Book 58: A Murder of Quality by John LeCarre

The second Smiley book.  I plan to read all of these, but I have a pretty heavy backlog right now.  A Murder of Quality is an easy read at 150 pages, so I figured I'd crush it.  It's not a spy thriller like the other Smiley books, which was kinda cool.  More of a straight murder mystery.  Despite its shortness, it takes awhile to get moving as LeCarre spends a bit too much time reveling in the manners of stuffy elite British schools juxtaposed against the small town residents.  Too many of the characters bleed together to genuinely set up a proper mystery with well articulated suspects, but at least Smiley remains the somewhat oafish and neurotic spy who still manages to solve the crime.  Once it picks up, it is quite good, but takes a bit too long to get there.