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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Not a fan. This is one of those books you have to pay close attention in order to avoid missing the plot (somehow, important points hare hidden or offered in a backhanded way). Which is fine, but the whole thing has so much extraneous description and unnecessary background that it's exhausting to do so.
Also, the women all seem rather helpless.
Also, the women all seem rather helpless.
The first third or even half of the book promises a lot - there's a lot of threads that hint at interesting connections and the pacing is really good. After that it sort of loses momentum - too much is delivered pure dialogue exposition with limited detective work (and Campion barely features) and although it almost turns into pure thriller it doesn't really have the right pacing. The ending was fine but although I don't think any major plot lines were left hanging it still felt a bit skimpy for some of them. At the same time it was enjoyable and the whole thing did hang together well even with the odd issue or irritating bit
On a sort of "moral" level... it's incredible how little sympathy gets extended to the army veterans in the marching band. It's true that but even outside of that they get scorned and judged both by the narrative voice and the characters themselves. It makes a stark contrast to the dignified nobility of the heroes, who even when they're struggling financially (while, inevitably, it not showing at all) are just Better! Having said that, a major villain in the book who seemingly is from a rough background gets treated kind of weirdly
Spoiler
That section with the old church guy going to confront the vicious murderer alone wasn't bad exactly but the attempts at semi-profound musings didn't really connect at all and it was kind of annoying that they drew heavy attention to the fact that what he was doing was stupid and made no sense... but he did it anyway for some reasonOn a sort of "moral" level... it's incredible how little sympathy gets extended to the army veterans in the marching band. It's true that
Spoiler
their motives are hardly pure, looking to get their hands on the "treasure"Spoiler
Mrs Cash is not only a truly evil and cruel loan shark, she's been aiding and abetting her murdering son (which at least the old church guy probably guessed at before) and she's been doing it seemingly from a *totally free accommodation given to her by the rector*... even though it turns out she was a loan shark to his wife and seemingly even caused her death. Yet he never kicked her out and even at the end when she's arrested it's unclear what exactly she'll be charged with or anything like that. It's hard to explain exactly? There's just a weird contrast.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
'Mourning is not forgetting,' he said gently, his helplessness vanishing and his voice becoming wise. 'It is an undoing. Every minute tie has to be untied and something permanent and valuable recovered and assimilated from the knot.'
This crime thriller was not quite what I expected.
The fog bound London setting is eerily evocative and fits the mood of the story but it feels like a Dickensian drama rather than post World War 2.
Maybe it's intentional to convey the impression that the few years after the Blitz were similar to Victorian England but I did find it odd that I kept thinking I was reading a story based in the late 1800s when in actual fact it was at least fifty years later.
The other thing I found strange was that it was billed as an Albert Campion mystery.
I'd not read a Campion book before but I'm left wondering what the others are like as I got no real sense of who he was from this novel.
He's very much in the background, doesn't seem to detect anything and disappears altogether for parts of the story.
Putting these issues aside it's a well written crime thriller with a decent plot and some interesting characters.
There's also an element of theological philosophy in the story with the main villain, the knife wielding 'Tiger' adhering to a science of luck.
It's quite rightly considered a classic of golden age crime and well worth reading but unfortunately fell short of the high expectations I had for it.
This crime thriller was not quite what I expected.
The fog bound London setting is eerily evocative and fits the mood of the story but it feels like a Dickensian drama rather than post World War 2.
Maybe it's intentional to convey the impression that the few years after the Blitz were similar to Victorian England but I did find it odd that I kept thinking I was reading a story based in the late 1800s when in actual fact it was at least fifty years later.
The other thing I found strange was that it was billed as an Albert Campion mystery.
I'd not read a Campion book before but I'm left wondering what the others are like as I got no real sense of who he was from this novel.
He's very much in the background, doesn't seem to detect anything and disappears altogether for parts of the story.
Putting these issues aside it's a well written crime thriller with a decent plot and some interesting characters.
There's also an element of theological philosophy in the story with the main villain, the knife wielding 'Tiger' adhering to a science of luck.
It's quite rightly considered a classic of golden age crime and well worth reading but unfortunately fell short of the high expectations I had for it.
Was expecting a mystery novel and didn't feel like I got one. I enjoyed the opening and the climax, but I found most of the rest a slog.
This book had so much promise with a mysterious killer stalking the foggy streets of London, but for me it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.
A deservedly famous book in Allingham's canon. A gripping story and such a great title!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
according to all the critics this is supposed to be margery allingham's finest hour. i didn't think it was terrible, but i did think it was a long way from the best campion i've read. the story is all about finding an escaped convict and veritable madman who goes by the unlikely name of jack havoc, he's the tiger to catch and london is, of course, the big smoke. an array of pompous characters and only a very small part for campion to play were my chief disappointments here. i have several other campion books from a recent second hand bookshop raid to read, i hope they're as good as i remember them to be because this one wasn't.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I thought I hadn't read this - but parts of it seemed awfully familiar. Still I enjoyed it and was keen to see how it all worked out in the end. I don't love the Albert Campion books the way I do some of the other Golden Age series, but they're still better than most of what's out there!