Dancers in Mourning

Dancers in Mourning, by Margery Allingham

I don't think I've said anything about Margery Allingham here, but I love her books.  She wrote a lot of them, very fun mysteries (and plenty of other stuff too; she wrote for magazines a lot) usually starring Albert Campion as the detective.  Campion is your eccentric kind of detective, who hides a clever mind behind a vacuous and foolish exterior.  He has something of a secret identity, and there are references to his real name being Rudolph and a wealthy background.  If he reminds you of Lord Peter Wimsey, there is a reason for that, since he was reputedly created as a sendup of Lord Peter.  I haven't had a lot of luck getting many Allingham stories, so I'm happy now because I just got a pile of them.

In this story, Campion is called in to deal with a theatrical problem.  The famous Jimmy Sutane is starring in a popular show, but he's being quietly persecuted with nasty practical jokes.  Sutane is highly-strung and the pranks are driving him mad as well as endangering his career.  Campion spends a weekend with the whole cast at Sutane's country retreat, but a dancer--Chloe Pye--turns up dead.  Then the understudy is blown to smithereens.  It's quite a confusing mystery, but I spotted the killer before Campion did (since he's letting his emotions cloud his judgment, unusual for him).

Allingham has a very distinctive style.  She's not a great writer, but she's good at difficult mysteries and her stories have more variety than many others (in my opinion, anyway).  I plan to be quite happy reading my way through my pile.


In other news, I'm most of the way through 3 difficult books, and I'm thinking of doing that 15-day Book Blogging Challenge, but I don't know.  Some of the questions seem awfully difficult to answer!

Comments

  1. I've been thinking about doing the 15-day challenge too, but I'm having the same issue...haha. I'd love to see your answers, though!

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  2. I love the Campion series. Our library used to have many of them, but I haven't read them in years! Isn't he the one who had the former burglar as his butler? Those were fun... I'll have to see if the library still has them.

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  3. Yep, the horrible, rude, lovable ex-burglar. :)

    Emily, is this one of those cases where I say I'll do it if you do?

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  4. I've seen this author's name, but haven't delved into any of her books. Thanks for letting me know what they are about. I think I'd like her.

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