A review by crowyhead
The Fear Sign by Margery Allingham

4.0

This is a highly improbable, but extremely British and entertaining, mystery. Albert Campion and his stalwart associates must locate the lost regalia of the kingdom of Averna: a small, strategically located and petroleum-rich piece of the British Empire. Along the way they attract assassins, would-be necromancers, and a bevy of bizarre locals. Albert Campion is an amusing detective; he cultivates an air of affable stupidity, until he is called upon to exercise his formidable hidden wit.