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A review by stefhyena
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
I kept thinking this was the same detective as The Moving Toyshop (different author, different detective, in some ways similar writing style) and being stunned how much better the characterisation in this book is- how much more warm although I loathed the appalling Palinodes, especially Laurence. Clytie was OK even if she was kinda silly.
The mystery was fairly predictable there are clues where there should not be (better not to say more). It untangled in an enjoyable enough way but the prose, the writing itself was terrible, it was hard to follow. I wondered if maybe it made more sense in its own space and time. Allingham went too hard with showing the odd ways of talking of all her types (close to stereotypes). Mostly the most unlikeable ones were the bad guys (with some exceptions) and the most likeable ones were not. I should not approve of that but it's satisfying to read.
I love Amanda who barely registers in the book. She makes me like Campion a lot better than I could like him as a bachelor or whatever. I couldn't understand what his background was but I liked how he rubs shoulders with all classes easily. He is one of the more likeable male detectives I have read. A lot of stuff in the book might be queer coded or maybe I am reading it anachronistically.
Apparently all these are standalones and I approve of that and may read another some time, but not in any hurry because the writing is hard to follow and is full of self-consciously inserted long words and difficult twists of phrase (now I know why my supervisors get tough on me when I am not being clear).
The mystery was fairly predictable there are clues where there should not be (better not to say more). It untangled in an enjoyable enough way but the prose, the writing itself was terrible, it was hard to follow. I wondered if maybe it made more sense in its own space and time. Allingham went too hard with showing the odd ways of talking of all her types (close to stereotypes). Mostly the most unlikeable ones were the bad guys (with some exceptions) and the most likeable ones were not. I should not approve of that but it's satisfying to read.
I love Amanda who barely registers in the book. She makes me like Campion a lot better than I could like him as a bachelor or whatever. I couldn't understand what his background was but I liked how he rubs shoulders with all classes easily. He is one of the more likeable male detectives I have read. A lot of stuff in the book might be queer coded or maybe I am reading it anachronistically.
Apparently all these are standalones and I approve of that and may read another some time, but not in any hurry because the writing is hard to follow and is full of self-consciously inserted long words and difficult twists of phrase (now I know why my supervisors get tough on me when I am not being clear).