148:"And in the evenings he would sit in the lounge, drinking a single glass of schnapps as an aperitif before dinner, and entertaining Tom and Rebecca with accounts of the birds he had observed that day. It was difficult to imagine, seeing him sitting there, gentle, placid, and upright, that he had killed men and women—and children, too—with his own well-kept hands. But then Mr. Wendon, or Weinleben, or Weber, was a remarkable man."
114:"E" Branch takes on the jobs "so disreputable" that no other agency will handle them. The cover of Mr. Fortescue is that of bank manager at the Westminster branch of the London and Home Counties Bank. As one adversary refers to them bitterly just before dying, both Calder and Behrens are "middle-aged cut-throats"; by the time the stories end, however, they have grown old but not noticeably softer or less capable.
152:"Michael was an exceptionally fine storyteller, but he's hard to classify," said one of his British publishers after his death. "He's not a hard-boiled writer in the classic sense, but there is a hard edge to him, a feeling within his work that not all of society is rational, that virtue is not always rewarded.".
101:
Gilbert's two agents are outwardly gentlemanly and urbane. Beneath their innocuous appearance, however, they are ruthless and exceedingly hard-boiled killers. They are long-time close friends who are unmarried and who live near each other in the vicinity of
Lamperdown, Kent. Mr. Behrens lives at
113:
Both Calder and
Behrens did classified work during World War II, then in the late 1950s went to work for a Mr. Fortescue at the Joint Services Standing Intelligence Committee (External Branch), more often known as JSSIC(E). In one story, the Prime Minister recalls his predecessor telling him that
109:
Mr. Calder lives with
Rasselas, his 128-pound Persian deerhound whom he has adopted from a dead adversary. Like his master, Rasselas is quiet and unassuming, but also a highly trained and deadly killer. He is by Shad Jehan out of Galietta. His color is "Golden with darker patches. Eyes Amber.
105:
Both Calder and
Behrens were educated in various parts of Europe before World War II and speak a number of languages: Mr. Behrens is rated A+ for Standard-German and A for Standard-French, Standard Greek, Italian, and Russian. Mr. Calder is rated A for Standard Albanian and Hungarian and B for
135:
In most of
Gilbert's work, which seems urbane, ordered, and placid on the surface, there are grim undertones and hard edges not far below. In "A Prince of Abyssinia" Colonel Weinleben signals Mr. Calder that he is coming to kill him. "Why?" asks Mr. Fortescue.
121:"deep grave behind the woodpile, laid the dog in it and filled it in, and patted the earth into a mound. It was a fine resting place, looking southward over the feathery tops of the trees, across the Weald of Kent. A resting place for a prince.
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126:"Colonel Weinleben they buried later, with a good deal more haste and less ceremony, in the wood. He was the illegitimate son of a cobbler from Mainz and greatly inferior to the dog, both in birth and breeding."
102:
The Old
Rectory, while Mr. Calder is at The Cottage, Hyde Hill. (Gilbert's own address, at which he lived for many years, and where he died at age 93, was Luddesdown Old Rectory, Cobham, Gravesend, Kent.)
117:
Rasselas, however, in "A Prince of
Abyssina", is killed by a German war criminal intent on killing Mr. Calder. After rescuing his friend, Mr. Behrens then helps Mr. Calder dig a
561:
144:
Later
Colonel Weinleben takes up residence at the Seven Gables Guest House, where he goes birding and is "particularly nice with Mrs. Farmer's two young children."
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paperback. Many involve finding and dealing with
British traitors or deeply embedded foreign agents; a few take place in
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86:
492:
All biographical information about Calder, Behrens, and
Rasselas comes from three pages of prefatory material in
578:
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30:. The characters appear in 24 short stories, most of which first appeared in either the British magazine
31:
164:
44:
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23:
507:, by Michael Gilbert, Harper & Row, New York, in the story "The Spoilers", page 61
572:
67:
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66:, during which Mr. Behrens is the bomb-maker in a failed attempt to assassinate
278:"The Terrorists" – short story (called "Double, Double" in English appearance)
90:
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140:"I tortured him," said Mr. Calder. "And broke him. He'd never forget."
59:
54:(1982). One story, "Double, Double", was later republished in an
89:
named him a Grand Master in 1988 and in 1990 he was presented
78:
71:
558:
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
266:"Anything for a Quiet Life" — brief appearance by Mr. Calder
22:
are fictional counter-intelligence agents created by the
516:Douglas Greene of Crippen & Landrau, quoted in
295:"St Ethelburga and the Angel of Death" — radio play
391:Adapted from "The Decline and Fall of Mr. Behrens"
74:radio plays, largely based on the short stories.
42:. The stories were collected in two anthologies,
413:— radio play broadcast 23 & 26 December 1968
354:— radio play broadcast 18 & 21 November 1968
306:BBC radio plays, 14 unpublished, two published:
384:— radio play broadcast 2 & 5 December 1968
372:— radio play broadcast 2 & 5 December 1968
336:— radio play broadcast 4 & 7 November 1968
106:Standard-Greek, Italian, Arabic, and Russian.
532:The Murder of Diana Devon and Other Mysteries
286:The Murder of Diana Devon and Other Mysteries
8:
548:This article incorporates material from the
434:
419:— radio play broadcast 30 December 1968
407:— radio play broadcast 19 December 1968
401:— radio play broadcast 16 December 1968
366:— radio play broadcast 28 November 1968
360:— radio play broadcast 25 November 1968
348:— radio play broadcast 14 November 1968
342:— radio play broadcast 11 November 1968
16:Fictional characters by Michael Gilbert
535:, Robert Hale, London,, 2009, page 223
378:— radio play broadcast 9 December 1968
330:— radio play broadcast 31 October 1968
156:Stories in which the characters appear
62:; one particularly grim one is set in
425:— radio play broadcast 2 January 1969
313:— radio play broadcast 28 October 196
248:"The Decline and Fall of Mr. Behrens"
81:in 1980, was a founder-member of the
70:. The characters also appeared in 16
7:
423:St Ethelburga and the Angel of Death
473:Bouchercon World Mystery Convention
83:British Crime Writers' Association
14:
529:Listed by John Cooper, editor of
311:In Which Mr Calder Acquires a Dog
245:"The Killing of Michael Finnegan"
556:", which is licensed under the
93:'s Lifetime Achievement Award.
39:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
292:"Churchill's Men" — radio play
1:
320:Adapted from "Emergency Exit"
273:Ellery Queen's Mystery Parade
469:"History of Guests of Honor"
443:"Michael Gilbert (obituary)"
212:Mr. Calder & Mr. Behrens
51:Mr. Calder & Mr. Behrens
26:mystery and thriller writer
77:Gilbert, who was appointed
595:
554:Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens
233:"The African Tree Beavers"
218:"The Twilight of the Gods"
87:Mystery Writers of America
20:Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens
259:Anything for a Quiet Life
230:"The Lion and the Virgin"
364:The African Tree Beavers
97:Biographical information
376:The Lion and the Virgin
201:"A Prince of Abyssinia"
171:"The Road to Damascus"
227:"The Peaceful People"
340:The Road to Damascus
198:"Prometheus Unbound"
328:The Peaceful People
183:"Trembling's Tours"
560:but not under the
520:, 15 February 2006
518:The New York Times
505:Game without Rules
494:Game without Rules
449:. 10 February 2006
251:"The Last Reunion"
192:"Upon the King..."
165:Game without Rules
110:Nose blue-black."
45:Game without Rules
239:"The Mercenaries"
180:"The Cat Cracker"
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186:"The Headmaster"
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68:Adolf Hitler
64:World War II
56:Ellery Queen
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550:Citizendium
453:13 November
346:Cat Cracker
302:Radio plays
48:(1967) and
370:Cross-Over
358:One-to-Ten
131:Undertones
91:Bouchercon
552:article "
573:Category
24:British
478:5 July
85:. The
60:Europe
33:Argosy
430:Notes
562:GFDL
480:2014
455:2012
79:CBE
72:BBC
575::
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457:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.