A Murder of Quality
ISBN: 978014119637
Description
Stella Rode has twice disturbed the ancient cloisters of Carne School: firstly by being the wrong sort, with her doilies and china ducks, and secondly by being murdered. George Smiley, who has his own connection with the school, is asked by an old Service friend to investigate. Smiley knows that Stella feared her husband would murder her, but as he probes further beneath Carne's respectable veneer, he uncovers far more than a simple crime of passion.
Reviewed on 19th July 2025
The second Smiley novel, from 1962, is more of a darkly satirical whodunnit than the spy novel that both the character and author John le Carré will later become known for.
We, along with Smiley, visit the town of a small public school where one of the masters' wives has been murdered. There's convoluted clues all over the place, and any number of possible suspects.
There's a definite sense of distain for the public school system - they are portrayed as standoffish, out dated, weirdly conservative - and the characters based there limited in their outlook and discriminatory and cloying. This is the focus of the satire, although I'm not sure how well that comes across 60+ years later when familiarity with that scene is likely lesser.
As a murder mystery, I don't think it stands up to the top of the genre at the time (Christie), or today the best of today's cosy crime offerings. I found it slow to read, despite only being around 170 pages, and it took me longer to read than many novels twice the size. Part of this will be the choice of language, which feels dense and old fashioned now, but I think part is also the darkness of the world presented, which isn't very welcoming to the reader.
