CLASSIC CRIME

By Barry Turner 22:05 30 Nov 2023, updated 22:05 30 Nov 2023

Call for the Dead

by John le Carré (Penguin £9.99, 176pp)

In le Carré’s first novel we are introduced to George Smiley, whose shambolic life belies a formidable intelligence. Having cleared a civil servant for security, the man is found dead. Suicide is assumed, but when Smiley embarks on his own investigation he finds more than he bargained for. This is le Carré at his best.

Call for the Dead by John le Carré (Penguin £9.99, 176pp)

A Chateau under Siege

by Martin Walker (Quercus £22, 366pp)

Police chief — and ace cook — Bruno Courrèges is in celebratory mood for a local enactment of a medieval battle. But when one of the participants, a pioneer of new technology, suffers a near-fatal knife wound, Bruno is hot on a thrilling case that threatens the good life in rural France.

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Death of an Author

by E.C.R. Lorac (British Library Classic Crime £9.99, 240pp)

A bestselling author keeps his identity secret from all but his secretary. Speculation is rife when she reports her employer missing. A shoal of red herrings diverts the police from a logical if unexpected solution. A triumph of ingenuity.

A Chateau under Siege by Martin Walker (Quercus £22, 366pp)

Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac (British Library Classic Crime £9.99, 240pp)