Gideon's Men

Gideon #18

by J.J. Marric

Will the personal problems in the lives of George Gideon and his men interfere with their ability to combat London's latest crime wave?

Genres: Mystery, Procedural

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

A pseudonym used by John Creasey.

The Gideon series was continued after Creasey's death by William Vivian Butler.

Reviews

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps John Creasey is a kind of literary heir of Charles Dickens.

[Roberto Monanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best entries in the Gideon series. Great stories, great characters development, very enjoyable.
It's worth noting that in this book the Entwhistle plot (which spans across many of the previous books) comes to an end :)

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one might seem a bit timely. One of the plot threads deals with illegal immigration and of course that has been a hot topic in England recently. After reading this novel one is tempted to ask if anything has really changed since it was first written. This part of the novel is concerned mostly with the conditions under which the immigrants are forced to live, at least some of them. It also makes it clear that a lot of what seems to be expected of the police is really work that should be done by other parts of the governmental structures. The immigration problems aren't really solved in this book, but given they are still with us today that is not really surprising.
The second thread is one that has been running over serval books. This has to do with a chap named Entwhistle, the book never does mention his first name, who in a previous book was convicted for the murder of his wife, a crime that another man committed. The police had decided to look into the case again to see if they had made a mistake. In this book we see the final results of their effort. However just to complicate matters somewhat Entwhistle's youngest child, a girl decides to visit him at Dartmoor, without telling anyone, and that night a convicted murderer decides to make an escape from the prison.
There is a third plotline that should be mentioned. This book does delve into the private lives of several of the people involved. In fact it begins at the annual Criminal Intelligence Division's annual ball. We are introduced to number of the main players on the police side, including both the upper echelons and the inspectors who will be directly involved. Also to their wives and significant others. This to me is a nice touch as we get to know a bit about the characters as actual people and not just as police officers.
All in all this was a good book and one worth picking up. Happy reading.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is another few days in the life of George Gideon, one of the best coppers ever to run a department, and his men, most of them contenders to be the best coppers ever. They all have personal lives in this series and some of those are mildly (very mildly) troubled. But really, this one is about the cases and how Gideon handles them all pretty brilliantly. Every story in this one has a happy ending for the main coppers (rewards for jobs well done) and the sense that the London Met is carrying on admirably. Issues raised are the wrongly convicted man, a nasty murder of a mistress, and illegal immigration resulting in horrifying housing conditions. And yes, there is the awesome first few days of a rookie copper who makes his own good luck.

It’s a good, disposable read, where well adjusted police officers keep us all safe. It’s like if a bbc cop show were made of people who never had a dark side.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better read than expected. I liked it.

[Joey Brockert · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Gideon is a commander of about six investigators in New Scotland Yard. They all have little idiosyncrasies and this is the story of how he melds them into one of the finest bunch of investigators around. He is so good at it he is to be tapped as the Assistant Chief.
There are at least three little threads of stories woven into this book and each shows how Mr. Gideon arranges his men to do the best for the job at hand. It is a wonderful little exposition on personnel development and at the end he gives a hint as to how he will avoid the promotion. Very cool.

[Delores Alger]

creasey's gideon