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George Smiley #2
A Murder of Quality
This is an alternate cover edition - ISBN 10: 0141196378 / ISBN 13: 9780141196374
John le Carré's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service Agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim.
John le Carré's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service Agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim.
George Smiley was simply doing a favor for Miss Ailsa Brimley, and old friend and editor of a small newspaper. Miss Brimley had received a letter from a worried reader: "I'm not mad. And I know my husbad is trying to kill me." But the letter had arrived too late: it's scribe, the wife of an assistant master at the distinguished Carne School, was already dead.
So George Smiley went to Carne to listen, ask questions, and think. And to uncover, layer by layer, the complex network of skeletons and hatreds that comprised that little English institution.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
John le Carré
313 books9,715 followersJohn le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), was an English author of espionage novels. Le Carré had resided in St Buryan, Cornwall, Great Britain, for more than 40 years, where he owned a mile of cliff close to Land's End.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,892 reviews
January 23, 2020
Le Carre's first book was not so much a spy novel as a detective story with spies in it, and this second book is even less a spy novel: it is a detective story with George Smiley in it. But that does not prevent A Murder of Quality (1962) from being a well-written, entertaining book.
In an introduction to a paperback edition issued almost thirty years after its original publication, le Carre wrote that “rereading the book now, I find a flawed thriller redeemed by ferocious and quite funny social comment.” I think that is an accurate assessment. Some of the social comment targets the non-conformist Christian communities of the laboring class, but the most ferocious—and most amusing—satire is reserved for the upper-class English boarding school, which the author pillories for its cruelty, its insularity, and its snobbishness. Le Carre knows whereof he speaks, for he attended Sherborne in Dorset (which he loathed) and taught briefly at Eton (which he regarded with ambivalent respect).
The mystery—the murder of a young master's wife who is on record stating that her husband is trying to kill her—has enough thrills to keep the pages turning, but the real charm of the book is in its treatment of upperclass English education. But I was surprised and also pleased to find the atmosphere enriched by a very gothic character: a crazy woman named Jane who lives in an abandoned medieval church.
A Murder of Quality although an enjoyable book is nothing special. But it was the calm before the storm: le Carre's next book would be The Spy that Came in from the Cold.
September 29, 2017
A dog that had not bitten the postman; a devil that rode upon the wind; a woman who knew that she would die; a little, worried man in an overcoat standing in the snow outside his hotel, and the laborious chime of the Abbey clock telling him to go to bed.
In this second book in the George Smiley series, Miss Brimley calls him because she is concerned about a letter she received for the small publication, The Christian Voice where a woman named Stella (Glaston) Rode writes that she fears her husband is going to kill her. Ailsa Brimley used to work with George Smiley years before and she wanted him to check into this before going to the police. One phone call and George discovers that the murder has already been committed. Even though it takes place in Carne, where his ex-wife grew up and where her family still live, he feels compelled to go and is urged to do so by Ailsa Brimley.
Thus begins A Murder of Quality and the story grips you and carries you along through to the end. It is centered on a boy’s school and brings with it many different characters, plus spouses, plus boys in the school, plus extras.
John Le Carré is truly a master of his craft. As I mentioned, this is his second book and it was published in 1962. This novel is so polished, professional, and gripping, it kept me up until the wee hours to find out not only who committed the crime, but why. And the author delivers. When I say professional, I don’t mean it is stuffy or formulaic in any way. It means instead that the pacing is perfect, the story is absorbing, and the quality of the writing is exceptional. It’s very hard to believe that his first book had only been written the year before. My respect has expanded accordingly.
It is a pleasure to recommend this book, and I am delighted that I still have 7 more in this series to look forward to!
In this second book in the George Smiley series, Miss Brimley calls him because she is concerned about a letter she received for the small publication, The Christian Voice where a woman named Stella (Glaston) Rode writes that she fears her husband is going to kill her. Ailsa Brimley used to work with George Smiley years before and she wanted him to check into this before going to the police. One phone call and George discovers that the murder has already been committed. Even though it takes place in Carne, where his ex-wife grew up and where her family still live, he feels compelled to go and is urged to do so by Ailsa Brimley.
Thus begins A Murder of Quality and the story grips you and carries you along through to the end. It is centered on a boy’s school and brings with it many different characters, plus spouses, plus boys in the school, plus extras.
John Le Carré is truly a master of his craft. As I mentioned, this is his second book and it was published in 1962. This novel is so polished, professional, and gripping, it kept me up until the wee hours to find out not only who committed the crime, but why. And the author delivers. When I say professional, I don’t mean it is stuffy or formulaic in any way. It means instead that the pacing is perfect, the story is absorbing, and the quality of the writing is exceptional. It’s very hard to believe that his first book had only been written the year before. My respect has expanded accordingly.
It is a pleasure to recommend this book, and I am delighted that I still have 7 more in this series to look forward to!
July 12, 2021
For his second book in the George Smiley series, John le Carre' turns attention to private boarding schools. The edition that I read contained a short intro by the author who deemed it a flawed thriller but some of that may be due to his very own dislike of private boarding schools he was forced to attend for years. Whatever the reason we see George Smily sort of just milling around doing little until he gets a call from the editor of the Christian Voice. She has received a note from a long time subscriber who writes that she is frightened that her husband is going to kill her one night. And by the time Smiley arrives in the town of Carne the lady is dead, bludgeoned to death in her conservatory one cold winter night. Smiley teams up with the local police to try and determine the killer. Could it truly be the husband, a possessed lady, a tutor at the private school, a jealous wife. Loads of possibilities, and while I was able to determine the killer early on in this short book, I had no idea how the crime was pulled off or what the motive for this dreadful beating and death. All becomes clearer near the end, and despite of its brevity I enjoyed this book and will continue on my quest to read all these books in order. I enjoyed the characters, the pacing and the fact that it so darn well written. I enjoy espionage books but le Carre' just does it better than so many which is why I will stop reading books just so I can read his works. Silly, I guess, but for me this slow cerebral style of George Smiley hits the mark for me!
August 3, 2018
Absolutely excellent. My first meeting with George Smiley and certainly an error I will be correcting in the months to come. A very interesting character. The whole book was a condemnation of the British class system, reinforced by the afterword by John Le Carre. In it, he admits that the kernels of this story are routed in his own experience of public school and consequent post as a Junior master at Eton:
'I recognise the dankness of those old stone walls that formed the limits of my childhood and left me for the rest of my life with an urge to fight off whatever threatened to enclose me.'
'I recognise the dankness of those old stone walls that formed the limits of my childhood and left me for the rest of my life with an urge to fight off whatever threatened to enclose me.'
May 15, 2017
I haven't exactly rushed to read John le Carré's books, but whenever I've gotten around to it, I'm always glad I did!
The man can write. He's not the best. It's not all perfect, but it's damn good. The words just flow. The plots are solid. The characters feel like real people, which is sometimes a knock on mystery/crime writers. Carré spends more time rounding out his characters than your typical who-dun-it writer. Sometimes that means the action slows down and the intensity slackens, but that's all right. A change of pace is good!
A Murder of Quality goes old school. Literally, this is about the students, professors and institution of an exclusive boy's prep school. Think Eton. Tradition and having "the right stuff" are of paramount importance. The school has standards to maintain and by god they WILL be maintained!
Does that mean certain individuals, who are just too individual, need to be permanently removed like a blot might be scrubbed away? Former intelligence officer George Smiley is discreetly on the scene to discover what he can.
Smiley is a central figure in many of Carré's books. He's a likable old chap. Sensible, smart and crafty, and rather unassuming. No, not at all pompous. You root for him to take it out of the windbag or bring the snooty character down a peg. Without being overtly charming or particularly outstanding in any way, it's amazing how easily you suddenly find yourself rooting for Smiley.
This low-key character blends into the background of this equally low-key book, and yet you still pull for him from the edge of your seat by the end. A Murder of Quality is another book of quality by Carré!
The man can write. He's not the best. It's not all perfect, but it's damn good. The words just flow. The plots are solid. The characters feel like real people, which is sometimes a knock on mystery/crime writers. Carré spends more time rounding out his characters than your typical who-dun-it writer. Sometimes that means the action slows down and the intensity slackens, but that's all right. A change of pace is good!
A Murder of Quality goes old school. Literally, this is about the students, professors and institution of an exclusive boy's prep school. Think Eton. Tradition and having "the right stuff" are of paramount importance. The school has standards to maintain and by god they WILL be maintained!
Does that mean certain individuals, who are just too individual, need to be permanently removed like a blot might be scrubbed away? Former intelligence officer George Smiley is discreetly on the scene to discover what he can.
Smiley is a central figure in many of Carré's books. He's a likable old chap. Sensible, smart and crafty, and rather unassuming. No, not at all pompous. You root for him to take it out of the windbag or bring the snooty character down a peg. Without being overtly charming or particularly outstanding in any way, it's amazing how easily you suddenly find yourself rooting for Smiley.
This low-key character blends into the background of this equally low-key book, and yet you still pull for him from the edge of your seat by the end. A Murder of Quality is another book of quality by Carré!
February 28, 2021
3.5 ☆
I read le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, hoping for a spy thriller and instead once more got an archetypal English murder mystery. It can easily be read as a standalone. New authors are advised to write what they know so that their stories ring with authenticity. This budding novelist thus combined two of his major life experiences and set his mystery within the cloistered community of a British boarding school. From the introduction of A Murder of Quality, le Carré confessed his enmity of his early educational experiences.
Le Carré again casted George Smiley as the main protagonist and in the role of amateur sleuth. It is 1960, and Smiley has retired from the Secret Intelligence Service. He is regarded as a clever man.
Ailsa Brimley works as the editor of The Voice, a minor publication. Miss Brimley received an alarming letter from Mrs. Stella Rode, who suspected her husband would kill her. Because of the long association between Mrs. Rode's family and the publication, Brimley was perturbed enough by Mrs. Rode's letter to find someone to investigate her assertion. Brimley chose Smiley, her former colleague from their WWII days in the intelligence service.
With one phone call, they learned that they were too late; Mrs. Rode had just been brutally killed inside her home. Smiley immediately journeyed to Carne in Dorset. The local CID, Inspector Rigby, is pleased to welcome Smiley's assistance in bridging the town-and-gown chasm and penetrating the school's secrets. And there are secrets as the faculty and their wives compete against their rivals within an insular and stagnant bubble.
Mr. Rode was the one who discovered the murder. As the victim's spouse, he's a natural suspect, and he looks likelier because he's also a bit of a social experiment. For despite his humble background, Mr. Rode is employed by the Carne School, and he diligently tries, perhaps too much so, to fit in.
Overall, it is an entertaining, well-written mystery, again slightly reminiscent of the Golden Age of detective fiction. It's a cathartic vehicle for the author to exorcise his memories of British boarding schools. The plotline wasn't entirely predictable - a plus, but this isn't something that compelled me to stay up late into the night to finish.
All men are born free: just not for long.
I read le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, hoping for a spy thriller and instead once more got an archetypal English murder mystery. It can easily be read as a standalone. New authors are advised to write what they know so that their stories ring with authenticity. This budding novelist thus combined two of his major life experiences and set his mystery within the cloistered community of a British boarding school. From the introduction of A Murder of Quality, le Carré confessed his enmity of his early educational experiences.
Only adults had nervous breakdowns in those days, so the methods of survival for boys who refused to join the system were animal cunning, “internal immigration” as the Germans call it, or simply getting the hell out. I practised the first two, then opted for the third and took myself to Switzerland.
Le Carré again casted George Smiley as the main protagonist and in the role of amateur sleuth. It is 1960, and Smiley has retired from the Secret Intelligence Service. He is regarded as a clever man.
Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley, has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim, he learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonimity and his safety.
Ailsa Brimley works as the editor of The Voice, a minor publication. Miss Brimley received an alarming letter from Mrs. Stella Rode, who suspected her husband would kill her. Because of the long association between Mrs. Rode's family and the publication, Brimley was perturbed enough by Mrs. Rode's letter to find someone to investigate her assertion. Brimley chose Smiley, her former colleague from their WWII days in the intelligence service.
With one phone call, they learned that they were too late; Mrs. Rode had just been brutally killed inside her home. Smiley immediately journeyed to Carne in Dorset. The local CID, Inspector Rigby, is pleased to welcome Smiley's assistance in bridging the town-and-gown chasm and penetrating the school's secrets. And there are secrets as the faculty and their wives compete against their rivals within an insular and stagnant bubble.
It was from us they learnt the secret of life: that we grow old without growing wise. They realized that nothing happened when we grew up: no blinding light on the road to Damascus, no sudden feeling of maturity.
Mr. Rode was the one who discovered the murder. As the victim's spouse, he's a natural suspect, and he looks likelier because he's also a bit of a social experiment. For despite his humble background, Mr. Rode is employed by the Carne School, and he diligently tries, perhaps too much so, to fit in.
That’s the trouble today. ... Nobody seems to understand you can’t build society overnight. It takes centuries to make a gentleman.
Overall, it is an entertaining, well-written mystery, again slightly reminiscent of the Golden Age of detective fiction. It's a cathartic vehicle for the author to exorcise his memories of British boarding schools. The plotline wasn't entirely predictable - a plus, but this isn't something that compelled me to stay up late into the night to finish.
March 11, 2014
All this time I had been clear in my mind that George Smiley was a spy master and that John le Carré writes spy novels.
A Murder of Quality
, the second novel in the George Smiley series, blew both of those assumptions away completely. While you could argue that Smiley is technically a spy, he's retired from the service. When his friend and former colleague from their days in the intelligence services, Ailsa Brimley, receives a paranoid letter from a subscriber to her magazine, The Christian Voice, the wife of a schoolteacher claiming that her husband intends to kill her. Brim is determined to make sure she investigates the claim from such a loyal subscriber and so she goes to the only man she knows who can advise her: George Smiley.
There are no spies here, no moles, no cold war, no double-cross at Checkpoint Charlie. This is a straight up murder mystery, but one that sets up Smiley's understated detecting capabilities perfectly: a murder committed exactly as in the letter but the husband has a solid alibi. Luckily, Smiley has a tenuous connection with a colleague of the husband and sees an opportunity to take advantage of the rules of politeness and invite himself down to the school to have a poke around. Before long Smiley and the local detective are secretly working the case together: Detective Inspector Rigby the official side of the investigation and Smiley the eyes and ears in the school itself – asking the questions in a way that the police never could.
Of course Smiley's going to solve the case, that's never in doubt. And, while the story is your typical murder mystery, le Carré never really plays into that trope of letting the reader play along and pit themselves against the detective. Instead he seems to want you to just sit in for the ride, watching Smiley's methods, learning how he operates. To some extent it feels like a primer for the Smiley we can expect in the rest of the novels, but that also felt like the skill of the novel. At no point did I really want to compete with Smiley, I was enjoying the novel too damn much...
There are no spies here, no moles, no cold war, no double-cross at Checkpoint Charlie. This is a straight up murder mystery, but one that sets up Smiley's understated detecting capabilities perfectly: a murder committed exactly as in the letter but the husband has a solid alibi. Luckily, Smiley has a tenuous connection with a colleague of the husband and sees an opportunity to take advantage of the rules of politeness and invite himself down to the school to have a poke around. Before long Smiley and the local detective are secretly working the case together: Detective Inspector Rigby the official side of the investigation and Smiley the eyes and ears in the school itself – asking the questions in a way that the police never could.
Of course Smiley's going to solve the case, that's never in doubt. And, while the story is your typical murder mystery, le Carré never really plays into that trope of letting the reader play along and pit themselves against the detective. Instead he seems to want you to just sit in for the ride, watching Smiley's methods, learning how he operates. To some extent it feels like a primer for the Smiley we can expect in the rest of the novels, but that also felt like the skill of the novel. At no point did I really want to compete with Smiley, I was enjoying the novel too damn much...
September 29, 2025
I hated English boarding schools. I found them monstrous and still do.~ John le Carré, in the afterword
Re-reading this was a bit of a slog for me and I'm surprised to see that I found this 'light-hearted' the first time: this time it was more ponderous and just doesn't come together neatly.
I never really believed in Smiley as the archetypical amateur detective . Smiley's own moral exhaustion at the end reminded me of Peter Wimsey faced with the hanging of the guilty.
But, unlike Agatha Christie, this book doesn't play by the rules: we barely get to meet the victim before she's killed and, importantly, Smiley never knows her at all .
Add to that that the setting and the murder mystery don't really integrate: the book exposes all the terrible snobbery and complacency of this so-called superior school which entrenches class division, the mockery of anyone from a grammar school background, and the resistance to a democratization of 1960s English society. This is something that the author felt passionately about, hence his afterword - and his moral humility. But the murder in the end is not connected to this setting, could have taken place anywhere.
Close to the end we learn that Smiley's estranged wife, Ann, is connected to the family associated with the school and land (the school has playing fields enough for more than twenty rugby pitches) - interesting to note but nothing more is made of this.
Still, this was only the author's second book - and by the next he's found his feet with the classic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I'm being especially picky because there are great things to come from le Carré - this remains an oddity on which he builds with greater intention.
_____Original review_____
This isn't a spy thriller but instead gives us Smiley in Agatha Christie mode as he investigates the death of an awkward master's wife in an exclusive public school. This is fun, almost light-hearted, and without the moral angst of the Karla trilogy or the more recent novels. There is, though, a concern with social issues: class, social snobbery (there are some almost Waughsian moments) and the very real inequality endemic in a two-tier education system.
April 20, 2020
This is the second book by John le Carré featuring unlikely spy George Smiley.
To begin my mission to read all the Smiley books in 2020 I did a quick search to identify the titles. Regardless of where Google sent me, the observations regarding A Murder of Quality were similar, ranging from "not really a Smiley novel", to "don't bother to read it in sequence". That's because it's not a spy novel, it's a crime novel.
Fair enough, but nevertheless I'm glad I did read it after Call for the Dead for a couple of reasons. The first that it occupies the same place in time as the previous book - England in the early 1960's. This is still very much a post-war world, where the personal histories of the characters generally reflect their service or their losses in the war. It's not the freshly remade, high energy post-war world of the US, but one where privations are still felt and people are still haunted by memories. It's an extension of the feel of Call for the Dead, where the plot reaches back to events in WWII and before, but the current action takes place in the London of 1961.
The second reason I'm glad I took it in sequence is that it marks a big uptick in le Carré's writing. The story is more well rounded and complete, and that sense of a novella being stretched to novel length that was present in Call for the Dead is no longer there.
Considering the book on its own, and not as part of the Smiley canon, it's an excellent mystery of the "closed group" variety. Someone from the faculty community at an upper class school is murdered, and through tangential wartime connections, the now-retired Smiley is brought in to help the local police determine what happened. The town vs. gown phenomenon is an impediment to a proper investigation, and Smiley can bridge that gap.
If you're looking for a spy thriller, this won't be your cup of tea. But if you want a well constructed mystery with some social commentary thrown in, I can highly recommend it.
To begin my mission to read all the Smiley books in 2020 I did a quick search to identify the titles. Regardless of where Google sent me, the observations regarding A Murder of Quality were similar, ranging from "not really a Smiley novel", to "don't bother to read it in sequence". That's because it's not a spy novel, it's a crime novel.
Fair enough, but nevertheless I'm glad I did read it after Call for the Dead for a couple of reasons. The first that it occupies the same place in time as the previous book - England in the early 1960's. This is still very much a post-war world, where the personal histories of the characters generally reflect their service or their losses in the war. It's not the freshly remade, high energy post-war world of the US, but one where privations are still felt and people are still haunted by memories. It's an extension of the feel of Call for the Dead, where the plot reaches back to events in WWII and before, but the current action takes place in the London of 1961.
The second reason I'm glad I took it in sequence is that it marks a big uptick in le Carré's writing. The story is more well rounded and complete, and that sense of a novella being stretched to novel length that was present in Call for the Dead is no longer there.
Considering the book on its own, and not as part of the Smiley canon, it's an excellent mystery of the "closed group" variety. Someone from the faculty community at an upper class school is murdered, and through tangential wartime connections, the now-retired Smiley is brought in to help the local police determine what happened. The town vs. gown phenomenon is an impediment to a proper investigation, and Smiley can bridge that gap.
If you're looking for a spy thriller, this won't be your cup of tea. But if you want a well constructed mystery with some social commentary thrown in, I can highly recommend it.
April 7, 2026
I read a lot of mystery authors and each of their popular character driven series… Robert B. Parker, John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Louise Penny, and Craig Johnson to name a few. And now, with the passing of the literary legend, John Le Carre’ in December, 2020, I have decided it’s time to start reading his works and exploring his post World War II influence on the literary world of spies and mysteries. I have always wanted to read him and that time is now.
After finishing off Le Carre’s first book, I immediately followed that up with reading his second novel, “A Murder of Quality” which was originally published in 1962, 59 years ago and continues the development of his legendary spy, George Smiley, a classic character that serves as a forerunner to today’s successful bestselling genre of well-known established writers and leading characters.
As with Le Carre’s first book, he delivers an interesting read. However, rather than a spy thriller, it is an old fashioned (although not at the time it was first published) Agatha Christie classic murder mystery where Smiley plays the role of Detective Hercule Poirot.
“A Murder of Quality” starts off with Smiley is sought by an old wartime colleague, Alisa Brimley, an editor of a Christian-based magazine for help. One of the magazine’s readers, Stella Rode, has sent Alisa a letter that states her husband is plotting to kill her. Out of fear for Stella’s life, Alisa seeks Smiley’s help. Since Stella’s husband is a teacher at a public school in the small country town of Carne, and Smiley knows another teacher at the school, Terence Fielding, he agrees to help.
However, things take a turn for the bad when Smiley finds out that Rode has been murdered. Alisa asks George to go to Carne and see if he can find out what happened and if he can help. With that, Smiley heads to Carne. When he arrives, Smiley meets with the detective investigating Stella’s death, and finds out that Stella was brutally murdered, her bloody body discovered by her husband after returning late at night from an errand. The initial theory is that she was killed by a homeless person wandering through the area, but Smiley isn’t suer that he agrees with that theory.
As Smiley stays to investigate and talk to the locals, he finds himself immersed in small town politics, separation of economic classes, and religious divisions, all clouding the reality that a brutal killer is on the loose and no one may be safe…
Like I mentioned in my review of le Carre’s first novel, two things need to be mentioned. First, this book is over 60 years, which makes it a generation old. However, I think it stands the test of time well. It was nice to enjoy a time when mysteries were focused, the writing tight, and unnecessary commentary is excluded. The second thing is this is more of an old-fashioned mystery than a spy story. It’s as if Le Carre had been reading a lot of Agatha Christie – decided, hey, I can write a strong mystery novel too – and delivered one a decent whodunit of his own.
Also, like his first book, there are several things that I liked about this book that made an enjoyable and brisk read. Le Carre’s characters were interesting, his plotting well-constructed and executed, and I especially appreciated his writing style. There is a real authentic feel to his writing that is distinctly his own. I love his combination of intellectual literary style mixed in with his doling out the clues and red herrings all the way up to the big reveal of the murderer at the end. He blended the two together to deliver an interesting and entertaining story.
Overall, this was a pretty good book. Much like his first Smiley novel. Many of Le Carre’ fans may not necessarily list this book as one of the favorites, but you can continue to see Le Carre’s developing talent, along with the qualities and strengths of George Smiley becoming a complex lead character. I am very optimistic that things will continue to get better and I am really excited to start his third book – “The Spy who Came in from the Cold” – a classic that is considered to be one of the top 100 novels of all-time…
After finishing off Le Carre’s first book, I immediately followed that up with reading his second novel, “A Murder of Quality” which was originally published in 1962, 59 years ago and continues the development of his legendary spy, George Smiley, a classic character that serves as a forerunner to today’s successful bestselling genre of well-known established writers and leading characters.
As with Le Carre’s first book, he delivers an interesting read. However, rather than a spy thriller, it is an old fashioned (although not at the time it was first published) Agatha Christie classic murder mystery where Smiley plays the role of Detective Hercule Poirot.
“A Murder of Quality” starts off with Smiley is sought by an old wartime colleague, Alisa Brimley, an editor of a Christian-based magazine for help. One of the magazine’s readers, Stella Rode, has sent Alisa a letter that states her husband is plotting to kill her. Out of fear for Stella’s life, Alisa seeks Smiley’s help. Since Stella’s husband is a teacher at a public school in the small country town of Carne, and Smiley knows another teacher at the school, Terence Fielding, he agrees to help.
However, things take a turn for the bad when Smiley finds out that Rode has been murdered. Alisa asks George to go to Carne and see if he can find out what happened and if he can help. With that, Smiley heads to Carne. When he arrives, Smiley meets with the detective investigating Stella’s death, and finds out that Stella was brutally murdered, her bloody body discovered by her husband after returning late at night from an errand. The initial theory is that she was killed by a homeless person wandering through the area, but Smiley isn’t suer that he agrees with that theory.
As Smiley stays to investigate and talk to the locals, he finds himself immersed in small town politics, separation of economic classes, and religious divisions, all clouding the reality that a brutal killer is on the loose and no one may be safe…
Like I mentioned in my review of le Carre’s first novel, two things need to be mentioned. First, this book is over 60 years, which makes it a generation old. However, I think it stands the test of time well. It was nice to enjoy a time when mysteries were focused, the writing tight, and unnecessary commentary is excluded. The second thing is this is more of an old-fashioned mystery than a spy story. It’s as if Le Carre had been reading a lot of Agatha Christie – decided, hey, I can write a strong mystery novel too – and delivered one a decent whodunit of his own.
Also, like his first book, there are several things that I liked about this book that made an enjoyable and brisk read. Le Carre’s characters were interesting, his plotting well-constructed and executed, and I especially appreciated his writing style. There is a real authentic feel to his writing that is distinctly his own. I love his combination of intellectual literary style mixed in with his doling out the clues and red herrings all the way up to the big reveal of the murderer at the end. He blended the two together to deliver an interesting and entertaining story.
Overall, this was a pretty good book. Much like his first Smiley novel. Many of Le Carre’ fans may not necessarily list this book as one of the favorites, but you can continue to see Le Carre’s developing talent, along with the qualities and strengths of George Smiley becoming a complex lead character. I am very optimistic that things will continue to get better and I am really excited to start his third book – “The Spy who Came in from the Cold” – a classic that is considered to be one of the top 100 novels of all-time…
August 29, 2025
George Smiley is asked by a mutual friend from his wartime secret service days to provide some help for a long-standing customer of a Christian magazine, Stella Rode, who fears her husband wishes to kill her.
The assignment leads Smiley to the historic walls of the ancient cloisters that is now Carne school. Carne is a school built on solid tradition and is continuing in that vein to educate its young male pupils. Its masters are mostly, if not, all ex-Carneians or they have drifted there from other perhaps better and more esteemed public schools*. They know what Carne is and what is requires of them.
Into this mix Stella Rode lives with her husband Stanley, a master at the school. Mr Rode is not a former Carne school boy or one of those other sought after public schools but a former Grammar school boy. He is reliable and a competent tutor, but he is not going to reach higher level within the school. Stella tries her utmost to fit in but also wishes to be apart from Carne and its influence to do other things. It is the tensions between the life at school and those of her personal life at Carne that suggests where and why Stella believes she is under mortal threat. For George it is an assignment that opens up to different avenues not around espionage and spy-craft but rather, perhaps, a crime of passion.
My copy was the Penguin Modern Classics volume printed in 2011, and as such benefits from an afterword from the author. This in itself provides some interesting background to the story's main areas of plot and where the story is situated.
A solid three stars that accords with GR's own ratings as "Liked it".
*A public school in the UK is one that is actually private and its pupils [their parents] are fee-paying to access this education. There are some bursaries and grants but in essence the majority are well-off upper/middle class parents or sons of government civil servants/military officers.
The assignment leads Smiley to the historic walls of the ancient cloisters that is now Carne school. Carne is a school built on solid tradition and is continuing in that vein to educate its young male pupils. Its masters are mostly, if not, all ex-Carneians or they have drifted there from other perhaps better and more esteemed public schools*. They know what Carne is and what is requires of them.
Into this mix Stella Rode lives with her husband Stanley, a master at the school. Mr Rode is not a former Carne school boy or one of those other sought after public schools but a former Grammar school boy. He is reliable and a competent tutor, but he is not going to reach higher level within the school. Stella tries her utmost to fit in but also wishes to be apart from Carne and its influence to do other things. It is the tensions between the life at school and those of her personal life at Carne that suggests where and why Stella believes she is under mortal threat. For George it is an assignment that opens up to different avenues not around espionage and spy-craft but rather, perhaps, a crime of passion.
My copy was the Penguin Modern Classics volume printed in 2011, and as such benefits from an afterword from the author. This in itself provides some interesting background to the story's main areas of plot and where the story is situated.
A solid three stars that accords with GR's own ratings as "Liked it".
*A public school in the UK is one that is actually private and its pupils [their parents] are fee-paying to access this education. There are some bursaries and grants but in essence the majority are well-off upper/middle class parents or sons of government civil servants/military officers.
June 19, 2021
This is a dark and grimly satirical glimpse into the sadly insular world of elite English boarding schools, and a real departure in many ways from the other two le Carré novels I’ve read. George Smiley remains a fascinatingly drawn character, and le Carré’s gift for authentic dialogue and keen observation are in full display. It’s not quite as fully-realized and assured as his other work, but it still captivated me, and I look forward to continuing my journey through his oeuvre.
August 25, 2012
My husband is quite a fan of John LeCarre and convinced me that I should read this one. It is a small novel (146 pages) compared to his later books of 300 or more pages and a little mystery instead of a cold war spy novel. Not being the greatest fan of a mystery novel (I tend to read them too fast, or peek at the ending - because I can't stand the suspense -- or I'm up until the wee hours of the morning because I can't go to sleep until I find out "who did it"), I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one, managed to read it slowly and thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing. I think I enjoyed LeCarre's writing even more than the mystery.
Example: "Smiley himself was one of those solitaries who seem to have come into the world fully educated at the age of eighteen. Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim. He learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonymity and his safety. His fear makes him servile --- he could embrace the shoppers who jostle him in their impatience, and force him from the pavement. He could adore the officials, the police, the bus conductors, for the terse indifference of their attitudes.
"But this fear, this servility, this dependence, had developed in Smiley a perception for the coulour of human beings; a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures and their words, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and the broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger."
I may have to read another LeCarre novel.
Example: "Smiley himself was one of those solitaries who seem to have come into the world fully educated at the age of eighteen. Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim. He learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonymity and his safety. His fear makes him servile --- he could embrace the shoppers who jostle him in their impatience, and force him from the pavement. He could adore the officials, the police, the bus conductors, for the terse indifference of their attitudes.
"But this fear, this servility, this dependence, had developed in Smiley a perception for the coulour of human beings; a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures and their words, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and the broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger."
I may have to read another LeCarre novel.
December 18, 2021
This is Smiley #2 and a very early Le Carré book about Smiley and the old university crowd. George isn't fully fleshed out as our later super-spook, but nonetheless, this is a great murder mystery which Smiley will unravel as he always does, but not before some blood is shed. I found it well-written and an interesting look into a world with which I am entirely unfamiliar, peopled with some reprehensible characters. A great read, but only as an appetizer for the main course of the bigtime Smiley books to come: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, The Looking Glass War and the Karla trilogy.
August 17, 2013
Reading John Le Carre's writing is like treating yourself to a fine wine. It is not to be sped through or swigged. His words and passages lend themselves to being slowly consumed and savored.
A Murder of Quality was set in present day when it was published over 50 years ago. Thus the sound of a milk truck chugging from house to house in the early morning hours with the milkman making his front porch deliveries is not out of place. Elevator lifts still boast a uniformed elevator operator, "What floor, please?" As an aside, the price printed on the cover of my copy of this paperback book is fifty cents.
George Smiley, ex-British Secret Intelligence agent, is asked by a longtime friend to look into a matter which turns into a murder most foul. In this particular tale, there is no espionage, no spies, nary a mole to be ferreted out. It is a simple murder mystery, told by the master.
A Murder of Quality was set in present day when it was published over 50 years ago. Thus the sound of a milk truck chugging from house to house in the early morning hours with the milkman making his front porch deliveries is not out of place. Elevator lifts still boast a uniformed elevator operator, "What floor, please?" As an aside, the price printed on the cover of my copy of this paperback book is fifty cents.
George Smiley, ex-British Secret Intelligence agent, is asked by a longtime friend to look into a matter which turns into a murder most foul. In this particular tale, there is no espionage, no spies, nary a mole to be ferreted out. It is a simple murder mystery, told by the master.
September 7, 2020
A comfortable, pleasing little British mystery in a small coastal town famous for its decrepit yet proud boarding school, steeped in its traditions. The pudgy George Smiley is called in, and innocuously re-acquaints and ingratiates himself into the school as a favor to solve the mystery of a murder. A tiny, antiquated paper of limited readership is now part of a large publication conglomerate, and the murdered young lady reader in far-off Carne had sent in a puzzling letter predicting her demise at the hands of her husband, and thus the investigations begin, with many a twist and turn. Le Carre is excellent in this venue, and this was a page turner of the sort I would normally not read (having abandoned the genre long ago. But the writing was exceptional, and the habits and customs of the day a delight. The plot was a bit of a exhausted storyline, hence my average rating. This is my second of this writer, and I’ll continue chronologically for the time, likely getting up to his most famous before I die. I’ve always enjoyed the particular character of a certain ilk of the traditional Englishman, and its contrast to the more narcissistic Americans. Our protagonist has seen horrors and his world weariness is delightfully understated.
The solitary life of Miss Brimley (these names are wonderful) in her duty as editor at the end of her weekly push on display (p. 11): “It pleased her to be alone at last, tasting the anticlimax. She never failed to wonder at herself, how every Thursday morning brought the same slight uneasiness as she entered the vast Unipress building and stood a little absurdly on one escalator after the other, like a drab parcel on a luxury liner.”
Here our protagonist, famous in this series, is revealed nicely with the author’s special gifts of character development and perfected subtlety (p. 82): “But this fear, this servility, this dependence, had developed in Smiley a perception for the colour of human beings: a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures and their words, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and the broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger.”
Le Carre finishes his chapters with old fashioned cliff-hangers that often come with a jolt of revelation and surprise for the reader (p. 132): “With a cursory good-bye, Smiley left him alone. He walked quickly back to the police station, reasonably confident that Terence Fielding was the most accomplished liar he had met for a long time.”
Here Smiley exposes his deep knowledge of human nature, earned by hard lessons, as he lectures his captured prey on the deeper psychological problem of this brand of evil and his complicity (p. 156): “’They can’t feel anything inside them, no pleasure or pain, no love or hate; they’re ashamed and frightened that they can’t feel. And their shame, this shame, Fielding, drives them to extravagance and colour; they must make themselves feel that cold water, and without that they’re nothing. The world sees them as showmen, fantasists, liars, as sensualists perhaps, not for they are; the living dead.’”
The solitary life of Miss Brimley (these names are wonderful) in her duty as editor at the end of her weekly push on display (p. 11): “It pleased her to be alone at last, tasting the anticlimax. She never failed to wonder at herself, how every Thursday morning brought the same slight uneasiness as she entered the vast Unipress building and stood a little absurdly on one escalator after the other, like a drab parcel on a luxury liner.”
Here our protagonist, famous in this series, is revealed nicely with the author’s special gifts of character development and perfected subtlety (p. 82): “But this fear, this servility, this dependence, had developed in Smiley a perception for the colour of human beings: a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures and their words, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and the broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger.”
Le Carre finishes his chapters with old fashioned cliff-hangers that often come with a jolt of revelation and surprise for the reader (p. 132): “With a cursory good-bye, Smiley left him alone. He walked quickly back to the police station, reasonably confident that Terence Fielding was the most accomplished liar he had met for a long time.”
Here Smiley exposes his deep knowledge of human nature, earned by hard lessons, as he lectures his captured prey on the deeper psychological problem of this brand of evil and his complicity (p. 156): “’They can’t feel anything inside them, no pleasure or pain, no love or hate; they’re ashamed and frightened that they can’t feel. And their shame, this shame, Fielding, drives them to extravagance and colour; they must make themselves feel that cold water, and without that they’re nothing. The world sees them as showmen, fantasists, liars, as sensualists perhaps, not for they are; the living dead.’”
May 27, 2020
Le Carré's second George Smiley novel is, like the first, a straightforward mystery without the spycraft elements that would later define the George Smiley books as well as le Carré's body of work. The fictional English boarding-school of Carne is a fine opportunity for le Carré to engage in social commentary and he does so with an acknowledged grievance towards the inbred and classist boarding school system. The plot itself is superior to the first book in the series and will keep the reader guessing until its satisfactory conclusion; Smiley shows all the makings of a fine detective, traits which will suit him well in his future calling.
November 6, 2025
You won’t find any espionage in this one. It’s a local murder mystery, but as I’m finding with this author, he packs it with much more. Here, he explores the world of elite English boarding schools, and it’s clear he’s not a fan. In the 1989 Afterword, he says, “I hated English boarding schools. I found them monstrous, and still do, probably because I began my boarding school career at the age of five … and did not end it till I was sixteen …” And with the intricate characterization in this novel, he got to explore a little about that monstrousness.
Smiley is retired, and contacted by an old friend from his spy days during WWII, Ailsa Brimley. Brim, as he calls her, edits a religious magazine, and has received a strange letter from a reader who claims her husband, a boarding school master, is trying to kill her. Smiley has a connection to a senior master at the school, and agrees to make a visit there to check things out.
“I’ll snuff around a bit, I think, and see what goes on.”
Smiley is quite a snuffer. As he goes about his unofficial investigation, he reflects on himself:
“… once in the war he had been described by his superiors as possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin, which seemed to him not wholly unjust.”
and he’s described by the case’s police investigator:
“Looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has a brain I’d give my eyes for.”
The school and its elite and wanna-be elite inhabitants made for an interesting setting--all about power plays and social expectations, with an ending that was in some ways satisfying but in others troubling.
I’m seeing LeCarré’s master plotting and insightful characterization very clearly here. It’s fun to observe him honing his craft, and you bet I’m looking forward to the next in the series.
Smiley is retired, and contacted by an old friend from his spy days during WWII, Ailsa Brimley. Brim, as he calls her, edits a religious magazine, and has received a strange letter from a reader who claims her husband, a boarding school master, is trying to kill her. Smiley has a connection to a senior master at the school, and agrees to make a visit there to check things out.
“I’ll snuff around a bit, I think, and see what goes on.”
Smiley is quite a snuffer. As he goes about his unofficial investigation, he reflects on himself:
“… once in the war he had been described by his superiors as possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin, which seemed to him not wholly unjust.”
and he’s described by the case’s police investigator:
“Looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has a brain I’d give my eyes for.”
The school and its elite and wanna-be elite inhabitants made for an interesting setting--all about power plays and social expectations, with an ending that was in some ways satisfying but in others troubling.
I’m seeing LeCarré’s master plotting and insightful characterization very clearly here. It’s fun to observe him honing his craft, and you bet I’m looking forward to the next in the series.
September 21, 2023
“I used to think it was clever to confuse comedy with tragedy. Now i wish i could distinguish them.”
― John le Carré, A Murder of Quality
Not le Carré's finest, but that is like saying here a minor Faulkner, a good-effort Chandler, or even a throwaway Conrad. A Murder of Quality finds George Smiley out of his element (although to be absolutely fair, Smily IS defined by always being just a little out of his element). Instead of in an espionage thriller, he is dropped by le Carré into a boy's school murder.
It is as if, with his second novel, le Carré is wondering whether spy fiction or detective fiction should be his future calling. It does make me briefly pause and imagine how the arc of his career might have turned out if le Carré had pursued crime instead of espionage writing.
If you are new to le Carré, don't start with this one. If you love le Carré this will be a short and interesting break from his brilliant espionage œuvre. It might not be one of his better novels, but does contains some amazing lines.
― John le Carré, A Murder of Quality
Not le Carré's finest, but that is like saying here a minor Faulkner, a good-effort Chandler, or even a throwaway Conrad. A Murder of Quality finds George Smiley out of his element (although to be absolutely fair, Smily IS defined by always being just a little out of his element). Instead of in an espionage thriller, he is dropped by le Carré into a boy's school murder.
It is as if, with his second novel, le Carré is wondering whether spy fiction or detective fiction should be his future calling. It does make me briefly pause and imagine how the arc of his career might have turned out if le Carré had pursued crime instead of espionage writing.
If you are new to le Carré, don't start with this one. If you love le Carré this will be a short and interesting break from his brilliant espionage œuvre. It might not be one of his better novels, but does contains some amazing lines.
May 11, 2025
Madeira holiday book 6. Last one as flying home tomorrow.
Read so many Le Carre’s and enjoyed them all. But now managed to read book 2 of his 4 early George Smiley’s. This is more detective than spy novel and a short one at that. But it portrays Smiley’s skills well. He is asked by an old work colleague from the war to investigate the murder of a woman who had earlier signalled that her husband wanted to kill her.
Set around a public school. Another book focussing on class and people’s quirks and foibles. As always Le Carre’s writing is sublime. You can almost pick out each sentence as a superb piece of prose. A truly great writer.
It’s good to see that there is a film of the book with Denholm Elliott as George. But as I read the story I could only see Alec Guinness in my minds eye.
‘Looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has a brain I’d give my eyes for. Had a very nasty war. Very nasty indeed.’
‘I used to regard a road sweeper as a person inferior to myself. Now, I rather doubt it. Something is dirty, he makes it clean, and the state of the world is advanced. But I - what have I done? Entrenched ruling class which is distinguished by neither talent, culture, nor wit; kept alive for one more generation the distinctions of a dead age’ ( Terence Fielding, Senior House Master Carnegie)
‘Sherry wine or Madeira’’
‘Thank you; a glass of sherry.’
‘Tart’s drink, Madeira,’ Fielding called as he poured from a decanter… (NB sadly I have been drinking a lot on holiday here in Madeira so will not subscribe to Fieldings view)😉
‘If it is vulgar to wear a pen in the breast pocket of your jacket, to favour Fair Isle pullovers and brown ties, to bob a little and turn your feet out as you walk, then Rode beyond a shadow of a doubt was vulgar, for though he did not now commit these sins, his manner implied them all.’
He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate.
Read so many Le Carre’s and enjoyed them all. But now managed to read book 2 of his 4 early George Smiley’s. This is more detective than spy novel and a short one at that. But it portrays Smiley’s skills well. He is asked by an old work colleague from the war to investigate the murder of a woman who had earlier signalled that her husband wanted to kill her.
Set around a public school. Another book focussing on class and people’s quirks and foibles. As always Le Carre’s writing is sublime. You can almost pick out each sentence as a superb piece of prose. A truly great writer.
It’s good to see that there is a film of the book with Denholm Elliott as George. But as I read the story I could only see Alec Guinness in my minds eye.
‘Looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has a brain I’d give my eyes for. Had a very nasty war. Very nasty indeed.’
‘I used to regard a road sweeper as a person inferior to myself. Now, I rather doubt it. Something is dirty, he makes it clean, and the state of the world is advanced. But I - what have I done? Entrenched ruling class which is distinguished by neither talent, culture, nor wit; kept alive for one more generation the distinctions of a dead age’ ( Terence Fielding, Senior House Master Carnegie)
‘Sherry wine or Madeira’’
‘Thank you; a glass of sherry.’
‘Tart’s drink, Madeira,’ Fielding called as he poured from a decanter… (NB sadly I have been drinking a lot on holiday here in Madeira so will not subscribe to Fieldings view)😉
‘If it is vulgar to wear a pen in the breast pocket of your jacket, to favour Fair Isle pullovers and brown ties, to bob a little and turn your feet out as you walk, then Rode beyond a shadow of a doubt was vulgar, for though he did not now commit these sins, his manner implied them all.’
He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate.
February 27, 2018
This is the second novel featuring George Smiley; the first is, "Call for the Dead". This is unlike most of the Smiley books, in that it is really a classic crime story, much in the style of an Agatha Christie. Set in an exclusive boarding school, Carne School in Dorset, this is obviously something which the author feels strongly about, considering that he spent much of his life from the age of five (so young!) in such institutions, as well as teaching at Eton.
In this book, Smiley is contacted by Miss Ailsa Brimley, who he knew from the war. She works at a small magazine, the Christian Voice, which has a loyal and long standing readership. One of the readers, who has subscribed since the beginning, is Stella Rode - now a wife of one of the masters at Carne. When she contacts the letters page to say she fears her husband is trying to kill her, Miss Brimley takes it seriously and turns to Smiley. However, when he investigates, he finds that Mrs Rode was killed the previous evening, in a vicious attack at her home.
This is an unusual novel in the Smiley series, but well worth reading if you enjoy crime and mystery books and also offers insights into the character of George Smiley - as the area where the story is set is the one in which his wife, Ann, grew up. It also has an interesting setting and Miss Brimley is an excellent character, as are the snobbish and tradition bound masters at the school. If you wish to read on, the next book is the classic, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold".
I listened to this on Audible and it is wonderfully read by Michael Jayston; whose voice is just perfect for Smiley.
In this book, Smiley is contacted by Miss Ailsa Brimley, who he knew from the war. She works at a small magazine, the Christian Voice, which has a loyal and long standing readership. One of the readers, who has subscribed since the beginning, is Stella Rode - now a wife of one of the masters at Carne. When she contacts the letters page to say she fears her husband is trying to kill her, Miss Brimley takes it seriously and turns to Smiley. However, when he investigates, he finds that Mrs Rode was killed the previous evening, in a vicious attack at her home.
This is an unusual novel in the Smiley series, but well worth reading if you enjoy crime and mystery books and also offers insights into the character of George Smiley - as the area where the story is set is the one in which his wife, Ann, grew up. It also has an interesting setting and Miss Brimley is an excellent character, as are the snobbish and tradition bound masters at the school. If you wish to read on, the next book is the classic, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold".
I listened to this on Audible and it is wonderfully read by Michael Jayston; whose voice is just perfect for Smiley.
September 3, 2025
At least a 3.5 in actuality; contains much to like about it, including Le Carre's acidic portrayals of British public school and provincial upper crust life, an atmospheric encounter with a madwoman in a ruined church that could have come from a folk horror tale, and a somber ending with a final paragraph that is quietly devastating. However, as opposed to the first novel, which was a fusion of noir and espionage featuring Smiley as a de facto 'detective' in the mode of Marlowe or Spade, this is much more along the lines of the old-school 'whodunnit', and while Le Carre deconstructs some conventions of the genre, how much mileage one ultimately gets from this book depends upon their appreciation for that type of mystery.
November 2, 2019
This is the second book Le Carre delivered and the second George Smiley novel, and while some people call it a bit of Agatha Christie novel as it is more about murder than spy craft it would be a daft comparison. George Smiley is nowhere as out there as Miss Marple of Poirrot, he is the quit man in the background and once he steps out of the shadows people tend to listen.
It starts when Miss Brimly the editor of the journal Christian Voice receives a letter in which she reads a cry for help. She does not know what to do but remembers a friend from the past who may assist her in this situation. As it turns out the writer of the epistle has already left our mortal surroundings by means of foul play. And thus Smiley travels to the boarding school world where the murder took place. Here he lends a hand to local inspector in charge of the investigation. He enters an academic world and all its oddities for anybody outside of this English system.
John Le Carre's observations and descriptions makes this slow resolving book, which is rather slim in size, a pleasure to read. It has nothing to do with spies at all it has something to do with a quintessential English boarding school/academy and does give us a decent enough look and leave you wondering why anybody would put his kids through such a ordeal. But that is a non-English observation. But the book was nonetheless an enjoyable book.
This lamplighter version of the book contains a foreword by the writer himself from 1989 and his judgement of the book at that time was: " Rereading the book now, I find a flawed thriller redeemed by ferocious and quite funny social comment. Most of all I recognise the darkness of those old stone walls that formed the limits of my childhood and left me for the rest of my life with an urge to fight off whatever threatened to enclose me
It starts when Miss Brimly the editor of the journal Christian Voice receives a letter in which she reads a cry for help. She does not know what to do but remembers a friend from the past who may assist her in this situation. As it turns out the writer of the epistle has already left our mortal surroundings by means of foul play. And thus Smiley travels to the boarding school world where the murder took place. Here he lends a hand to local inspector in charge of the investigation. He enters an academic world and all its oddities for anybody outside of this English system.
John Le Carre's observations and descriptions makes this slow resolving book, which is rather slim in size, a pleasure to read. It has nothing to do with spies at all it has something to do with a quintessential English boarding school/academy and does give us a decent enough look and leave you wondering why anybody would put his kids through such a ordeal. But that is a non-English observation. But the book was nonetheless an enjoyable book.
This lamplighter version of the book contains a foreword by the writer himself from 1989 and his judgement of the book at that time was: " Rereading the book now, I find a flawed thriller redeemed by ferocious and quite funny social comment. Most of all I recognise the darkness of those old stone walls that formed the limits of my childhood and left me for the rest of my life with an urge to fight off whatever threatened to enclose me
May 5, 2025
One of my most enjoyable reading projects in recent years has been revisiting John le Carré’s George Smiley series. I am three books along, and it has been excellent. When you read these individual efforts spread out over years, even decades, it is difficult to remember what you already have learned about George Smiley and about the events that make up his career and life. Reading the novels in closer proximity to each other, together with a little notetaking, allows you to recognize this sequence of events and the characters that appear intermittently.
This novel does not delve into Smiley’s career as a spy but is instead a police procedural in which Smiley is invited to help. I found it a great complement to the other Smiley novels, providing insight into how Smiley works and what makes him so good at what he does. I could also see in this novel the development of le Carré’s prose, which I very much enjoy. In the end, though, it is the character George Smiley who determines whether you enjoy these novels: an overweight, middle-aged introvert who is frequently uncomfortable in social situations, but is always the smartest person in the room. He marries a woman who is well above his station, both in physical attractiveness and wealth, but is frequently unfaithful to him. The school in this novel, Carne, is in the area where Ann was raised; Smiley is fearful that going to the school will bring back troublesome memories but finds it does not.
This novel provided one of the most valuable insights into Smiley’s personality and talents when he is described by his superiors as “possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin.”
This novel does not delve into Smiley’s career as a spy but is instead a police procedural in which Smiley is invited to help. I found it a great complement to the other Smiley novels, providing insight into how Smiley works and what makes him so good at what he does. I could also see in this novel the development of le Carré’s prose, which I very much enjoy. In the end, though, it is the character George Smiley who determines whether you enjoy these novels: an overweight, middle-aged introvert who is frequently uncomfortable in social situations, but is always the smartest person in the room. He marries a woman who is well above his station, both in physical attractiveness and wealth, but is frequently unfaithful to him. The school in this novel, Carne, is in the area where Ann was raised; Smiley is fearful that going to the school will bring back troublesome memories but finds it does not.
This novel provided one of the most valuable insights into Smiley’s personality and talents when he is described by his superiors as “possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin.”
January 23, 2019
The second in John le Carre’s Smiley series is more a good murder mystery than a spy thriller. Smiley is quite retired and he is asked by Mrs. Brimley from his spying days to help respond to a mysterious letter she has received from a woman who has subsequently been murdered.
I hardly missed the intrigue of the Circus, since this mystery was almost as complicated and entangled as the spy craft. I changed my mind repeatedly about who did it and I kept feeling something minor was significant but failing to recognize what, right up to the end. I think John le Carre is a marvelous storyteller and rivals the best at this kind of fiction. However, this still pales next to his extraordinary later fictions.
Of course, part of what makes this work is the constant knowledge of Smiley’s real occupation, the reason he is so aptly suited to work this out.
The by-ways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man, who, like Smiley, has lived and worked for years among his country’s enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed.
Worth remembering going forward. This is espionage as it was, as it is, with real lives at risk.
Next up, The Spy Came in From the Cold, and I will have Smiley in his element. I am almost atingle.
I hardly missed the intrigue of the Circus, since this mystery was almost as complicated and entangled as the spy craft. I changed my mind repeatedly about who did it and I kept feeling something minor was significant but failing to recognize what, right up to the end. I think John le Carre is a marvelous storyteller and rivals the best at this kind of fiction. However, this still pales next to his extraordinary later fictions.
Of course, part of what makes this work is the constant knowledge of Smiley’s real occupation, the reason he is so aptly suited to work this out.
The by-ways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man, who, like Smiley, has lived and worked for years among his country’s enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed.
Worth remembering going forward. This is espionage as it was, as it is, with real lives at risk.
Next up, The Spy Came in From the Cold, and I will have Smiley in his element. I am almost atingle.
April 8, 2015
le Carré is supposedly a genre writer, but he's also one of the best British writers of the 20th century, in my opinion. Moreover, he makes it look easy. Unless you stop and pay attention, it just seems like ordinary, good writing. But in reality, he has a gift.
It was a peculiarity of Smiley's character that throughout the whole of his clandestine work he had never managed to reconcile the means to the end. A stringent critic of his own motives, he had discovered after long observation that he tended to be less a creature of intellect than his tastes and habits might suggest; once in the war he had been described by his superiors as possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin, which seemed to him not wholly unjust.
It's hard to find a more lovable genre character than Smiley. You want him as a stuffed animal, to cuddle in bed with on rainy fall mornings.
Rather than an espionage novel, this is a straight murder mystery, with Smiley acting as citizen-detective as a favor to a friend. It's a bit convoluted, and there are character twists which may or may not make sense. It's also a superb snapshot of brutal attitudes about class, and worth reading for that alone.
May 14, 2022
My review for A Spy Who Came In From the Cold: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Rating: 3.8 stars.
Premise: The second novel featuring George Smiley takes Smiley and us readers to a small British town, the wife of a local high ended private school's teacher had just been murdered, surprisingly the victim had previously sent out a letter foretelling her own death, plus a local crazy homeless woman claimed she had seen the 'devil' near the crime scene. Murder mystery and small town scandal ensured.
Note 1: it's more of a classical murder mystery novel than the usual spy stuff which Mr. le Carre is well known for.
Note 2: A Murder of Quality is clearly not a masterpiece but it still puts a lot of nowadays murder mystery novels into total shame.
We learn a little more about Smiley the retired ex-spy and his past. The murder mystery itself is decently played out, a few suspects had been thrown in to cover the real killer's track but the story as a whole is very 'to-the-point' without being long-winded or overly complicated. The explanation of how and why the teacher's wife was killed is logical.
What I also like is how the prejudice and arrogance of the upper class people is described through the story. I can get a clear sense of how those characters are like and I don't think they are exactly hateful but goddamn it, they judge everyone with their family background and upbringing it is really annoying. If you come from a public school? Then you're second-classed citizen even when you try to dress, talk and think like the upper class.
Again I like the cool, no nonsense, observational way of Mr. le Carre's writing.
Rating: 3.8 stars.
Premise: The second novel featuring George Smiley takes Smiley and us readers to a small British town, the wife of a local high ended private school's teacher had just been murdered, surprisingly the victim had previously sent out a letter foretelling her own death, plus a local crazy homeless woman claimed she had seen the 'devil' near the crime scene. Murder mystery and small town scandal ensured.
Note 1: it's more of a classical murder mystery novel than the usual spy stuff which Mr. le Carre is well known for.
Note 2: A Murder of Quality is clearly not a masterpiece but it still puts a lot of nowadays murder mystery novels into total shame.
We learn a little more about Smiley the retired ex-spy and his past. The murder mystery itself is decently played out, a few suspects had been thrown in to cover the real killer's track but the story as a whole is very 'to-the-point' without being long-winded or overly complicated. The explanation of how and why the teacher's wife was killed is logical.
What I also like is how the prejudice and arrogance of the upper class people is described through the story. I can get a clear sense of how those characters are like and I don't think they are exactly hateful but goddamn it, they judge everyone with their family background and upbringing it is really annoying. If you come from a public school? Then you're second-classed citizen even when you try to dress, talk and think like the upper class.
Again I like the cool, no nonsense, observational way of Mr. le Carre's writing.
February 3, 2026
3.5 Stars. This is the second in John LeCarre’s George Smiley series. It is a reasonably entertaining story, but it is more of a murder mystery than a spy novel. And I confess a certain amount of disappointment at that. I like murder mysteries very much. But I LOVE spy novels. So when a great spy is wasted, it makes me a bit sad.
The story centers around the murder of a woman called Stella Rode, which takes place in the small town of Carne, the location of a prestigious boys school. There are several potential murderers and I always like guessing who the culprit might be, but in this case, some very important information about Stella herself was withheld until the second to last chapter of the novel, even tho everyone interviewed by the police and Smiley up until that point was aware of this information from the start. I felt like that was a bit of a cheat on LeCarre’s part because it changed everything about the complexion of the case.
This book is a nice enough tale, and I felt very atmospheric. But this is certainly not going to be my favorite of the series.
The story centers around the murder of a woman called Stella Rode, which takes place in the small town of Carne, the location of a prestigious boys school. There are several potential murderers and I always like guessing who the culprit might be, but in this case, some very important information about Stella herself was withheld until the second to last chapter of the novel, even tho everyone interviewed by the police and Smiley up until that point was aware of this information from the start. I felt like that was a bit of a cheat on LeCarre’s part because it changed everything about the complexion of the case.
This book is a nice enough tale, and I felt very atmospheric. But this is certainly not going to be my favorite of the series.
October 15, 2021
no so much espionage thriller as a who dunnit
great set of characters, and a mysterious murder
fairly cutting critique of British upper class schooling system of the time, combination of stagnant academic with poisonous elitism
great set of characters, and a mysterious murder
fairly cutting critique of British upper class schooling system of the time, combination of stagnant academic with poisonous elitism
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December 20, 2015[3.5] One of those curious book coincidences that seem to happen more often than they statistically should: here it's a surprising similarity of plot and causation with another crime novel I read overlapping this one - had no idea before starting each book that the topic would be involved in either of them. Fifteen years and the best part of five hundred miles, not to mention the gulf of the post-war British class system separate the stories, but ultimately it came down to the same thing.
This is a novel about snobbery and sexual repression at least as much as a simple murder-mystery; though the characters were so very, repetitively, obsessed with the minutiae of class distinction that it started to seem déclassé, more like social-climbing Hyacinth Bucket than landed gentry and their cousins. But then I wasn't around in 1962 to know what it was like. The only one whose outlook on the matter rang true was a "bony, virile" spinster who breeds dogs [code for probable lesbian, I suppose], who at one point says Stella Rode may have been damn bad form, but she did a lot for my refugees...One of the few wives who really did anything...Busy little creature, didn't mind rolling her sleeves up... You've got to hand it to them, they've got spirit! More sherry, Felix!
(re. the refugees: there's a certain irony in 2015 in happening upon a fifty-year-old book in which Hungarian refugees are a minor plot point.)
I'm always benchmarking other thriller writers against Le Carre. A Murder of Quality isn't considered one of his best anyway; at first I thought the narrative pretty good, though the dialogue between schoolboys was hopelessly expository. Then I read William McIlvanney's Laidlaw which brought a whole different order of depth and style to crime writing, and after that returned to this, whence it seemed competent, but philosophically merely scratched the surface.
There was a sort of reassuring cosiness to the setting that made me understand the appeal of Golden Age mysteries. Though I preferred being at this point in time, knowing that The Sixties were about to start unravelling the social-class straitjacket shown here (and attacked, with a certain amount of ambiguity), rather than thinking of the characters going off to war in a while. George Smiley, though, seems a better and stronger character when he's a spymaster: here as semi-amateur detective poking his nose in where he possibly shouldn't, he was inevitably weaker (but it was interesting to see him apologise for himself and get embarrassed - not that he was ever stuck-up).
Despite a recent article in which Le Carre was described as an 'angry old man' I was surprised by the ferocity in his recent afterword to this book: that he would be quite delighted to see the public school system abolished, and after his own dreadful experiences in the 1940s, he says of Sherborne masters, To this day, I can find no forgiveness for their terrible abuse of the charges entrusted to them. I've heard similar from others (although no one I've talked to who went to public school after c. the early 80s had anything like as bad a time). I like Le Carre here for not losing his fire, and for admitting glaring weaknesses: that he still sent his own sons to public school (whilst he was working abroad for the secret service, it was just what people did - but he explains rather than excuses it) and for himself describing this book as 'a flawed thriller'
This is a novel about snobbery and sexual repression at least as much as a simple murder-mystery; though the characters were so very, repetitively, obsessed with the minutiae of class distinction that it started to seem déclassé, more like social-climbing Hyacinth Bucket than landed gentry and their cousins. But then I wasn't around in 1962 to know what it was like. The only one whose outlook on the matter rang true was a "bony, virile" spinster who breeds dogs [code for probable lesbian, I suppose], who at one point says Stella Rode may have been damn bad form, but she did a lot for my refugees...One of the few wives who really did anything...Busy little creature, didn't mind rolling her sleeves up... You've got to hand it to them, they've got spirit! More sherry, Felix!
(re. the refugees: there's a certain irony in 2015 in happening upon a fifty-year-old book in which Hungarian refugees are a minor plot point.)
I'm always benchmarking other thriller writers against Le Carre. A Murder of Quality isn't considered one of his best anyway; at first I thought the narrative pretty good, though the dialogue between schoolboys was hopelessly expository. Then I read William McIlvanney's Laidlaw which brought a whole different order of depth and style to crime writing, and after that returned to this, whence it seemed competent, but philosophically merely scratched the surface.
There was a sort of reassuring cosiness to the setting that made me understand the appeal of Golden Age mysteries. Though I preferred being at this point in time, knowing that The Sixties were about to start unravelling the social-class straitjacket shown here (and attacked, with a certain amount of ambiguity), rather than thinking of the characters going off to war in a while. George Smiley, though, seems a better and stronger character when he's a spymaster: here as semi-amateur detective poking his nose in where he possibly shouldn't, he was inevitably weaker (but it was interesting to see him apologise for himself and get embarrassed - not that he was ever stuck-up).
Despite a recent article in which Le Carre was described as an 'angry old man' I was surprised by the ferocity in his recent afterword to this book: that he would be quite delighted to see the public school system abolished, and after his own dreadful experiences in the 1940s, he says of Sherborne masters, To this day, I can find no forgiveness for their terrible abuse of the charges entrusted to them. I've heard similar from others (although no one I've talked to who went to public school after c. the early 80s had anything like as bad a time). I like Le Carre here for not losing his fire, and for admitting glaring weaknesses: that he still sent his own sons to public school (whilst he was working abroad for the secret service, it was just what people did - but he explains rather than excuses it) and for himself describing this book as 'a flawed thriller'
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