Le Carre, A Murder of Quality (1968)

 

John Le Carre, A Murder of Quality. (1968) A murder at a B-list public school brings Smiley out of retirement when Miss Brimley, a war-time colleague, receives a letter that disturbs her. The puzzle is nicely knotted and solved, but what kept me reading was Le Carre’s skewering of pseuds. Carne School prides itself on upholding standards of behaviour long past their relevance. This is the crack through which the light escapes and the darkness of murder seeps in.

Le Care’s other strength is characterisation. We want to know more about these people. Le Carre presents the characters as they present themselves, and I was deceived by the murderer and his victim as much as every other character in the story was, including Smiley himself. The final unravelling of the mystery satisfies psychologically, which is rare in mysteries that turn on deceptions that we wish to see punished. Odd, that we want both justice and justification.

Recommended. ***½

A Movie version (1991) is available on YouTube.