Madam, - It would be a pity if the espionage novels written by Brian Cleeve (Obituary, March 22nd) sometime in the 1960s were forgotten. Those such as The Judas Goat or Dark Blood, Dark Terror can be compared to the work of Graham Greene or Alan Furst. His characters are fallible, decent human beings who try to behave honourably in a shifting world.
Cleeve's ability to convey a sense of terror and violence to the reader without graphic description of either is quite rare. His earlier book, The Painted Lady, has a Dostoevesky-like story, about a group of artists, lawyers and writers who might have been members of the Arts Club in 1950s Dublin. It strongly evokes the city of the time and, also, the cronyism, casual malice and the fear of scandal which provide a kind of camouflage in response to crime - in this case, a murder.
Brian Cleeve was a great storyteller. - Yours, etc.,
MARY KOTSONOURIS, Castleconnell, Co Limerick.