Thursday, February 20, 2020

Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens -- Short Stories

This February I have been reading short stories for Short Story February, as suggested by Rick Robinson at Tip the Wink. I did this once before, and I hope to continue doing it every February. This is the first set of stories I am reporting on. I have also been reading from two other collections, which I will post on next week.

Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens are spies, working for a secret government group in the UK called the Joint Services Standing Intelligence Committee (JSSIC). They are in their fifties and live in a fictional village in Kent. Mr. Behrens lives with his aunt and tends bees. Mr. Calder lives nearby, alone, and has a Persian deerhound named Rasselas. They are called upon when needed to handle special projects and missions. This book is comprised of twelve short stories featuring these characters.

Each story averages about 20 pages in length and follows an incident that one or both of the agents have been asked to address. They don't always work together and the cases are quite varied. Rasselas is often quite useful. Calder and Behrens carry out their tasks with ruthlessness when necessary.

The stories featuring Calder and Behrens were written from 1962 to 1982. Eleven short stories were published in Game Without Rules in 1968, and those stories were first published in Argosy.

The Spy Guys and Gals site has a good summary of the publication history of the Calder and Behrens stories. There is also more detail on that page about the order of publication. The stories in the books are not in the order published.
       The terrific pair of Daniel Calder and Samuel Behrens first appeared to readers in the pages of the U.K. magazine Argosy in early 1962 and would continue to show up there off and on for just over a decade with the last one appearing in 1973. While many of these adventures would get turned into teleplays for BBC Radio, two of the last three from the Argosy period were either up-to-then unpublished stories turned into teleplays or novelizations of the episodes.
       Just over half a decade would go by before they would again show up in print, this time in the U.S. magazine Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Again there were a couple that had been aired on radio before being shown in print.
It has been almost exactly three years ago I purchased my copy of Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens and read the first three short stories in the book, after having read all of the stories in Game Without Rules. It took until this February for me to finish up all the stories in the book. I don't know why it took me so long. I love all the stories. However, they are not light reading. They are packed with details and nuances, most of which I am sure I miss. I like the two agents and their matter of fact approach to their work, and other characters in the stories are also interesting, although usually not so well fleshed out.

See also:

Post on Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens at Tip the Wink.

Post on Game Without Rules at Existential Ennui.


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   House of Stratus, 2011 (orig. pub. 1982)
Length:      245 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Setting:      UK, mostly; also in Germany.
Genre:        Espionage, short stories
Source:      On my TBR pile for three years.


21 comments:

Cath said...

I've never heard of these short stories or the characters. Mind you, I only discovered Michael Gilbert last year when I read his Death in Captivity, so that probably explains why I haven't heard of them. I'll have to check with my husband as he read a lot of spy type stuff back in the day.

TracyK said...

Cath, I first discovered Gilbert's books in 2014 when I read Death in Captivity. Since then I have read three other novels plus the two short story books about Calder and Behrens. I have liked everything I read by him, and the short stories are especially fun for me because I like spy fiction.

Luckily this year at the book sale I found several more books by Michael Gilbert so I can continue reading them.

Cath said...

And now I realise that I actually have two more of his books on my tbr pile - two BLCC books: Smallbone Deceased and Death Has Deep Roots. Have you read either of those?

Margot Kinberg said...

I've read Michael Gilbert's work, Tracy, but not these stories. They do sound interesting, though! And sometimes, short stories are just the thing when you want to read an author's work, but it isn't a good time to invest yourself in a novel. I'll have to check this out.

TracyK said...

Cath, I have read Smallbone Deceased. Lucky you to have a BLCC copy. I have not yet read Death Has Deep Roots, but I do hope to get it in the BLCC edition. I need to put that on a list to look for the next time I go to my favorite independent bookstore (which we have only a few around here).

TracyK said...

Margot, these are wonderful stories, I am sure you would enjoy them. And like you say, you can read them in intervals.

Christine said...

They are favourites of mine, Tracy. In fact I have read just about everything that Michael Gilbert wrote. Some better than others, but all so readable.

TracyK said...

I am comparatively new to Michael Gilbert, Christine, but I also find that every one of his books that I have read is very readable. Sad that I missed reading him for so long but now I have lots to look forward to.

Gram said...

I'm with Christine. I have old copies of these short stories and many other books by Michael Gilbert. Smallbone Deceased is one of my favorites.

TracyK said...

I am glad to hear that, Gram. I am guessing I have about 8 or 9 of his books in the house that I have not read yet. Five I have cataloged, the others haven't been cataloged yet (so will be a good surprise when I get to them).

Rick Robinson said...

Thanks for the nod. My next Short Story February post will be up Monday. I like these stories a lot, glad you do too.

TracyK said...

These are very good stories, Rick, and I am liking the stories from other collections that I have read so far in February. I look forward to your post on Monday.

Rick Robinson said...

Me too. :-)

col2910 said...

I'll have to make a note of this book as I do like the sound of it, Tracy. By a complete coincidence I'm reading a short story a day during February. I usually do it each August but thought I would increase the frequency throughout 2020.

TracyK said...

I do think you would like this book, Col. Interesting about you doing a short story a day this month. I would like to read short stories more frequently throughout the year but haven't figured out a plan to keep me motivated on that.

Christophe said...

Michael Gilbert is probably my favorite mystery writer, and he is in top form in his Calder & Behrens stories.
Apart from his often telling a very good tale, I very much like his elegant writing style and dry wit.

TracyK said...

Good to hear from you, Christophe. I knew about Gilbert's Petrella short stories and of course the Calder and Behrens short stories, but I only recently realized that he wrote a lot of other short stories, so I want to look into read more of those. And of course, more of his novels.

Rick Robinson said...

I have a copy of his DEATH IN CAPTIVITY on the shelf (British Library Crime Classics) which I hope to read in March.

TracyK said...

Rick, I thought Death in Captivity was a very good story, I hope you will enjoy it. That British Library edition has a lovely cover.

Clothes in Books said...

I love Michael Gilbert, and have read most of his novels, and I suppose it's just my prejudice against short stories that has stopped me from reading this: but you do a great job describing them. I am now determined I will read this collection...

TracyK said...

Moira, these are distinct short stories but because they all feature the two spies, it almost reads like a novel. I want to read the Petrella stories by Gilbert and I do have Blood and Judgement, the only novel about that character.