PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Rating:
Summary: buyer beware
Review: Be careful -- this book is also published (by Penguin) as "Coroner's Pidgin."

Rating:
Summary: Back From the War
Review: In the waning days of World War II Albert Campion has returned on leave. His intent is to take a quick shower in his London and then take a train into the country to be with his wife Amanda and a child he never quite got to see. Unfortunately, he surprises Lugg and Lady Carados, the mother of his close friend Johnny, carrying a corpse into his rooms.

Discovering that the corpse is of a woman who had the nerve to crawl into Johnny Carados' bed and take an overdose of sleeping salts, Campion attempts to get things under control and then thinks the better of it and sets out for the train. When he is kidnapped by the cab driver and returns mysteriously to consciousness in a garage, the police order him to stay in London to help with the Carados problem. A much-disgruntled Campion starts digging into a suicide that now appears to be a murder.

In short order the plot thickens. To the murder add a stolen bottle of rare wine. Then another murder attempt. Then mix in some art thefts. To make matters worse, the primary suspect is Johnny Carados, who is back in town to marry the widow of a war buddy. But she's in love with an U.S. soldier on duty in London. It gets even more complicated, but if I told you any more I would start giving away the plot (maybe that should be `plots').

"Pearl Before Swine" is a perfect parlor puzzle, full of interlocking pieces that never quite seem to fit together. Not only has Allingham once again created a great detective story, but she also captures much of the atmosphere and psychology of wartime London. Early in the book Carados complains to Albert, "I'm living in two different worlds, Campion, two utterly different worlds." As, the reader will discover, are most characters in this novel. And it is up to Campion to pierce through all the masks.

Rating:
Summary: Back From the War
Review: In the waning days of World War II Albert Campion has returned on leave. His intent is to take a quick shower in his London and then take a train into the country to be with his wife Amanda and a child he never quite got to see. Unfortunately, he surprises Lugg and Lady Carados, the mother of his close friend Johnny, carrying a corpse into his rooms.

Discovering that the corpse is of a woman who had the nerve to crawl into Johnny Carados' bed and take an overdose of sleeping salts, Campion attempts to get things under control and then thinks the better of it and sets out for the train. When he is kidnapped by the cab driver and returns mysteriously to consciousness in a garage, the police order him to stay in London to help with the Carados problem. A much-disgruntled Campion starts digging into a suicide that now appears to be a murder.

In short order the plot thickens. To the murder add a stolen bottle of rare wine. Then another murder attempt. Then mix in some art thefts. To make matters worse, the primary suspect is Johnny Carados, who is back in town to marry the widow of a war buddy. But she's in love with an U.S. soldier on duty in London. It gets even more complicated, but if I told you any more I would start giving away the plot (maybe that should be 'plots').

"Pearl Before Swine" is a perfect parlor puzzle, full of interlocking pieces that never quite seem to fit together. Not only has Allingham once again created a great detective story, but she also captures much of the atmosphere and psychology of wartime London. Early in the book Carados complains to Albert, "I'm living in two different worlds, Campion, two utterly different worlds." As, the reader will discover, are most characters in this novel. And it is up to Campion to pierce through all the masks.