Albert Campion is an acquired taste, but I find him jolly good fun! Keep in mind that this was written in 1931, so has some very dated language, which didn’t bother me at all, but some readers may find it a challenge.
This is the fourth in the series, but stands alone without reading the others. It was a cracking whodunit, and Campion is in his element, feigning stupidity so others reveal themselves to him.
However, I don’t think this worked as an audiobook, as the narrator had trouble nailing Campion’s strange way of speaking - he made him sound very camp indeed! So I recommend reading this to yourself!
Allingham is considered one of the four Queens of Crime, and deservedly so. She is in fine form with Police at the Funeral. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Unfortunately for this novel, I will now always compare Margery Allingham’s books to The Tiger in the Smoke, which is outstanding. So, Look to the Lady rather pales in comparison.
This is only number three in the Albert Campion series, and Allingham is still fleshing out the character. On first appearance, he is vague, foppish and a little bit foolish. But you soon realize that this is a facade which enables him to hear and see more, as the villains assume he is all of the above!
I was hoping this novel would contain some of the sinister elements that The Tiger in the Smoke featured, but, alas, it does not. In fact, I found it all a bit ho-hum and disappointing.
I’m note sure I will bother with any other Albert Campion mysteries.

What an extraordinary book! It takes the reader to places most unexpected. Margery Allingham has written a novel that is steeped with a pervading sense of menace and foreboding.
Set a few years after the end of WWII, London is struggling under the blanket of a heavy fog, which is almost a character in its own right; creating fear and distrust amongst the London population. Into this gloom Jack Havoc (by name and by nature) has escaped from prison, and is ruthless in his pursuit of a treasure hidden during the war in France.
However, for me, Havoc was not as terrifying as the band of misfits and damaged return soldiers, led by the albino known as Tiddy Doll, who stumble through the fog, begging for coins and playing discordant music. The sense of malevolence and madness created by this band of ‘freaks’ was palpable and very disturbing. It reminded me very much of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, and the terrifying character Pinkie.
This book is so much more than a crime novel: it is a study in good versus evil, and what war does to men and for that matter, to a city’s population. Allingham’s characters, particularly the saint-like Canon Avril, ponder the big questions; about life, and its purpose; about making moral decisions, and what part luck plays in the hand a person is dealt.
Although this is number 14 in the Albert Campion series, you do not need to have read any others in the series to enjoy this novel.
Highly recommended.

This novel was written in 1929, and it’s very much of its time. It is the first book in a series that features an unusual detective named Albert Campion. It uses the classic crime trope of a group of people trapped in an isolated (and creepy) old mansion, where a murder is committed.
There is not a lot of character development, and the action is very much in the vein of ‘tally ho, old chum’ with an excessive use of (at the time) modern slang terms. Campion calls people ‘my dear old bird’ and makes exclamations such as ‘Oh, Inky-Pinky!’ In fact, he is portrayed as a bit of a fool. I can’t say that I warmed to him particularly.
In regard to the plot, vital information is withheld from the reader until the final reveal, so I felt a bit cheated.
Allingham is considered by many to be a shining light in the golden age of crime writing, however, I’m not convinced. That being said, I will read the next Campion Mystery, to see whether she gets better as she develops the character.