Murder Plan Six

by John Bingham

'Murder Plan Six', described by the 'Evening Standard' as 'a thriller of a very high (and rare) order', is by John Bingham, whom many will remember as the amiable father of Charlotte Bingham in 'Coronet Among the Weeds'. If the story is raather less than amiable, it is nevertheless rather more than unusual, with its introduction of Victor Gollancz, the very real and very well-known publisher, as one of the main characters, toghether with two fictitious authors of the Gollancz 'stable' and two women, of whom one is an angel and the other the very devil. When a note of madness creeps in - happily among the fictitious characters - things are bound to get out of hand, and they do it with a tension that winds up tighter and tighter as time and the tape-recordings run out.

Genres: Thriller

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

John Michael Ward Bingham - who became the seventh Lord Clanmorris - was born in Haywards Heath on 3 November 1908.

He was educated at Cheltenham College and became an art editor for the 'Sunday Dispatch'. He married Madeleine Mary Ebel on 28 July 1934.

During the Second World War he served with the Royal Engineers and was attached to the General Staff. He also worked for MI5 and was supposedly the inspiration for John Le Carre's George Smiley. And over the course of thirty years, he served MI5 in various high-ranking capacities, including undercover agent.

He wrote under a pseudonym and published 17 novels in the thriller, detective and spy fields. These included 'My Name is Michael Sibley', his first novel published in 1952, 'A Fragment of Fear', and 'I Love, I Kill'.

He succeeded to the title of 7th Baron Clanmorris on 24 June 1960.

He died in 1988.

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller with a difference in that the tension builds throughout the book without a crime being committed. Michael Barlow dictates a supposed novel to publisher Victor Gollancz, who suspects that it is not fiction and calls in his friend Tommy Dempster.

They listen to the recordings, which had arrived with Gollancz over a period of a few days, and their fear that the story is more fact than fiction worries them. The tension continues to build before Tommy sets out to find one of the ladies mentioned in the recordings.

Meanwhile Barlow is at his cottage and is visited by another of the ladies in the recordings. Plans are made for a crime; will it be successful and will the outcome suit the somewhat demented Barlow?

He arranges to further his plans, his lady friend leaves, he follows and is disappointed with what he sees. This turns his thoughts to another crime. But Dempster is a step ahead of him and despite the police not being interested in Dempster's tale, he makes sure that things do not end as badly as they could have done.

And there is a little romance along the way for Demspter, too, much to Gollancz's surprise.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooof - this is quite the thing. Not perfect but arguably the closest British crime fiction has got to pulp that I’ve yet come across

Bingham seems a fascinating man - one of the two originals for George Smiley and a senior spy, he takes what is basically a very simple thriller and decides to cut it down to the essentials and considerably add to the tension by framing most of the book as taped confessions of one of the main characters.

This is not the main innovation- that’s the fact that the main leads are both authors and their publisher is Victor Gollancz who gets a pivotal role here. By adding that sensational flavour of realism and almost fourth wall breaking to the plot, Bingham manages to avoid the more cliched elements of the plot becoming too obvious. It’s far from perfect but it’s joyfully tense and brave and mad and I loved it

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Σχέδιο δολοφονίας 6", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.

Βαθμολογία: 7/10

Ο Τζον Μπίνγκαμ ήταν μέντορας του Τζον Λε Καρέ στην MI5 και κατά τα φαινόμενα πηγή έμπνευσης για τον χαρακτήρα Τζορτζ Σμάιλι, που πρωταγωνιστεί σε πολλά βιβλία του Λε Καρέ. Οπότε, όσο να'ναι, είχα περιέργεια για τις συγγραφικές ικανότητες του τύπου αυτού. Δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ξετρελάθηκα, όμως διάβασα κάτι αρκετά ιδιαίτερο και ευκολοδιάβαστο.

Ένας εκδότης και ένας συγγραφέας ακούνε τις μαγνητοφωνήσεις κάποιου Μάικλ Μπάρλοου, συγγραφέα αστυνομικών μυθιστορημάτων, που αφηγείται πως οδηγήθηκε στην δολοφονία της γυναίκας του λίγα χρόνια πριν και πως θα οδηγηθεί στην δολοφονία ενός πλούσιου άντρα, για τα μάτια μιας νέας και όμορφης γυναίκας. Το θέμα είναι το εξής: Πρόκειται για ένα συγγραφικό πείραμα και μελλοντικό μυθιστόρημα ή για αληθινά γεγονότα;

Μου φάνηκε ενδιαφέρουσα η κεντρική ιδέα και η εκτέλεση δεν ήταν άσχημη. Απλώς κάποια κομμάτια της αφήγησης δεν με έπεισαν και μερικά σημεία μου φάνηκαν κάπως μελοδραματικά για τα γούστα μου. Και δεν υπήρξε πολύς χώρος για ανάπτυξη χαρακτήρων και εκβάθυνση σε συναισθήματα και σκέψεις. Όμως ήθελα να δω που θα καταλήξει η ιστορία και μερικές εκπλήξεις είχαν ενδιαφέρον. Η γραφή θα έλεγα ότι ήταν καλούτσικη, σίγουρα ευκολοδιάβαστη.

Συμπερασματικά, πρόκειται για ένα αρκετά ενδιαφέρον και ξεχωριστό αστυνομικό δράμα, που διαβάστηκε γρήγορα και ευχάριστα, χωρίς όμως να καταφέρει να με ξετρελάνει. Σίγουρα πέρασα καλά, μέχρι εκεί όμως. Προτείνεται υπό προϋποθέσεις. Στα ελληνικά κυκλοφορεί και το "Πέντε σταυροδρόμια μέχρι τον παράδεισο" (εκδ. Λιβάνη), που βρήκα με 2 ευρώ πέρυσι.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining. A quick read that keeps you in suspense.