A Murder of Quality

by John le Carré

Paperback, 160 pages

English language

Published Feb. 1, 2002 by Scribner.

ISBN:: 978-0-7434-3168-2

(26 reviews)

Le Carre's second book and the only one that is a standard mystery set in a public school, rather than a story of espionage. George Smiley is again the main character.

34 editions

Jon Nixon reviewed A murder of quality by John le Carré

Review of 'A murder of quality' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

A fun George Smiley story; a classic whodunnit, not a spy story. Great writing with great characters; skewering Great British snobbery at a second rate public school. There are a couple of really nice changes of direction towards the end. I thought the mechanics of the murder plot were stretched a little thin though.

urn reviewed A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

Review of 'A Murder of Quality' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

John le Carré makes smooth writing look easy. It's not needlessly florid, nor is it noticeably sparse and hardboiled. It it very Smiley-like: unassuming but effective.

As others have said, this isn't a spy novel, it's a mystery George Smiley happens to be in. But a good mystery!

I enjoyed a nice meander through class politics and academic culture alongside the murder mystery. My only gripe is that the ending wrapped up a bit too quickly. All the build up was great, and then a three page "so here's what actually happened" speech and it was over.

Excited to plough ahead to the actual spy novels!

Brad Fonseca reviewed A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

Review of 'A Murder of Quality' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is the short second novel of Le Carré. While George Smiley is the main character, he's solving a murder rather than sparring with Eastern Bloc spies. Those wanting more of the espionage found in his first novel, "A Call for the Dead", will be a bit disappointed. However, this book is interesting as it develops Smiley as a character and provides an engaging murder mystery to solve. I quite liked it even though it wasn't what I expected.

Lynn reviewed A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

Review of 'A Murder of Quality' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This was much more a standard murder mystery than the first or third of Le Carré's novels and I enjoyed it less. Still, good escapist fare for an otherwise trying weekend.