19 Oct 2007
This is without doubt the worst crime novel I've ever had the misfortune to read, including Nancy Drew and her ilk.
I stupidly bought this rubbish thinking it must be an amazing crime novel having been written by such a famous author. All I'll say is that if you want to read crime then don't entertain this book, if you want to read this book then borrow it from the library, or from some other dumb sucker who bought it like me, or even better from ME, as I'd love to see the back of it.
For those who want the synopsis see below.

From Publishers Weekly:

"Serialized in a British newspaper in 1975, this edition of Amis's whodunit benefits from an introduction by the master satirist himself. The plot involves the murders of young women in London and the special committee set up to coordinate investigations with the police, when even Scotland Yard's most famous detectives fail to catch the killer. The professional sleuths, therefore, consult with an odd assortment of amateurs: Chris Dane, crime novelist; Benedict Royal, an intellectual rock star; Sir Neil Costello, QC; members of Parliament; and psychiatrists, including Marcus Varga, who's flakier than his patients. As the murders continue, so does Amis keep adding ingenious red herrings while playing fair by planting clues for readers sharp enough to spot them. The solution, however, will strike most mystery buffs as tops in the art of literary legerdemain. An alternate denouement, submitted by one of the newspaper's subscribers, closes the book and emphasizes just how foxy the author is."

I won't spoil the ending for you as there's actually nothing to spoil about this book, if I could give it a BIG FAT ZERO instead of 1 star I would.
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