It almost seems ridiculous to discuss Michael Gilbert’s Games Without Rules. After I mentioned it on Thursday, we discussed Gilbert, his books, his characters. In fact, I’m going to do something I seldom do. I’m going to pass. However, I will say that Gilbert violated one of the cardinal rules of mystery writing, and it didn’t make me happy. I do have the second book about Calder and Behrens, and it appears that he regretted his writing. I really can’t say more without spoilers.
Before I refer you to an excellent discussion of Gilbert’s books, I just have one other comment. What is it with the British crime novels and beekeeping? Sherlock Holmes wanted to retire and become a beekeeper. Samuel Behrens’ “special interests” are beekeeping and chess. Just curious.
Instead of wasting your time reading a rehash of what I posted the other day, I’m going to send you to a friend’s blog. Aubrey Hamilton is the friend who introduced me to Game Without Rules. In fact, she sent me copies of both of the Calder and Behrens books. Aubrey regularly writes for Friday’s Forgotten Books. Her blog post for Feb. 19 covered this book, and she discusses it much better than I can. Aubrey’s website is http://Happinessisabook.com. You can find her coverage of Game Without Rules here, https://bit.ly/3lZvd5T. I hope you check it out!
