Murder of Quality

John le Carré

Originally read and reviewed on Goodreads on October 12, 2012

★★★

189 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

“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.