April's Affections and Intrigues: Love and Mystery Bloom

Mr Campion's Fox, March 2015 Albert Campion Mystery by Mike Ripley Severn House Publishers Featuring: Albert Campion; Rupert Campion; Frank Tate 256 pages ISBN: 1780106386 EAN: 9781780106380 Kindle: B00UI4ESJM e-Book Add to Wish List Purchase Kindle Barnes & Noble

"A 1960s murder in a British coastal town"

Mr Campion's Fox
Mike Ripley

Reviewed by Clare O'Beara
Posted April 5, 2015

Mystery Amateur Sleuth

To clarify matters; Margery Allingham wrote of a detective called Mr Albert Campion, and now her works are being continued by another author, Mike Ripley. Set partly in the British countryside, easterly Suffolk, the mystery continues the traditions of this series.

MR CAMPION'S FOX begins at a reception given by the Danish Ambassador. If there was ever a chance to complain about the Viking invasion, this might be it. Luckily the Ambassador doesn't take it amiss, and the retired Mr Campion and his charming wife continue to enjoy the company in the expensive London house. The Ambassador asks if someone could be found to check up on his daughter's scruffy London boyfriend, Frank Tate. Just in case. Accordingly, Rupert, the Campions' son, dresses casually and tracks the young photographer around the back streets of Soho. He does nothing odd, except buy fifty pairs of ladies' tights. When he goes off on his motorbike to Suffolk to meet the Danish girl on the weekend, worryingly that's the weekend that she disappears. Even more worryingly, the young biker is found dead.

Some of the coastal land in Suffolk is owned by the Ministry of Defence, and this draws more attention to the case than it would normally receive even with a diplomat's daughter involved. Mr Campion and his son are questioned. Was Frank Tate something other than he appeared? Could the Danish girl have killed him?

Part of the fun of this story is that it's dated, back in the time before decimal money, when 45rpms were played on gramophones and phones sat on the hall table and seldom rang. We visit a brewery family, the slightly eccentric Misses Marigold and Hyacinth of the Sandyman beer company. Rupert Campion has been a drama student and occasional actor, so he's good at coming across any way he needs to while pursuing a murder suspect and dodging police enquiries. I liked him and his girlfriend Perdita, who take on the more active roles in the story which would not be credible if the senior Mr Campion played them. The local scenery is well described, with a Defence listening post dating from the War and a fox stealing wild birds' eggs on the coastline. The local people add character to this lively tale. MR CAMPION'S FOX by Mike Ripley will please devotees of English country murders from this period, and make an unusual offering for other crime fans.

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SUMMARY

This brand-new novel featuring Margery Allingham’s Mr Campion recaptures the Golden Age of British Detective Fiction.

The Danish Ambassador has requested Albert Campion’s help on ‘a delicate family matter’. He’s very concerned about his eighteen-year-old daughter, who has formed an attachment to a most unsuitable young man. Recruiting his unemployed actor son, Rupert, to keep an eye on Frank Tate, the young man in question, Mr Campion notes some decidedly odd behaviour on the part of the up-and-coming photographer. Before he can act on the matter, however, both the Ambassador’s daughter and her beau disappear without trace. Then a body is discovered in a lagoon.

With appearances from all of Margery Allingham’s regular characters, from Campion’s former manservant Lugg, to his wife Lady Amanda Fitton and others, this witty and elegant mystery is sure to delight Allingham’s many fans. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the observation keen, and the climax is thrilling and eerily atmospheric.

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