Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham
After Campion dramatically saves an old American judge from death on a cruise ship, his children engage his detective services. Campion decides to arrange for the judge and his children to stay in an old Suffolk house near his country home so that he can protect him from the dangerous Simister gang. This gang has already murdered all of the judge's servants! The poor judge's troubles continue in the eerie Suffolk countryside. Soon after he arrives, an old minister commits suicide, and other mysterious events start occurring.
Albert Campion is a disarming detective with a liking for frivolity and a pet jackdaw called Autolycus. The other characters are not nearly as interesting but the intricacies of the tension-filled plot and the spooky descriptions of Suffolk make up for this. It is an extremely English vintage detective story in which the characters live in luxury, no one worries about money too much, and people use words like 'ducky'. I really enjoy these 'Golden Age' detective tales, but they are not for everyone!
I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.
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