149:, an encampment of squatters refuses to heed a warning from Pickett and is carried away to the sea by a flash flood; the fairgrounds strongman, Conybeare, heroically manages to save six of them from the waters, but the other 70 are drowned. By the end of the last story, four years have passed since Pickett first opened his office, he has been elected to the local governing council, and he has retired from practice.
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perspective, sometimes with the members of
Pickett's law firm playing fairly minor roles. They are written with Gilbert's usual straightforward, urbane, and somewhat detached tone but, as is usual in Gilbert's work, there is often a deceptively hard edge or even grimness to some of the stories. In
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There are three other main characters, his partner, Sabrina
Mountjoy; their secretary, Claire Easterbrook; and a general handyman, Sam Conybeare, "a mountain of a man who had once performed remarkable feats of strength and daring in a circus." Pickett himself had played a role in an earlier Gilbert
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He was not, as he was fond of explaining to his friends, a retired solicitor. He was a retreating solicitor. Having made as much money as a bachelor of modest habits was likely to use in the rest of his lifetime, but not wishing to rust in idleness, he had abandoned a successful practice in north
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A charming collection of nine stories.... None of these stories is particularly noteworthy for the mystery it presents, but, taken together, they offer a wry commentary on
English-village attitudes toward gypsies, Londoners, foreigners, holidayers, tradesmen, country gentry, business partnerships,
76:. In spite of Gilbert's usual low-key urbanity in his style, a number of them have an unexpected grimness about them. "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
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farmers, small-town nabobs, and the relative discomfort that exists between the police and members of the legal profession.... A companionable way to while away the time... and a clear pleasure for partisans of the cozy.
141:, for instance, a deranged but nevertheless sympathetically portrayed parson is only narrowly prevented by Pickett and Sam Conybeare from killing his trusting young son in emulation of the Biblical story of
164:, makes a brief appearance. In the same story, Pickett also meets a police superintendent named Queen, as well as a headmaster named Major Appleby. Inspector Queen was a character in many of the
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The stories feature the activities of a small law firm called Jonas
Pickett, Solicitor and Commissioner for Oaths, recently started by Pickett, a man "on the wrong side of sixty".
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said, "Though the characters may be two-dimensional and the stories of uneven quality, this collection, overall, delights by virtue of
Gilbert's fanciful plotting."
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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.".
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187:, head of the London District Regional Crime Squad, a character in a number of works by Gilbert.
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Steinberg, Sybil (February 23, 1990). "Anything for a Quiet Life". Vol. 237, no. 8.
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62:'s Lifetime Achievement Award. All nine stories had previously appeared in
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396:, by Michael Gilbert, Carroll & Graff, New York, 1990, page 190
372:, by Michael Gilbert, Carroll & Graff, New York, 1990, page 122
384:, by Michael Gilbert, Carroll & Graff, New York, 1990, page 73
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named him a Grand Master in 1988 and in 1990 he was presented
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Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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is a collection of nine short stories by the
British writer
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London and set up a modest office in
Shackleton-on-Sea.
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Anything for a Quiet Life and Other New
Mystery Stories
323:Douglas Greene of Crippen & Landrau, quoted in
183:In the second story, there is a small role for
132:The stories are all told from the third person
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409:This article incorporates material from the
156:, one of the two protagonists of Gilbert's
455:Short story collections by Michael Gilbert
46:the same year. Gilbert, who was appointed
176:was the lead character in many novels by
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50:in 1980, was a founder-member of the
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42:in 1990 and in the United States by
299:Bouchercon World Mystery Convention
38:published in the United Kingdom by
231:We've Come to Report a Murder, Sir
52:British Crime Writers' Association
16:1990 collection by Michael Gilbert
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145:and Isaac. In the final story,
450:Mystery short story collections
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417:", which is licensed under the
65:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
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185:Chief Superintendent Morrisey
460:Hodder & Stoughton books
440:1990 short story collections
295:"History of Guests of Honor"
269:"Michael Gilbert (obituary)"
109:Main characters and stories
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158:Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens
56:Mystery Writers of America
415:Anything for a Quiet Life
394:Anything for a Quiet Life
382:Anything for a Quiet Life
370:Anything for a Quiet Life
337:Anything for a Quiet Life
197:Anything for a Quiet Life
203:makes a brief appearance
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343:, April 10, 1990, at
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305:on 25 September 2007
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243:The Bird of Dawning
219:The Reign of Terror
152:In the first story
134:omniscient narrator
101:Sybil Steinberg in
421:but not under the
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325:The New York Times
275:. 10 February 2006
168:mystery novels by
162:Game without Rules
88:Upon publication,
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25:First edition (UK)
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174:Inspector Appleby
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78:hard-boiled
434:Categories
251:, page 197
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239:, page 147
233:, page 122
201:Mr. Calder
154:Mr. Calder
60:Bouchercon
413:article "
237:Holy Writ
227:, page 99
221:, page 73
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207:Black Bob
139:Holy Writ
84:Reception
70:Brighton
143:Abraham
123:novel,
309:5 July
172:, and
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311:2014
281:2012
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