Reviews

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

donkeykong64's review against another edition

2.5

Much like Sayers and Peter Whimsey, the most entertaining character (Albert Campion in an almost parodic take on Whimsey) is relegated to the sideline for most of the story. Unfortunately the story is a bit too much, with the central murder being more or less irrelevant to the crime boss takeover of the secluded mansion setting. Just not what I look for in a detective/mystery book, but I’ll give Allingham credit for her prose and sense of humor throughout. Readable (I crushed it in a sitting on a long bus ride) but not much else

vstewart76's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

carriedoodledoo's review against another edition

4.0

Mansion, Murder, Guests are Suspects. The class British formula, and it doesn't fail this time either.

heather_boo's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this creepy little golden age mystery so much! From the opening it has all the things: the dark candlelit manor house, the weekend gathering in the country of various eccentric guests, a potential love interest, and something happening that you can’t put your finger on. Instead of a fun weekend, you guessed it, there’s murder. While the story is seen and told through the eyes of one of the guests, Dr. George Abbershaw, we nevertheless meet Mr. Albert Campion, the highly eccentric sleuth, for the first time. I will continue the series and I’m interested to see if Mr. Campion begins to take on larger roles in the plots. I certainly haven’t figured him out.

silkmoth's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

My first Margery Allingham, and first in the Albert Campion series. 

It was a fairly quick and easy read, but the plot didn't feel very believable. Most of the people seemed very naive.

hinesight's review against another edition

2.0

I feel guilty for this assessment, but this is so dated that it's almost unreadable. I'm disappointed, since I was hoping to find a good series to enjoy. I assume from what I've read online that Campion is intended to be a send-up of Peter Whimsey, and that part is fine with me, but the racial and class epithets are hard to take, even for a book written in 1929. The good old days were really sort of creepy.

brieniverse's review against another edition

3.0

it really feels good to be done with this but in a mixed feelings sort of way. this was the book i read in bed almost every night until i fell asleep. i do have to say when compared with the old mysteries written around the time this was, it was way more entertaining and kept hitting you with fun plot twists. however, the only caveat is that the mystery took a backseat to some of the crazy things that were happening so it felt more like a thriller sometimes.

i did enjoy this but i wish the mystery had been centered more. the way it was handled especially at the end pissed me off. ALSO for a series that has Albert Campion as the main character of the series, his role in this was so small and it also pissed me off further because i loved his eccentric character and wanted to see more of him or at least see him being the one to solve the murder but that was also given to another character and i didn’t understand why.

albert campion was not the main character here and it felt a bit deceiving. i will continue the series so i can find out how the author develops campion from the first book.

teresac's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

melaniereads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

coleycole's review against another edition

1.0

I think I read about Allingham on a list of best golden age mystery writers... On top of the dated BS on gender and class, the protagonist who eventually solves the murder leaves a lot to be desired. His girlfriend says, "there was blood on the dagger during this dumbass parlor game" and they both... Just continue on??? Stop the dumb game, get in the car and solve the mystery right there people!