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jbistheinitial's review
4.0
Margery Allingham was one of the four 'Queens of Crime' of the Golden Age, together with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L Sayers, and this short collection of four festive stories is a perfect introduction to her work. Three of the stories feature Campion, her most famous character, including a glimpse at his domestic life in Word In Season, while the fourth - Happy Christmas - is a delightful vignette featuring a couple trying to recreate a Victorian Christmas.
annarella's review
5.0
Margery Allingham is one of the Queen of Mysteries and this collection of Christmas short stories was delightful.
Not all of them are mystery themed but they are all lovely and enjoyable.
I can say they aged well and are full of humour and Christmas spirit.
They made crave for more and wish to start one of her novel.
A wonderful Christmas treat.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Agora Books and Netgalley for this ARC
Not all of them are mystery themed but they are all lovely and enjoyable.
I can say they aged well and are full of humour and Christmas spirit.
They made crave for more and wish to start one of her novel.
A wonderful Christmas treat.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Agora Books and Netgalley for this ARC
helensbookshelf's review
3.0
Four short Christmas stories, two are detective stories, the last one is a slice of domestic life for the Campion's and I have no idea what the second story was supposed to be.
What is this thing about dogs can speak in the final hour of Christmas Eve? Is this a thing? I've never heard it before and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's mentioned more than once in these stories and I wish it wasn't.
The two detective stories were well thought out and full of characters - perfect cosy Christmas reads. The first one is quite sad too, I really felt for the lonely old lady.
The second story is a bit odd, though it made a bit more sense when I saw that it was originally published in a Woman's Own Magazine in the '60s. It felt out of place here.
The last story made me laugh, it has the funniest married couple scene I've read for a while.
Campion knows when to take a hit.
Overall, it's a nice little book to sit down with for an afternoon but I wish it were longer, or that they were all detective stories. Though for just £2 on Amazon at the moment it's not bad value.
I received a free copy in return for an honest review.
What is this thing about dogs can speak in the final hour of Christmas Eve? Is this a thing? I've never heard it before and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's mentioned more than once in these stories and I wish it wasn't.
The two detective stories were well thought out and full of characters - perfect cosy Christmas reads. The first one is quite sad too, I really felt for the lonely old lady.
The second story is a bit odd, though it made a bit more sense when I saw that it was originally published in a Woman's Own Magazine in the '60s. It felt out of place here.
The last story made me laugh, it has the funniest married couple scene I've read for a while.
"I take back everything except cackhanded."
"I concede cackhanded."
Campion knows when to take a hit.
Overall, it's a nice little book to sit down with for an afternoon but I wish it were longer, or that they were all detective stories. Though for just £2 on Amazon at the moment it's not bad value.
I received a free copy in return for an honest review.
melissadeemcdaniel's review
3.0
This collection brings together four short stories starring Albert Campion. Despite my deep and abiding love for all things Campion, this collection was disappointing. The stories were too short and lacked the real personality of Albert Campion, the Golden Age puzzle solver.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
sperchikoff's review
3.0
This collection of stories wasn't bad but because I didn't have the context of other stories surrounding Campion, I was a little confused. But overall, they were good short stories, interesting, intriguing, and definitely kept with the Christmas drive. They made me want to read more stories involving these characters. I especially liked the story with Campion's dog!
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