Maura (maura853) -
Another excellent mystery from Gilbert, now one of our favourite classic mystery writers -- well written, well-paced, restrained but pleasingly evocative of the post-war years in England and France. Here, the "stiff upper lip" is not a joke, but a genuine survival strategy.
"One does not complain ... You turned to the left, and you lived, you turned to the right and you died."
Thanks to the British Library Crime Classic series, I have discovered authors like Gilbert, and ECR Lorac, who capture the peculiar resonances of the years immediately following World War II. What I especially like is Gilbert's matter-of-factness as he describes characters and situations that have been shaped by the most horrible of circumstances -- the death of a child, through malnutrition; the torture and death of brave men and women by the Gestapo, just for a start. By hints and whispers, Gilbert conveys the horrors that these characters have endured, and that continue to shape their attitudes and actions. We are told that the method used to kill the unfortunate Major Thoseby was one that was taught to Resistance agents as a quick, immediately effective method '...in case they had to kill Germans?' 'Yes,' said Major Ammon. 'or themselves.'
And like the jury, we the readers are suddenly "looking back at an unknown and rather frightening landscape." There are a number of moments like that -- when the full horror behind the curtain of the humour, and the jolly japes of the Boy's Own investigation in France, and the cozy tradition of the "closed room" mystery is revealed, for just a moment.
Gilbert skillfully intertwines two mysteries -- the murder of Major Thoseby, and the mystery of what actually happened when the Gestapo raided a Resistance safe-house in the French countryside, in 1943, and the fate of the British agent who had been hidden there. The alternating storylines really kept the narrative moving. The main characters are attractive and interesting, and even the minor characters suggest backstories that enhance the proceedings.
A thoroughly good read.
"One does not complain ... You turned to the left, and you lived, you turned to the right and you died."
Thanks to the British Library Crime Classic series, I have discovered authors like Gilbert, and ECR Lorac, who capture the peculiar resonances of the years immediately following World War II. What I especially like is Gilbert's matter-of-factness as he describes characters and situations that have been shaped by the most horrible of circumstances -- the death of a child, through malnutrition; the torture and death of brave men and women by the Gestapo, just for a start. By hints and whispers, Gilbert conveys the horrors that these characters have endured, and that continue to shape their attitudes and actions. We are told that the method used to kill the unfortunate Major Thoseby was one that was taught to Resistance agents as a quick, immediately effective method '...in case they had to kill Germans?' 'Yes,' said Major Ammon. 'or themselves.'
And like the jury, we the readers are suddenly "looking back at an unknown and rather frightening landscape." There are a number of moments like that -- when the full horror behind the curtain of the humour, and the jolly japes of the Boy's Own investigation in France, and the cozy tradition of the "closed room" mystery is revealed, for just a moment.
Gilbert skillfully intertwines two mysteries -- the murder of Major Thoseby, and the mystery of what actually happened when the Gestapo raided a Resistance safe-house in the French countryside, in 1943, and the fate of the British agent who had been hidden there. The alternating storylines really kept the narrative moving. The main characters are attractive and interesting, and even the minor characters suggest backstories that enhance the proceedings.
A thoroughly good read.
