A review by pkadams
Black Plumes by Margery Allingham

5.0

I read this book for the first time back in 1991 and reread it last night. It is one of my all time favorites because it captures England between the wars better than anything I've ever read. Allingham can sketch characters better than most and make them memorable. I'm fascinated with how she creates the interactions between the 90+ year old, formidable, Victorian, matriarch (Gabrielle Ivory) and her modern, twenty-something granddaughter (Frances Ivory). Best line ever when the two have different opinions about appropriate decorum. "It was a little skirmish across a century." She also creates a believable love story that is such a side show to this gothic mystery. The mystery is of course good, being Margery Allingham, but it is her mastery of setting, character, and mood that allows so much more going on than the mystery.