Bruce Sanders - Deadly Jade - Herbert Jenkins - 1st/1st - Undated - 1947? - Leonard Gribble, Leo Grex, Dexter Muir, Piers Marlowe

 

Bruce Sanders - Deadly Jade - Herbert Jenkins - 1947?

`Bruce Sanders` was one of a number of pen-names used by Leonard Gribble, a writer best remembered for his many true crime and crime fiction titles.

Set in the immediate post-war period, stylistically this seems very much like something from between the wars.

Initially I was unsure if I was going to warm to this tale of the experiences of central character Simon and his business partner/ex-wife Hilda. However, the story improves with the introduction of two very strong characters, sassy modern girl Carol and her admirer, the charismatic Charles `The Duke` Bastion, reputed to be a figure from the world of organised crime.

These two act as catalysts for a string of events held together by an intriguing, if occasionally muddled, plot.

If the book has a weakness, it`s that it`s `neither fish nor fowl`. There is no puzzle that the reader can have any hope of solving, and neither is it a thriller in the usual sense. 

While there is action (two murders, one attempted murder and an accidental death) , these events are not recounted in the book, but become apparent when a body is discovered, or, more frequently, when one character simply tells another about it. 

This does result in a certain loss of momentum as the book proceeds, particularly since there is a great deal more conversation than action. 

The role of Simon seems to be that he is constantly baffled, misled or mistaken, probably in order to ensure that the more intelligent Carol and Duke are shown to good effect, but in scenes where they are elsewhere, their absence is certainly felt. 

Overall, I would say I enjoyed this book, but it is not going to be to everyone`s taste.      

    

 

 

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Piers Marlowe - Promise to Kill - Thriller Book Club - 1965 - Leonard Gribble, Leo Grex, Louis Grey, Landon Grant, Dexter Muir, Bruce Sanders

 

Piers Marlowe* - Promise to Kill - Thriller Book Club - 1965

*Piers Marlowe is one of a number of  pseudonyms used by the writer Leonard Gribble, best remembered for his true crime and crime fiction titles.

First, a quick grumble. 

At the start of this book, a man is walking through the countryside with a shotgun. His intention is to kill another man.  He stops to watch a bird of prey hunting. It seems a funny moment for nature appreciation but as he`s a character in a novel and is himself hunting prey of his own, we`ll let it pass. 

Musing on life some more, his thoughts turn to industrial relations. It seems wholly unlikely that such considerations would occupy his mind at that moment. 

In my personal view, it can be unwise to introduce social/political concerns into the thoughts/speech of a fictitious character. If, as I suspect, the intention is to show that this particular character is a bit `different between the ears` then it seems to me that the result is just to confuse the reader. 

If the intention is either to promote or disparage the views expressed, then putting them into the thoughts of a fictitious character is still likely to leave the reader unclear about the authors` intentions, especially if the characters` motivations are to say the least ambivalent. 

Anyway, we`ll move on from that.

The problem with this book is not the underlying story, which is actually a particularly strong one. The problem is that the story is badly told.  

I did not expect to be saying that about a book written by Leonard Gribble, a writer  who is widely respected and to whom I am generally well-disposed, but there it is. I actually came to wonder whether it was correct that Piers Marlowe and Leonard Gribble were one and the same person, but apparently this is the case.  

Ultimately, if you are tempted to sample some of Mr Gribbles` fiction, I would suggest you search around, perhaps try reading a couple of online reviews before making your selection (there are a few very interesting ones on a blog named `Mysteries Ahoy !` that you may find helpful).   

Strangely, despite his considerable experience as a writer, Mr G/Marlowe emerges as a man with a story to tell, but in this instance I cannot claim that he tells it well. 

He is a writer with many better books to his credit and I`d suggest seeking out one of the others and giving this one a miss.