Margery Allingham is in the pantheon of classic British mystery authors with her most famous creation, the gentleman sleuth, Albert Campion. Beginning in 1929, Allingham wrote 18 books with the detective (Campion is a pseudonym) light-heartedly solving crimes with the assistance of Magersfontein Lugg. Really, Dickens couldn’t have created a more absurd name that refers to a battle in the Boer War. I’m sure there is some amusing in-joke that readers of the time would understand, but it was lost on me. 

            That brings up the interesting issue of inserting contemporary issues into novels where the writing outlives the reference and many times I find myself going down the rabbit hole researching terms, names and places trying to figure it all out. 

            That digression aside, if you want to read one of the memorable detectives from the golden age of crime writing, Allingham is a smooth, clever and amusing writer. Below is a link to the first Campion book.