Rating: 3.5 Stars
Source: NetGalley
Description: The Black Dudley is an ancient, remote mansion inhabited by recluse, Colonel Combe, but owned by Wyatt Petrie, a young academic who decides to revive his property with a weekend party to which he invites his friends and colleagues. Among the guests in George Abbershaw, a renowned doctor and pathologist who is occasionally summoned by Scotland Yard to help with consulting mysterious deaths. Abbershaw hopes that the leisurely weekend at Black Dudley will help him to get acquainted with red-haired Meggie Oliphant whom he quietly admires. Little does he suspect that instead he will be involved in a series of extraordinary and dangerous incidents which unravel one by one in the gloomy mansion and split the party. (from Amazon)
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: I love classic British mysteries but Allingham is one I haven't read much of so when the chance to review the 1st Campion book I couldn't resist!
My Impression: Going in to this one I wasn't quite sure what to expect. While I love classic mysteries they can tend to be a little dry and can be very dated. So I was a little surprised to find that the book pulled me in quickly and the story was fairly fast paced.
The mystery itself was interesting and I did really wonder who the murderer was and why. I found Albert Campion intriguing and an interesting character. In this book he seems more like Agatha Christie's Harley Quinn than an active detective. He does more background work and facilitates Abbershaw's investigation. I don't know if that is standard or if this is just something done at the beginning. There are some hints and clues that Campion isn't quite the silly fool that he seems. He reminded me of Sayer's Peter Wimsey with his almost talking in riddles and frequently acting the fool wen there is considerably more going on but Campion seems less academic and with a more flexible moral compass. I'm definitely curious to see if and how his character develops.
My only problem with this book is that the characters -other than Campion, Abbershaw and Meggie - were very flat. This isn't all that unusual in this kind of mystery but they were so flat that I had a hard time remembering who was who which made the conclusion a little less satisfying.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes. I'm quite curious to see where Campion goes from here.
Would I Recommend this Book?: If you enjoy the classic British mysteries this is definitely one to read.
The title of book is super intriguing, I like a good mystery,and your review is awesome, I'm not quite sure I would pick this one up for the pile. Need a tad more excitement to hold my attention span these days. Big Hugs...ro
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree that this isn't a run out and grab kind of read. It's a nice mystery but you kind of have to be in the mood for it.
DeleteHmm good on you for giving it a go. Like the sound of a good pace as that helps. A pity about the flat supporting characters. Often those characters can be what lifts a book to a whole other level.
ReplyDeleteThe pace helped but I definitely struggled with keeping track of the side characters. I'll read more but it's not a "I must get more now" kind of read.
DeleteCampion changes over time.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm curious about and will keep me reading the series.
DeleteHmm, the flat characters are unappealing; not sure I'll try this one though at least it had a good pace.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one if you want something low key but yeah - not one is run out and grab.
DeleteI am glad this pulled you in quickly and I like the setting. Great review Katherine.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did find this a pleasant read despite the flaws.
DeleteThe series definitely gets better as it goes on. Sometimes Campion is front and center; other times he's a bit more in the background, but rarely as much as in this book. Which is probably the reason they didn't use this story when they filmed the series (2 seasons, 8 mysteries.) If you haven't seen them, you should check them out - Peter Davison (classic Doctor Who; All Things Bright and Beautiful) is brilliant as Campion.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of the books in this series before. It's too bad about the characters being flat. Hopefully that changes with other books in the series.
ReplyDelete