A good mystery, as the master, Michael Gilbert, surely knows, need not involve murder. The world has often been baffled by ignominy. Or vice. Or greed. Or the credo of ruthless ambition—which found its most avid disciple in the person of Oliver Nugent. Olever has a talent for seeking ends without bothering about the means. A man who gets things done, he follows his instincts to the top of the business world. You see, Oliver is ingratiating and insatiable—a combustible combination which makes for a suspenseful story as it makes a powerful comment on our world.
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.
