Death of a Foreign Gentleman

Stephen Minter #1

by Steven Carroll

From award-winning writer Steven Carroll comes the first book in a series of post-war literary crime novels featuring Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter.

Cambridge, UK, 1947. Martin Friedrich, a German philosopher, is cycling through an intersection on his way to give a lecture when a speeding car strikes and kills him. Shortly afterwards, Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter, an Austrian-born cockney Jew, whose parents were interned during the war as enemy aliens, stands over the body of Friedrich, contemplating the age-old question – who did it?

Friedrich might be one of the finest minds of his age, but he's problematic: arrogant and a womaniser, he was also, in the 1930s, a member of the Nazi Party. As Stephen is soon to discover, there is no shortage of suspects. Friedrich was hated by almost everybody, even those who loved him. Is there any sense to his death or was it just a case of rotten, random luck? Has the universe spoken? Or are there more sinister factors at work?

From one of Australia's finest, most critically acclaimed writers, Death of a Foreign Gentleman is a playful, poignant and absorbing literary crime novel, with shades of The Third Man and Brighton Rock, which examines the question of how to live a meaningful life in an indifferent, random, post-God world.

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Historical, British Literature, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2024

About the author

Steven Carroll is an Australian novelist. He was born in 1949 in Melbourne, Victoria and studied at La Trobe University. He has taught English at secondary school level, and drama at RMIT. He has been Drama Critic for The Sunday Age newspaper in Melbourne.

Steven Carroll is now a full-time writer living in Melbourne with his partner, the writer Fiona Capp, and their son. As of 2019, he also writes the non-fiction book review column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Steven Carroll fan and am delighted he is venturing into Crime with DS Stephen Minter. I do hesitate to call this elegant piece of writing Crime, if a series of coincidences can be called "crime fiction" then it applies. Fabulous characters and am looking forward to seeing what happens to Minter if and when he comes to Australia. I do hope Carroll's creative juices are raging because I want more, and soon.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Carroll’s characters and situations are always interesting and his writing good enough to hold me no matter what the plot is doing. Here, he is indulging himself, as Graham Greene did, with an entertainment, and very engaging it is.
I can’t go beyond Lisa Hill’s review on ANZlitlovers

https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/05/21/d...

[Peter Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having completed his quartet of novels about T.S. Eliot with Goodnight, Vivienne, Goodnight (2022), Steven Carroll's new novel places the minor character from that novel, the detective Stephen Minter, at its front and center.

Minter was born into a Jewish Austrian family who fled to the UK during the Nazi rise to power, only for his parents to die in a British internment camp. Anti-semitism and questions of "rootedness" are being examined here, while the "foreign gentleman" in the title, Martin Friedrich, bears a pointed resemblance to another famous German philosopher named Martin...

[Anne Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual book, a murder mystery blended with reflection. Main character Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter is the basis of this, he has violence, death, sorrow and tragedy in his past but he has a very balanced thoughtful approach to life. The plot unfolds quite gently, it’s an unusual style but carried off successfully by the author. Beautifully written too.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a playful nod to Graham Greene, Steven Carroll — the award-winning author the Glenroy novels and The Eliot Quartet — has turned his hand to writing 'entertainments'.  And it looks as if there are plans for more of them, because Death of a Foreign Gentleman is badged as No 1 in the Stephen Minter series...

Set in postwar Cambridge, Death of a Foreign Gentleman obeys the conventions of the crime genre in some respects.  There is a world-weary cop with an unhelpful boss, there is a closed circle of suspects with motives that must be explored, there is a confined setting and (as in a caper or a heist) there is a possibility that the cop might be putting himself in danger.  OTOH the victim, a philosopher with a Nazi past, is certainly not an innocent and there are plenty of people who hated him.  Besides, the manner of his death might simply be a random event and not murder at all.

So while justice might be served by finding the culprit, the dead man's victims might have different ideas about when and how justice has been done.

With its setting familiar to readers of The Eliot Quartet, Death of a Foreign Gentleman also explores class, belonging, and antisemitism.  On the case of what might be more than a hit-and-run death of a cyclist, is Stephen Minter, the 'cockney Jew' who was assigned to find TS Eliot's wife Vivienne in Goodnight Vivienne (The Eliot Quartet #4, see here).  The Love Interest Brigid Delaney turns up too #SpoilerAlert for Goodnight Vivienne: clearly she has survived her top secret wartime job.

Minter is an Austrian Jew whose family came to Britain before the war, but his parents were interned as enemy aliens and died in custody.  Interviewing the suspects involves an encounter with the local aristocrat Sir Alex Grainger, who delivers a Statement of Authenticity when it comes to 'belonging'. From the outset, when he is mentally sniffing Minter's name, he represents the people who are there to remind you that you're a foreigner and always will be. 

Sir Alec eyes him up and down again as you would an intruder, something blown in off the street, then turns to view the expansive rolling fields of the estate. 'You are born into this land, Detective Sergeant, like the foxes and birds and badgers.  Rooted to it, like the trees. Your philosophers mightn't be able to tell us what's true and what's not.  But I can. This,' he says, voice raised, gesturing to the estate with a sweep of his hand, 'is what's true; this is what we went to war for...' (p.77)

In this postwar period, the repressed trauma of war years is everywhere.  While some people were lauded as heroes or mourned as innocent victims, others were not.  Minter's parents died not in the Holocaust but because of it while interned as enemy aliens.  Bridget fled to safety but her parents died in Dresden.  Minter's London home was lost in the Blitz. And Pinkie the 'spiv' is one of the lost.  After failing the medical he found other less heroic ways to be useful but the girl of his dreams is scornful of people like him.

Pinkie is a spiv, a species of life that grew out of the black-market era.  He wears the uniform of the spiv: dark, tight suit; slicked-back hair; pencil moustache; and dapper shoes.  Not that he stands around on street corners selling watches of silk stockings or French perfume.  No, Pinkie works in the background, selling whatever sells, often to toffs and those with the money to buy.  Pinkie is on first-name terms with Sir Alec, who has a taste for French cigarettes and rare French wines that Pinkie has a talent for tracking down.  (p.80)

Pinkie, as readers of Graham Greene will know, is a character from  Brighton Rock  and in the Acknowledgements, Carroll says that in some ways this novel is a salute to Graham Greene. 

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/05/21/d...

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this novel except for the ending (more of that later).

I had been led to expect a new venture for Carroll, into crime fiction and yes - on one level it is.

There is a body - in the first paragraph Martin Friedrich (a visiting German academic in Cambridge) is hit by a car and hurtles from his bicycle to his death. And there is a detective - Stephen Minter - who is in charge of the investigation into his death. There are many possible suspects too. But the novel offers much more than this - characters of substance and issues of class and culture as well as broader philosophical themes. There are also nods to other books - especially those of Graham Greene.

The setting is post World War 2 - the late 40s. Friedrich, a philosopher, is reputed to have been a Nazi. There is still rationing and black market activities - and so we encounter Pinky (Albert Pinkerton) a small time criminal. Pinky turns out to have been struck into love by the vision of a young girl, Daisy - who also turns out to have been a lover of Friedrich. There is also Sir Alec, a man who lives part of his world in genteel society - but who has, it seems, less savoury aspects to his life. Not to mention Anna Schmidt, a German refugee who has invited Friedrich to Cambridge. Complications abound.

If we have read Carroll’s previous novel, Goodnight, Vivienne, Goodnight (about the wife of TS Eliot) we have also met Stephen Minter before - he was the detective charged with locating Vivienne after she absconded from a mental institution. Friedrich was a philosopher and Stephen is a philosopher too in his way. He is the ‘cockney Jew’ whose parents were interned during the war. He speculates about the randomness of life, injustice and how justice might possibly be served. Delicious stuff, all of this, especially as it is written in Carroll’s unique rhythms - gentle, humorous but also penetrating and hard hitting when they need to be.

But that ending…! I thought the perfect ending to be on page 253 of my copy. I would love to know why Carroll decided to continue the story for another 13 pages, dispensing more random justice (no spoilers!) and tying everything up all too neatly. I can see how this fits with an underlying theme of life’s unpredictability and coincidence but I would have preferred such outcomes to be left to the reader’s imagination. There is a certain playfulness to the novel as a whole, despite its darker themes, so perhaps this was simply part of the fun the author wanted to have. But in my view, a pity. It detracted from what would otherwise have been a perfect read.

I see this is badged as ‘Stephen Minter #1’ so it seems there are more of these novels in the pipeline. Despite my quibble about the ending, I look forward very much to following this new Carroll series.

[Tundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I don’t think the reveal of who committed this crime is the important part of this story. Rather, I think this was more about the ‘why’ and it was done very well. The backstories and relationships between the characters were well written and the ending, while completely over the top, was quite satisfying.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elegant, well-paced, literary murder mystery set in post WW2 Cambridge. Which of his many enemies killed the visiting Nazi philosopher? The first in a promising series with Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter.

[Dennis Tonkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let down by a farcical and concocted ending that was seriously unbelievable.

[Michelle Fryzuk · Rating 2 out of 5]

2-2.5. Started strong but kinda lost me by the end.

[Peter Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a good read! Up until the last chapter!

What is it with endings?

How can an author with such obvious skills not get the ending right.

I won’t prattle on about the ending anymore, it just annoyed me no end.

The other19 chapters are some of the best prose I’ve read in a long time.

The plot (up until the end) is very well developed with a few twists and turns to keep the reader interested.

The characters are believable, likeable where necessary and unlikeable also where necessary.

Now that I’ve read it, would I recommend “Death of a foreign gentleman”? No! I just can’t get over the ending…

So now, dear reviewer, you will have to read it to see why the ending is so bad!

Regards,
Peter

[Gayle Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps 4.5

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death of a Foreign Gentleman is a polished and classy piece of writing set in the post WWII era. Whilst it is classified as a detective notel, it is mixed with literary fiction that examines the repressed trauma of the war years. Masterfully written and a story that is hard to forget.

[Jo Smart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Showed great promise but the conclusion was so incredulously absurd the entire story was rendered bizarre.

[Fiona Brodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Who killed Martin Friedrich? From award-winning writer Steven Carroll comes the first book in a series of post-war literary crime novels featuring Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter, with shades of The Third Man and Brighton Rock .
Cambridge, UK, 1947. Martin Friedrich, a German philosopher who is in Cambridge to give a series of lectures, is cycling through an intersection on his way to give a lecture when a speeding car runs through him and kills him. A grisly death for one of the finest minds of the age. Shortly afterwards, Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter, an Austrian-born, cockney Jew, whose parents were interned during the war as enemy aliens, stands over the body of Friedrich contemplating the age-old question - who did it? Because Friedrich might be one of the finest minds of his age, but he's also problematic. A brilliant philosopher whose lectures attracted students from all over Europe before the war and is regarded as the founder of modern existentialism, Friedrich was also, in the 1930s, a member of the Nazi Party. As Stephen is soon to discover, there is no shortage of suspects. Friedrich -arrogant, a womaniser dedicated solely to his own work over anything or anybody else - was hated by almost everybody, even those who loved him. Is there any sense to his death - a logic to the sequence of events that led to it - or was his death just a case of rotten, random luck? Has the universe spoken, and, in this sense, should Friedrich be pleased with the nature of his death as it is, after all, confirmation of his life's observations on our indifferent, random universe? Or are there more sinister factors at work? From one of Australia's finest, critically-acclaimed writers, The Death of an Existentialist is a playful mixture of detective story, farce and literary fiction that examines the quite serious question of how to live a meaningful life in an indifferent, random, post-god world.

[Helena K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Steven Carroll book and he has such a lovely writing style. This is an unusual crime book set after World War II as the crime seems to be blended with a lot of reflections. I am not fully convinced this is really a crime novel as it seems to be more a series of coincidences. But I suppose that is how some crimes are solved 🤷‍♀️

The plot unfolds gently with some unique characters. We’ve got our detective, Minter, who is a weary Austrian-Jew who takes on this case to look at a bunch of suspects with motives that need to be explored. Martin Friedrich, is our victim and he is quite unpopular. He is a philosopher with a Nazi past and an endless list of people who hate him. Pinkie, the spiv aka a small time criminal, is this slime-ball of a character with his slicked-back hair and pencil moustache. This colourful character falls for Daisy, who was a lover of our dead Friedrich. These are just a handful of some of the interesting characters you’ll discover in Carroll’s novel.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because it was nominated by a member of the Mooske and the Gripes GR group for the group's best books of the year. It is a very good detective novel anf perhaps the first in a series. I rate it 3.5 and rounded up to 4 stars.

The story is set in post-WWII England. Stephen Milner is the detective. He refers to himself and his parents who died in a British internment camo as "cockney jews." His parents left Austria because of rising antisemitism. It was of course a curse of much of Britain's titled class. Milner served in the war and suffered an injury that now causes him to limp. The crime her is the murder of a visiting professor from Germany who was/is a Nazi. He was deliberately hit by car while bicycling.

While figuring out "who done it," the Milner character also reflects on many societal issues. And there was some great, well-developed, characters in the story. I'll stay tuned for more in this possible series.

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite Australian authors, Steven Carroll has written a compelling literary whodunnit in post-war Cambridge, one that engages the reader with multi-layered characters and the fluid writing one expects from this accomplished writer. Plucking Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter, a “cockney Jew”, from his appearance in the last book of the author’s Elliot quartet, Carroll has begun a new series in a new genre. The scenario is intelligent and apparently pays homage to the classic novels, “The Third Man” and “Brighton Rock”.

The thriller begins when renowned German philosopher, Martin Friedrich, is the victim of a hit-run accident. A controversial figure, Friedrich’s personal life is investigated in the attempt to discover who may have been behind the murder. The connections he shared with other characters reveal secrets that become significant to Minter’s case, as well as Minter’s personal background.

The reader cannot dismiss any character as a suspect, Carroll guaranteeing a collection of possible motives and links. This provides lingering suspense and surprising revelations as Minter comes closer to finding who was responsible. I look forward to the continuation of the new series.

[Don Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual crime novel, set in Cambridge, England, in 1947. A foreign academic is killed riding his bicycle in the city and Detective Sergeant Stephen Winter investigates. Winter, like Friedrich, the academic, is foreign, as well as a couple of bit players.
This novel is about class in England, as well as prejudice about foreigners. Also, Cambridge in 1947 seems to have a remarkably insoucient attitude towards sex and prostitution for the times.
The ending, as others have pointed out, is quite farcical - just too many coincidences to be believable.
There are some philosophical themes throughout; poor Friedrich was a prominent philosopher, but for me, the whole book never cohered as it should. Our investigating detective, for example, worked almost entirely on his own, whereas we know such cases involve a team effort to solve.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in 1947 in Cambridge, England, Death of a Foreign Gentleman (2024) by Steven Carroll is a historical literary crime mystery. Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter is tasked with investigating a visiting German Professor’s death in a hit-and-run car accident as he was riding his bicycle. A gentle crime fiction tale and the first of a new series featuring DS Minter, it’s a quick read given its only two hundred and sixty-six pages in length. Despite its promising premise and light airy narrative feel, it was sadly lacking in gritty crime substance. So overall, a disappointing crime tale with an average two and a half stars read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

[Bretski67 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1947, in Cambridge, this is the story of the search for the killer of Martin Friedrich, a former Nazi, mown down in an automobile hit and run. The policeman in charge of the case is Detective Sergeant Stephen Mincher, an Austrian-born Cockney Jew. There is no shortage of suspects in the town. This is so much more than a procedural whodunnit. Carroll's prose is quite beautiful, and there are some poignant passages about the terrible choice Daisy must make, and the aching lovesickness of Pinkie. If you like your murder mysteries with a literary/philosophical bent (in the manner of Graham Greene), then you'll enjoy this one.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes! This is a quite wonderful book. Probably 4.5.
I actually loved the way we went backwards in time so the reader has all the background information first which is only being surmised by the detective. I liked the characters. I liked the detective’s outlook on life and his happy romance. I liked the way that philosophy was discussed and applied but not in a too academic way.
It was a bit of a mystery, but it was all about the characters and choices for me. Would love to read the rest in the Stephen Minter series.

[Karen]

There have been, over the years, many attempts at literary crime fiction, many of which have profoundly annoyed this reader with pretentious overtones and a real frisson of noses being looked down. Which is possibly why this novel dwelt on the lists for a while before being picked up. For this reader though, DEATH OF A FOREIGN GENTLEMAN engenders no nasal or attitudinal warnings. It was playful and cleverly constructed, providing a complex campanologist's soundscape to work my way through.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...

[Chris Mctrustry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Carroll writes such evocative prose. I felt immersed in the this novel - the time, the place. The moments in history. Well-rounded, flawed and ‘real’ characters brought the story to life and had me deeply engaged. I liked the Graham Greene references. But I’m still undecided about the ending. What? Huh? I have a couple of theories ( I won’t air them - to avoid spoilers) but it seemed wildly ‘out of character’ for the story. I look forward to Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter’s next case.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this first book in a series. Set in post WW2 Cambridge, this is a literary crime thriller. A philosophy professor is murdered and the sensitive and intelligent Decective Sergeant Stephen Minter solves the crime. Carroll adeptly draws from plots and characters of Graham Greene, and John le Carre, Sartre's philosophy, as well as the facts of inhumane internment of innocent "enemies" in England during wartime to create a believable and satisfying yarn.

[Kym Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly enjoyable period murder mystery. Billed as literary detective/whodunnit story, to be honest I found it a bit like what a mid-wit would consider “literary” fiction but still it was a pleasant (despite the tragedy enfolding around some of the characters) and easy book to read.

[Lynn Nadjarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Post WW2 Murder mystery, just my cup of tea!

Detective Inspector Stephen Minter pursues suspects in this fascinating murder mystery series set in post WW2 England, as well as rekindling a long ago romance. Loved it and looking forward to the next in the series.

[Michael Hastings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carroll seems to attempt a murder mystery crossed with reflections on determinism and chance, the latter leading to an utterly ludicrous final scene. A pity, really, because for the most part it's a nicely understated thriller.

[Giovanna Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would be a great holiday read. It's ok, nothing challenging, I did work out who the culprit was pretty early on. The romance was a bit naff. The ending. Hahahaha! Wasn't sure if this was a serious crime story, or a bit of a parody? Anyways, was ok.

[Coralie Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen a few reviews saying the ending ruined the book for them, but it made it for me. Sure, it was unrealistic but satisfying, I thought.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book but didn't overly connect with the characters. Not sure I'd carry on with it as a series.