Smiley has retired once again. So he thinks, until an old spook acquaintance from the war drags him into the investigation of a murder. It turns out to be quite a conundrum, for Smiley and for the police. At least he hasnt been recalled by the Circus. This is a straight-out mystery and, I might add, a first rate one at that. Only mild-mannered, short, stout, obscure-looking Smiley, that veritable Columbo, could pierce the pomp and circumstance of the milieu surrounding the crime. This is a great one-evening read, and with Call for the Dead a proper introduction to Le Carrés Smiley novels.

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