Wonderful escapism. A collection of stories from the Golden Age of detective fiction. Not all of these stories feature the enigmatic Mr Campion, but those that do are the best in the book. There is also a revealing essay from the author about the why and how she started writing crime fiction and how Campion started to intrude on her stories. Delightful.

The Return of Mr Campion is a collection of thirteen short stories - plus some musings - from Golden Age mystery standout Margery Allingham. As a more casual fan of Allingham and her famous detective, Albert Campion, I enjoyed this book as a reintroduction to her writing - it made me want to dig back in and go through her full canon, with a better understanding of how she started with Campion and how he evolved. This collection also reminded me of some of the more varied collections of Christie's short stories, particularly The Golden Ball & Other Stories, as well as the many short story collections of L.M. Montgomery (she wrote a lot besides the Anne of Green Gables series1)

Allingham is, as always, a masterful writer, and I enjoyed this book a good deal overall, as I was able to dip in and out of the stories and see a variety of her work. Like a good party, I could spend more time with the stories I especially enjoyed, and give a miss to any I didn't find especially compelling.

In this book, I especially enjoyed the insight into her writing life, the evolution of her relationship of writing Campion, and the non-Campion tales. Highlights for me were 'Sweet and Low' - an almost Wodehouse-esque light romance, 'Happy Christmas' - a lovely little story about what family can be at Christmas, and 'What to Do With an Ageing Detective' - where Allingham has a mock-conversation with Campion's longtime manservant.

None of these stories really feature any shocking twists or innovative take on the mystery genre, but they are, on balance, a good set of trifles. Given that short stories have fallen out of fashion with the relative decline of magazines and other media to print them, I liked having the chance to enjoy some Allingham without having to commit to a whole novel. It was a nice change of pace.

However, fair warning before you dive in: not all of the stories feature Campion, not all are mysteries (there's a sprinkling of light romance and fantasy), and, the language and themes used in a few of these stories will likely dated and offensive to the modern reader. (In particular, 'The Dog Day,' 'The Wind Glass,' and 'The Black Tent' really haven't aged well.)

Overall: 4 Sherlocks - a couple gems I know I'll re-read again many times, some serviceable Campion, and a couple I probably won't go back to again - which is just fine for a quick short story collection. Pairs well with a selection of light sorbets or box of assorted truffles, as this book was a nice palette cleanser and mixed bag of (mostly) treats.

Note: I received an advance review copy of this book.

This was quite a mixed bag, but mostly didn't work for me. I hate giving less than good ratings, and being disappointed by a book even more. I just could not get into these stories. They were either too British or dated or just not interesting to me.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!

This book is a mixed bag. Allingham's short stories that are mysteries and that feature Campion are delightful. Unhappily they are too few. The majority of stories in the book are not mysteries and are rather pedestrian.

The book is enlivened though by three essays. The first, an introduction, talks about Allingham's early life, and why (and how) she came to write mysteries. The other two are humorous. The first deals with how Campion came on the scene. The second is a humorous portrait of Campion and Lug done in the late 1950's.

Although I wish it had just been Campion stories, some is a real treat.

This is a good set of short stories written by a doyen of the mystery genre. I enjoyed them all although it was a shame the festive story was a repeat of one of the four released in a book as recently as last November. Some of the settings and backgrounds seem a little more dated than those of other murder and mystery writers of the past but the further into the book I got the less noticeable it seemed. There was also a tendency for the text to be less PC than would be acceptable from a new author but as this was an advanced copy that may change.

I was able to read the advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and think it would appeal to anyone who enjoys mysteries from yesteryear when life, heroes and villains were all very different to today.

I really enjoyed this book by Margery Allingham although I didn't realise it was short stories and not a novel and not all had Albert Campion in them. I also found that some of the stories I had previously read in other Margery Allingham books, not sure if this was a genuine error by the publishers or not. However I would still recommend this novel.

A rather motley selection of pieces of various lengths, a few featuring Albert Campion. They are very variable in quality. The best is "The Case is Altered", followed by "The Beauty King" which is just too long.

All of them appeared in the 1989 volume of the same title. This latest edition also has "Mystery Writer in the Box", but does not have the Introduction, Appreciation and Notes which the 1989 book contained.

My view is that the stories are very much for Allingham fans, but would not be a good starting point for new readers, as they are far from the best work by the greatest of the Queens of Crime.

Whilst I enjoy all Margery Allingham books, I prefer to read the ones that feature Mr Campion, these short stories are a bit of a mixed bag. There are a few Campion ones, some classic Allingham stories, which I suspect she enjoyed writing the best. There are some self-speak conversation with the characters and insights into the process and difficulties of writing the Campion book.