A Murder of Quality: A George Smiley Novel

This second of Le Carre's novels, develops George Smiley's character and investigative skills, revealing much about how Smiley's mind works. This installment is essential to understanding the book that follows (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) not because it deals with spying, which it does not, but from its skillful depiction of Smiley's plodding ways to discover truth.This work also illustrates well Le Carre's exploration of his writing development, perhaps trying to shift the storyline away from the intelligence sevices where he was still working, possibly avoiding conflicts and scrutiny from his superiors.I found the book both interesting and fulfilling, even though the plot diverged temporarily from the legacy of spy novels and stories of intrigue to which Le Carre's writing returned with such great success.I also enjoyed the Audible narration that effectively advanced the storyline.This novel helps us understand better the early honing of Le Carre's writing skills as he discovers his own voice and begins revealing himself in his stories. For the budding novelist or the serious follow of John Le Carre, this book is a worthwhile reading experience.

While, in terms of language and descriptions the book is exquisitely written, as you would expect by le Carré, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the first. Smiley, otherwise well written, has reactions to certain events that seem odd to me, which makes the character unrelatable. The rest of the "cast" seems more linear and less erratic. The story flows well, gradually building up to a finale I, personale, felt less satisfying than I had expected. When reading a thriller, my expectation is to be able to make an educated guess as to who the bad guy is at some point. With this one, I didn't feel like I had a chance to do so, making the big reveal feel a bit like a forced twist as a sort of "hah! I got you!". Some might like that, I didn't much care for it myself =)

I am a great fan of the George Smiley series - some of the best cold war espionage novels around. A Murder of Quality, however, is a departure from espionage into "who-done-it?" In my view, not exceptional in that genre, but offering added interest because of the way Smiley's character (and a few of his colleagues/friends) is further fleshed out in this different context.

A Murder of Quality is excellent. I had a hard time with Le Carre's first Smiley novel, "A Call for the Dead." Now in reading "A Murder of Quality" I can see that I either need to go back and re-read "Dead," or consider that it was a weak start for Le Carre. "A Murder of Quality" sucks you right in and takes you along excellently.A lot of info is in the mixmaster near the end and that can be confusing. But as noted above, "we're just gettin' started" with Smiley on what we know will be a successful adventure over time. Le Carre's writing lights up your brain cinematically (which is also said of Graham Greene). The description of a tea tray just about anywhere in the literature of Great Britain is unparalleled on this earth. President-elect Trump may take Americans wherever he will on this forthcoming four (4) year adventure, but there will always be an England (Great Britain).

Recently, I learned that John le Carre had a final novel in which George Smiley was going to spear. I thought before reading it, I should fully enter into the world of George Smiley and read le Carre's earlier novels. "A Murder of Quality" is one of le Carre's early novels and is one of his lesser works. It is a fun book and it is a pleasure to learn more about Smiley's early life. I would recommend it only to "completionists " like myself.

I enjoyed finding two LeCarre’ novels (this one and Call for the Dead) I hadn’t heard of before. Though written earlier than his better-known books, these have the same tone. If you like his later books, these will be a nice find for you, too.

George Smiley, formerly of the British Secret Intelligence Service, now fidgeting in unhappy retirement, gets a call from a wartime colleague. Miss Ailsa Brimley runs a small newspaper; one of her subscribers has sent a letter predicting her own murder. On the heels of the letter comes news that the woman in question has been brutally murdered at Carne, a very old and very private school. Who else should take the puzzling case but a former spymaster?Such is the premise of "A Murder of Quality", John LeCarre's very decent second novel, first published in 1962. Smiley, who has connections at Carne, undertakes a private investigation with the tacit approval of the local police, who suspect a local mentally disturbed woman. Smiley's investigation leads him deep into the plotting, petty politics, and jealousies of the school staff, where he finds many suspects and more than a few lies.The murder mystery is carefully plotted; the solution may not be obvious until late in the novel. LeCarre works in some harsh satire on private schools, but the real fun may be watching him fill out the character of the non-heroic Smiley, who would go on to feature in several of LeCarre's hard-edged but excellent espionage novels. "A Murder of Quality" is highly recommended to fans of LeCarre and of George Smiley.

Until I read LeCarré's obit, I didn't know this book existed. I'd read his first "Smiley" novel and was willing to give this a try. What's not to like about an early glimpse of George Smiley as a character in his formative stages? I really enjoyed reading it. It has an Agatha Christie vibe, so I'm happy LeCarré moved on and into spy thrillers.

This is the second of John Le Carre's Smiley novels, and like the first, Call for the Dead is interesting both in itself as a story, and for the picture of an emerging novelist.In this, Le Carre seems to be exploring a different course for Smiley's and hence his own career. Here Smiley has left the Circus, and is encouraged by a magazine editor, and old acquaintance, to look into a cry for help from a reader. Things take a fatal turn and Smiley finds himself looking into a murder in the claustrophobic, political and arcane world of an English public school.This is a straightforward detective novel, with no element of espionage in it, and Le Carre seems to be establishing Smiley as an English Poirot, ready to launch into a series of novels.As with the previous book, Le Carre is experimenting with characters, in particular the magazine editor has elements of being a prototype for Connie Sachs.Also of interest is the strong social and political tone of the work, a common thread throughout Le Carre's career. Both in the story itself, and in an afterword, this is an absolutely vicious attack on the English public school system, both for its cruelty to those within it, and for its corrosive impact on society. Like Orwell attacking the excesses of the Stalinist left, this has the feel of an insider biting the hand which beat him.

Written in the early 1960's, 'A Murder of Quality' is the second John le Carré book in which the main character is ex-British intelligence officer George Smiley. Having left the world of spying towards the end of 'Call For the Dead', the first book in the series, it's another 'who-dunnit', in which the Smiley cleverly solves a brutal murder at a boys' public school. Stella Rode, the wife of one of the teachers at the school is savagely beaten to death and suspicion initially falls on a local mad woman who she had got to know through her charitable work. Mrs Rode is an outsider - looked down upon by the other wives at the school for being northern, non-conformist and middle-class. But who would hate her enough to kill her?In 'A Murder of Quality' le Carré is getting into his stride in developing the character of Smiley. It's also an unmissable opportunity for him to pour out his feelings of loathing and disgust towards the public school system of the time and in which he had suffered as a boy. It's brief, and not as thrilling as the later books in the series, but is nevertheless an enjoyable read.

John le Carre is best known for his spy stories but this, his second published novel, although involving Smiley, is a murder mystery with shades of Agatha Christie. The public school setting is reminiscent of a late Poirot story, although in that case it is a girl's school, but the writing, of course shows far more literary skill than Christie's. Its characters, like Christie 's express the snobbish attitudes of the period, but unlike Christie, who is expressing her own prejudices, le Carre, as he makes clear in his Afterwords, is surprising these class prejudices. Not a Smiley classic but still a good read.

I love John le Carré's work as a rule, but hadn't read these early books. This one's not bad, but I don't think it would be down as a Penguin Classic if it weren't for its value in providing a context for his later works.A Murder of Quality is a fairly standard crime thriller set in a public school. What turns out to be much more interesting than the book itself is le Carré's two afterwords written in the 1990s and early 2000s, which give his strongly held opinions on the public and grammar school systems. I got the kindle version on offer for 99p; it's certainly worth it at this price.

One wonders why Le Carre wrote this and how it relates to the rest of the spy series. It could probably be read as stand alone book and follows Smiley's investigation of a murder of a women married to one of the teachers at a prestigious school. Whilst this is a good murder mystery and could be read in a day (very short), it lacks the same espionage intrigue as the rest of the stories and seems to bridge the gap between Smiley's retirement and his return to the Circus. There are some amusing character studies in this and comparisons between classes which are interesting. You could probably miss this out and still understand the following books.