Gideon's Press

Gideon #19

by J.J. Marric

Book by Marric, J. J.

Genres: Mystery, Procedural, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 1973

About the author

A pseudonym used by John Creasey.

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

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Commander Gideon police procedural series has quickly become one of my favorites. Since then I've also enjoyed the standalone movie based on the series and the TV series that followed the books. It's nice to read about and see shows that reflect the police in such a positive light. Anyway, Gideon's Press (#19 in the series) written by J.J. Marric was somewhat familiar to me from the TV show but was nevertheless an excellent story.

Commander Gideon, head of London's CID is alone at home since wife Kate has gone off to visit one of his daughters. His other daughter, concert pianist, has also gone to take on job with a symphony that is touring Scotland. Penny also happens to be dating Gideon's #1, Alec Hobbs.

There are two story lines in this book; one following union strikes against London's newspapers and a threatened strike by dock workers. As well, there is a multi-service investigation taking place to catch smugglers who are illegally bringing in Pakistanis and Indians by sea. (As an aside, I found it interesting that this was a topic of interest back in the 70's but I was just a kid then)

Gideon will use the services of the press quite a bit in this story, which makes an interesting side story as we follow two reporters investigating the events taking place on the dockyard. We also have Inspector Homiwell diligently working the smuggling case, as he believes that the smugglers have deliberately sunk at least one boat filled with immigrants.

It's just a fascinating story as we move from one character to another, intricately tying them together and the main stories. Marric gets into the minds and the lives of each character and even bring back one from a previous story to see how his life has changed. The meetings with the press, the investigations by the reporters, the diligence of the police. It all makes up a great, fascinating, page turner and it all results in a satisfactory conclusion. Great series. (4.0 stars)

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the point where Creasey's estate hired someone else to take over the series. I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Steven Heywood · Rating 2 out of 5]

A worthy plodder. Dated but not in a charming way.

[C. John Kerry]

Gideon has two problems in this one. The first is that the dock workers are quite probably going to be going on strike. Normally this wouldn't be a police matter but in this case there is an extreme right wing group that plans on attacking the strikers. At the same time there is an organization which is targeting immigrants to England, both legal and non-legal, especially those of colour. Their goal is to keep England as white as possible. What we know, but Gideon does not, is that both problems are being caused by the same group. We also get more on Gideon's personal life, especially as it relates to his youngest daughter. All in all a good one. Happy Reading.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

One struggles to keep one’s upper lip stiff, at times.
But there is that real emotional pull of heroism and a job well done.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry as sand. But it has to do with a right-wing group threatening violence and I wasn't in the mood anyway. Not bad but not for me right now.

[Delores Alger · Rating 4 out of 5]

creasey's gideon