Review by Booklist Review
Another delightful entry in Ripley's continuation of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion series. In this outing, the Evadne Childe Society has asked Albert to speak at one of their meetings, but they have an ulterior motive. Knowing Albert was both a fan and a friend of the late mystery writer, they want him to find out why the promised television remake of Childe's book The Moving Mosaic is encountering so many problems--legal issues, a hit-and-run accident, food poisoning, damaging photos of a cast member, and resistance from the landowner on whose property filming is to take place. Albert agrees to help, and when two murders occur and dark secrets are revealed, he understands the television series is being sabotaged. The intrepid Albert plows forward, with the help of son Rupert, Scotland Yard friend Charles Luke, and loyal majordomo Magersfontein Lugg. Charming, clever, and witty, this Campion adventure will appeal to Anglophiles, especially Allingham devotees, and to mystery fans looking for an entertaining old-school romp that will leave them smiling.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Even devoted admirers of Margery Allingham's originals will be hard-pressed to find any false notes in Ripley's impressive 10th novel continuing the exploits of her amateur gentleman detective, Albert Campion (after 2021's Mr. Campion's Wings). It's 1972, and the 72-year-old Campion has been a rush replacement speaker at a London gathering of a society dedicated to the works of late crime writer Evadne Childe, whom he knew. Campion was tapped in place of film star Peyton Spruce, who portrayed Childe's archaeologist sleuth, Rex Troughton, in a less than successful 1950s movie. The BBC has just begun work on a TV series featuring Troughton, with an aging Spruce again playing the lead. But the production has been disrupted by many disturbing incidents, including an assault on the director and a car running over Spruce in what may have been a murder attempt. Campion agrees to investigate, aided by his actor son, Rupert, and his entertaining longtime ally, ex-con Magersfontein Lugg. The lead remains in character, even as Ripley both ages him and features him in plots set after his creator's death in 1966. Ripley's brilliant inventiveness demonstrates that golden age characters and tropes can still work for contemporary fair-play fans. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Albert Campion's speech commemorating the life of (fictional) mystery writer Evadne Childe, who died seven years ago in 1965, rapidly immerses him in multiple puzzles that have outlived her. Though the only film based on any of Childe's golden-age detective stories, The Moving Mosaic, bombed in 1952, the BBC is working on a new TV version. But the road to remaking it is strewn with difficulties. Location scout Don Chapman has come down with food poisoning, and actor Peyton Spruce, who starred in the 1952 film, has been struck by a car. Would Campion, already recruited as a last-minute speaker in place of Spruce, please look into the apparent coincidence? Of course he would, along with his longtime bagman, Magersfontein Lugg, his old friend Cmdr. Charles Luke of Scotland Yard, and his actor son, Rupert Campion, who wonders if there might be a part in the new telefilm for him. Instead of imposing order, Campion's inquiries reveal, maybe even provoke, more chaos, from the invasion of the film shoot at a Roman ruin by The Prophetics, spiritualists looking for some sign of Childe's ghost, to the theft of an ancient mosaic floor to the murder of entertainment attorney Tania Smith, whose marital career links otherwise wildly divergent plotlines. With so many performers on and offscreen jostling for attention, it's a mercy that Campion, who insists, "I really do not mind staying out of the limelight," is so self-effacing. As is the whodunit: blink and you'll miss the deft unmasking of the guilty party. One of Campion's most waggish adventures, just as you'd expect when he meets all those divas. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
