Audiobook narrated by Frances Matthews who I'm beginning to enjoy, in the way I prefer James Saxon reading Ngaio Marsh books.Through knowing Belle, the widow, Campion is invited to the latest unveiling of one of John Lafacdio's works - which are released at the rate of one a year after his death....
This is the second novel by Margery Allingham that I have read, and I expect I will read a couple more, not least because her detective novels are so different from those in which an escalation of gruesome murders or a surfeit of global locations can have a dulling rather than an exhilarating eff...
Cargo of Eagles was finished after Margery Allingham's death by her husband Youngman Carter, who apparently completed it based on notes that Allingham left behind. Sadly, the last of the original series (if you count this one because Allingham started it) leaves a lot to be desired. I think it su...
I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Margery Allingham's The Case of the Late Pig. This was my first introduction to Albert Campion, and I just have to say that I love him! I do! I love him. This mystery had me hooked from the very beginning. The first sentence reads, "The main thing to remember in a...
Alas, I did not enjoy this mystery. The pacing was awkward, the locale aggressively gothic, the romance element flat and stilted, and the setup for the crime absurdly over-the-top, with a level of emotional maturity and depth similar to what you'd find in a Scooby-Doo cartoon.If you want to read ...
1920's British detective Albert Campion is my secret crush-of-all-crushes. If I could bring one fictional character to life so I could marry them, it would not be Indiana Jones or . . . okay, I don't really have a list, it's really just Albert Campion and Indiana Jones. But Campion wins in a la...
Hmmm...champers, anyone? That's champagne, of course, and it's on the menu at Minnie and Tonker's party of the season at the Beckoning Lady. This installment finds our hero, Albert Campion, down in the country for this party along with Amanda & their son Rupert; it all begins with the discovery o...
Somehow I've gotten onto a string of misogynistic women authors. Compared to this the last one, Christie's Blue Train, seems quite mild. At least its sexism is of a more paternal tone -- oh, you women are so silly and unable to control your feelings --rather than truly hateful. The women here are...
Although this is the seventh Albert Campion book written, it was my first introduction to Allingham's gentleman sleuth and his former burglar manservant, Magersfontein Lugg. Compared to many of the Golden Age queens of mystery (Christie, Sayers, Marsh, etc.), I came late to Allingham's work. It w...
Margery Allingham's The Gryth Chalice Mystery (U.K. title Look to the Lady) (1931), marking the third appearance of Albert Campion, features the seemingly inevitable car chase in an early chapter rather than as a climax. But worry not as Campion himself ultimately rides to the rescue on horseback...
This was an interesting read. Because I've been enjoying the Lord Peter Wimsey books, these books were recommended to me, and I agree they are in the same genre. Very British, very tongue-in-cheek,very procedural mysteries. This is my introduction to Campion, a detective who has his own ways of f...
Margery Allingham's Mystery Mile (1930) features Albert Campion in his first starring role, after having appeared in a supporting role in the previous year's The Crime at Black Dudley (see review below).Campion exaggerates his importance in the foregoing case, though, saying "That's the Black Dud...
I love old vintage mysteries – I rarely read modern crime fiction – and if I do its historical or a bit cosy. I adore all those gentlemen sleuths and big houses full of odd crusty characters and convoluted mysteries. But aside from all that which is all pretty great anyway – these old vintage mys...
REREAD #1: 9/10 (5 October 2004 - 7 October 2004)I find it strange that I'm having trouble trying to decide what to say about this book. It is my favourite Campion novel, but I'm not sure if I can say why. It just is. The action begins on the Riviera, when August Randall (known to his intimates a...
One of the genius things about crime novels is that because they’re all the same, there are limitless possibilities of what you can do with them. Yes, there’s the basic structure that the reader expects, but beyond that the author can use his or hers ‘hunt the murderer’ yarn to tackle anything th...
...And Allingham changes style again. Three years after her last Campion adventure, she's completely given up the ghost of the upper-class murder mystery that informed most of the 1930s; now, she's devoted herself completely to the World War II spy thriller. This isn't the light, Golden Age romp ...
