My first Allingham, and fittingly, her first too. Definitely not my last.

DCI Challenor's son is on his way home to London one evening when he sees a young woman stepping off the bus with a heavy load and stops to offer her a ride to her home. Moments after leaving her there, he and the local constable hear the rapport of a shotgun and on returning find a man most definitely dead and a hallway full of suspects.

This is a very short read, relative to today's average mystery, coming in at just 157 pages. But it's a fast-paced 157 pages and Allingham dispenses with anything monotonous or that might smack of filler. The timeline jumps from one paragraph to another; sometimes by just a few hours, sometimes a few days, towards the end, a few years. This might really aggravate some readers but if you're familiar with Golden Age mysteries, you won't find it unusual.

I thoroughly enjoyed it; so much so that it was 1am when I finally shut the light off, having finished the entire book in one sitting. She had me guessing the entire way through, and not once did I come close. I found DCI Challenor's advice at the end appalling; it would never fly in our time, but in the age it was written, it would have been standard.

A very good mystery and from my first peek, I'd say Allingham is under valued as a master of mystery, but to be sure, I'll have to read a few more - as soon as possible. ( )

Short and sweet. I had a suspicion about the murderer fairly early on, but still enjoyed the story unfolding. ( )

I've been a great fan of Margery Allingham's Campion mysteries, classics of the Golden Age. This is an earlier work, originally serialized in 1927, and it shows a developing talent, but (like her early Campions) one burdened by social conventions and stereotypes that haven't aged well. As well, this is such a strangely plotted mystery that it really doesn't pass the credibility test. It's worth reading if you want to read a talent in the making, but it's not a recommended effort. ( )

When Eric Crowther is found dead at the White Cottage everyone in the vicinity is suspect as he was a collector of their secrets.
It is up to Chief Inspector Challenor to discover those secrets and so the killer.
The writing style of the book reflects that it was written in the 1920's.
This is possible the first Allingham book I have read, look forward to reading more.
A NetGalley Book ( )

Allingham writes in the Agatha Christie style of mystery: a set of characters are introduced in the beginning pages, the murder occurs shortly thereafter and the detective turns up to interview the cast of characters almost immediately.

The suspense didn't really build in this story and the merest clue is offered as a hint for the reader. Too much dithering around with the Grace Christensen character became tedious and was over-emphasized in the investigation. An unsatisfactory point appears (possibly by accident?) which distracts from really figuring out the mystery: the surname Goody applies to two different characters, (i) the parlourmaid and (ii) the name of a burglar from the valet's past misdemeanours. This point is ignored in the narrative, a loose end that looked very odd to have occurred.

If you enjoy old-style British crime stories like those by Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and other Golden Age writers, this book will probably entertain you. ( )