I first read Michael Gilbert's The Body of a Girl when I bought the paperback edition, two years after the book first came out in 1972. It was a book that I enjoyed, and I recall liking the character of the tough cop at the heart of the story, Mercer, although he did not feature in any more novels (there were just three short stories about him, which I caught up with many years later). One of the other detectives, Chief Superintendent Morrissey, also features in other Gilbert stories. Having forgotten the plot of the story, I thought it was high time I took another look at my old paperback edition.
I certainly wasn't disappointed. This is a witty and unpredictable story, which has great pace from start to finish, and the slightly of-its-time title doesn't fully convey the range of plot material that Gilbert handles with great skill, though it is fair to say that the discovery of a female body at an island on the Thames is the catalyst for what follows.
Mercer, who is sent to investigate, is cleverly presented. We can't be sure whether he's a villain or a good guy. Perhaps he is a bit of both. The tensions between the police officers conducting the investigation are handled convincingly, while there's a pleasing array of mysterious characters mixed up in events - including a one-armed garage owner who joviality may conceal a more sinister side. And, this being a Michael Gilbert novel, there is a solicitor in town who is believable yet may not be all that he seems.
I read this book in between two enjoyable novels by Andrew Garve. The similarities between Garve and Gilbert interest me; both were admirably versatile and highly professional in their writing. I have always rated Gilbert ahead of Garve, and I still do, though the more Garve I read, the more I like his books. But Gilbert was less prolific as a novelist, and I think he packs more depth into his novels, albeit with a light touch; perhaps this helps to explain why he won the Diamond Dagger and Garve did not. Both are authors I can recommend. Along with Julian Symons, I'd say they were probably the best male English crime novelists of their generation.
6 comments:
Thanks for the recommendation, Martin. I was intrigued by the concept of this story and managed to acquire a paperback copy from Amazon at a reasonable price. In fact, both Gilbert and Garve are both firmly on my ‘hit list’ - I’ve only read one by each author and look forward to reading many more. As much as I’m drawn to the Golden Age, it’s sometimes easy to forget there were some very talented crime writers around in the latter part of the 20th century.
Thanks, Martin, for another shout-out for Michael Gilbert's books. I've just ordered a secondhand copy of "The Body of a Girl" from Abebooks (I thought I had it in my collection already, but I didn't). It's a shame that so many (the majority?) of his books aren't currently in print, let alone available on a Kindle ... All the best, Martyn
Yes, Alan, you're absolutely right. And I can say with some confidence that you have a lot of reading pleasure ahead of you.
Martyn, agreed. I hope that more Gilberts will appear as Crime Classics in due course, though there's nothing definite about this at present.
I've now read this one, Martin. All very enjoyable and, for me, Michael Gilbert excels in the way he brings so many characters, including minor ones, to life. Some of the attitudes expressed are a bit old-fashioned (putting it kindly), but I suppose it was the 1970s ... Martyn
Glad you enjoyed it, Martyn. Yes, it's sobering for me to realise that I first read it so long ago. A different world.
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