Customer Reviews

Mystery Mile

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One year after his initial appearance in Crime at the Black Dudley, Albert Campion is back. And what a difference a year makes. This Campion is completely fleshed out. He is now, officially the Universal Aunt (`your adventures undertaken for a fee'). Also present are his regular compatriots Lugg (his man) and Stanislaus Oates of Scotland Yard. And let's not forget Autolycus the Jackdaw (who lays an egg).

It is as if Campion has been reinvented out of whole cloth. And it's just wonderful. Campion keeps up a steady patter of nonsense, bad jokes and horrible puns, interspersed with the plants and plots the keep him and his fellow characters alive.

American judge Crowdy Lobbett is saved from one of a series of attempts on his life by Albert's timely intercession with a mouse. As a result Campion is taken on to save the judge from an early demise at the hands of Simister (see The Black Dudley). Lobbett has a clue to Simister's true identity and the evil mastermind intends to remove this threat.

In a stroke of brilliance Campion convinces the Judge to move himself and his family to Mystery Mile at the residence of his two friends Biddy and Giles Paget. This has an inauspicious start when Swithin Cush, the vicar, commits suicide after a session with a palm reader. In short order the Judge disappears and Biddy is kidnapped. The Judge's children Marlowe and Isopel get entangled with the Pagets and typical Allingham version of a Chinese fire drill comes to pass. Allingham's books rarely lack for action, and Mystery Mile is no exception.

Campion often loses in love, but Mystery Mile proves he can win our hearts. He lacks the brilliance of Sayer's Lord Peter Whimsey, but he is by far the cleverer. Bit players like Thomas Knapp and his terrifying mother never fail to enchant, as Allingham shows off a knack at capturing British dialects. This volume spells the establishment of one of mysteries most loved series. One that you will enjoy for many years to come.

This is technically the second Campion mystery, he was a secondary character in THE BLACK DUDLEY but here he steps up to center stage. As the story opens Campion is abroad a trans Atlantic liner headed to London from New York. He manages to avert a tragic accident with a magic act and strike up an acquaintance with a rather overbearing Turkish art dealer. These two seemingly unrelated incidents lead Campion to the role of bodyguard to a retired American judge and his family who are being threatened by a Master Criminal and his gang. Campion calls on old friends who live in an out of the way country village to shelter his charges but trouble soon follows, or was it waiting? Campion finds himself surrounded by death and destruction before he remerges bloodied but of course, triumphant.

This is a mystery thriller very typical of the late 1920 and '30's period complete with lovely damsel in distress, plucky girl sidekick, loyal companion, sinister master criminal complete with far flung network. The hero is always just a bit ahead of everyone else and of course knows just the right people to get the job done but not before he demonstrates his driving skill and great courage overcoming pain.

If you are a fan of the early Saint novels, or Lord Peter Wimsey then you will enjoy this series, Campion has a lot in common with both. He has a mysterious past like the Saint but has a rather loose working relationship with the police like Lord Peter. Like both he keeps up a lightheated banter and shows a mischevious sense of humor.

The flaws of this series are that it is rather dated at times. Some of Campions quips fall flat simply because today's readers just don't understand the 80 year old references. It is also obvious that Allingham is getting to know Campion here, he is very like Sayers' Lord Peter in this one, a resemblence that will diminish in time. Still the plot, while fantastic is clever, the clues to the mysteries are all present but challenging to the reader. The characters do all come to life, even the secondary ones, and the setting is described quite well. All of this comes together to make this a fun read and a great place to begin this series.

In the Black Dudley Murder, Allingham's first book, Albert Campion is one of an ensemble cast. In Mystery Mile, Campion emerges as the clear star - abet a somewhat mysterious and charmingly quirky one. I think I'm going to like Albert a great deal. He's already showing a wicked sense of humor and irony. He's clever but hardly perfect. And there is a real sense of mystery about him - what is his real identity?

This mystery is a solid example of a pre-Depression mystery with a family of swaggering Americans, a mysterious "oriental" (definately a pre-political correctness book), an English country house and a wonderful villian - Simister. Albert meets the Americans on ship when he saves the father's life. It turns out that it was the fifth attempt on the man's life - he's a judge who has a lead on Simister's identity. The book revolves around Albert's efforts to both protect the judge and track down Simister.

Bottom-line: a very pleasant read with enough twists and turns to keep a reader interested. The late 1920 atmosphere is particularly wonderful.

Mystery Mile
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This is a wonderful mystery which keeps your attention right to the end. The only drawback for me was the use of various British dialects and slang of that period, which was distracting. Ms Allingham has a real gift for creating a menacing atmosphere. She also is a master of character description; Mr. Campion, Lugg and the other main players are very easy to visualize. The BBC Mystery series of a few years ago which featured some of her books, faithfully brought her characters to life.

In this second Albert Campion mystery (1930), an American judge settles his family in a secluded English mansion on an island off the Suffolk Coast, called the Mystery Mile. He is trying to protect them from a ruthless American gang, with the help of Albert Campion. But England turns out to be not such a 'safe little place' after all.

Allingham's serial detective, Albert Campion still acts like a twit, but the people around him are more tolerant of his puns, japes, and peculiar behavior. In 'Mystery Mile,' we first meet him aboard a ship bound from America to England, at a magic show put on to entertain the ship's passengers. He keeps butting into the magician's act, insisting that the conjurer perform a trick with Albert's pet mouse. Once we readers are thoroughly embarrassed by his antics, Albert tosses his mouse into the magician's trick vanishing box--and the little rodent is electrocuted. Since it was the judge who had been insisting that he should be part of the vanishing act, we realize that Albert has just saved the eminent American's life.

Campion is the equivalent of a Golden Age Colombo. Instead of a ratty raincoat, Allingham's detective disguises his acumen with two-headed pennies, white mice, and inane jokes. The villains completely dismiss him, much to their future chagrin.

This book is much better plotted than "The Black Dudley Murder," Allingham's first Campion mystery. The suspense escalates after the attempted electrocution, even after the judge and his two children are tucked away at Mystery Mile. Then, one fine day, the judge decides to explore the maze on his new estate's property--and disappears in the midst of its labyrinthine hedges.

You might be able to pick out the villain, almost as soon as he appears, but the mystery of why he is pursuing the judge will keep you reading to this crime novel's final pages.

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)

Mystery Mile is named for a misty mile, and since it is this that actually takes part in much of the mystery, the story is well titled. I'd read almost all of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion mysteries almost 20 years ago, and recently decided to re-read some of them, and this is one of my favorites. The characters are charming and much of the action is set in a manor house. Albert Campion is at his witty best, though his apparent inanity is kept at a minimum.

There are a number of subplots which throw the reader off, but they are all dovetailed nicely at the end for a smooth and effective dénouement which any aficionado of the genera will find elegant. The clues are apparent, though the ultimate clue is not presented until quite late, which is maybe a touch "unfair," but the manner of introducing them and the method of disguise is skillful and in the manner of legerdemain rather than red herrings, a sort of literary sleight of hands that the mystery lover should appreciate.

The story includes some activities by wily villagers, a delightful clergyman, a bed of quicksand, and coded letters to embellish and elaborate the tale. The sleuths are active young people with courage and conviction who willingly get involved in some dangerous events with all the naivety and great good fortune that often attends such unwise behavior, at least in ficiton. All of this gives the author a venue in which to demonstrate her skill at narration, making the book a literary work of some note.

This is one of the selection of PBS/BBC murder mysteries, Campion - The Complete First Season and Campion - The Complete Second Season , and translated exceptionally well to the screen. The dramatists have kept very close to the original story even to much of the dialogue. So much is this so, that one can only suppose that the original author had enough of an underlying sense of theater that the stories were easily made into script.

MYSTERY MILE is one of Margery Allingham's earliest efforts in the "Mr. Campion" series, and has everything the lover of the British Mystery adores: dark secrets, evil-doers, treachery, derring-do, and an insouciant protagonist, whose true identity is never actually revealed. (We know from infrequent hints that he is, if not related to British Royalty, at least an aristocrat.)

I recommend MYSTERY MILE unreservedly. If you love Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Agatha Christie, you are in for a grand adventure with Mr. Campion and his ex-burglar servant, Magersfontaine Lugg. I particularly liked this book which was published by Felony/Mayhem, and I hope they publish more of Miss Allingham's work.

When Judge Lobett's life is threatened with murder by a deadly gang that no one can stop, Campion takes on the challenge.

"Deserving cases preferred" takes on a whole new meaning when it becomes clear that the judge has a clue to the identity of the secretive gang leader. Campion has to protect the judge, decipher the clue, and find a killer in order to keep Lobbett from hearing the seventh whistle that would spell his doom...

Mystery Mile was the second Campion novel that Allingham wrote, and the first in which he really stands as the solitary hero of the piece. It has some roughness in the writing which she would work out later in the series, but is still a charming and witty book. Highly recommended.

This is supposed to be one of the "50 best mysteries of all times," but it certainly isn't one of the 50 top mysteries this mystery fan has read. It's o.k. as a story, and the writing is good, but the 1930s British argot is so thick that it got in the way of the story for me. And I found myself not really caring what happened to any of the characters. It certainly does give a flavor of the England of the 1930s, but I'm not going to give this book to a friend. I'm going to sell it to a used book store instead...

Thank you, Felony and Mayhem, for your new publications of vintage mysteries! I admire the works of Margery Allingham, although I am not a devoted fan (but there are many). And this is a lovely series.