A Murder of Quality

[sawyl]

I've enjoyed rereading Le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, which, if not as accomplished as his later novels, still contains a number of his hallmarks. The plot is essentially a whodunit, set against the backdrop of a rather snooty public school, with George Smiley taking the role of gentleman sleuth.

Carne, the school, is a typical Le Carré setting, harking back to its Victorian glory days when a bullying headmaster dragged a Tudor relic into the age of empire, where it has remained forever stuck in aspic. All the masters hate each other with a passion, but find themselves forced to stick together simply for want of an escape route. The pupils are largely indifferent to the education they receive. Indeed one of the masters argues that Carne is designed to crush ability out of its students and that those who go on to receive scholarships do so in spite of their school rather than because of it — the facetious remark takes on a darker meaning when, late on the mystery, one of the pupils is murdered purely on the grounds of his outstanding academic achievement.

The Smiley of the book is largely recognisably in character as the Smiley of the later books. He is cunning and wise, with a prodigious and way of seeing to the heart of peoples character flaws. He is often bothered by his conscience when forced to do things that are less than pleasant, like lying to a newly bereaved husband, and, unlike most detectives, he is often extremely afraid. But there are some difference with the Smiley of the Karla Trilogy, particularly in the back story. He describes himself as retired, but occasionally studying German literature at Oxford. His marriage to Lady Ann Sercombe, who grew up around Carne and who is the cousin of the resident Lord, is describes as over — something a number of the characters take malicious delight in. But these are only minor differences which could probably be described away with a wave of the hand: perhaps Smiley is on leave from the Circus, having fallen out of favour, and is passing the time studying literature; perhaps he and Anne are going through one of their occasional bad patches and will eventually get back together.

In summary, a minor novel from a major writer warming up for greater things. A reasonably enjoyable, rather slight — a mere 170 pages — quite straightforward murder mystery.