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A review by jonathanpalfrey
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham
3.0
This whodunnit consists largely of an endless parade of extravagantly eccentric characters of different kinds, interacting in their own peculiar ways in an obscure corner of London. There is much mystery, but Albert Campion gets to the bottom of it in the end.
I found it readable and mildly entertaining, but rather over the top. Allingham apparently set out to paint pictures of as many distinctive characters as she could think of, and stuff them all into the same book, so that there's hardly room for anyone normal.
When I found out what had been going on in the end, most of it took me completely by surprise. However, I'm no amateur detective, and when reading this kind of book I make no attempt to solve the case before the hero does. I just read it as a story and observe.
Not one of my favourite Campion stories, though it's not a bad one. A pity that we see nothing of his wife Amanda, apart from a brief message at the end; but I suppose she wouldn't fit into this story.
I found it readable and mildly entertaining, but rather over the top. Allingham apparently set out to paint pictures of as many distinctive characters as she could think of, and stuff them all into the same book, so that there's hardly room for anyone normal.
When I found out what had been going on in the end, most of it took me completely by surprise. However, I'm no amateur detective, and when reading this kind of book I make no attempt to solve the case before the hero does. I just read it as a story and observe.
Not one of my favourite Campion stories, though it's not a bad one. A pity that we see nothing of his wife Amanda, apart from a brief message at the end; but I suppose she wouldn't fit into this story.