Cambridge Theorem, The [Mass Market Paperback]

Tony Cape (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1991

When brilliant but unstable graduate student Simon Bowles is hanged in his room at Cambridge University, Detective Sergeant Derek Smailes is forced to rule the death a suicide, even though he knows that Bowles's research probably brought about his murder. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The apparent suicide of a Cambridge University graduate student begins as a routine case for detective sergeant Derek Smailes, but dark political secrets half a century old soon surface, suggesting that Simon Bowles's death might well have been a murder. Smailes, the engaging hero of this atmospheric thriller, is a most unusual CID detective: he wears lizard-skin cowboy boots, loves the music of Willie Nelson and is generally obsessed with all things American. He discovers that Bowles, a mathematical genius, had recently been subjecting historical events to strict logical analysis, developed a compelling theorem pinpointing the real murderer of John F. Kennedy and begun work on identifying the long-rumored "Fifth Man" in the notorious group of Soviet spies recruited at Cambridge during the 1930s. Smailes's investigations lead to startling revelations about Bowles and his research, as well as the detective's own deceased policeman father, the beautiful American graduate student to whom Smailes is attracted and the murky world of international espionage. In his first novel, Cambridge graduate Cape expertly mixes just enough fact with fiction to keep his readers intrigued and entertained. Mysterious Book Club selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An entertaining first effort combining the mystery and spy genres. Simon Bowles's apparent suicide intrigues British detective Smailes because the deceased was working on identifying the fifth man in the so-called Ring of Five group of Cambridge spies. The story unfolds delicately, luring Smailes into a web of Communist intrigue in England in the early 1980s. Along the way, Smailes becomes involved in a torrid love affair with a college student who knows more about the case than she admits. Although the story is interesting, filled with several twists, it is a bit anticlimactic to discover that Detective Smailes solves the untimely death of Simon Bowles in the same manner that Columbo did (and a number of other detectives as well) in an episode of that 1970s TV show, by reading the used portion of a typewriter ribbon. Although slow moving at times, this shows promise for a new writer. Mystery Book Club selection.
-James Picerno, "Business Facilities," Red Bank, N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (June 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553290347
• ISBN-13: 978-0553290349
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,288,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book combining espionage, recent history and interesting characters, March 8, 2006

By 

S. Ford (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Theorem (Paperback)

I really loved this book. It starts out a little confusing, with an old spy (he's even called "the old spy") in Moscow trying to manipulate his boss. But if you know anything about spies in the 20th century, you figure out pretty quickly that the "old spy" is actually Kim Philby, who famously defected from England to the Soviet Union in 1963, after years and years and years of stealing British and American intelligence secrets.

But after the opening with the spy, the book moves to Cambridge. where a young graduate student at the university has apparently committed suicide. The local cop who is called out on the case is Derek Smailes, who is a bit of a misfit - he's divorced and has a passion for all things American, especially cowboy boots and Willie Nelson music. In doing a routine examination of the student's belongings, Smailes finds a bunch of files - research relating to a famous mystery in U.S. history. It's against the rules, but he can't help himself - he swipes the files. And what he finds in the files begins by leading him to question the nature of the student's death, and goes on to reveal layers and layers of betrayals, ultimately leading back to the infamous Cambridge "spy ring" of the 1930s, in which Kim Philby played a starring role. For anyone who likes history, and has any interest in espionage - or in really well written police procedurals, a la P.D. James' "Inspector Dalgliesh" books - "The Cambridge Theorem" should be at the top of your list.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine first effort, October 29, 2006

By 

Alexander T. Gafford "alex" (Midland, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Theorem (Paperback)

This is really a fine first novel. Though the plot revolving around the "fifth man" of the Cambridge stars, the famous Soviet agents embedded deep in the British establishment, is not terribly original the characters are. Or more precisely the principle character, Derek Smailes, a somewhat off the beaten track detective sergeant is quite original. Also well drawn by inference and retrospect, since he dies at the first of the book, is Simon Bowles, a brilliant Maths student at Cambridge. Similarly a strong presence is felt in Derek's deceased father, also a policeman in Cambridge. The picture of Britain's class conscious society set in the early 1980s is fairly uncompromising and may well be accurate enough. Two female characters are in play, on major and one minor and I think less fully realized.

I don't give this five stars due to a too lengthy introduction (to American tastes - we like to see characters defined by action rather than introspection)to Derek Smailes in the beginning and a confusing and too involved subplot about intrigue and backbiting in the KGB. Yet, this book has one great merit, the utimate test of the novel, ... at the end of the day I cared about the character. I cared about what happened. If we don't why read books of fiction ?

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamite Spy Novel by "Oregon Reader", July 22, 2007

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S. Huston "Forever Reader" (Oregon) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Cambridge Theorem (Paperback)

Havn't enjoyed a spy novel this much since LeCarre was in his prime. The first half is a little plodding, but stick with it for the big reward. The second half speeds up with a marvelous convoluted ending. Full of trivia about English/Russian spy apparatus of the 40's-60's.