Gilbert, Michael 1912–2006

(Michael Francis Gilbert)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 17, 1912, in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England; died February 8, 2006, in Luddesdown, Kent, England. Attorney and author. A prolific author of mysteries, thrillers, and espionage novels, Gilbert was an acclaimed writer who was often compared to some of the best talents of the golden age of mystery. Trained as a lawyer, he earned his LL.B. from the University of London in 1937. At the time, he had been working for several years as a schoolmaster in Salisbury, England, but he joined the firm of Ellis, Bickersteth, Aglionby & Hazel as a clerk after graduation. Soon, World War II began and Gilbert enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery. He saw action in North Africa and Europe and was captured in 1943. Gilbert spent the rest of the war as a P.O.W., an experience he later used for his novel Death in Captivity (1952). With the war over, he went back to work, this time with the Trower, Still & Keeling law firm of London. He was a partner there from 1952 until his 1983 retirement. His was a rather glamorous career in which he saw clients that included the likes of fellow author Raymond Chandler and the sultan of Bahrain. Meanwhile, Gilbert published his first work of fiction, Close Quarters (1947). This would be followed by about fifty more books over the next five decades. The author was known for his meticulously plotted mysteries, which are of the same ilk as those by other famed British mystery writers such as Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Michael Innes. He wrote both stand-alone novels and short-story collections, as well as series titles, including those featuring the erudite Patrick Petrella, a detective at Scotland Yard whose career Gilbert follows over the course of several stories. The author, however, also enjoyed writing a good thriller or spy story. Named a grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 1988 and receiving a Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award from the Crime Writers Association in 1994, Gilbert was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Among his many other publications are Smallbone Deceased (1950), Be Shot for Sixpence (1956), The Crack in the Teacup (1966), The Empty House (1978), The Black Seraphim (1984), and Ring of Terror (1995). Gilbert's last book before his death is the short-story collection The Curious Conspiracy and Other Crimes (2002).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, February 15, 2006, p. C24.

Times (London, England), February 11, 2006, p. 75.