Customer Reviews

The Tiger in the Smoke (Portway Large Print Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tiger in the Smoke is the almost unbearably tense story of a homicidal maniac on the loose in fogbound London. Although her stock characters (Campion, Amanda, Lugg, Luke, et al) are all present, this story is utterly unlike Allingham's other mysteries (only Tether's End is even remotely similar). The villain, whose identity is known early on, is possibly the most terrifying in all of the classic British mystery genre.

I could go on, but you probably get my drift. It's astonishing that the same author who gave us leisurely, almost light-comedy mysteries such an More Work for the Undertaker and The Beckoning Lady (two more of her best) could, using the same cast of characters, produce such a taut, no-words-wasted chase tale as this. Allingham was certainly the most versatile, and probably the most gifted, of all the classic British mystery writers.

One last general comment for those of you unfamiliar with Allingham's work. Her cast of characters ages along with the author. Albert Campion was born in 1900; in the first book (The Crime at Black Dudley), published in the early 20s, he appears as a slightly silly recent college graduate. By the time of Ms. Allingham's death in the early 60s, Campion was in *his* 60s, and fading a bit. The other characters age correspondingly (except for the inimitable Lugg, who couldn't). We watch Campion fall in love, experience rejection, fall in love again, get married, raise a family, and become a grandfather - his character showing added depth and breadth all along the way. So, my second time through (which I just completed), I read them in order of publication, and I recommend that you do the same. You'll appreciate her extraordinary gift for character development all the more.

"The Smoke" is fogbound post-WWII London. "The Tiger" is the truly evil Jack Havoc, who has escaped from prison by feigning mental illness to get sent to a psychiatrist, whom he fools and then murders. In his quest to get hold of a priceless hidden treasure, he doesn't care how many people he kills. This thriller, one of the best I've ever read, is notable for its graphic contrast of good, personified in the saintly Canon Avril (Albert Campion's uncle), and evil, personified in Havoc. There's also a most entertaining Dickensian cast of cockney characters. "The Tiger in the Smoke" is well worth reading and re-reading.

Meg Eginbrodde has cause to be upset. On the eve of her wedding to Geoffrey Levett photographs of her first husband, who died in the war, suddenly start turning up. Someone wants her to think Martin Elginbrodde is still alive, and she doesn't know what to do. At a loss, Meg and Geoffrey turn to Albert Campion and Charlie Luke to help solve the problem. Campion and Luke are sure that Martin is dead, but they don't understand why someone is bent on proving otherwise. First an actor dies, then Geoffrey disappears, then a series of brutal killings points to someone who is desperately seeking information that Martin left for his wife before he died.

The police discover that the killer is escaped convict Jack Havoc, a sociopath who believes in the science of luck; heartless, intelligent and deadly. Havoc is assisted by a motley crew of war veterans, who are every bit as terrifying as Havoc himself. The investigation becomes a desperate race against time, as Campion tries to outwit a criminal who is every bit as sharp as he is.

"The Tiger in the Smoke" is an entirely different Margery Allingham story than we are used to. In the ever-present fog, the genial good humor and comedic sense of other Campion stories evaporate. Instead, we find ourselves confronting larger issues of good and evil, personified by Canon Hubert Avril (Campion's uncle) and the diabolic Mr. Havoc. One cannot help but compare Havoc's artificial family of ex-soldiers welded together by fear and distrust with the easy interplay amongst the characters that stand with Canon Avril, a man who refuses to lie.

Avril, Luke and, for that matter, Havoc have larger roles than Campion does, which has not happened since "Crime at the Black Dudley." But the key character is Margery Allingham herself, whose own character and beliefs are the moving force behind the story. In "The Tiger in the Smoke" she demonstrates a great deal of depth that has hitherto been disguised. Expect something different and unnerving. This is a far cry from her previous work, and will always stand out as one of the most exceptional works of an exceptional writer.

For excellent plot summaries, read the longer reviews in this string. I won't rehash what others have said so well...

Allingham does in this book what Sayers and sometimes Christie did. They take a break from routine or just lighthearted mysteries & get a bit (dare I say) theological.

But don't get scared off.

The heart of good drama is...meaningful conflict.

And the theological concept from Judaism/Christianity

...is the war between good versus evil---

...personified in Canon Avril (I know his "kin"--those who handwrestle evil regularly)

.......and in "Havoc". Can't tell too much here to give "Havoc" away.

If you are a real postmodern & laugh at the idea of evil, be thrilled by a retro book like this one nonetheless.

This story just "itches" to be remade...as a "period" thriller with British consultants who can get the post World War II London right.

This is one of the authors better novels in my opinion, more thriller than who dunnit as other reviewers have said, but non the worse for that. The pace of the book is good moving you on through the pages and the story which I won't divulge keeps you interested all the way through.

In today's world the characters are a little hard to swallow, Albert Campion the hero is a gentleman detective with no apparent source of income, Lugg the ex con manservant is corny, the evil Jack Havoc doesn't come across as especially evil by todays standards and Meg the heroine is a tad pathetic although she is supposed to be a modern woman. The setting, a dank and fog bound London is also a little trite, but makes some of the twists and turns in the plot more believable.

That said if like me you enjoy the period and can mentally get in tune with the values and society of the time it's a really fun book to read. I am a sucker for the twenties through to the end of the fifties and could read books like this one after the other.

I agree with the reviewer who felt it would make a good movie, my only condition is that it would have to be in black and white.

Despite the blurb and critical praise, this late novel is really no more than a thriller, not a "crime novel." As a thriller, it is quite successful, with some notably tense scenes in the London fog, although the finish on the French cliffs makes very little impact, and the plot, with its mixture of albinos, hunchbacks and dwarves, psychopathic ex-Commandos, saintly canons and buried treasure, is preposterous in the extreme. As a novel, it is less successful. Jack Havoc never comes across as the truly wicked man all the other character say he is, and the famous scene in the church is grossly over-rated. Thus, a rather pretentious return to the author's early `plum pudding' approach combined with her late style, which is often very good but equally often requires close and careful reading to avoid headache (particularly in the scenes with the ghastly ex-service men).

I am just thrilled this has finally been reprinted in America. I treasure a first edition acquired many years ago. I agree completely with the first reviewer - this is Ms. Allingham's best thriller. The characters are beautifully drawn and the action is like a symphony. Fabulous!

This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. I just finished reading it for the third time. Each time I read it I am fascinated by the author's ability to capture and express an almost inexpressible truth of the way life works. The main character, Havoc, calls it *the Science of Luck*. Look to this book for more than the thrilling read it is.

It's been a while since I read it -I thoroughly enjoyed this book (much better than the over-hyped Da Vinci code). Some reviewers inferred that the villian was not evil enough (a bit weak by lofty contemporary standards of evil villainry) but I thought this made the book stronger. It displays a vulnerable, human side to that particular character, brought about via a brief scene where the heroine recalls an incident from childhood involving both herself and the said villian. The character is strengthened by this and made less arch and less caricature as a result. I very much like the novels of Charles Dickens so I really don't mind a story hinging on incredible coincidence, just as long as it's handled deftly, which this is. Well worth the effort of reading it. I'm going to read it again!

A classic of it's time and place. The old fog bound, gloom of London is brilliantly described and the story itself is gory and frightening enough for any modern day sophisticate.