Is it a coincidence that the first Allingham I enjoyed is also non-Campion led? I found Allingham gave Campion either cartoonish or accurate amounts of sexism that I just didn't want to tolerate, so it is with relief that her female protagonists are smart and strong-willed and independent.

This book actually contains two short mystery thrillers each with a dash of romance (hence the title). They're fast-paced, with such ratcheting tension that I both dread and want to read a full novel-length version of both stories.

The romance aspect was also enjoyable with its extremely simple premise of True Lovers being kept apart by some circumstance and eventually finding that even then there's No Love Lost.

The mix of high risk thriller with low stakes romance starring sensible and intelligent women hits the sweet spot. I'm looking forward to finding more women-led Allinghams. ( )

An odd couple of stories unlike any other of Allingham's work I have read. The book was first published in 1954 when the author was 49: I can't believe that they weren't written much earlier.

Both stories are about young women with a background of an unhappy love-affair whose lovers reappear at the same time that the heroines are faced with crimes which point to them as perpetrators. Both are written from the women's point of view, so the reader has no doubt about their innocence. Tension is generated by the uncertainty as to whether truth will prevail.

It isn't hard to guess that things will turn out happily and that all will be well between the former lovers. In both stories there is a helpful investigator who has worked out most of what is going on at an early stage.

I don't know anything about Margery Allingham's life but surely these stories were written by a very young woman getting over being jilted and harbouring some pretty murderous thoughts! ( )

two stories in one book: "the patient at peacocks hall" about a young, beautiful female GP being drawn into a devious scheme to destroy her. "safer than love" takes place in a small english town and circles around the young wife of a strangely acting headmaster of a public school. ( )

No Love Lost consists of 2 short novellas -- The Patient at Peacocks Hall and Safer than Love. Of the two, the former is undoubtedly the best, and after I finished reading it, I thought that it would make a splendid movie. A young woman doctor, jilted earlier by the love of her life (and not very happy about it) is called upon by the mysterious tenant of Peacocks Hall to arrange for an ambulance to be brought down to London to pick up a friend of his & return her to Peacock Hall. She makes the arrangements, then when she is asked to go up and take care of the patient one night, who has some mysterious ailment that needs the doctor's immediate attention, she realizes that it is one Francia Forde, an actress for whom her fiance had broken off their engagement during the war. The doctor at first refuses, but the tenant (a Mr. Gastineau) leaves her with no choice but to do as he asks. I can't give away the story, but it is really an amazing little novella and a fine mystery. The second story is "Safer Than Love," which seemed a bit muddled to me so I didn't enjoy it as much. A young woman marries the headmaster of a small school in a rural area of England. It seems that the entire town knows her business and that of her husband, and the woman is finding that she's a bit tired of the whole thing -- the marriage, the provincial town, her husband's unwillingness to change. After he is found dead, guess who becomes the most obvious suspect?

The first story was wonderful, with enough tension to keep me reading; the second seemed a bit confusing and by the time the end came, I was ready to be done with it.

I'd recommend the book to those who enjoy Allingham, and to people who enjoy British mysteries in general. ( )

This classic Penguin suspense book includes two short stories by the well known Margery Allingham: suspense stories rather than detective fiction, with no familiar Campion characters. First published in 1954.

In "The Patient at Peacocks Hall" a young and beautiful woman doctor fights to save the life of her rival; lost poison seems damning evidence, and dramatic revelations follow each other in a neatly constructed story of suspense, involving a film star, a mysterious Frenchman, and other material for village gossip.
"Safer than Love" is set in a preparatory school at the beginning of the summer holidays. The headmaster's young wife has her own reasons for prevaricating when inquisitive neighbours in the small town inquire about her husband's whereabouts." - Penguin notes. ( )