Leonard Gribble (1908–1985)

This book has a unique cast of characters: the actual 1939 Arsenal football team. Strangely, though, I kept forgetting it was 1939. The story gave off more late 1960s / early 1970s vibes, but that could be because the 8th season of Endeavour features a football team in its first episode, and it’s set in 1971. I had forgotten about the person who ended up being the murderer, so it was something I didn’t guess, but it felt a bit left-field to me.

Slade feels a bit like the sort of solid, methodical police inspector you see in a lot of British Library Crime Classic mysteries, such as Inspector French or Shelley or Meredith. So if you like these sorts of solidly reliable police inspectors for your detecting needs, then you might like this book.… (más)