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lejoy's review against another edition
3.0
Once again I am thwarted by Goodreads' insistence on not allowing half stars. Clearly this book is much better than three stars, yet I didn't enjoy it enough to allow it to share a shelf with others I have rated four.
Death Of A Ghost starts with a kind of disclaimer from Allingham that this book is more serious than the previous instalments in the Campion series. She likens it to Police At The Funeral, but other than some superfluous similarities of a bunch of oddballs living under one roof and a theatrical loony of a murderer at large, I would not say the books are much alike. Up until now, Campion has not been much referred to as an investigator. He is a Deputy Adventurer and Universal Uncle. In this book, though the uncle title remains, he is repeatedly referred to as a sleuth. Previous stories are battles with crime-lords and adventurous treasure hunts. Police At The Funeral was the first proper murder mystery and Death Of A Ghost fits into that genre too, however, Police At The Funeral was still fun. Death Of A Ghost has barely any comedy in it at all. And considering that up until now Campion has been a comic character, this is a big and not entirely welcome change.
The book focuses much more on description than action. It might be described as literary fiction rather than adventure fiction, and that is clearly a deliberate choice by Allingham. Perhaps she wanted to mature as a writer. And that's okay. But Campion doesn't seem like the same man, and that's a problem. Very occasionally, we get gleams of his irreverent personality peering through, but for the most part it feels like he has been muted. Sidekick Lugg doesn't appear at all, because he only exists as a comedy character.
A more serious Campion could be tolerated, I guess, even though the reason people love him is because of his wit, but he seems physically and emotionally muted too. It's like if Campion suffered from depression. He just exists throughout the story and does very little. He happens to be present at a murder and then he hangs around for the rest of the book, hoping to keep his friends safe, but he does very little active investigating. What he does learn is mostly because his pal Inspector Oates invites him on police questioning trips. The trouble with all this is that Campion cares deeply for old lady Belle (also at first granddaughter Linda, but she drops almost entirely out of the story very quickly like Allingham forgot about her). This seems to be why he is in such a serious mood and why he is hovering around. But who the hell is Belle? If she is such an important and dear person to Campion, why has he never visited or mentioned her before? He spends weeks with her in this book and it just doesn't feel remotely earned. Allingham has an unfortunate tendency to have him hanging out with totally different groups of people in every novel, which means he must be close intimate friends with a couple thousand people.
The other awkward tendency of this book is for the narrator to be omnipotent and tell us things that haven't happened yet. I understand what foreshadowing is, and I deplore it. I'll take tension any day. We learn that a particular character is going to be murdered a full four chapters in advance of the event. Part of the book is littered with these little dry-witted or tragically satirical comments about people not realising what their future holds in store for them or being wrong about something they are sure of, and since only the author and the reader are in on these, I don't much see the point of them. Also, Campion realises who the murderer is less than halfway through the book, and this is confirmed as fact for reader on the same page. Odd choice really for such an ambling story. I guess it is there to show Campion's helplessness and let us share in his frustration and growing horror, because Allingham is clearly trying to do something a bit different, but I'm not sure how satisfying it is for the reader. Some kind of plan of action, or action of any kind would be appreciated.
It's a readable story and I can see that some readers will prefer this over some of the more silly Campion books. But I love Campion for his inane and irreverent wit, and while perhaps it is refreshing to see him more helpless than usual (he can be a bit too all-knowing and ultra-skilled at times), he does not feel like the hero I have come to adore and that is frankly disappointing.
Death Of A Ghost starts with a kind of disclaimer from Allingham that this book is more serious than the previous instalments in the Campion series. She likens it to Police At The Funeral, but other than some superfluous similarities of a bunch of oddballs living under one roof and a theatrical loony of a murderer at large, I would not say the books are much alike. Up until now, Campion has not been much referred to as an investigator. He is a Deputy Adventurer and Universal Uncle. In this book, though the uncle title remains, he is repeatedly referred to as a sleuth. Previous stories are battles with crime-lords and adventurous treasure hunts. Police At The Funeral was the first proper murder mystery and Death Of A Ghost fits into that genre too, however, Police At The Funeral was still fun. Death Of A Ghost has barely any comedy in it at all. And considering that up until now Campion has been a comic character, this is a big and not entirely welcome change.
The book focuses much more on description than action. It might be described as literary fiction rather than adventure fiction, and that is clearly a deliberate choice by Allingham. Perhaps she wanted to mature as a writer. And that's okay. But Campion doesn't seem like the same man, and that's a problem. Very occasionally, we get gleams of his irreverent personality peering through, but for the most part it feels like he has been muted. Sidekick Lugg doesn't appear at all, because he only exists as a comedy character.
A more serious Campion could be tolerated, I guess, even though the reason people love him is because of his wit, but he seems physically and emotionally muted too. It's like if Campion suffered from depression. He just exists throughout the story and does very little. He happens to be present at a murder and then he hangs around for the rest of the book, hoping to keep his friends safe, but he does very little active investigating. What he does learn is mostly because his pal Inspector Oates invites him on police questioning trips. The trouble with all this is that Campion cares deeply for old lady Belle (also at first granddaughter Linda, but she drops almost entirely out of the story very quickly like Allingham forgot about her). This seems to be why he is in such a serious mood and why he is hovering around. But who the hell is Belle? If she is such an important and dear person to Campion, why has he never visited or mentioned her before? He spends weeks with her in this book and it just doesn't feel remotely earned. Allingham has an unfortunate tendency to have him hanging out with totally different groups of people in every novel, which means he must be close intimate friends with a couple thousand people.
The other awkward tendency of this book is for the narrator to be omnipotent and tell us things that haven't happened yet. I understand what foreshadowing is, and I deplore it. I'll take tension any day. We learn that a particular character is going to be murdered a full four chapters in advance of the event. Part of the book is littered with these little dry-witted or tragically satirical comments about people not realising what their future holds in store for them or being wrong about something they are sure of, and since only the author and the reader are in on these, I don't much see the point of them. Also, Campion realises who the murderer is less than halfway through the book, and this is confirmed as fact for reader on the same page. Odd choice really for such an ambling story. I guess it is there to show Campion's helplessness and let us share in his frustration and growing horror, because Allingham is clearly trying to do something a bit different, but I'm not sure how satisfying it is for the reader. Some kind of plan of action, or action of any kind would be appreciated.
It's a readable story and I can see that some readers will prefer this over some of the more silly Campion books. But I love Campion for his inane and irreverent wit, and while perhaps it is refreshing to see him more helpless than usual (he can be a bit too all-knowing and ultra-skilled at times), he does not feel like the hero I have come to adore and that is frankly disappointing.
thereadingmum's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The fact that I am still thinking about this book a few weeks after finishing it is a good sign. The thing is, it aggravated me, but in a good way.
Allingham writes well and in the style that I enjoy. Her characterisation is good and I could picture them all in detail. The set up for the crime was perfect. Now here is where I got aggravated. I was convinced that I had the true culprit almost right after the murder. There were several hints, which I thought very subtle and so must be true. Then there was what I thought was glaringly a red herring. However, in the end it wasn't! Colour me flummoxed and annoyed but willing to admit being bested.
My only critique was that the resolution was slightly too off kilter and I generally hate the insanity plea. It's too pat in books (not real life).
Allingham writes well and in the style that I enjoy. Her characterisation is good and I could picture them all in detail. The set up for the crime was perfect. Now here is where I got aggravated. I was convinced that I had the true culprit almost right after the murder. There were several hints, which I thought very subtle and so must be true. Then there was what I thought was glaringly a red herring. However, in the end it wasn't! Colour me flummoxed and annoyed but willing to admit being bested.
My only critique was that the resolution was slightly too off kilter and I generally hate the insanity plea. It's too pat in books (not real life).
benjaminparris's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nenenest's review
3.0
This Campion is very different from the Campion in the last book I read. This so annoyed me it coloured the whole plot. Might have been a four star otherwise.
nellekepei's review
3.0
I enjoyed this mystery. It’s different from some in that you know early on who the murderer is, but the rest of the book is devoted to finding out why and trying to prevent him from murdering again. Based on my enjoyment of this book, I will read more Margery Allingham when I’m looking for light reading. I am not likely to reread this one, though...it doesn’t have that kind of value.
rhonaea's review
3.0
Unlike the first Allingham I read (Sweet Danger), this is a bit more of a traditional detective story. The plot concerns the sudden death by stabbing with ornate/crafted scissors at an opportunistic moment when the electricity meter runs out. The room is full, but there are no witnesses. A sudden confession appears to resolve matters, however Albert Campion is unconvinced.
I ripped through this, ignoring the parts which would never be included today. Having recently viewed some old cine footage of the author it’s clear she lived in a different world, and I’m happy to leave it that way!
I ripped through this, ignoring the parts which would never be included today. Having recently viewed some old cine footage of the author it’s clear she lived in a different world, and I’m happy to leave it that way!
msroark's review
4.0
A lovely palette cleanser. Clean old-school mystery. A little dated. Some subtle shuddery racism from the 30’s. But the plot is superb.
kiwikathleen's review
4.0
Another good series that I'm following, and I found I preferred this one to most of the others. What I liked less about the others is the frequent description of our Campion as vacuous-looking. It's an affectation of course, and fools a lot of people, and therefore most useful, but she (Allingham) does rather tend to highlight it frequently. In this book, however, he never resorted to that and instead played it straight.
Clever story, definite a thing of its time (1930s) but the fun characters and little twists and turns make it a very good read.
Clever story, definite a thing of its time (1930s) but the fun characters and little twists and turns make it a very good read.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
4.0
I do have a fondness for mysteries involving art. In Death of a Ghost, a young artist is killed at the showing of a painting, not his painting, one of his mentor’s, Lafcadio. Lafcadio, before he died, left instructions to have one of his paintings that he had boxed up shown each year beginning several years after his death, and his wishes have been faithfully carried out by his widow- quite a strong woman by the way, the kind of woman who takes everything life throws at her, straightens her shoulders, and carries on. Campion, luckily, was at the party/showing, so even though he didn’t actually witness the murder, as a friend of the family he takes an interest in the mystery.
There is a lot of art talk in this one, which I find fascinating. I even took a picture of at least one page and sent it to Amber, since the description of the area where the paint was mixed just struck me as so similar to the studios now.
I don’t know if this is really a mystery or more of a thriller. We, along with Campion and Oates from Scotland Yard, know who the killer is fairly quickly. Proving it is an altogether different matter, especially when the motive is unclear. And the villain is very intelligent. We get an especially good scene where the killer pretty much has Campion at his mercy as they travel across London. Happily, Campion is not as vacuous as he sometimes makes himself seem.
This was a really enjoyable book. I love these “Golden Age” mysteries. It’s a clever puzzle with memorable characters. I didn’t particularly like the very, very end, but that’s a minor quibble.
There is a lot of art talk in this one, which I find fascinating. I even took a picture of at least one page and sent it to Amber, since the description of the area where the paint was mixed just struck me as so similar to the studios now.
I don’t know if this is really a mystery or more of a thriller. We, along with Campion and Oates from Scotland Yard, know who the killer is fairly quickly. Proving it is an altogether different matter, especially when the motive is unclear. And the villain is very intelligent. We get an especially good scene where the killer pretty much has Campion at his mercy as they travel across London. Happily, Campion is not as vacuous as he sometimes makes himself seem.
This was a really enjoyable book. I love these “Golden Age” mysteries. It’s a clever puzzle with memorable characters. I didn’t particularly like the very, very end, but that’s a minor quibble.
dcsilbertrust's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0