The Night of the Twelfth by Michael Gilbert

The Night of the Twelfth Reviews

• 
  Andy Weston

  Published in 1976, this is a good example of a book that might appear dated in its attitudes and approaches to certain subjects, but on closer examination survives the test of time very well, because it is so skilfully written. Instead, it is a valuable part of our history.
  Gilbert writes about adolescence well, and that is a major part of the story.
  
  The story is a strange mixture of a traditional school mystery and a thriller; the son of the Israeli Ambassador is a pupil, and there is danger, and the signs that a sadistic killer on the loose.
  
  Thanks to Martin Edwards's website for the recommendation.
• 
  Deb

  Gilbert wrote a number of mysteries in which bad things happen within a closed community. In this case, the community is a boys' prep school. On the surface, it is nothing out of the ordinary--a couple of teachers and staff with the usual jealousies and personal conflicts, and a batch of boys, including one "unicorn"--the son of the Israeli ambassador to England. Gilbert sets us up with the arrival of a new teacher, Mr. Manifold, who proves well equipped to handle the more unruly boys. But he seems just a bit different from the other instructors…
  Meanwhile a police task force is hunting for a serial murderer of young boys. The most recent murder might have been the last, but miscommunication at the local level delayed activation of a dragnet, and the killer slipped away. Still, the crime scene and quickly-located witnesses gives the police new clues, and they are confident they will catch the killer. But will it be in time to save the next victim?
  Gilbert weaves the threads of these two stories together gradually, with a detour into an attempted kidnapping. The ending is tense and well-written. Gilbert is a master craftsman and great one for developing each character with a few strokes. A good read.
• 
  Diane

  This book did not hold my interest, I had to fight to finish it. Not my kind of book I really don't like graphic details of violence. I am a cozy mystery fan.
• 
  Lukasz Pruski

  "But these are all lies: men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for love."
  (William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 4, Scene 1, as quoted by one of The Night of the Twelfth characters).
  
  Although Michael Gilbert's The Night of the Twelfth won the Current Crime's Silver Cup for the best British crime novel of 1976 I do not find it that remarkable. This solid, erudite and well-written novel of suspense cum police procedural is indeed a pleasure to read, yet it is far from exceptional. For instance, in the same year my favorite British mystery author, Nicolas Freeling, published
  Sabine, also far from a masterpiece but more memorable than The Night.
  
  The night of June 12 (of probably 1975), Brading, West Sussex, south of London. The body of a missing 10-year-old boy has been found and it bears signs of torture. Since this is the third similar murder the police task force, "Operation Huntsman," moves into highest gear. The plot switches to Trenchard House preparatory school, located not that far from the place where the boy's body was found: we meet the headmaster, several teachers, and the school staff who are getting acquainted with a new instructor. Trenchard House is not just an ordinary prep school: many of its pupils are children of important people - one of the kids is the son of an Israeli ambassador. When Jordanian terrorists break into the Israeli Embassy in London and hold three people hostage the police offers protection for the school pupils and the personnel, who are in the middle of rehearsals for the school production of Twelfth Night (note the title). Eventually, as expected, there emerges a connection between the murders and the school and the denouement is precipitated by one of the boys' terrifying experience. In fact, though, the solution of the murders case is found independently by three different people, which is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the novel.
  
  Great characterizations of a very interesting cast of characters make the reader feel these are real people not just devices that move the plot. Particularly the boys, aged about fourteen and younger, are shown vividly and oh-so plausibly, especially when they talk like adults who they believe are not as smart as they are. Yet the plot itself is not that interesting and an impatient reader may easily lose focus. For my taste there is a bit too much of the characters talking about the case: the plot should rather talk through the facts. Only the ending is quite exciting and it includes a sort of car chase, which - in a coincidence that I have found pretty funny - involves members of police force from Crawley, West Sussex, where at that exact time in 1975 Robert Smith himself, the leader of The Cure and focus of the book I have reviewed here just over a week ago
  Never Enough was attending St Wilfrid's Comprehensive School.
  
  Two and three quarter stars.
  
• 
  Dana Stabenow

  Marvelous novel by a seriously underrated British novelist. See also The Long Journey Home, Fear to Tread, and The Danger Within.
• 
  Polly

  Horrible crime and criminals, but delightful setting and other people.
• 
  Rachel

  The was the last book to complete my 2015 reading challenge (52 books!). It took me FOREVER. I've always thought I was something of an anglophile, but this book proved me WRONG.
• 
  Tony

  A good read, it went whizzing by in no time.