The Last Best Friend

De: George Sims

Narrado por: David Thorpe

At 2pm on a Monday in 1966, Ned Balfour wakes in Corsica beside a beautiful woman. In the same instant, back in London, fellow art dealer and Dachau survivor Sam Weiss falls 10 storeys to his death. Ned refuses to believe that Sam's death was intentional, and his investigation thrusts him into the deceit and fraudulence of the art world, where he unmasks more than one respectable face.

First published in 1967, this thrilling tale of vertigo, suspicion and infidelity is a long-forgotten classic with an intriguing plot twist.

©2017 Estate of George Sims (P)2017 Soundings

Extremely mixed feelings

Would you recommend The Last Best Friend to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes and no. This was one of those novels where "nothing happens". The mystery takes about one hour of the total. I almost quit and returned the novel several times, yet I didn't.

What does David Thorpe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was the reason I bought this book (besides that I like to read dead, forgotten authors). He can literally do anything! Even some of the characters that are dated, ethnic stereotypes get his full treatment. Can he get an Oscar?

Any additional comments?

Perhaps this is a book you should get when you want "something different", unpredictable and outside your usual reading. Or skip it. Either way. It does not belong on the list of 100 best mysteries. Save that for Reginald Hill or Margaret Allingham.

not my friend

This book was dumb. I cannot understand how it made the list of 100 Best British crime stories. It's amateurish and disjointed. It bounces around all over the place and none of the plot lines are well developed or resolved. The writing is atrocious, the main character is a jerk, and I can't believe I wasted additional minutes of my life reviewing this horrible book.