An excellent collection of short stories by one of the greats of the Golden Age of crime writing, Margery Allingham. They feature her best known and best loved character, the eccentric yet compelling Albert Campion.

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me.
This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it with some of our seniors once they've read it too!

Delightful. Campion is one of the most brilliant creations in crime fiction and Allingham never disappoints. Must reading for Campion fans, and who isn't one?

"The Return of Mr. Campion" by Margery Allingham features the titular detective, but only in a few stories. Many of the stories were either "look of love"-themed romances or non-Campion mysteries.

The Campion stories are, naturally, the strongest entries in the book, along with an essay about writing. I've always enjoyed Allingham's short Campion fiction more than her full-length novels, perhaps because Campion has less time to dither in the short stories. I find him somewhat irritating if I have to spend a lot of time with him.

While I enjoyed the Campion stories, I found most of the rest to be well-written, but of little interest. Maybe if the title had read, "Campion and Others," my expectations would have been better fulfilled. I was prepared for, and wanting, a volume of Campion stories, and got instead a hodgepodge of musings, mysteries, and light romance.

Fans of Allingham will probably enjoy this, but other readers should start with "Police at the Funeral" or one of the other short fiction collections.

I received a copy from Crime Classics Review Club and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very enjoyable collection of Allingham stories, some of them featuring one of my favourite amateur detectives, Albert Campion. I'd read one or two elsewhere - they seemed to have been anthologised in various combinations over the years, which is confusing if you're trying to make sure that you've read every little scrap of prose Allingham dedicated to the sometimes enigmatic Mr C, but Agora Press seem to be tidying this up nicely between this book and their Allingham Minibus.

My favourite in this collection was Dog Day, a whimsical little piece, and I loved What to Do With an Ageing Detective.

Another pleasant surprise - an interesting, varied, sometimes strange or thought-provoking collection of short stories, many including Campion. And all featuring unique characters and situations from around that time. Not at all what I expected from the title, and I found the arrangement of stories a little discombobulating: twice, I suddenly and surprisingly realized that the ‘fourth wall’ had been breached, and that the author was speaking directly...ostensibly to me, the reader.
I think anyone who enjoys stories from this period of literature—or mysteries (or slightly weird and wonderful tales of any time), would enjoy this collection.

Somehow, I have lost my notes containing the excerpts from this collection of short stories that i wanted to share with you. Hopefully they will turn up in some unexpected place, some time in the future, and I will be able to add them.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: In this fantastic collection of thirteen short stories, Margery Allingham explores both the Mystery and the other genres it has allowed her to write.

From a Christmastime story and a portrait of her leading man, Albert Campion, to classic capers and the traditional British mystery, Allingham displays her wit, her humour, and her prowess not just as a Mystery writer but as a storyteller.

Published thirty years after it’s first publication, The Return of Mr Campion proves that both The Mystery and Allingham are still everywhere.

The Return of Mr Campion was first published in 1989 and contains the following short stories:
The case is altered -- Mr friend Mr. Campion -- The dog day -- The wind glass -- The beauty king -- The black tent -- Sweet and low --Once in a lifetime -- The kernel of truth -- Happy Christmas -- The wisdom of Esdras -- The curious affair in Nut Row -- What to do with an ageing detective

MY THOUGHTS: This was a mixed bag of short stories, many of which didn't actually feature Mr Campion. But there is plenty to keep the reader interested, with tales of crime, blackmail, romance and even a ghost story.

Of great interest to me is the lack of political correctness that was very evident at the time this collection was written. Very strict social mores are also in evidence. People talk of living in simpler times, but it seems to me that the difficulties were just different.

3.5

THE AUTHOR: Margery Louise Allingham was born in Ealing, London in 1904 to a family of writers. Her father, Herbert John Allingham, was editor of The Christian Globe and The New London Journal, while her mother wrote stories for women's magazines. Margery's aunt, Maud Hughes, also ran a magazine. Margery earned her first fee at the age of eight, for a story printed in her aunt's magazine.

Soon after Margery's birth, the family left London for Essex. She returned to London in 1920 to attend the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster), and met her future husband, Philip Youngman Carter. They married in 1928. He was her collaborator and designed the cover jackets for many of her books.

Margery's breakthrough came 1929 with the publication of her second novel, The Crime at Black Dudley . The novel introduced Albert Campion, although only as a minor character. After pressure from her American publishers, Margery brought Campion back for Mystery Mile and continued to use Campion as a character throughout her career.

After a battle with breast cancer, Margery died in 1966. Her husband finished her last novel, A Cargo of Eagles at her request, and published it in 1968.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Agora Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Return of Mr Campion by Margery Allingham for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system, please refer to my Goodreads.com profile or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

This is a baker's dozen of fascinating tales featuring the always quirky and devastatingly clever Mr.. Campion.. Each proves the brilliance and versatility of Ms. Allingham showing twisty plots, entertaining humor, and exciting supporting characters. I wished for a dozen more. A great read!

I was probably the wrong audience for this book since I have never read anything by Margery Allingham before. I thought that reading a collection of short stories will be a great introduction to a new to me author. However, it feels like the collection was written for fans of her character, Mr. Campion, who were already supposed to know everything about him.

My title may be more accurate, although as it is a reprint of an book published decades ago, the original title is not up for changing. My point here is that although I greatly enjoyed all the short stories, they are not all about Mr Campion as the title implies. The author is adept at writing short stories and I felt the end of each that the right amount of mystery, character development and story were present. A contents list would beneficial so the reader can see what stories are included. Would recommend to readers of Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie.

The Return of Mr Campion is a collection of short murder mysteries and essays.
I enjoyed the short stories even though I usually prefer the long form. There are enough characters and plots in these short stories to keep them interesting throughout.
I have received the ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely collection of short stories written by Golden Age mystery writer Margery Allingham, though only a handful feature her detective Albert Campion, and moreover many of the short stories are neither mysteries or detective fiction. Nevertheless, all showcase Allingham's character-driven prose and wit.

Impeccable Subtlety

Here we are presented with a Charming Pastiche of short stories, forewords, and more, many featuring that debonair detective of dubious distinction, Mr Campion. That he is or has been a gentleman is evident by his general acceptance by all the best sorts. The stiffness and rigid expectations of manner and manners is a thing largely lost to time, perhaps even somewhat exaggerated as modern times began to encroach and crumble away the long-held strict class lines of polite Britain. Against this Upstairs Downstairs of rectitude intrude the various social indiscretions whose resolutions require a detective of impeccable subtlety, namely Albert Campion. What can be more Indiscreet than murder? Although most of the stories do not, in fact, deal with death. Perfect little morsels for small bites of time.

It is not a good or bad book as I found the stories too short, hence the 3 🌟 rating. I so wish it had been better, as I know Margery's books are normally better than this one.

Thoroughly delightful, assorted collection of short works; some of these feature Albert Campion in abbreviated adventures, others make no reference to familiar characters at all. Among the latter, Ms. Allingham deftly conjures whole worlds in miniature. Each of these stories explores a specific situation in detail, inviting the reader to reflect further about how character and situation intersect.
Throughout, Ms. Allingham offers small descriptive gems, moments of gentle wit and self-irony in generous abundance. This collection is overall a perfect read for those times when a few minutes is all the time a reader has available.

As a reader and lover of Golden Age mysteries, I felt terrible that I hadn’t previously read anything of Margery Allingham, beyond one short Christmas story in a broader collection. There’s no doubt about it: she’s a wonderful writer and I love her detective Mr Campion.
This is the sort of book you read cosied up by the fire with a cup of tea over the Christmas break.
I would recommend it particularly to those people who have already read the author’s work. I did feel I was thrown in at an odd starting point reading this as my introduction to her work. I will be reading more by this author and seeing out the television adaptations!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Agora Books and of course the late legendary author herself for my copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really like to read books by Margery Allingham and have all her novels featuring detective

Albert Campion, so it was quite a treat to receive this collection of short stories from Crime Classics

Review Club.

It is a collection of essays, detective stories featuring Campion, ghost stories and love stories.

The essays are charming and interesting stories where Allingham writes about her work as a writer,

how she became one and the art of mystery writing. We also learn about Albert Campions first

appearance in a novel and his insistence on participating in following mysteries.

In this collection Campion features in about half of the stories - in two of them only as a listener to

Inspector Charlie Lukes narrations.



It was a lovely reunion with Allingham and I especially enjoyed the short stories in which Campion

took part.

I love Margery Allingham. And I love Albert Campion! This book was mostly a fun read, and the reason it was only mostly fun is that not all of the stories were Campion stories. From the title, I expected all Campion stories, so I was a tad disappointed, but the writing is solid as usual for Allingham. I've read all of the Campion novels, and my only regret is that there aren't more. If you like mysterious stories, give this book a read.

To refer to Margery Allingham simply as a writer of crime fiction’s Golden Age is utterly simplistic, and is no more evident than in this collection. Mr Campion is present and correct, but he is just one striking figure in a varied selection of tales.

Allingham’s essay at the commencement of the book, taking in what led to her career as a writer as well as the conception of Campion himself, is charming and erudite. Elsewhere, her ability to write chilling, intense tales of the paranormal is expertly demonstrated with ‘The Wind Glass’; her wry observational skill with ‘The Kernel of Truth.’ ‘’The Black Tent’ is a superb example of how a mystery tale does not suffer in the shortened form.

A super collection, deservedly bringing Allingham to a new generation of readers.

My thanks to Netgalley and Agora Books for a review copy.

This collection is stories was apparently first published in 1989, well after Allingham’s death. It will be primarily of interest to those addicted to Golden Age crime fiction. The introductory section, “Mystery Writer in the Box” is a really useful and insightful discourse from Allingham on how she came to focus on the genre. It sets the context for the collection, which appears to be a series of experiments.

Some of the stories pick up the notion of romance touched on in her Mystery Writer introduction. None of them are conventional romances, rather they play with attraction, missed opportunity, intuition, regret and persistence. There is a recurring theme of the failure to recognise happiness or love. In “The Beauty King, it takes years to recognise the strength and nature of the attraction. In “Once in a Lifetime” the reunion comes too late and both fail to share their recognition. Allingham is playing with emotion as well as conventional narrative twists, evoking sadness, joy or satisfaction in her readers.

Misplaced assumptions recur - or plans backfiring, sometimes with serendipitous outcomes, as in “Sweet and Low”or “The curious Affair in Nut Row” - or disaster, as in “The Wisdom of Esdras”.

Many of the stories explore the supernatural edge - ghosts, intuition, superstition, talismen, formulae for good or evil. Some of these expose charlatans, others are ambivalent - or, in the case of “The Wind Glass” rely on racial stereotyping.

None of the stories, it seemed to me, were fully engaging or satisfying in themselves. There interest lies in the insight, as a collection, they provide into Allingham as a writer, practising her craft, working out ideas, structures and relationships. In “What to do with an Ageing Detective” she meets and converses with her characters.

I’m very pleased to have read the collection and had the chance to see Allingham trying out concepts and honing her craft.