 | |
| Author | Cecil Day-Lewis |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Nigel Strangeways |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club Harper & Brothers (US) |
Publication date | 1939 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | The Beast Must Die |
| Followed by | Malice in Wonderland |
The Smiler with the Knife is a 1939 thriller novel by the Anglo-Irish writer Cecil Day-Lewis under the pen name Nicholas Blake. [1] It is part of his series featuring the private detective although the focus of the novel is primarily on his wife Georgia. The title is a line from The Knight's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer. [2] Written the year the Second World War broke out, it portrays a pre-war plot by aristocratic fascists to establish a dictatorship in Britain in alliance with the Axis Powers. [3] It was serialised in the News Chronicle over the summer of 1939. [4] Orson Welles was interested in directing an adaptation of the novel as a film as part of his contract with RKO Pictures but was unable to get the project off the ground. [5] Maurice Ashley wrote a positive review of the book in the Times Literary Supplement .
