Virallinen nimi: Bingham, John Michael Ward (Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook, 7th)
Muut nimet: Lord Clanmorris
Syntymäaika: 1908-11-03
Kuolinaika: 1988-08-06
Sukupuoli: male
Kansalaisuus: England
Koulutus: Cheltenham College
Suhteet: Bingham, Charlotte (daughter)
Bingham, Madeleine (wife)
Lyhyt elämäkerta: John Michael Ward Bingham - who became the seventh Lord Clanmorris - was born in Haywards Heath on 3 November 1908.

He was educated at Cheltenham College and became an art editor for the 'Sunday Dispatch'. He married Madeleine Mary Ebel on 28 July 1934.

During the Second World War he served with the Royal Engineers and was attached to the General Staff. He also worked for MI5 and was supposedly the inspiration for John Le Carre's George Smiley. And over the course of thirty years, he served MI5 in various high-ranking capacities, including undercover agent.

He wrote under a pseudonym and published 17 novels in the thriller, detective and spy fields. These included 'My Name is Michael Sibley', his first novel published in 1952.

He succeeded to the title of 7th Baron Clanmorris on 24 June 1960.

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Five roundabouts to Heaven Tekijä: John Bingham

Terrific story! A very clever psychological mystery with a difference. Ordinary characters but between villainous plans and commonplace deception Bingham leads the reader on a twisty rollercoaster ride. The story features Philip Bartels, his wife Beatrice, his lover Lorna, and his friend Peter. But who in the end is murdered? Who is guilty?

This was a fine entry in HRF Keating's Crime and Mystery 100 Best Books list. I will definitely be on the lookout for more by Bingham.

The introduction by John le Carré was terrific. They had been friends when they worked together at MI5 and although they'd had a falling out le Carré based his famous character George Smiley on Bingham.

"On the whole Bingham bypassed the usual crime-writing tricks of the trade to evoke surprise or mystery; instead he brought a new approach to crime fiction by emphasizing psychological realism."-- John le Carré… (lisätietoja)

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VivienneR | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jun 13, 2022 |

Five Roundabouts to Heaven Tekijä: John Bingham

Five Roundabouts to Heaven by John Bingham was an excellent read. A story about friendship, love and loyalty but skewed into a twisty, insightful tale of infidelities and murder. Peter Harding and Philip Bartels have a friendship that goes back to when they were boys together although Peter does think himself superior to Philip in all ways. One night as they meet for drinks, Philip revels that he is going to leave his wife, Beatrice for a woman he thinks is the love of his life, Lorna. Peter thinks this is a huge mistake as Beatrice is a lovely woman, and, in his opinion makes Philip an excellent wife. Then he meets Lorna and falls in love with her himself. He decides that he must try to keep Philip and Beatrice together so that he can win Lorna for himself. Meanwhile Philip has come to the conclusion that Beatrice will be devastated if he leaves so the more compassionate thing to do is to murder Beatrice so that he can win his freedom.

This is just the beginning of a fantastic story where the characters misbehave, miscalculate and then try to justify their actions. The author skilfully weaves the various threads together into a tight plot that, after a slightly slow start, held this reader spellbound. Five Roundabouts to Heaven is intriguing as is the author who apparently was a mentor to John Le Carre in the “spy” business and was a model for George Smiley. This book is another winner from the HRF Keating List of 100 Best Crime and Mystery Books.… (lisätietoja)

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DeltaQueen50 | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Feb 17, 2022 |

The Paton Street Case Tekijä: John Bingham

When a fire is reported at 127 Paton St., Chief Detective Inspector David Morgan immediately expects it was arson. That all changes when the insurance inspectors discover a body hidden inside a piece of furniture. The German immigrant owners, Otto and Rose Steiner, of the furniture store on the street level act suspicious and are evasive about the their connections with the dead man. Once they start investigating Robert Draper, the corpse in the burnt apartment, all sorts of nasty stuff comes out about him and the people in his circle.

Sergeant Shaw, Morgan's assistant, has little sympathy for immigrants and especially German immigrants despite they being Jews who fled Nazism. As the two police officers sort through the lies and false leads, the secrets of many of the characters are revealed. The two officers in a couple of cases through their heavy handed interviews or lack of empathy cause major disruption to the lives of several characters leading to suicide and another murder.

This is an intriguing read with many characters and many twists and turns. The reader may wish to record each character on paper as they appear in the narrative in order to keep them strait. I did notice when composing this review that some key characters appeared on page two and then disappeared until much later in the narrative.… (lisätietoja)

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lamour | Nov 5, 2021 |