A Murder of Quality

by John le Carré

Book Overview

George Smiley hunts the solution to the brutal murder of a harmless housewife in the seemingly peaceful setting of a prestigious British boys school, where a man's fate is decided over tea and a sentence of death can be passed out with biscuits and sherry.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553264435
• ISBN13: 9780553264432
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.3" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

George Smiley's second appearance

This slim book is John Le Carré's second novel while working as a British diplomat in Bonn and Bern and/or elsewhere in a roving capacity, and again it stars George Smiley (GS). He was Le Carré's hero in his debut Call for the Dead, which described him as being an accomplished and committed spy since 1928, who survived a frightful and nasty war in Germany, and who is now (early 1960s) as before, wearing glasses, short, pudgy, and badly, but expensively dressed. He is also separated from his aristocratic wife Ann, and some of the characters in this book let him know that they know. This book is not about espionage, but about a murder at Carne, a centuries' old public school. Miss Brimley, a WW-II colleague of GS in wartime intelligence, who has turned editor of a religion-based periodical, contacts GS when she receives a letter from the wife of one of Carne's teachers, whose family has for generations subscribed to the journal. She claimed in her letter that her teacher-husband is planning to kill her... When she is found dead days later, Miss Brimley contacts GS and pleads with him to find out the truth. GS, still in retirement following the dramatic outcome of his first appearance in Le Carré's debut novel, agrees and starts to investigate. Le Carré's subsequent description of the rift between the school and the rest of Carne village, the feuds, prejudices and resentments between and among new and old staff (many are alumni not employable elsewhere) are cruelly revealing of the class-based rifts in English society at the time. Le Carré manages at times to portray an atmosphere of awfulness about the English/British mindset not far removed from what the late film director Sam Peckinpah conveyed in his 1971 movie Straw Dogs, a film that was until 2002 banned in Britain. Great reading. Highly recommended.

Smiley is the new Holmes

Its a wonderful read! This George Smiley book is of the classic mystery genre. Although the mystery and story itself are quite subdued, there is a lot more to the book than the plot itself. Le Carre is severly critical of the English private school organization and to me it read more as a diagnostic of problems with the organization with a very finely crafted story as the veneer. If you end up liking this one "Smiley's People" is one you will enjoy even more...perhaps his best work.

A favor for a lady

George Smiley discovers who murdered the assistant principal-master of the Carne school--Smiley was forced into this by the wife and by an old friend Alisa Brimly. There were unusual happenings---hatreds and hidden effects that were part of the lives Smiley was brought into.

A first, faint glimpse of Smiley

This slim book is fascinating as an introduction to le Carre's earliest writing. It was written in the 60's and preceded by "Call For the Dead." Both books feature George Smiley but are not of the spy venue, but are more classic mysteries. His unfortunate marriage is referred to and there is a hint of the work he had done and is perhaps still doing in the spy field. But we must wait for future works to get a true taste of Smiley. A murder in the prestigious private school, Carne, propels Smiley into a search for the murderer. There are many twists and turns and a dramatic denouement at the end. The story in all is quite dated but one must remember that it was written in the 60's. As a fan of the later le Carre, I found the book interesting and really quite a neat mystery story but when you compare with his later work, it is quite innocuous. I am indeed grateful that he swerved to go into the espionage field and give us so many truly fascinating books.

5 Subtle Clues for early Smiley

A Murder of Quality is the second of LeCarre's novels that feature George Smiley. Unlike the others in the series this novel is not about the Cold War and espionage, at least not overtly. In this one; a woman with whom Smiley worked during the war contacts him. She publishes a small Christian paper and has a subscriber who fears that she will be murdered. Smiley investigates and eventually finds the murderer. It is a classic murder story but not a spy story or is it? I did find myself wondering why the paper was kept in business by the owners. Is it owned by British intelligence? There might be more to this murder mystery than meets the eye or perhaps not.Smiley has to solve a murder and also face his wife's past. It's ironic that the basically decent and brilliant Smiley is considered unsuitable for his higher class but serially unfaithful wife. LeCarre includes much social comment about Britain as he leads Smiley to the solution of the crime.Things are not what they seem and Smiley's investigations lead to truly nasty revelations. The twists, turns and betrayal that are LeCarre constants are present in A Murder of Quality. The reader gets to see the author as he is developing his craft.A Murder of Quality is a murder mystery and perhaps LeCarre was considering pursuing this genre. Instead he reinvented the spy story incorporating seaminess and betrayal. A Murder of Quality shows us how deep his talents as a writer are.