Police at the Funeral

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Age At Its Best
Review: A diabolical murderer has been at work in the Victorian precincts of the manor known as Socrates Close. The formidable Great Aunt Caroline has all her wits about her, but her family does not and they have been dropping like flies. The police are naturally baffled. Only Albert Campion, faintly redolent of the early Lord Peter Wimsey with his fatuous smile and episcopal connections, stands between the criminal and a particularly nasty victory. This is Golden Age crime in full glory: an extremely ingenious puzzle, very well drawn period characters (Great Aunt Caroline is unforgettable), the usual understated English humour and a villain who is memorable in more than the usual ways. I'm not sure if Margery Allingham ever wrote a better book than this, so sit back, relax, make yourself comfortable and get ready to enjoy a mystery the likes of which they seldom write these days. If it's raining outside, so much the better!

Rating:
Summary: A Different Curriculum for Cambridge
Review: Coincidence and madness are the twin themes of "Police at the Funeral." The book starts out when a planned meeting between Campion and Joyce Blount turns into an accidental meeting with Inspector Stanislaus Oates and a peculiarly unpleasant fellow who takes one look at Joyce and flees. From there the tale follows a twisted path.

Joyce is the fiancée of Marcus Featherstone, one of Campion's oldest friends. She lives with her great aunt Caroline, a pair of unpleasant uncles and an equally depressing brace of aunts. Uncle Andrew, a singularly miserable fellow, has vanished and Joyce has come to Campion for help. In short order Andrew is found murdered in such a fashion as to implicate his heavy drinking brother William. Campion's presence is commanded by Great Aunt Caroline and he is settled into Socrates Close, their Cambridge home, to act as detective, defender and general factotum.

Yes, I said commanded. Great Aunt Caroline Faraday is a true Victorian 'grand dame.' For most of her life she has ruled Socrates Close and much of Cambridge's social life. Even now, in her 90's she is a force to be reckoned with. She has no patience with her dependents, who share little of her and her departed husband's brilliance. She sees no alternative to the ministrations of Campion, with whose mysterious but illustrious family she is well acquainted.

It will take the death of one of Joyce's aunts and yet another fatality before Campion is able to meet her expectations. In doing so he will brush with evil at its most petty and spiteful. The lightheartedness that Campion uses to cover his true feeling entertains and delights us, but is never completely able to dispel the pall that lies upon the great house until the very last, when he once again finds a way through.

I believe this is the first time Allingham puts aside her Chinese fire drill device and settles in to write true detective fiction. Her talent reveals itself as quite capable of handling the slower pace, which allows here more time to develop a remarkable cast of characters. These are never guilty of tediousness despite any other flaws they chose to reveal.

It is a shame that Allingham's books are often allowed to go in and out of print. Too often, Campion aficionados are condemned to rummaging in used bookstalls to fill a gap in their collection. Luckily, most of us like to rummage. Police at the Funeral is a wonderful tale that is reminiscent of Marsh's "Death of a Peer," although the Faradays are nowhere as near as appealing as Marsh's Lampreys. Except for Great Aunt Caroline, of course, who is a perfect treat. I can only tell you this tale is well worth digging for.

Rating:
Summary: A Different Curriculum for Cambridge
Review: Coincidence and madness are the twin themes of "Police at the Funeral." The book starts out when a planned meeting between Campion and Joyce Blount turns into an accidental meeting with Inspector Stanislaus Oates and a peculiarly unpleasant fellow who takes one look at Joyce and flees. From there the tale follows a twisted path.

Joyce is the fiancée of Marcus Featherstone, one of Campion's oldest friends. She lives with her great aunt Caroline, a pair of unpleasant uncles and an equally depressing brace of aunts. Uncle Andrew, a singularly miserable fellow, has vanished and Joyce has come to Campion for help. In short order Andrew is found murdered in such a fashion as to implicate his heavy drinking brother William. Campion's presence is commanded by Great Aunt Caroline and he is settled into Socrates Close, their Cambridge home, to act as detective, defender and general factotum.

Yes, I said commanded. Great Aunt Caroline Faraday is a true Victorian 'grand dame.' For most of her life she has ruled Socrates Close and much of Cambridge's social life. Even now, in her 90's she is a force to be reckoned with. She has no patience with her dependents, who share little of her and her departed husband's brilliance. She sees no alternative to the ministrations of Campion, with whose mysterious but illustrious family she is well acquainted.

It will take the death of one of Joyce's aunts and yet another fatality before Campion is able to meet her expectations. In doing so he will brush with evil at its most petty and spiteful. The lightheartedness that Campion uses to cover his true feeling entertains and delights us, but is never completely able to dispel the pall that lies upon the great house until the very last, when he once again finds a way through.

I believe this is the first time Allingham puts aside her Chinese fire drill device and settles in to write true detective fiction. Her talent reveals itself as quite capable of handling the slower pace, which allows here more time to develop a remarkable cast of characters. These are never guilty of tediousness despite any other flaws they chose to reveal.

It is a shame that Allingham's books are often allowed to go in and out of print. Too often, Campion aficionados are condemned to rummaging in used bookstalls to fill a gap in their collection. Luckily, most of us like to rummage. Police at the Funeral is a wonderful tale that is reminiscent of Marsh's "Death of a Peer," although the Faradays are nowhere as near as appealing as Marsh's Lampreys. Except for Great Aunt Caroline, of course, who is a perfect treat. I can only tell you this tale is well worth digging for.