Customer Reviews

Dancers in Mourning

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No doubt Allingham fans will remember Uncle William from "Police at the Funeral." William's near miss with the British legal system and the death of his mother having left him at loose ends, so he decides to write his memoirs. Having lived an unexceptional life, William decides to make it up out of whole cloth. Unexpectedly, the book, "Memoirs of an Old Buffer," becomes a comic bestseller. To ice the cake, a musical review, starring Jimmy Sutane, the dancer, is a runaway success. All should be roses.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Freak accidents and practical jokes have dogged the cast of the play, and nerves are running high. Uncle William calls in Albert Campion to help resolve the problems and return things to normal. After a backstage visit Campion accepts an invitation to Sutane's country house, where he meets Sutane's long time friend Squire Mercer, his understudy Benny Konrad, supporting actress Chloe Pye, and many other players in the drama about to unfold. Much to Campion's shock he find's himself stricken by Suntane's wife, Linda. Everything comes to a head when Chloe Pye falls off a road bridge directly in front of Sutane's moving vehicle. The inquest is inconclusive, unable to decide if se was pushed, fell, or jumped.

Completely befuddled by his feelings for Linda, Campion has difficulty focussing on the case. He withdraws, providing help only sporadically. Not even the sudden tragedy of the bombing murder of Benny Konrad, which leaves 15 people dead or injured, seems to rouse him from this state. Finally, it is the pleas of Linda herself that arouse him to the hunt again. Even so, it is an unwilling Campion that follows the trails to their inevitable, tragic conclusion.

This is one of Allingham's most difficult books. Truly, we are not used to an unwilling Campion. Without the precious antics of Magersfontein Lugg, Campion's manservant, the overall tone of the book would be darkly somber. Yet the writing is some of her best. Character depictions are deep and well made. There are moments in the dialog and narrative that attain an almost poetic clarity. The plot is complex and moves along well. And, for those of us who do not always pay close attention, the ending is a bit of a surprise. Allingham has wandered onto uncharted waters in "Dancers in Mourning," and she has done very well.

Margery Allingham is a great writer. Albert Campion is a classic figure in mystery literature and I hope they never stop reprinting her books. I haven't been able to read many Allingham books but I can say that this is one of her best. The mystery is fascinating and she provides a wonderful twist in the plot right in the end. Just when you think it's all figured out. Wham! Even Campion is shocked. This is the first Allingham I read and I was hooked. Campion is such an intrigueing character. Sometimes he's not even the main character in her books, but he's still a force to be reckoned with. A character that adds much warmth and richness to Allingham's books and particularly this one, is Magersfontein Lugg, Campion's valet, butler, cook, etc. He also happens to be a former burglar, I believe. Writers like Allingham don't happen all the time and I wish I had discovered her sooner. Any book written by her is bound to be good and I also recommend Tiger in the Smoke. Wonderful suspense too.

I've often wondered what it would be like if Margery Allingham decided to write an English country manor mystery. I knew instinctivley that it would be nothing like anything we've seen from Patricia Wentworth or even Agatha Christie. Well, now I need wonder no longer. This is an English country manor mystery like none you've ever read before. For one thing it is much more sinister and much darker than the books from this genre usually are. Secondly, it's written by the grand mistress of crime Miss Allingham herself. We are treated to another look entirely at Albert Campion - different than anything before. The main difference is that he is much more personally involved with this one than he usually is, and he knows that too. And because he knows that he is not comfortable with it and tries repeatedly to pull himself away, but finds that he can never successfully withdraw from trying to solve these crimes. The book is also different for Miss Allingham and her hero Campion because it is set within the theatrical set. And what an excellent job she does of portraying the artistic temperament. It also goes to show that not only Ngaio Marsh can excel in this particular arena. You must read this book if you are interested to hear more since I will not spoil the fun for anyone. If you've never read Margery Allingham before this may be a good place to start, but bear in mind that the plot is quite different from most of her books about Campion.

Uncle William Faraday (POLICE AT THE FUNERAL) was at lose ends for awhile after Albert Campion cleared up that bit of unpleasantness for the family a while back. After his mother passed on William needed something to occupy his time - and replenish his bank account, and so decided to write his memiors. Unfortunately Uncle William, other than that distastful murder business, had not led a very exciting life and his memiors reflected that. Being Uncle William he had no problem spicing them up a bit. Anyone else would have been exposed as a fraud but once again Uncle William was undeservedly lucky and his book was adapted for the stage, becoming a hit musical. When his old friend Campion turned up again Uncle William was happily included in the perpetual cast party being hosted by the star of the production, Jimmy Sutane, at his country house.

Sadly this is where the luck runs out and the trouble begins. Albert quickly becomes involved in the midst of things, sorting out the petty practical jokes that have been plaguing the production, unearthing old scandals, current rivalries and the odd murder or two.

This is the ninth CAMPION novel and Allingham has really hit her stride, Campion is now very much his own person with his own unique style. The mysteries (and there are several questions to be answered) are all clever, the clues are fairly laid out for the reader to follow and the characters, both old and new, come to life. This is an excellent read, definitely a 'must' for fans of the series but it would probably be better to begin the series with the earlier books.

"Dancers in Mourning" is one of my favorite Allingham mysteries. Although I'd read most of them almost 20 years ago, I decided to re-read them after watching my Campion DVD series. I have to admit that I'd forgotten how very well the author wrote.

The plot here is much like the DVD, Campion - The Complete First Season and Campion - The Complete Second Season. I'm often amazed at how faithfully PBS/BBC murder mysteries are. The respect for the original work is almost always apparent to anyone familiar with it. There are few minor changes here, with the heroine having a small child with whom Lugg develops a strong connection and whose exisitance complicates even more Campion's strong attraction for his hostess. There is also less focus on the theater itself as a venue, giving the actor's home the place of "manor house" in the mystery.

The mystery itself is well designed, although perhaps a little long by way of narrative which serves in place of red herrings to distract the reader from the solution. The clues are well placed but may have one or more interpretations. In the end it's a matter of understanding the psychology of the various suspects and following that and the clues to the logical conclusion. The reader should not feel "cheated" or "manipulated by an author who has written herself into a "spot" and had to use a fabricated "fix" to make the mystery come out right. It's a well mastered thing, and it shows.

As usual the author does a wonderful job of creating a visual and emotional environment for her characters; in this instance one of tension and angst. The plot is active, with the sleuthing taking place in the house, on the grounds, at a doctor's home, in London at Campion's home, at his club, at the police stations, on the highway, etc, with no sense of the "armchair" about it. It's a lot of work for the author, but it makes for a much more interesting and textured story. The little idiosyncrasies designed into each character makes each a masterpiece of individuality. I had not realized that there had been so much retrospective in the author's work when I first read them. Having re-read many recently one after the other, I find that the inclusion of earlier characters or the reference to them really fleshes out the identity of Albert Campion himself and that of the individual taken from the earlier episode. It lends the story more of a "family" ambiance. These are people known to the reader from other situations and now one sees that they had a subsequent history and that this history still intersects with the life line of the hero.

Very enjoyable.

In this 9th Campion novel, a popular West End dancer accidentally runs over another member of his musical's cast, but as it turns out, she was already dead. The author's serial detective, Albert Campion tracks the wrong suspect through most of this claustrophobic mystery. It will never be my favorite entry in this Golden Age detective series, because of the overabundance of characters and the difficulty in sorting them out. I had to read "Dancers in Mourning" twice before I got everyone straight. However, Allingham is always elegant and psychologically astute, and she keeps the blood and dead bodies at one remove, although there are more bodies than usual in this mystery.

Some of the most humorous incidents in this book involve Campion's manservant, Lugg, who is pressed into temporary service as a butler in the house of the chief suspect. He develops a relationship with the dancer's neglected daughter, and furthers her practical education in such techniques as lock-picking and card sharpery.

Another character, `Uncle' William Faraday emerges from a previous Campion novel, "Police at the Funeral" as the author of the mainly fictional autobiography, "Memoirs of an Old Buffer" which has been turned into a popular musical. He serves as Campion's side-kick, along with Lugg, in solving the mystery of who is persecuting star dancer, Jimmy Sutane, even to the point of murdering his fellow cast members. Campion himself prefers to remain off-scene, as he has fallen in love with Jimmy Sutane's wife (I thought this was a bit unjust of Campion, since he and Amanda Fitton from "Sweet Danger" were a definite item).

Warning: there is quite a lot of gay stereotyping in this book. In fact, in her earlier Campion novels, Allingham does a fair amount of minority-bashing, and sometimes indulges in anti-feminist tirades. Fortunately, these unlovely characterizations disappear in her later novels.
Here is a complete list of the Campion novels that Allingham wrote ("Cargo of Eagles" was completed by her husband after her death in 1966). There are also short story collections and Campion novels that were written by her husband, Youngman Carter, which I didn't include in this list.

1. The Black Dudley Murder aka The Crime at Black Dudley (1929)
2. Mystery Mile (1930)
3. Look to the Lady aka The Gyrth Chalice Mystery (1931)
4. Police at the Funeral (1931)
5. Sweet Danger aka Kingdom of Death aka The Fear Sign (1933)
6. Death of a Ghost (1934)
7. Flowers for the Judge (1936)
8. The Case of the Late Pig (1937)
9. Dancers in Mourning aka Who Killed Chloe? (1937)
10. The Fashion in Shrouds (1938)
11. Traitor's Purse aka The Sabotage Murder Mystery (1941)
12. Pearls before Swine (1945)
13. More Work for the Undertaker (1948)
14. The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
15. Estate of the Beckoning Lady (1955)
16. Tether's End (1958)
17. The China Governess (1963)
18. The Mind Readers (1965)
19. Cargo of Eagles (1968)

Margery Allinghan's 8th Albert Campion mystery is a wonderfully crafted tale that blends the worlds of London theater and English country life in an absorbing mystery that includes several deaths, the injury of innocent people, love, conflicting emotions and an ending that will surprise you.

One of Campion's friends asks the detective to help out Jimmy Sutane, a song-and-dance star. A series of escalating pranks has befallen the star, and Sutane and his entourage are becoming increasingly tense. Campion travels to Sutane's country home and meets Sutane, his family and theatrical friends and associates. The pranks continue, then comes murder.

Campion pulls together bits and pieces of information that lead to the author of the pranks. But he hesitates to solve the murders due to his emotional connection with Sutane and his family.

This book was first published in 1937. The crimes aren't solved by science; they are solved by investigation and brain power. You know what Campion knows and can test your deductive powers along with the detective's.

A great read that should also be made available on Kindle.

I was all set to enjoy a classic mystery. I couldn't do it. The setting was the usual sojourn in the country with innumerable suspects. The characters were stock. I couldn't keep them straight, and I had no interest in doing so. Maybe I would have enjoyed the book if I could have stuck it out to the end, but it wasn't worth it.