The Man Who Lost His Wife [Paperback]

Julian Symons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Gilbert Welton's life changed one breakfast time - his wife, Virginia, announced she was leaving him. Perhaps not the expected beginning of a comedy, but Symons employs his customary skill and brilliant wit to reveal the funny side of the tale. The result is a hilarious and riotous look at the life of a very ordinary middle-aged man.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julian Symons is primarily remembered as a master of the art of crime writing. However, in his eighty-two years he produced an enormously varied body of work. Social and military history, biography and criticism were all subjects he touched upon with remarkable success, and he held a distinguished reputation in each field. His novels were consistently highly individual and expertly crafted, raising him above other crime writers of his day. It is for this that he was awarded various prizes, and, in 1982, named as Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America - an honour accorded to only three other English writers before him: Graham Greene, Eric Ambler and Daphne Du Maurier. He succeeded Agatha Christie as the president of Britain's Detection Club, a position he held from 1976 to 1985, and in 1990 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers for his lifetime's achievement in crime fiction. Symons died in 1994.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184232926X
• ISBN-13: 978-1842329269
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stumbling toward murder, July 12, 2008

By 

Michael Dea (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Lost His Wife (Paperback)

Gilbert Welton is a fairly bland middle age man living a comfortable if not exciting life. At breakfast one morning his wife announce her desire to go on a holiday to reevaluate their marriage. Gilbert thinks it is nonsense but his wife is adamant that she needs some time away from him. She decides to travel to Yugoslavia (the story was published in 1970). Gilbert begins to grow suspicious that she is having an affair when his business partner also goes to Yugoslavia on business.

Symons weaves a deft tale showing how events conspire for a murder to occur, based on the character and psychology of the protaganist.