Scan barcode
A review by adperfectamconsilium
The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
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? It's complicated
3.0
'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.