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Nigel Strangeways #5
The Smiler With the Knife
Seldom does a little bit of gardening change the course of history. Trimming the hedgerow one sunny morning, those incomparable partners in crime, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways, discover a tarnished locket. Hidden inside are dark secrets which threaten the nation’s democracy.
Leaving Nigel disconsolate at home, Georgia sets off on an hilarious romp across the country, pursuing a clique of Little Englanders inspired by Fascist Germany.
In her battle for Britain she encounters reckless gamblers and a quiet village vicar, England’s top batsman and the Radiance Girls in flowing orange chiffon, and, most suspicious of all, a peer of the realm with more on his mind than a coronet. Who is friend? Who is foe? Who would destroy the sanctity of England’s green and pleasant land?
Leaving Nigel disconsolate at home, Georgia sets off on an hilarious romp across the country, pursuing a clique of Little Englanders inspired by Fascist Germany.
In her battle for Britain she encounters reckless gamblers and a quiet village vicar, England’s top batsman and the Radiance Girls in flowing orange chiffon, and, most suspicious of all, a peer of the realm with more on his mind than a coronet. Who is friend? Who is foe? Who would destroy the sanctity of England’s green and pleasant land?
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
23 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Blake
97 books73 followersNicholas Blake is the pseudonym of poet Cecil Day-Lewis C. Day Lewis, who was born in Ireland in 1904. He was the son of the Reverend Frank Cecil Day-Lewis and his wife Kathleen (nee Squires). His mother died in 1906, and he and his father moved to London, where he was brought up by his father with the help of an aunt.
He spent his holidays in Wexford and regarded himself very much as Anglo-Irish, although when the Republic of Ireland was declared in 1948 he chose British citizenship.
He was married twice, to Mary King in 1928 and to Jill Balcon in 1951, and during the 1940s he had a long love affair with novelist Rosamond Lehmann. He had four children from his two marriages, with actor Daniel Day-Lewis, documentary filmmaker and television chef Tamasin Day-Lewis and TV critic and writer Sean Day-Lewis being three of his children.
He began work as a schoolmaster, and during World War II he worked as a publications editor in the Ministry of Information. After the war he joined Chatto & Windus as a senior editor and director, and then in 1946 he began lecturing at Cambridge University. He later taught poetry at Oxford University, where he was Professor of Poetry from 1951-1956, and from 1962-1963 he was the Norton Professor at Harvard University.
But he was by then earning his living mainly from his writings, having had some poetry published in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and then in 1935 beginning his career as a thriller writer under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake with 'A Question of Proof', which featured his amateur sleuth Nigel Strangeways, reputedly modelled on W H Auden. He continued the Strangeways series, which finally totalled 16 novels, ending with 'The Morning After Death' in 1966. He also wrote four detective novels which did not feature Strangeways.
He continued to write poetry and became Poet Laureate in 1968, a post he held until his death in 1972. He was also awarded the CBE.
He died from pancreatic cancer on 22 May 1972 at the Hertfordshire home of Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard, where he and his wife were staying. He is buried in Stinsford churchyard, close to the grave of one of his heroes, Thomas Hardy, something that he had arranged before his death.
He spent his holidays in Wexford and regarded himself very much as Anglo-Irish, although when the Republic of Ireland was declared in 1948 he chose British citizenship.
He was married twice, to Mary King in 1928 and to Jill Balcon in 1951, and during the 1940s he had a long love affair with novelist Rosamond Lehmann. He had four children from his two marriages, with actor Daniel Day-Lewis, documentary filmmaker and television chef Tamasin Day-Lewis and TV critic and writer Sean Day-Lewis being three of his children.
He began work as a schoolmaster, and during World War II he worked as a publications editor in the Ministry of Information. After the war he joined Chatto & Windus as a senior editor and director, and then in 1946 he began lecturing at Cambridge University. He later taught poetry at Oxford University, where he was Professor of Poetry from 1951-1956, and from 1962-1963 he was the Norton Professor at Harvard University.
But he was by then earning his living mainly from his writings, having had some poetry published in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and then in 1935 beginning his career as a thriller writer under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake with 'A Question of Proof', which featured his amateur sleuth Nigel Strangeways, reputedly modelled on W H Auden. He continued the Strangeways series, which finally totalled 16 novels, ending with 'The Morning After Death' in 1966. He also wrote four detective novels which did not feature Strangeways.
He continued to write poetry and became Poet Laureate in 1968, a post he held until his death in 1972. He was also awarded the CBE.
He died from pancreatic cancer on 22 May 1972 at the Hertfordshire home of Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard, where he and his wife were staying. He is buried in Stinsford churchyard, close to the grave of one of his heroes, Thomas Hardy, something that he had arranged before his death.
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May 10, 2025
The title of this novel made me smile. Because doesn't it just sound like a lurid shocker of a piece? Wrong! The title is a quotation from Chaucer - from "The Knight's Tale" to be precise:
"There I first saw the dark imaginings
of felony, and all the scheming;
the cruel ire, red as any glowing coal,
the pick-purse, and yes pale dread;
the smiler with the knife under the cloak"
This novel is one of the detective stories penned by the esteemed poet Cecil Day-Lewis. He lectured in Poetry at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and was Poet Laureate of the UK from 1968 until his death in 1972. He wrote these twenty mystery stories between 1935 and 1968 under the pseudonym of "Nicholas Blake". Another by him which I remember as being "dashed good" (to use the vernacular of the time and class) was "The Beast Must Die" published in 1938. Again, a title which would nowadays lead the reader to expect something else entirely.
The Smiler with the Knife, published in 1939, is the fifth novel, (the one following "The Beast Must Die") in the series of novels about the invented character Nigel Strangeways. He is an amateur investigator and gentleman detective, in the same mould as Lord Peter Wimsey. Because of his position as the nephew of an Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, he has unusually privileged access to official crime investigations. However in this particular mystery he is actually only on the periphery. The main character in The Smiler With the Knife is his wife Georgia Strangeways, a strong female character who is an adventurer and explorer, a personality which contrasts nicely with her husband's slightly dilettante tendencies.
Unlike a later novel in the series, "The Case of the Abominable Snowman" (from 1941, and which I have reviewed separately) this has a nicely complicated plot. Complicated, but not devious. It tends to be later examples of crime mystery stories which feature fiendishly devious plots. This one involves conspiracies, governments, the secret service, secret political organisations, quasi-political groups, Nazis, Fascists and threats to, "all the decent, ordinary, hardworking people, the people who make England." The reader has to remember that these novels are firmly set in upper-middle class, and sometimes aristocratic, England between the two World Wars.
Georgia is clearly meant to be a woman who thinks outside the box of her class and social position, though. After she has won the day, and saved "dear old England," with her acts of derring-do, "she did not wish to be reminded of it by the fulsome compliments of politicians whose own pusilanimity or self-interest were responsible for its having happened at all." Despite their upper-class positions, Nigel and Georgia are both characters depicted to be appealing to the ordinary reader of popular fiction of the time.
Day-Lewis wrote these detective novels to supplement his income from poetry, and it is not surprising that he would choose themes which were uppermost in the majority of people's minds - the rise of certain political dictators and factions, and the threat to democracy in Great Britain. Presumably he felt that he could describe this best by using characters from the class of people, locations and situations with which he was very familiar.
Cecil Day-Lewis was actually a member of the Communist Party from 1935-1838. After the late 1930's however, he changed his views considerably. It is interesting to speculate on how much at the time of writing these early Strangeways books his views could clearly be expressed through his viewpoint characters.
"Each man's morality… is a compromise between the strength of his character and the strength of his environment.Where you have no character to fix the the ratio, you get the genius and the lunatic, to whom morality is meaningless."
Strong words indeed. And the novel is a cut above many detective stories of the time. Not only does it feature a bold, believable female hero, a satisfying plot which increases in tension during the second half of the book, but the writing is witty and extremely mischievous in places. Chapter 16, "The Episode of The Father Christmases" will stay with me for a long while. And in chapter 18 "The Episode of the Radiance Girls" he really pokes fun at some current fashionable outlandish beliefs. Performing in front of a village audience, they would "prance in all the glory of magenta knickers and [Euthymol] toothpaste pink flesh, [when] psychophysical irradiation really seemed to set in on the audience", who suddenly became very enthusiastic.
All in all this is a cleverly plotted book, and great fun to read, providing the reader remembers it is very much of its time and place.
"There I first saw the dark imaginings
of felony, and all the scheming;
the cruel ire, red as any glowing coal,
the pick-purse, and yes pale dread;
the smiler with the knife under the cloak"
This novel is one of the detective stories penned by the esteemed poet Cecil Day-Lewis. He lectured in Poetry at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and was Poet Laureate of the UK from 1968 until his death in 1972. He wrote these twenty mystery stories between 1935 and 1968 under the pseudonym of "Nicholas Blake". Another by him which I remember as being "dashed good" (to use the vernacular of the time and class) was "The Beast Must Die" published in 1938. Again, a title which would nowadays lead the reader to expect something else entirely.
The Smiler with the Knife, published in 1939, is the fifth novel, (the one following "The Beast Must Die") in the series of novels about the invented character Nigel Strangeways. He is an amateur investigator and gentleman detective, in the same mould as Lord Peter Wimsey. Because of his position as the nephew of an Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, he has unusually privileged access to official crime investigations. However in this particular mystery he is actually only on the periphery. The main character in The Smiler With the Knife is his wife Georgia Strangeways, a strong female character who is an adventurer and explorer, a personality which contrasts nicely with her husband's slightly dilettante tendencies.
Unlike a later novel in the series, "The Case of the Abominable Snowman" (from 1941, and which I have reviewed separately) this has a nicely complicated plot. Complicated, but not devious. It tends to be later examples of crime mystery stories which feature fiendishly devious plots. This one involves conspiracies, governments, the secret service, secret political organisations, quasi-political groups, Nazis, Fascists and threats to, "all the decent, ordinary, hardworking people, the people who make England." The reader has to remember that these novels are firmly set in upper-middle class, and sometimes aristocratic, England between the two World Wars.
Georgia is clearly meant to be a woman who thinks outside the box of her class and social position, though. After she has won the day, and saved "dear old England," with her acts of derring-do, "she did not wish to be reminded of it by the fulsome compliments of politicians whose own pusilanimity or self-interest were responsible for its having happened at all." Despite their upper-class positions, Nigel and Georgia are both characters depicted to be appealing to the ordinary reader of popular fiction of the time.
Day-Lewis wrote these detective novels to supplement his income from poetry, and it is not surprising that he would choose themes which were uppermost in the majority of people's minds - the rise of certain political dictators and factions, and the threat to democracy in Great Britain. Presumably he felt that he could describe this best by using characters from the class of people, locations and situations with which he was very familiar.
Cecil Day-Lewis was actually a member of the Communist Party from 1935-1838. After the late 1930's however, he changed his views considerably. It is interesting to speculate on how much at the time of writing these early Strangeways books his views could clearly be expressed through his viewpoint characters.
"Each man's morality… is a compromise between the strength of his character and the strength of his environment.Where you have no character to fix the the ratio, you get the genius and the lunatic, to whom morality is meaningless."
Strong words indeed. And the novel is a cut above many detective stories of the time. Not only does it feature a bold, believable female hero, a satisfying plot which increases in tension during the second half of the book, but the writing is witty and extremely mischievous in places. Chapter 16, "The Episode of The Father Christmases" will stay with me for a long while. And in chapter 18 "The Episode of the Radiance Girls" he really pokes fun at some current fashionable outlandish beliefs. Performing in front of a village audience, they would "prance in all the glory of magenta knickers and [Euthymol] toothpaste pink flesh, [when] psychophysical irradiation really seemed to set in on the audience", who suddenly became very enthusiastic.
All in all this is a cleverly plotted book, and great fun to read, providing the reader remembers it is very much of its time and place.
June 3, 2018
Nicholas Blake was the pseudonym for Cecil Day-Lewis, who, as well as being the poet laureate, wrote this fantastic Golden Age crime series featuring Nigel Strangeways and his explorer wife, Georgia. This is the fifth book in the series and was published in 1939, when Britain was facing war for the second time in most of the populations lifetime. It is Georgia who takes the lead here as her and Nigel discover a locket while cutting the hedge of a cottage they have taken in the country.
Despite the rural idyll, it is obvious that a sense of unease lies over the whole book. The locket leads them to a group of fascist sympathisers, who aim to overthrow the government. Nigel's uncle, Sir John Strangeways, asks Georgia to go undercover and try to help discover their leader and their plans. This is a novel about patriotism, loyalty, responsibility and other old fashioned values. There is lots of undercover spying, scenes of torture, chases and secret plans, in a book which literally has non stop action from start to finish. Very different from the previous books in the series, this is obviously aimed at both reassuring the public and promototing patriotism as a time of great national difficulty. Both as a novel in it's own right, and as an example of how writers attempted to influence the public mood, this is an interesting read (a similar book in style and theme is Above Suspicion (Helen MacInnes), where a couple have to undertake tasks for their country which they would never normally be asked to do).
In order, the Nigel Strangeways series is as follows:
A Question of Proof (1935)
Thou Shell of Death (1936)
aka Shell of Death
There's Trouble Brewing (1937)
The Beast Must Die (1938)
The Smiler with the Knife (1939)
Malice in Wonderland (1940)
aka The Summer Camp Mystery / The Malice with Murder
The Case of the Abominable Snowman (1941)
aka The Corpse in the Snowman
Minute for Murder (1947)
Head of a Traveler (1949)
The Dreadful Hollow (1953)
The Whisper in the Gloom (1954)
aka Catch and Kill
End of Chapter (1957)
The Widow's Cruise (1959)
The Worm of Death (1961)
The Sad Variety (1964)
The Morning After Death (1966)
Despite the rural idyll, it is obvious that a sense of unease lies over the whole book. The locket leads them to a group of fascist sympathisers, who aim to overthrow the government. Nigel's uncle, Sir John Strangeways, asks Georgia to go undercover and try to help discover their leader and their plans. This is a novel about patriotism, loyalty, responsibility and other old fashioned values. There is lots of undercover spying, scenes of torture, chases and secret plans, in a book which literally has non stop action from start to finish. Very different from the previous books in the series, this is obviously aimed at both reassuring the public and promototing patriotism as a time of great national difficulty. Both as a novel in it's own right, and as an example of how writers attempted to influence the public mood, this is an interesting read (a similar book in style and theme is Above Suspicion (Helen MacInnes), where a couple have to undertake tasks for their country which they would never normally be asked to do).
In order, the Nigel Strangeways series is as follows:
A Question of Proof (1935)
Thou Shell of Death (1936)
aka Shell of Death
There's Trouble Brewing (1937)
The Beast Must Die (1938)
The Smiler with the Knife (1939)
Malice in Wonderland (1940)
aka The Summer Camp Mystery / The Malice with Murder
The Case of the Abominable Snowman (1941)
aka The Corpse in the Snowman
Minute for Murder (1947)
Head of a Traveler (1949)
The Dreadful Hollow (1953)
The Whisper in the Gloom (1954)
aka Catch and Kill
End of Chapter (1957)
The Widow's Cruise (1959)
The Worm of Death (1961)
The Sad Variety (1964)
The Morning After Death (1966)
February 18, 2020
3.5 stars. This is more a thriller than a mystery, as Nigel Strangeways and his wife, Georgia, take on a mysterious political group who are looking to overthrow the Government and establish a dictatorship. Georgia takes the lead role in the investigation (sadly Nigel hardly appears at all, which is a bit of a shame) and finds herself going undercover at a country house before fleeing from agents of the conspirators.
I found the second half of this novel more exciting and engaging than the rather tedious passages in the country house. There are few surprises in the plot and I would have welcomed a twist or two to keep the tension up. Blake also has a tendency to undermine the tension with signposts like 'If only she had known that x would happen, she would have done y...'. However, I did enjoy Georgia's pursuit by the criminals - she is a determined and resourceful heroine when under pressure.
I enjoy Blake's writing style and his characters so I will be carrying on with the series, but I'm hoping for a more traditional mystery next time and for Nigel to play a bigger role.
I found the second half of this novel more exciting and engaging than the rather tedious passages in the country house. There are few surprises in the plot and I would have welcomed a twist or two to keep the tension up. Blake also has a tendency to undermine the tension with signposts like 'If only she had known that x would happen, she would have done y...'. However, I did enjoy Georgia's pursuit by the criminals - she is a determined and resourceful heroine when under pressure.
I enjoy Blake's writing style and his characters so I will be carrying on with the series, but I'm hoping for a more traditional mystery next time and for Nigel to play a bigger role.
October 9, 2015
Nigel and Georgia have just settled into a life of rural domesticity in Devon when they notice some dubious goings-on in the little village. It all starts when Georgia's sharp eyes spot a tarnished locket while trimming their hedge. The locket holds a photo and a strange circular badge...and apparently belongs to Major Keston. Then the Major entertains some rather unusual visitors and seems to be indulging in a spot of smuggling under the cover of a local ghost legend. But what exactly is being smuggled? Nigel consults his uncle Sir John Strangeways who is also the head of Scotland Yard's C-Branch. Sir John needs someone to infiltrate what looks to be an underground Nazi-sympathizer organization located in the heart of England. Nigel's reputation as an investigator with close ties to the police make him unsuitable--so a plan is hatched to distance Georgia from the Strangeways so she can go on one more adventure. An adventure that will not only put her life in danger--but an adventure that will also decide the fate of England. She will have to use all her resources as an adventuress to make her way through the affair.
After I adjusted to the fact that Nigel was not the hero of the piece, I settled down to enjoy this political thriller with a very resourceful heroine indeed. Georgia handles herself rather well among the hush-hush cloak and dagger types and uses great ingenuity to get herself out of some rather tight places. She dresses up as everything from Father Christmas to a Radiance Girl (a cross between an interpretative dancer and a New Age devotee) and is aided by adventurer-wannabes like the manager of a well-known department store and a plucky vicar's wife. There's a cross-country chase and Georgia manages a rather MacGyver-style escape. It's all great fun and a thrilling adventure all in the name of foiling the fascist bad guys. No great mysteries here, just a straight political thriller complete with evil master mind and henchmen. A topical story for the times which has held up very well. ★★★ and a half.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
June 2, 2011
If I was only judging it on the *really silly* plot, I would give it one star. The plot was very silly indeed. Clock golf my foot!
But... it is, I think, a very accurate reflection of the fears that a cross-section of British society had at the time, and Blake does a good job of making it a true _cross-section_ -- this isn't about the stupidity of the working classes per se, the 'masses' that are portrayed as being likely to follow a dictator include the aristocrats as much as the poor, and a number of the 'good guys' who help the heroine are working class and portrayed as intelligent and sympathetic. So unusual for this sort of novel in this period! So another star for that.
And a third star because the heroine is so immensely awesome, and has loads of agency and wit and competence, especially for the 1930s.
But... it is, I think, a very accurate reflection of the fears that a cross-section of British society had at the time, and Blake does a good job of making it a true _cross-section_ -- this isn't about the stupidity of the working classes per se, the 'masses' that are portrayed as being likely to follow a dictator include the aristocrats as much as the poor, and a number of the 'good guys' who help the heroine are working class and portrayed as intelligent and sympathetic. So unusual for this sort of novel in this period! So another star for that.
And a third star because the heroine is so immensely awesome, and has loads of agency and wit and competence, especially for the 1930s.
November 2, 2017
3.5*
Nigel Strangeways barely appears in this entry in the series. Instead his wife has the feature role in this suspense novel (it isn't really a mystery). My biggest complaint is the frequent use of phrases such as "looking back a year later" which takes some of the suspense out of the story by assuring the reader that the main characters will survive, no matter how black things might look.
Nigel Strangeways barely appears in this entry in the series. Instead his wife has the feature role in this suspense novel (it isn't really a mystery). My biggest complaint is the frequent use of phrases such as "looking back a year later" which takes some of the suspense out of the story by assuring the reader that the main characters will survive, no matter how black things might look.
June 6, 2019
Quite a good read, and not your usual murder mystery solved by the incomparable Nigel Stangeways. In “The Smiler With the Knife,” Nigel’s wife Georgia, the crack shot, adventure seeking traveler takes center stage to foil a proto-Nazi English nationalist organization’s efforts to destabilize the British government on the eve of World War II. Yes, a spy thriller!
As ever, Cecil Day-Lewis writing as Nicholas Blake exhibits his mastery of the English language and provides several hours of enjoyable reading.
As ever, Cecil Day-Lewis writing as Nicholas Blake exhibits his mastery of the English language and provides several hours of enjoyable reading.
June 7, 2022
The thing about early 20th Century mystery series is that, although on first reading, they speak to history, re-reading them in another era can be particularly resonant of current times. That is certainly true of this disturbing story involving a Fifth Column effort to overthrow the British government in the advance of war in Europe.
This outing puts Georgia, Mrs. Nigel Strangeways, into the protagonist's role. Nigel's uncle, Sir John Strangeways, asks Georgia to become an operative in the hunt for a mysterious leader of a group calling themselves English Banner. (Think "America First.") But as Georgia works her way into the organization, it becomes apparent that EB is the front for something darker and more insidious than would-be revolutionaries supporting home-grown British Fascism. There are people in very high places, and among the media, military and law enforcement, all working toward the hidden goals of one, ambitious, egotistical man. Watching Georgia and her colleagues dig deep into a network of collaborators , slowly exposing their workings and intentions, it is very easy to draw parallels to current political circumstances.
We are destined to repeat the errors of the past, it seems. This was a fantastic book to read right now, and a reminder of how we are moving toward losing our democratic government through the manipulation of power brokers and their propaganda.
This outing puts Georgia, Mrs. Nigel Strangeways, into the protagonist's role. Nigel's uncle, Sir John Strangeways, asks Georgia to become an operative in the hunt for a mysterious leader of a group calling themselves English Banner. (Think "America First.") But as Georgia works her way into the organization, it becomes apparent that EB is the front for something darker and more insidious than would-be revolutionaries supporting home-grown British Fascism. There are people in very high places, and among the media, military and law enforcement, all working toward the hidden goals of one, ambitious, egotistical man. Watching Georgia and her colleagues dig deep into a network of collaborators , slowly exposing their workings and intentions, it is very easy to draw parallels to current political circumstances.
We are destined to repeat the errors of the past, it seems. This was a fantastic book to read right now, and a reminder of how we are moving toward losing our democratic government through the manipulation of power brokers and their propaganda.
January 2, 2013
Nicholas Blake was actually C. Day-Lewis, poet laureate, translator of Virgil, and father of Daniel Day-Lewis. I've read two of his thriller/mysteries now, and they are both beautifully planned and written. Both are wildly implausible, but the author has already thought of all your objections, answered them in detail, and left you with nothing except a lame, "OK, but I'm still not buying it." And why not buy it, since the reward is such a good time? This one is (apparently) unusual in the series, since it is not a mystery, but an espionage thriller reminiscent of "The 39 Steps," with a heroine instead of a hero. It is also a woman-in-jeopardy novel, but one in which the woman, while not particularly pretty, is enormously smart, resourceful, brave, and witty. I hate it when a female main character behaves so stupidly (just so the author can keep her in jeopardy) that you want to strangle her yourself. This one never comes close. At one point, she, the bad guys, and the author were all planning harder and more deviously than I had realized, and I was completely taken in. Occasionally the plot descends (on purpose) into comedy, making both the heroine and the British public of all classes more endearing. And the book has one of the best titles (from Chaucer) that I've seen in a long time.
January 18, 2016
What a pleasant surprise! Not a detective novel--an adventure novel featuring Georgia Strangeways, rather than Nigel. A bit of timely (1939) antifascist propaganda, yes, with some silliness (especially the "had she but known" interruptions), but very readable and exciting even now. Somehow, writing from the point of view of Georgia makes Blake less likely to offer any theories about How Women Think. Instead, we get an exciting story told realistically from a very capable woman's point of view. I especially like how she escapes from the locked room and the department store. This is so much fun and so unexpected that I wonder if he had help (no offense if he didn't). I also wonder . I think it's worth a little detective work to find out.
Great title too, from Chaucer.
Great title too, from Chaucer.
October 22, 2020
Published in 1939 and set in the near future, this is a revealing take on its own times and scarily apropos right now in its invocation of creeping authoritarianism, the appeal of fascism and the cult of personality. Unfortunately, much of it is just absurd even for a cozy with its charades, clock golf and more, and it undermines the sense of menace with repeated “had she but known” invocations which make it clear there will be a good outcome. Not that it was in doubt, but it would be much more effective not to be continually clobbered with that reassurance.
March 17, 2018
Remarkably pertinent to today's political situation, the story about an attempt to undermine the British government in the period leading up to WWII is both a delightful Golden Age mystery, and espionage thriller and a rollicking good story. Less Nigel than usual, which is a shame - but his wife is a fine substitute.
June 4, 2018
I loved this story, not so much what it was about (although very edge-of-the-seat) but more so for the beauty of the written word. The descriptions of locations/places were poetically written. Also, in describing the feelings of the characters in their respective situations was very powerful and engrossing. In my opinion, Nicholas Blake was an amazing, artistic writer and this story shows it.
November 24, 2024
Not a mystery but a conspiracy thriller with lots of chasing along the lines of the 39 steps. Engaging and well-written though not the best in the series so far.
April 22, 2020
Early Bird Book Deal | mixed feelings | I enjoy this series, and I was annoyed when I was reading it through an Unlimited Free Trial that this book was not available (I was fond of the character of Georgia). But I've never particularly enjoyed Golden Age writers turning their hand to espionage books. They just don't work. In the beginning, the general election was very close, and that was an important point of plot. Then a year was spent in undercover work, so I guess it didn't matter? Spy thrillers written by mystery authors just tend to be unbalanced. The Big Bad is invincible to make him impressive, until he's suddenly over-confident and crumbles at our hero's efforts. The espionage is mostly mcguffin, flimsy and falls apart under scrutiny or not entirely fleshed out. The solution is unrealistic. That said, I do like Georgia, and since I know what happens with her in the rest of the series, I'm glad she got this focused book.
January 30, 2024
Great fun from C. Day-Lewis' thriller-writing alter ego. A bit above the usual for the period because the hero is a heroine - a strong and resourceful female character. It is Georgia Strangeways, wife of Police sleuth Nigel, who has to infiltrate an subversive organisation, bent on converting Britain to a Fascist Dictatorship, by creating chaos and then presenting itself as the only solution with its charismatic leader. As an independent woman (an explorer no less) Georgia rises to the challenge, but not without putting herself in mortal jeopardy first in a thrilling chase across England. Will she succeed and be able to return with Nigel to their rural idyll? It was a chance discovery while trimming their garden hedge that set the whole sinister sequence of events in motion.
March 13, 2022
Interesting story, very well written, the last 80 pages or so being extremely "extra-spannend". Georgia is like a "female James Bond" of a different era, lol.
If only there hadn't been so many words I didn't know, that made it quite hard at times to read and follow the book! Initially, I thought it was mainly adjectives that I didn't understand but then I realised there were also a lot of nouns and sometimes verbs I didn't know, forcing me to make guesses and verify later as the story unfolded whether my presumptions had been correct.
But in spite of all these difficulties, I really did enjoy this book!
If only there hadn't been so many words I didn't know, that made it quite hard at times to read and follow the book! Initially, I thought it was mainly adjectives that I didn't understand but then I realised there were also a lot of nouns and sometimes verbs I didn't know, forcing me to make guesses and verify later as the story unfolded whether my presumptions had been correct.
But in spite of all these difficulties, I really did enjoy this book!
March 1, 2025
I have no idea why I thought I would be into this. It's not terrible, but it's not what I would usually read. Georgia is this badass fully capable hero tasked with infiltrating a secret society. And you know, she doesn't have a day job so why not?
I have to say, if you're a big fan of Nigel Strangeways, you're going to be disappointed with this one. He's barely in it. He's in this like the captain of the boat is in Frankenstein. Beginning, end, sort of pivotal to the story in that he's the one telling it, we out.
I have to say, if you're a big fan of Nigel Strangeways, you're going to be disappointed with this one. He's barely in it. He's in this like the captain of the boat is in Frankenstein. Beginning, end, sort of pivotal to the story in that he's the one telling it, we out.
June 5, 2025
A thriller rather than a detective story, and thrillers really don't age well. I don't like thrillers at the best of times and this example wasn't an entertaining read.
Give then time it was written, the obsessive fear of fascism was understandable, and many British aristocrats sympathised with Hitler. Blake did a good job of evoking the paranoia and suspicion of that time but not my cup of tea.
Nigel was reduced to a bit part at the beginning and end and it was all about Georgia, skipping about trying to befriend criminals and then evading capture by them.
Give then time it was written, the obsessive fear of fascism was understandable, and many British aristocrats sympathised with Hitler. Blake did a good job of evoking the paranoia and suspicion of that time but not my cup of tea.
Nigel was reduced to a bit part at the beginning and end and it was all about Georgia, skipping about trying to befriend criminals and then evading capture by them.
September 14, 2021
This is a book of its time - plucky heroine fighting the fascist sympathisers in the good old pre-war days. I love it - it is very much a ripping yarn, and has magnificent moments! Georgia Strangeways' flight from the fashy conspiracy had some genuinely thrilling moments and some which would make anyone laugh out loud - the strapping Sunshine Girls and their eurhythmics displays cracked me up entirely.
A feelgood piece of vintage fiction.
A feelgood piece of vintage fiction.
February 14, 2022
With Britain on the brink of war it's easy to see why Nicholas Blake got his inspiration for "The Smiler With the Knife". The villain of the piece Chilton Canteloe is obviously based on Oswald Mosely and the EB (English Banner) his black shirts. Blake not only drops the the traditional whodunit he even allows Nigel Strangeways wife Georgia to take centre stage. After a slow start "The Smiler With the Knife" blossomed in a terrific adventure story that plays with fact and fiction.
June 10, 2019
I'd call this a slow-paced political thriller rather than a mystery. I don't know how believable it all is, but Georgia is a very engaging character. It's honestly a stretch to call it a Nigel Strangeways book, since he's barely in it. But worth reading overall!
July 31, 2019
This one has Blake channeling John Buchan with Nigel Strangeways' wife Georgia attempting to penetrate a pre-war fascist conspiracy. Not a traditional murder mystery by any means but a well written thriller which remains relevant, or is perhaps even more relevant, today.
July 7, 2025
Topical thriller
A thriller, written shortly before the Second World War, about a populist and supposedly patriotic political group seeking to take over the country and turn into a fascist dictatorship.
A thriller, written shortly before the Second World War, about a populist and supposedly patriotic political group seeking to take over the country and turn into a fascist dictatorship.
October 2, 2020
Intense Moments & Exciting Action
Not ever quite understanding life history in England where this story is set-how scary & dangerous-I certainly have more than a glimmer now.
Not ever quite understanding life history in England where this story is set-how scary & dangerous-I certainly have more than a glimmer now.
April 11, 2021
Not a murder mystery but a political thriller. I don't love the use of direct foreshadowing throughout, though it did admittedly create a clinical sort of distance that was effective.
May 2, 2022
Great thriller written during WWII, and our daring protagonist is a woman 🏆 Throughly enjoyed it.
March 10, 2023
Mystery-suspense during post WW2 England. Espionage.
June 11, 2023
1938 UK, Devonshire: fictional little village "Folyton" near Exeter;
and Berkshire: fictional racehorse stables
First published 1939
A MORNING IN January. Sunlight welled in through the low windows of the cottage, giving the beams, the great stone fireplace, the Dutch rushmats on the flagged floor a look of freshness as if they had been spring-cleaned. After the constant rain of the last few months, this sunshine was more than a blessing — it was a miracle. Living in the country, thought Georgia, you really are a part of the seasons: in the dark months you hibernate, the blood slows down, the mind goes sluggish; and then one morning something stirs in the air, the sun comes through, and life begins to move at a different tempo.
Kaum hatte ich das Buch geöffnet, dachte ich an Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales... denn die Kapitel sind überschrieben:
•The Episode of the Major’s Mother
•The Episode of the Misguided Tramps
•The Episode of the Detective’s Uncle
•etc
Auf Chaucer bezieht sich auch der Titel, aus The Knight’s Tale:
“Ther saugh I first the derke imagining Of felonye, and al the compassing; The smyler with the knyf under the cloke"
Und siehe da, im 2. Kapitel: der Wirt des Pub heißt Harry (wenn auch nicht Bailey, aber das wäre dann doch ein bissschen zu offensichtlich 😁)
In meiner Rezension des vorigen Strangeway-Buches hatte ich mir gewünscht, dass der Charakter von Ehefrau Georgia "etwas aktiver und abenteuerlustiger weiterentwickelt" wird... und wie krass ist das denn: sie ist die Hauptperson hier, während Nigel nur am Rande vorkommt! Leider ist es kein Krimi, sondern ein Spionage-Thriller... das ist ohnehin schon ein Genre, das ich wenig schätze, und dazu kommt dann noch, dass Golden Age Whodunit Autoren den Anforderungen selten gewachsen sind (epic fail bei der sonst so genialen Agatha Christie...). Nicholas Blake schlägt sich jedoch vergleichsweise wacker, was unter anderem daran liegt, dass er die schlimmsten Klischees vermeidet (der männliche Spion, den die Frauen lieben...) und an vielen Stellen der Handlung Personen aus eher unteren Gesellschaftsschichten klug, mutig und hilfsbereit die Heldin aus dem Schlamassel bringen lässt (nicht soo erstaunlich, wenn man weiß, dass Blake in den 30er Jahren Mitglied der kommunistischen Partei war).
Er schildert auch sehr differenziert, wie Menschen mit den unterschiedlichsten biografischen Hintergründen dem Faschismus auf den Leim gehen, weil sie an die Erfüllung idealistischer Hoffnungen glauben. Die faschistische Organisation selbst und ihr Superbösewicht sind hingegen arg plakativ - fast als würden da ein paar reiche Nichtsnutze just for fun eine Geheimorganisation gründen.
Like many highly intelligent people, Georgia was inclined to under-estimate the enormous potential strength of stupidity.
...wieso denke ich da sofort an die Leute, die dachten, dass Donald Trump niemals gewählt würde??
Es gibt einen merkwürdigen Anachronismus:
At first we assumed it was a left-over from the I.R.A. bombings in 1939.
Die Erstausgabe von "The Smiler With the Knife" ist schon am 1. Januar 1939 erschienen!? Wurde hier in einer späteren Ausgabe etwas geändert? Das wäre allerdings immer noch unlogisch, der Roman kann nicht nach 1939 spielen, denn die Handlung zeigt eindeutig, dass Großbritannien sich noch nicht im Krieg mit Deutschland befindet!?!?
Insgesamt ist "The Smiler With the Knife" ein schöner Klassiker und nostalgisch zu lesen - ich halte bereits Ausschau nach dem nächsten Band... "Malice in Wonderland"
and Berkshire: fictional racehorse stables
First published 1939
A MORNING IN January. Sunlight welled in through the low windows of the cottage, giving the beams, the great stone fireplace, the Dutch rushmats on the flagged floor a look of freshness as if they had been spring-cleaned. After the constant rain of the last few months, this sunshine was more than a blessing — it was a miracle. Living in the country, thought Georgia, you really are a part of the seasons: in the dark months you hibernate, the blood slows down, the mind goes sluggish; and then one morning something stirs in the air, the sun comes through, and life begins to move at a different tempo.
Kaum hatte ich das Buch geöffnet, dachte ich an Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales... denn die Kapitel sind überschrieben:
•The Episode of the Major’s Mother
•The Episode of the Misguided Tramps
•The Episode of the Detective’s Uncle
•etc
Auf Chaucer bezieht sich auch der Titel, aus The Knight’s Tale:
“Ther saugh I first the derke imagining Of felonye, and al the compassing; The smyler with the knyf under the cloke"
Und siehe da, im 2. Kapitel: der Wirt des Pub heißt Harry (wenn auch nicht Bailey, aber das wäre dann doch ein bissschen zu offensichtlich 😁)
In meiner Rezension des vorigen Strangeway-Buches hatte ich mir gewünscht, dass der Charakter von Ehefrau Georgia "etwas aktiver und abenteuerlustiger weiterentwickelt" wird... und wie krass ist das denn: sie ist die Hauptperson hier, während Nigel nur am Rande vorkommt! Leider ist es kein Krimi, sondern ein Spionage-Thriller... das ist ohnehin schon ein Genre, das ich wenig schätze, und dazu kommt dann noch, dass Golden Age Whodunit Autoren den Anforderungen selten gewachsen sind (epic fail bei der sonst so genialen Agatha Christie...). Nicholas Blake schlägt sich jedoch vergleichsweise wacker, was unter anderem daran liegt, dass er die schlimmsten Klischees vermeidet (der männliche Spion, den die Frauen lieben...) und an vielen Stellen der Handlung Personen aus eher unteren Gesellschaftsschichten klug, mutig und hilfsbereit die Heldin aus dem Schlamassel bringen lässt (nicht soo erstaunlich, wenn man weiß, dass Blake in den 30er Jahren Mitglied der kommunistischen Partei war).
Er schildert auch sehr differenziert, wie Menschen mit den unterschiedlichsten biografischen Hintergründen dem Faschismus auf den Leim gehen, weil sie an die Erfüllung idealistischer Hoffnungen glauben. Die faschistische Organisation selbst und ihr Superbösewicht sind hingegen arg plakativ - fast als würden da ein paar reiche Nichtsnutze just for fun eine Geheimorganisation gründen.
Like many highly intelligent people, Georgia was inclined to under-estimate the enormous potential strength of stupidity.
...wieso denke ich da sofort an die Leute, die dachten, dass Donald Trump niemals gewählt würde??
Es gibt einen merkwürdigen Anachronismus:
At first we assumed it was a left-over from the I.R.A. bombings in 1939.
Die Erstausgabe von "The Smiler With the Knife" ist schon am 1. Januar 1939 erschienen!? Wurde hier in einer späteren Ausgabe etwas geändert? Das wäre allerdings immer noch unlogisch, der Roman kann nicht nach 1939 spielen, denn die Handlung zeigt eindeutig, dass Großbritannien sich noch nicht im Krieg mit Deutschland befindet!?!?
Insgesamt ist "The Smiler With the Knife" ein schöner Klassiker und nostalgisch zu lesen - ich halte bereits Ausschau nach dem nächsten Band... "Malice in Wonderland"
June 1, 2022
Basically a Tommy and Tuppence thriller. Without Tommy. This is an implausible thriller and wholly unlike the rest of the Blake books
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