A Murder of Quality

John le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, offers an exquisite, satirical look at an elite private school as it chronicles the early development of George Smiley.

Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs. Stella Rode saying that she fears her husband--an assistant master at Carne School--is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley. Unfortunately, it's too late--Mrs. Rode has just been murdered. As Smiley takes up the investigation, he realizes that in life--as in espionage--nothing is quite what it appears.