Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our July/August 2020 buddy read for the thirteenth, Albert Campion read.

The story takes place in Apron St., 'a strange decayed sort of neighbourhood', Dickensian London-at once entertaining and disquieting. Due to Allingham's unique gift for making place as vivid as character, the atmosphere is one of frozen in time, unchanged since the Victorian era.

Campion enters into a highly eccentric household where all is not what it seems and two suspicious deaths remain unsolved. London is described as a series of villages in which the Palinodes act as squires. The characters are, as usual, quite wonderful, and the villains are true 'Margery Allingham evil.' Nobody does this quite like her.

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

Opening up this thread for discussion - thank you to Susan for setting up all our latest buddy read threads.

Who is reading this one? I finished it yesterday and enjoyed being back with Campion and Lugg, who takes a key role in this one, but I must admit I found some of the conversation quite hard to follow!

I finished listening to the audio book a couple of days ago. I sort of enjoyed it, and I love Charlie Luke, as an addition to the recurring characters.

I believe I'd read it years (decades) ago, but couldn't remember anything other than the coffin brake. But on this re-read, I ended up feeling there were just too many weird characters, doing strange things.

I have recently come across Charlie Luke in several short stories and couldn't remember when he first turned up in the novels, so was pleased to see him in this one.

I do agree with you though, Rosina, that there is something of an overload of weird characters in this - the Palinode household are all so strange that I found it difficult to keep them all separate in my mind.

Great timing! I just finished a book in the middle of the night so it's a great moment to start another Campion.

Good news, Abigal. Enjoy!

I have started this. I have to say that I struggle a little with Campion and I am still unsure what I think of this series. This particular edition in the series feels almost Dickensian so far.

Are there echoes of the Marsh novel in which we have the little street and the strange inhabitants of the house? 'Black as he's Painted,' was it?

Rosina, I also think I had read this one before but I didn't remember anything except Jas Bowels' name!

Good to hear that you are reading it, Abigail - hope you enjoy it!

Judy wrote: "Rosina, I also think I had read this one before but I didn't remember anything except Jas Bowels' name!"

The names are very Dickensian too, I think. Wonder what Lugg's sister was like? I imagine him as a very caring big brother.

Susan wrote: "Are there echoes of the Marsh novel in which we have the little street and the strange inhabitants of the house? 'Black as he's Painted,' was it?
.."

I think that was the one - it was written much later though, in the 1970s, although I think Marsh always feels earlier than the books are set.

This one was published in 1948, so it's London straight after the war - I imagine Apron Street as quite dark and cramped!

Yes, a little bomb damaged. Make do and mend... Love it. Love that whole period.

Ugh, except for the food! Rationed till the 1950s.

If anyone is wondering about the song More Work for the Undertaker, I've found a clip of it here - haven't watched it all yet as I'm in a bit of a rush this morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGP1o...

I'm about half done, quite happy to be back with Campion and so very glad he isn't a governor of an island with a good climate for children.

Sandy wrote: "I'm about half done, quite happy to be back with Campion and so very glad he isn't a governor of an island with a good climate for children."

Me too, Sandy! I have commented on this aspect over in the spoiler thread, that I can't imagine Campion would ever have wanted to go and be a governor of an island - what a strange suggestion.

I've now watched the song and would have to say I don't find it very funny, except that the two singers are trying to make each other laugh - I think it's worth listening to the first chorus if you want to know how it goes but that's about it. It was a long 5 minutes! It's also extremely catchy so there is a risk I will go around singing it now.

Campion definitely seems ambivalent about the governor thing, right from the start! His first smile appears when he finds himself hooked into the case (the "third crow"). I wonder which island--was New Zealand still a colony then?

I thought probably somewhere tiny like the Falkland Islands - but anyway you'd think he would say no immediately!

Also, I am puzzled as to why the government would consider him for such a post, given his career up to now - I know he has blue blood, but.

Well, he did do a lot of secret work overseas during WWII, and there's a strong connection between spywork and international diplomatic work.

I found a Web site that lists the dates when various places became independent from the U.K., and sadly, the options are endless! Many in the Caribbean and in the South Pacific, from the Bahamas and Jamaica to Tonga and all of Malaysia. Most did not become independent till the 1960s and 1970s. Not New Zealand though, because I found dates of 1931 and 1947 for their independence. A pity--I feel he could have found a life there.

Abigail wrote: "Well, he did do a lot of secret work overseas during WWII, and there's a strong connection between spywork and international diplomatic work...."

Good point! But he's such a maverick - I just don't see it somehow.

I am almost halfway through now. Does anyone think that Allingham tends to have more working class characters than other GA authors? Not just servants, but the undertaker, Lugg and others.

What do we think of Charlie Luke? I haven't read past this point, but apparently he appears in future books. Excuse me if anyone is a huge fan and knows what happens, as the series unfolds. I am not intending to lead on to spoilers, but it's always intriguing to have a new detective in a series.

I don't know whether Allingham has more working-class characters (having just read Fell Murder), but I've always found her working-class characters more interesting than other authors'. Thinking back to her very first book and the housekeeper being held captive, who really brought the book to life.

Charlie Luke makes me think that Allingham had been immersing herself in American noir.

I know Charlie Luke is in a lot of the short stories and I think he appears in more of the novels, although I'm finding that I don't remember the later novels very well. I think he's a good character, very different from your average Golden Age Inspector!

On working class characters, I definitely think that Lugg is a much more fully realised character than other servant sidekicks.

I don't know why, but I just really struggle with Allingham. I am about halfway through this now and, although I do like Campion, I just feel that the mysteries are often really confusing. She reminds me a little of Edmund Crispin, where you have these fantastic characters.

I’m now about half way through and agree that I’m struggling to keep everything straight. Remember the bit about not understanding the Palinode’s language as it was all family slang and obscure references? I feel like that as I’m reading-I understand the words but can’t make out the overall meaning

I also wondered about the Governor placement, but he could have been sent to be Governor General of somewhere independent like New Zealand or Australia.