Inspector Hazlerigg

Series · 6 books · 1947-1953

By Michael Gilbert

Books in series

Close Quarters

1947

Although it was first published in 1947, Gilbert began this novel in the years immediately before World War II and didn't finish it until he returned from active duty. Set behind the walls of the residential Close of Melchester Cathedral, it's a classic British mystery in which a young Scotland Yard detective is asked to interrupt his holiday to find out if the accidental death of Canon Whyte was indeed an accident.

He Didn't Mind Danger

1948

This novel followed Close Quarters, and once again features Inspector Hazlerigg. It is a gangster suspense thriller about the postwar black market. There is robbery, murder, and smuggling in a volume that contains all of the ingredients of a first-class tale, with Gilbert’s particular trademarks of dry humor and wit, and an obvious knowledge of the subject written about with fascinating and revealing detail and description.

The Doors Open

1949

Life had been good for Paddy Yeatman-Carter. First-class Rugby and good beer at eightpence a pint before the war; during the war, command of the finest regiment in the British Army. But peace-time life as a clerk was more than a bit dim—until he saw an attempted suicide and decided to intervene. That act of good nature cost him his job and plunged him into the deepest intrigues of the City, where he and his friends walked in the shadow of death.

Smallbone Deceased

1950

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder Horniman, Birley and Craine is a highly respected legal firm with clients drawn from the highest in the land. When a deed box in the office is opened to reveal a corpse, the threat of scandal promises to wreak havoc on the firm's reputation—especially as the murder looks like an inside job. The partners and staff of the firm keep a watchful and suspicious eye on their colleagues, as Inspector Hazlerigg sets out to solve the mystery of who Mr. Smallbone was—and why he had to die. Written with style, pace, and wit, this is a masterpiece by one of the finest writers of traditional British crime novels since the Second World War.

Death Has Deep Roots

1951

An eager London crowd awaits the trial of Victoria Lamartine, hotel worker, ex-French Resistance fighter, and the only logical suspect for the murder of her supposed lover, Major Eric Thoseby. Lamartine—who once escaped from the clutches of the Gestapo—is set to meet her end at the gallows. One final opportunity remains: the defendant calls on solicitor Nap Rumbold to replace the defence counsel,and grants an eight-day reprieve from the proceedings. Without any time to spare, Rumbold boards a ferry across the Channel, tracing the roots of the brutal murder back into the war-torn past. Expertly combining authentic courtroom drama at the Old Bailey with a perilous quest for evidence across France, Death Has Deep Roots is an unorthodox marvel of the mystery genre.

Fear to Tread

1953

Once you start to follow Mr. Wetherall, headmaster of a London high school, in his one-man war on crime and the black-market, you will find it hard to leave him until victory is his.

Author

Michael Gilbert

Author · 38 books

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.