The crack in the teacup

by Michael Gilbert

MINOR WEAR ON EDGES OF SPINE AND COVERS. TANNING INSIDE COVERS. NO WRITING OR MARKS ON PAGES.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Born in Lincolnshire in 1912, Michael Francis Gilbert was educated in Sussex before entering the University of London where he gained an LLB with honours in 1937. Gilbert was a founding member of the British Crime Writers Association, and in 1988 he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America - an achievement many thought long overdue. He won the Life Achievement Anthony Award at the 1990 Boucheron in London, and in 1980 he was knighted as a Commander in the Order of the British Empire. Gilbert made his debut in 1947 with Close Quarters, and since then has become recognized as one of our most versatile British mystery writers.

He was the father of Harriett Gilbert.

Reviews

[Nancy Thormann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my third Michael Gilbert book. I liked this one the best. The story and detecting were both good. The ending was a surprise for me which is good. I hate books where I've got the solution a third of the way through.

[Dovie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow to develop characters and then dismisses then abruptly.

[Jack Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is often described as one of the author’s best books, if not his best, and I can see why. It’s a slow burn, with the murder only taking place near the end of the book, and tells the story of a young provincial solicitor who uncovers corruption in his small seaside town. As always with the best Michael Gilberts, it is the perceptive descriptions of characters and scenes that make the book shine, from lawyers and municipal officials right down to young tearaways discussing the practice of ‘negging’ (although that term hadn’t been coined then) women as a seduction tool.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-constructed mystery, but I am not much interested in town politics and real estate deals, even in a well-constructed, well-written mystery with enjoyable characters. The twist at the end was just terrific. And if you read the end without reading the whole book, you will entirely miss it.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few too many characters in this 1960s novel of municipal crime and corruption, but the hero was engaging and sympathetic. The book started out fairly dry, but the level of violence ratcheted up as it went along. My overall takeaway was the importance of voting in local elections and paying attention to city politics, which seems weird for a crime novel! I’m glad I read it.

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old fashioned but pleasant