The Late Bill Smith, first published in 1971, is not one of Andrew Garve's best-known books, but it's a typically entertaining novel of suspense, with just one slow patch, when the two main characters go on a cruise together in the middle of the book. But it's interesting to compare the description of cruising then with today's experiences. Certainly, apparently missing passengers are now treated rather more seriously than is the case in this novel.
The book begins in striking fashion. A man appears on Sue Hammond's balcony in Chelsea one warm September evening. He has a remarkable story to tell. His name is Bill Smith and he has been the subject of three failed attempts on his life. He has turned up on the balcony simply in an attempt to save himself and evade his pursuers. But he has no idea why they are pursuing him.
This is a great premise and I am pretty sure I understand the reason why Garve started the book in this way. It has the benefit that he can maintain some uncertainty in the reader's (and Sue's) mind as to whether Bill is lying and, if so, why. But there is a cost to this approach, and to be honest I'm not convinced that I would have made the same storytelling choices as Garve.
To explain why would be a spoiler, but I think it is fair to say that the pace slackens significantly after that great start and it doesn't fully recover. This is mainly because, from start to finish, we're told a lot of things instead of being shown them actually happening. I enjoyed the story, because Garve was such a wonderfully readable storyteller. In that he resembled his contemporary Michael Gilbert, although I'd say that Gilbert was a more polished writer. But there is a great idea at the heart of this novel, and although I think it could have been used even more effectively, The Late Bill Smith is still well worth reading.
Garve is one of my favourite authors and I've read all the books published under that name. While The Late Bill Smith is as readable as always, the plot is rather far-fetched and some of the actions of the characters are inexplicable.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable review as always! We had pretty similar responses to this. I think you identify my main issue with it: there's a lot of telling rather than showing. I remember feeling it reads like a romantic suspense story like Charade or North by Northwest, but we don't really get enough of the romantic pair interacting. Still, whether writing as Garve or Roger Bax, this author is always highly readable!
ReplyDeleteGeoff, great to hear from you. Do you have any particular favourites? I've read quite a few, but far from all of them.
ReplyDeleteLooking back over my notes, I found most of Garve's novels, but not all, to be very readable but with a disappointing conclusion. He was very versatile writing, among others, detective stories, spy novels, and adventures, often involving sailing. If I had to pick favourites I'd probably go with A Press of Suspects (an "inverted" detective story) and Murderer's Fen (a complex crime story).
DeleteAgreed, Aidan. I've always thought him a sound writer and I probably appreciate him even more now that I'm reading him more extensively.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Geoff. I think conclusions were also not always a strong point for Michael Gilbert. I don't know A Press of Suspects but I'll look out for it.
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