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alexandra_almond's review against another edition
Much more a traditional whodunnit, with murders rather than international super-criminals, and suspects confined to the residents of the house. The racism is more overt—it's a plot point if only in hindsight—but the writing is heading more towards how I remember Allingham. That is, pacy and smart and eminently readable.
lejoy's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first proper murder mystery in the Campion series. After all, Campion is a 'Deputy Adventurer' not a private detective. The first three books, although they did contain murders, were primarily about thwarting organised crime - The Crime At Black Dudley is about escaping a hostage situation, Mystery Mile is about protecting a judge from assassination and Look To The Lady is about protecting an ancient chalice from theft. Police At The Funeral (terrible title) is more the whodunnit we come to expect from classic mystery fiction. However, that's not to say that it is formulaic or uninteresting.
Campion is asked by an old university friend to listen to his fiancée's worries about her missing uncle. No sooner does Campion meet the young woman than the uncle's body is discovered and Campion goes to the family's home to see how he can help. What he is met with is an oppressive Victorian-hang-over household in which the middle-aged inhabitants are strictly ruled by their eighty-something mother, and sit about bickering and snapping at each other like children.
Gone are the fresh-faced eager dullards Campion spends time with in the previous books. This time he is trapped in a creepy house filled with disturbing shows of selfishness and hysterics where adults tantrum like toddlers, while new horrors unfold, increasing the sensation that something in that house is rotten and an insidious malevolence is at work. The characters are all vibrantly and repulsively brought to life. As usual, the book is witty and exciting (with its fair share of digs at the genre), but it is much more intriguing than the previous ones. The solution is ingenious.
Campion is asked by an old university friend to listen to his fiancée's worries about her missing uncle. No sooner does Campion meet the young woman than the uncle's body is discovered and Campion goes to the family's home to see how he can help. What he is met with is an oppressive Victorian-hang-over household in which the middle-aged inhabitants are strictly ruled by their eighty-something mother, and sit about bickering and snapping at each other like children.
Gone are the fresh-faced eager dullards Campion spends time with in the previous books. This time he is trapped in a creepy house filled with disturbing shows of selfishness and hysterics where adults tantrum like toddlers, while new horrors unfold, increasing the sensation that something in that house is rotten and an insidious malevolence is at work. The characters are all vibrantly and repulsively brought to life. As usual, the book is witty and exciting (with its fair share of digs at the genre), but it is much more intriguing than the previous ones. The solution is ingenious.
kellyjreads's review
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️ A very clever solution, but the author leaned heavily on 1930s stereotypes about mental illnesses. Now is it a stereotype if the book was written in that era? You could probably argue either way, but I’m not going to here. The solution was most definitely not something I suspected at all, and I enjoyed the crazy Faraday family dynamics, but I didn’t like this one as much as some others in the series. I missed Lugg!
schopflin's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this, my first Margery Allingham. Albert Campion is engaging and the characters all fascinatingly drawn. A lot of plot and mystery in a short book and I didn't guess the solution. Although I'm not 100% sure I am satisfied with it either.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
karen_unabridged's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this one a bit more than the earlier books in the Campion series, probably because this one doesn't feature an implausibly huge organized crime syndicate.
anitamarie's review against another edition
4.0
I love old British mysteries. Allingham is one of the best to rival Christie . Campion is one of my favourite detectives .
msroark's review against another edition
3.0
These are good, palate cleansing, plot driven mysteries, a la Agatha Christie. This was quite a bit racist (use of the n word threw me). Written in the 1930's but still jarring.
destrier's review against another edition
3.0
One of the least affected Allingham books I've read, which serves it well. Interesting characters and a murder riddle. Lugg is mostly absent.
kiwikathleen's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't particularly enjoy the book preceding this one - I felt it very long-winded and terribly slow to get off the ground - and was wondering if I would give up on the series. This one was straight into the story, with an excellent opening page and really good follow-through that kept things happening all the way. Very 1930s, of course, which is great. There's nothing like reading an historical novel that was contemporary when it was written.
I'll check out the next in the series in the hope that it's of the same calibre as this.
I'll check out the next in the series in the hope that it's of the same calibre as this.
bradreads's review against another edition
3.0
The writing was good, but the ending, the solution to the mystery, was way too preposterous to be enjoyable. I might give Allingham another try one day.