Michael Gilbert (1912–2006)

The only work slightly comparable is definitely Michael Innes’ Death at the President’s Lodging. There is a campus, which is locked at night, a bunch of quirky intellectual canons and vergers, and associated gardeners. The dean of the whole place is fairly decent at being the dean, the reader supposes, but not too excellent at knowing how to deal with attempted murder and the like. The dean calls his nephew hoping for an unofficial, but still police-involved, assistance. The nephew calls Inspector Hazlerigg, who really does not have much of a personality. I get the idea that he is a larger, athletic fellow. However, he does not really do much to distinguish himself in this novel – besides being the authority of the Yard.

There is a lot of coming and going to Evensong. There is a choir and they are dressing for sessions and then disrobing afterward. There are tea times and there are flower beds. The detectives are going to have a smoke and pull out their papers and go over the case – again.Overall, this is a good read. It is not a story that all readers will enjoy. There is too much detail work, maybe there are just too many characters?… (mer)

Overall the book is pretty lightly witty and written well with a strong sense of place around the solicitors office this all takes part in, and the mystery does work well mechanics wise and ties in cleverly with lots of minor scattered clues but... I admit I found the ending a little unsatisfying emotionally even though technically it's totally fine. I think the problem is that there are so many characters in the book which inevitably means they only get so much attention and even though the writer handled each character deftly enough that they all gave a good impression it's still hard to keep track of them and they don't really get a chance to have any particular emotional depth. The ending really doesn't go into any sort of depth with the wrapping up and the motive although technically legitimate doesn't feel satisfying.

3 stars is maybe a bit mean but the denouement is so important in mystery novels and I just didn't get that sense of satisfaction and understanding and emotional payoff that I really look for even though the rest of the book is technically highly proficient and deftly handled.… (mer)

These six masters include Ellery Queen, in what is his, to me, best short novel. I think the conclusion is truly surprising.
Michael Gilbert seldom produces anything but a masterful work, and this is another, with Patrick Petrella as the chief protagonist. It gives such a great look at England's criminal underground.
Ed McBain is a favorite to lots of people, though not to me. You will probably like this entry.
Georges Simenon is another I don't much care for. I've wondered why and think maybe it's at least partly because the original is in French and what I read is a translation. Madame Simenon has a prominent part in this story and that helps.
Erle Stanley Gardner is an uneven writer. This is rather contrived, but interesting.
Finally, this John D. MacDonald story is not about Travis McGee, is not, in fact, part of any series, but is an interesting story, one we might need to laugh at ourselves about.
All in all, this is a good collection.… (mer)