Author of the Albert Campion series, Margery Allingham is the equal of Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie in her ability to bring lif and humanity to mystery novels. Here, Campion plays a supporting role in solving the case for lovely Meg Elginbrodde, whose impending marriage to self-made millionaire Geoffrey Levitt promises to be a happy one until she begins receiving contemporary photographs of her late husband Martin, presumed killed in WWII. The deception promptly leads to a murder, and then three more, before the case is solved -- but the real splendor of the story is watching the deep and true interactions between a cast of unique and fully realized characters, including the shrewd, practical DDCI Charles Luke; Dolly, the albino leader of a band of misfit street musicians; and Canon Avril, who is Campion's uncle and an endearing and unforgettable Holy fool. Highly recommended.
Ms. Allingham creates a mystery with a very large cast of unusual characters. It wasn't until I finished the book that I realized "the smoke" in the title is London. Or at least I think it is. They used to call London the "Big Smoke" due to the pollution from the coal house fires.
It has an interesting mystery among pages of unnecessary details. I got lost several times, but just sticking to the main story is a good read. It's about a buried treasure that a soldier leaves to his wife during the war ... in case he doesn't survive the war, the instructions will be sent to her future husband. When he checks on the treasure's safety during the war, he shares the details with his buddies ... who greedily spend the next five years trying to find the treasure and prevent the widow from remarrying.
Albert Campion Private Investigator England 1920-1940s
Classic
Classic
A first read for this author. Liked her enough, I'm looking for more books. This started a bit slow, but I was glad I kept reading.
