Severn House Publishers
Featuring: Albert Campion; Rupert Campion; Frank Tate
256 pages ISBN: 1780106386 EAN: 9781780106380 Kindle: B00UI4ESJM e-Book Add to Wish List
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.
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.