When doctor and forensic expert George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he is looking forward to a relaxing time in the company of friends - especially the beguiling Meggie Oliphant, who has captured his heart. Unfortunately for George, things go serious awry when a harmless game takes a deadly turn.

The plot thickens when it appears that one of their number is also a notorious crime boss, who is determined to get his hands on a mystery item that has gone missing, and he won't let anyone leave this remote country house until it is found.

The weekend visitors have become trapped here and one of their number is a murderer. George can see no way out, but eccentric fellow guest Albert Campion, who no one can remember inviting, might just have a plan...

I love Golden Age crime, but have never read Margery Allingham, so when this book, the first in the Albert Campion series, came up in an Audible sale I had to have a listen.

This has all the menacing, locked room murder-mystery elements I love, but it is rather quirky as it is pitched somewhere between a classic crime tale and a humourous PG. Wodehouse-esque caper - with flashes of adventure tales like The 39 Steps. I think the most unusual thing about it is the fact that Albert Campion is actually a bit-part player for most of the story, although he is the key to solving the mystery.

I really enjoyed this tale, especially as it was narrated by one of my favourite voice actors David Thorpe, but I am not sure if I am quite sold on Campion himself yet. I have book two, Mystery Mile, lined up to listen to in the new year so time will tell!

The Campion series starts out well, with Campion as a sort of predecessor to Dr Who's wacky fixer. The characters are hard to keep straight at the opening dinner party, but it soon settles down well enough into a thriller with a background murder mystery.

Except for the very good [b:Traitor's Purse|383181|Traitor's Purse (Albert Campion Mystery #11)|Margery Allingham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320487963s/383181.jpg|2815664], I was disappointed in the rest of the Campion series after this opening. Campion gets increasingly annoying and his banter irrelevant, to the point where you can simply skip over anything in quotation marks...which is 25% of each book.

Campion's first appearance...

Dr George Abbershaw has gone down to Black Dudley Manor to join a house party for the weekend. The house is owned by George's friend, Wyatt Petrie, but is occupied by Wyatt's uncle by marriage, Colonel Coombe. The elderly wheelchair-bound colonel likes the company of young people, so often asks Wyatt to bring a group of his friends down for the weekend. George, though, is there mainly because he's fallen in love with a girl who is also a guest, Meggie Oliphaunt, and he hopes to find an opportunity to propose to her. Colonel Coombe has also invited a few friends of his own.

In the evening, talk turns to old legends and Wyatt reluctantly tells of the ritual of a dagger that hangs prominently on the wall. The ritual involves turning off the lights and running around the house in the dark, passing the knife from person to person. What jolly fun! However when the lights come up Colonel Coombe is found dead. His friends tell the assembled company that his death was expected as he was very ill, and hasten to get a cremation certificate signed and hustle the body off the premises, so as not to spoil the weekend (!). But it soon becomes obvious to George that there's something fishy going on (!) – and when something goes missing, suddenly the young people find themselves the prisoners of the Colonel's friends...

This is apparently the book in which Allingham's regular 'tec, Albert Campion, makes his first appearance, although in this one, George is the main focus and Campion is a secondary character. George is a sensible young man, but Campion appears to be a foolish fop, like Bertie Wooster, only with fewer brains and a falsetto voice. He does develop a bit more depth as the book progresses, but it's a strange first outing.

There is much running to and fro through secret tunnels, which are nearly as complex as the convoluted plot involving criminal gangs, mysterious papers and suchlike. Despite the darkness of the plot, and some episodes of viciousness on the part of the baddies, the general tone is light and fun. George and Meggie are both likeable characters, and their romance is handled nicely, not overwhelming the story but giving the reader something to care about amidst all the mayhem. Campion adds a lot of humour to the story, partly laughing with him and partly laughing at him. He's shrewder than he first appears, but in the end it's down to George to solve the puzzle of what it is the colonel's friends are looking for, and who killed the colonel. And of course to engineer the escape from the baddies. In fact, Campion more or less disappears towards the end and plays no part in the final denouement – presumably at that point Allingham didn't see him as her central character.

I listened to the audiobook version, and I have to say I felt David Thorpe's narration was great! I've seen some critical reviews of it, mainly from Campion fans objecting to the falsetto voice he uses for Campion and for the foolishness Thorpe puts into his character. But this is how he is written in the book and I felt Thorpe was paying attention to the words of this one, rather than basing his characterisation on how Campion develops in later novels. Thorpe brings out all the humour in the story, but also does an excellent job with the darker sections. He held my attention throughout, which doesn't always happen with audiobooks. A 5 star narration, in my opinion.

However, I've never rated Allingham as highly as the other Golden Age Queens of Crime: Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L Sayers; and truthfully I'm not sure that this book has changed my mind. I found it enjoyable, but too convoluted and not at all credible, and apart from George and Meggie, too many of the characters are caricatures. I didn't feel it was fairplay at all – the eventual solution seemed to come from nowhere, though of course it's possible I missed hidden clues along the way (even good audiobooks have a tendency to induce occasional napping). I'm glad I listened though – I think the narration actually made me enjoy the book more than I might have, had I been reading a paper copy. So overall, a fun listen of a reasonably entertaining book, but probably not the best one to start with to get a feel for the character Campion eventually becomes.

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Very much a book of its time, this murder mystery is set in a desolate manor miles from anywhere with a number of young people invited down for a weekend. The rich do that from time to time, apparently (though I've no idea if it's still a thing, not being and never having been part of any set of people who might be involved in such rich people's activities), and the elderly gentleman resident in the manor likes to have a group there several times a year.

The characters are stereotypical apart from Campion who is ever so much fun - quirky, extremely intelligent (though occasionally misjudges and thus bites off a little more than he can chew), talented in very many areas, and so rich he can afford to play games with criminals (a bit of a Robin Hood type but infinitely more self-serving). Actually, Campion is the saving grace and makes me want to read more of the series.

I enjoyed this vintage mystery novel, it was originally published in 1929. It was witty and had a clever story!

pretty fun read

This is my first Campion novel read, though I’ve been recommended the novels for many years. I was not disappointed. I quite enjoyed it. It did get a little meandering and more than a few places, but that’s the time period. It all worked out, and I will be reading another soon. 4/5. Recommended.

An early 20th century classic through and through. The story, plot, characters and logic.
I think I would like to read more of this series.

Confusing at times, and the whole escapades-while-captured-by-sinister-Germans was a bit overblown. But I do like the characters, especially the main POV character.