[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]

CURIOUS CONSPIRACY AND OTHER CRIMES, THE by Michael Gilbert Crippen & Landru, April 2002 234 pages $17.00 ISBN: 1885941730 Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

The most charming aspect of this anthology is that the author has done something few mystery writers have done; he has written mysteries without murder. This is not easy - it can't be or we'd see more stories like that. They exist, but for whatever reasons -the wisdom of marketing departments, the demands of us readers - few writers can, shall we say, get away with this. And it's welcome and it's refreshing.

Michael Gilbert is not an author whose work I know. I know, I know, don't look at me like that. This amazing man has been writing for longer than I've been on the planet, and Crippen & Landru, who put this collection together according to jacket copy to recognize "the year of Michael Gilbert's ninetieth birthday", have a history of choosing authors not by how they sell, or longevity or best seller list status, but by talent. Gilbert, one of the founders of Britain's Crime Writers Association is smooth, stylish and effective. The twenty stories here show his versatility. They include tales of blackmail, of crooked cops, of spying and old school ties (virtual, not the striped variety) all told in an almost quiet, seamless manner. He's a smart writer - he doesn't give away a lot, he never over-writes and when there is a surprise ending, you sit there and say "well, of course!" because you really could have seen it all along.

If you're one of those readers who hesitates over mystery short stories (I know I've urged this before) you might reconsider and pick up A Curious Conspiracy. I know I haven't offered plot summaries or pointed out highlights here - the truth is that the longest piece here is about 22 pages. If you don't like one, try the next. Okay, I really recommend "Judith", and thought "Miss Bell's Stocking" verrrrry eerie. Whether it's about a village that finds its own justice, the revenge of the working class toward the corrupt bosses, or the very quiet man who rights a wrong, these are quiet tales from a talented man that merit reading. And while many of these collected stories go back almost 50 years, and yes, some are dated in some ways, the universals of crime fiction - of wrong and right and cops and bad guys - still hold true. --

http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Sherloc kian, Wodehousian & more