Michael Gilbert
| Michael Francis Gilbert | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 July 1912 |
| Died | 8 February 2006 (aged 93) |
| Pen name | Michael Gilbert |
| Occupation | Lawyer, author |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 1947–2001 |
| Genre | Crime fiction, Mysteries, Police Procedural, Spy fiction |
| Children | 2, including Harriett Gilbert |
Michael Francis Gilbert (July 17, 1912 – February 8, 2006) was a British lawyer and author of crime fiction mysteries.
Gilbert was born on 17 July 1912 in Billingshay, Lincolnshire, England to father Bernard Samuel Gilbert, a writer, and mother Berwyn Minna Cuthbert. From 1920-1926, Gilbert attended St. Peters school in Seaford, East Sussex and Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon from 1926–1931. Following graduation, he attended London University to study law but was unable to finish due to financial concerns. After becoming a schoolmaster for Cathedral School in the Close at Salisbury, Gilbert returned to studying law, receiving his degree in 1937 and graduating with honors. It was at this time that he began to work on his first mystery novel, Close Quarters.
When England became involved in World War II, Gilbert joined the Honourable Artillery Company, serving in North Africa and Italy. In 1943, he was captured and taken as a prisoner of war in northern Italy near Parma. Along with another soldier, he was able to escape after the Italian surrender, with their escape involving a five-hundred mile journey south to reach the Allied lines.
In 1947, Gilbert joined the London law firm of Trower, Still & Keeling in Lincoln's Inn. Eventually becoming a partner there, he practiced law with the group until his retirement in 1983.
Gilbert's writing career spanned the years 1947 to 1999 with his final work being Over and Out. The genres his fiction novels enveloped included police procedurals, spy novels, short stories, courtroom dramas, classical mysteries, adventure thrillers, and crime novels. Following his death, the New York Times quoted one of Gilbert's publishers regarding his writing style: "Michael was an exceptionally fine storyteller, but he's hard to classify. 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.".
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