Reviews

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

lindajanebob's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.0

hbcbray's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely terrific. Much more an adventure than a mystery, Mystery Mile is what we'd now call a 'thriller' as the action moves seamlessly from protection, to blackmail, to abduction, to action, to scheming to unmask the great crime boss's identity and survive the storm. This novel establishes the character of Campion much more than did his introduction in "Black Dudley". Here he is, his central machinations making it all happen, while appearing foppish and feckless. I complete work; highly enjoyable.

I listened to the audio book from Audible read by Francis Matthews.

bllowns's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

vstewart76's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

gossamerwingedgazelle's review against another edition

4.0

Campion is a bit much at first, but once the mystery gets going, he is a lot more likable. Also, the mystery is good, and the whole thing moves along at a brisk pace.

silkmoth's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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

3.75

I enjoyed this book more than The Crime at Black Dudley. Albert Campion is staying to develop more as a character, but the reader is kept at a distance, in the same way that he holds himself back from his companions. 

I enjoyed the role of the salt marsh and it's description, as it's an environment that is familiar to me. 

teresac's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

melissa_who_reads's review against another edition

4.0

Clever. The solution is a bit fantastic; the final denouement has its horrors and it's fantastic qualities. Oddly, it doesn't detract from the overall cleverness.

omegabeth's review against another edition

3.0

This is the second of Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion novels. I was vaguely familiar with her work, but realized while I know Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers well, I had never dipped into her work. After 2 books, I find Albert Campion quite enjoyable, although most of the other characters are underdrawn. Allingham is a strong writer who sets the mood very effectively. The flip side of that is that there are portions of dialogue that are so full of time-and class- bound slang and jargon and phonetic spellings for accents that they are unintelligible. These first 2 are also primarily adventure books, with suspense and ever-present very bad people who kidnap and spy and kill. There are some unknowns as to exactly how things are happening and who is working for the bad guys, but the reader does not have all of the information, so the details of what the secondary characters are saying don’t really matter very much at all.

I will read the next one in the series, on the assumption that the teaser from the end of this one accurately indicates a shift to more mystery and less suspense/adventure, and we shall see.

justasking27's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75