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A review by stapilus
Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham
5.0
This wasn't at all what I expected out of a golden-era-mystery set in the English countryside featuring a fairly conventional police detective. It was altogether different: Starts out with the detective waking up with a bad case of amnesia, including a less of memory of who he is and what he's been working on, but learning quickly that it had to do with something critical involving national security. Since the year was 1940, that meant the significance could be considerable.
From there we follow this character (the detective is Albert Campion) as he tries to piece together who he is, what he was doing and racing to avert a wartime catastrophe.
It's altogether different from any English mystery I've read from the 20's to 40's period, and unusually well-written; in many places it has even now a very modern feel, while still maintaining and enveloping atmosphere a reader can sink into.
The characters too, even in the limitations of the way the story was structured, were developed with sharpness and a fullness that has held up well.
Among older mysteries - if you're in the mood for such - this holds up unusually well.
From there we follow this character (the detective is Albert Campion) as he tries to piece together who he is, what he was doing and racing to avert a wartime catastrophe.
It's altogether different from any English mystery I've read from the 20's to 40's period, and unusually well-written; in many places it has even now a very modern feel, while still maintaining and enveloping atmosphere a reader can sink into.
The characters too, even in the limitations of the way the story was structured, were developed with sharpness and a fullness that has held up well.
Among older mysteries - if you're in the mood for such - this holds up unusually well.