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A review by saroz162
Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham
3.0
The third Campion adventure is an interesting development in that for the first time, Allingham is obviously paying a lot of attention to the ins and outs of the plot. The previous novel, Mystery Mile, is a very characterful thriller, filled with larger-than-life personalities, sudden twists, and genuine surprises. It reads more like a serial adventure, keeping you wanting to turn the page to the next installment.
Look to the Lady - or, as it was published in the United States, the more pragmatic The Gyrth Chalice Mystery - shows Allingham maturing as a writer of novels. This is, solidly, a book, not an extra-long newspaper serial, and she is careful to pace things accordingly. What that means is a little less shock and surprise along the way than there was in Mystery Mile or The Crime at Black Dudley, but ultimately, the resolution of the plot is more satisfying. Allingham takes the time to seed the elements of her conclusion early; perhaps some of them are a bit expected, but the sense of anti-climax which hovers over the previous two books - that element of "Wait, did I miss something?" - has also been eliminated. Allingham may not be a master yet, but she's growing.
The weakest area of the book, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the characters. After a lovely introduction at his flat, Albert Campion seems strangely muted through most of the story; his friend, Professor Cairey, has most of the joie de vivre usually associated with the detective. Even his manservant, Lugg, has more of a personality. And after three books, Allingham's kindly, supportive, but ultimately useless young women are starting to frustrate; every novel, they seem to need rescuing, and every novel, there comes a time when Allingham discards them to focus on the "men's work." Generations later, it does feel a little unnecessary to use them as little more than props (and fortunately, Allingham will start responding to that criticism within a couple of books); worse, though, the antagonist character of "Mrs. Dick" here verges on the worst kind of "mannish" stereotype, vicious and black-hearted merely because she is unfeminine.
It's worth noting that Allingham wrote the first four Campion novels in the space of three years. Any shortcomings they have, therefore, have to be attributed - at least in part - to the sheer speed of their composition. Still, the groundwork has been laid for an ultimately successful and long-running series. Hopefully, before too long, Campion will feature in a book possessed of both a strong plot and the vivid, memorable characters for which Allingham is rightly remembered.
Look to the Lady - or, as it was published in the United States, the more pragmatic The Gyrth Chalice Mystery - shows Allingham maturing as a writer of novels. This is, solidly, a book, not an extra-long newspaper serial, and she is careful to pace things accordingly. What that means is a little less shock and surprise along the way than there was in Mystery Mile or The Crime at Black Dudley, but ultimately, the resolution of the plot is more satisfying. Allingham takes the time to seed the elements of her conclusion early; perhaps some of them are a bit expected, but the sense of anti-climax which hovers over the previous two books - that element of "Wait, did I miss something?" - has also been eliminated. Allingham may not be a master yet, but she's growing.
The weakest area of the book, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the characters. After a lovely introduction at his flat, Albert Campion seems strangely muted through most of the story; his friend, Professor Cairey, has most of the joie de vivre usually associated with the detective. Even his manservant, Lugg, has more of a personality. And after three books, Allingham's kindly, supportive, but ultimately useless young women are starting to frustrate; every novel, they seem to need rescuing, and every novel, there comes a time when Allingham discards them to focus on the "men's work." Generations later, it does feel a little unnecessary to use them as little more than props (and fortunately, Allingham will start responding to that criticism within a couple of books); worse, though, the antagonist character of "Mrs. Dick" here verges on the worst kind of "mannish" stereotype, vicious and black-hearted merely because she is unfeminine.
It's worth noting that Allingham wrote the first four Campion novels in the space of three years. Any shortcomings they have, therefore, have to be attributed - at least in part - to the sheer speed of their composition. Still, the groundwork has been laid for an ultimately successful and long-running series. Hopefully, before too long, Campion will feature in a book possessed of both a strong plot and the vivid, memorable characters for which Allingham is rightly remembered.