Len Deighton R.I.P.

I was very sorry to learn of the death of Len Deighton, one of the most influential genre writers of the twentieth century, and someone whom I had the privilege (and I feel that's an appropriate word) and pleasure of getting to know personally.  

The quality of Len’s writing, and the significance of his contribution to espionage fiction (and much else besides) will be discussed extensively in the obituaries. In a future newsletter, I hope to write about his work, but in this post, I’d like to focus on the man himself.

My connection with him came about through the Detection Club. He was always enormously enthusiastic about and supportive of the Club, and Corinne Hitching tells me that over the many years she has been our assistant secretary, Len was invariably one of the first to respond to her emails with a warm message, even though the fact that he lived outside the UK (he had homes in California and Portugal, but his main base was Guernsey in the Channel Islands) meant that he hadn’t been able to join us in person for some years. 

As is well-known, Len eschewed literary and other honours. He is, as far as I'm aware, the only person who has ever declined an invitation to be honoured by the CWA with the Diamond Dagger. However, there was something about the Detection Club and its heritage, and above all the congenial and collegiate nature of our activities, that appealed greatly to him.

Len was elected to membership of the Club back in 1969, when Agatha Christie was President. He had a very entertaining story about reminding her that they’d met once before, when as a BOAC steward, he served her on a flight to the Middle East. At no time in our 96-year history (yes, the Detection Club is one year younger than Len was) has anybody else been a member of the Club for as long as Len.

I first met him at an autumn dinner of the Club at the Savoy. On checking, I find to my astonishment that it was way back in 1994, though I recall it vividly. At that point I’d only published three or four novels, and I was invited as a guest by Robert Barnard, who showed me many kindnesses from the start of my crime writing career and for the rest of his life. Knowing of my admiration for Len’s work, Bob kindly introduced me to him. I had a fine time at that dinner, and met many delightful people, but chatting with Len was undoubtedly a highlight.

Of course, in those days I never dreamed that I’d ever have any further involvement with the Club. Fast forward to 2015. When it was announced that I would succeed Simon as President, Len immediately got in touch with me. He said he wanted to offer congratulations and support, but more than that, he’d like to invite me to lunch next time he was in England so that we could get to know each other better. A very generous offer, to say the least.

Len was, famously, a gourmand, and suffice to say that our lunch wasn't any ordinary lunch. It was at Koffmann's at the Berkeley Hotel and the whole experience exceeded even my high expectations. We spent the best part of four hours chatting together, as Len – who was a great raconteur – reeled off one fascinating anecdote after another. At the end of the lunch, as you can see from the above photo, he wrote personal inscriptions in first editions of his first four books which I'd brought along, just in case he was willing to do so. It was quite incredible. I’ll never forget it. 

Len also gave a wonderful encomium to The Golden Age of Murder. I was, again, hugely grateful for his kindness. There aren't so many authors around who have had a laudatory blurb from one of the greats, and he certainly didn't have to do it. This is what he said:

'You don't have to be a fan of 'whodunits'  to enjoy this amazing story of their creators and their works. Here you will meet the Detection Club; a still existent and somewhat incongruous band of writers. Elected by secret ballot, their lives were seemingly stranger than fiction. I admire the way that Martin Edwards weaves the sometimes violent, sometimes unlawful, and always gripping, true stories of these writers with the equally wild tales they tell in their books.

Edwards is widely read and authoritative in his analysis. He probes the psychology of writers and dissects their plots. He provides true murder cases that inspired Christie books and Hitchcock films. Best of all, he provides a new way of looking at old favourites. I found Martin Edwards' 'The Golden Age of Murder'  illuminating and entertaining; what writer could hope for more?'

And what writer could hope for a better quote than that? 

Len contributed to a number of Detection Club books over the years, and when I started work on a volume of stories in tribute to Peter Lovesey, I asked him if he'd be willing to contribute a foreword. He replied at once in the affirmative and his foreword to Motives for Murder proved to be as witty (he took no prisoners where publishers were concerned!) as it was warm.

When we began work on another book to raise funds for the Club, about the art and graft of crime writing - Howdunit - I asked Len (knowing his aversion to the limelight) if he would mind if the book was dedicated to him. He said he’d be thrilled, and that – even though he’d retired from writing fiction long ago – he would be more than happy to contribute. He duly wrote a terrific essay to conclude the book, called ‘Different Books, Different Problems, Different Solutions’, and sent me some fascinating additional material, including some photos that were included in the book.     

After that we stayed in touch mainly by email and occasional notes written in his extremely legible hand. He was very keen to see the Club continuing to flourish. One message came a couple of years ago, when he was in good spirits, He said he was extremely frail, yet extremely well cared for by his wife Ysabele. He said ‘we are very happy in our friendly little island’ (that is, Guernsey) and added: ‘I wish I could see all my old friends. But being 95 has its drawbacks.’

Rest in peace, Len. You were a terrific writer and, even more importantly, a true gentleman.