A young woman receives a series of photographs—snapshots of a man who looks exactly like her first husband. An investigation turns up something much darker and more sinister than anyone could have expected, and secrets from the past come to light. Most dangerous of all is a mad serial killer on the loose with everything to lose, called Jack Havoc.

The Tiger in the Smoke is the first Albert Campion book I’ve read, having first heard about it in a list of great 20th century mysteries. Maybe it wasn’t the best book to start with, as Campion isn’t a central figure in this book and there’s not much character development of the regulars. But nonetheless I enjoyed this taut, slightly grim story of the chase of a homicidal maniac, loose on the streets on postwar Europe. It’s a highly suspenseful novel; I especially enjoyed the scene in the empty house. There’s also a wonderfully intriguing cast of characters, including an albino and a dwarf. But the “character,” if you could call it that, is the November fog, which pervades everything. This is a highly effective mystery; suspenseful, as I’ve said. I’ll definitely be reading more by Margery Allingham in the future. ( )

Of all the Margery Allingham books I have read so far this is her tour de force. Not so much a thriller, but a moving study of the conflict between good and evil, climaxing first in a darkened church and later in a ruined garden on the coast of France. Although Albert Campion is a character his role here is a minor one. This is, like the central treasure of the story, a miraculous mystery and will leave you weeping. ( )

A fog bound mystery, less a detective story in the sense that there is not much detection to it, certainly there are no clues for the reader to follow and make sense of; it is all too clear (unlike the foggy London streets), Jack Havoc is on the loose and bent on destruction and revenge ...
This is the first Margery Allingham book I have read and apparently, from what I understand of other reviews, it is very much unlike her other 'lighter' and more 'genteel' detective fiction. Certainly this is a very dark book, a chase through the streets of London after a psychotic killer called Jack Havoc recently escaped from prison after feigning mental illness. The book starts with Meg Eginbrodde getting re-married to Geoffrey Levett after having lost her first husband in the war, however photographs of her suppsoedly dead husband have been sent to her showing him still very much alive so she turns to Albert Campion to help her determine if it really is her dead husband. I won't spoil it for you here and tell you whether it is her first husband reincarnated or not, but it is the start of a chilling and thrilling race against time with some very dangerous characters and truly underworld settings.
I enjoyed this book, I really enjoyed it, there was a quickness to the description and dialogue that made you feel you were running after Havoc in Campion's shoes. But, and there is a but, I thought that often, particularly at the start, her descriptions were quite convoluted and I found myself having to try and re-trace certain passages, for that the book gets 3 stars and not 4, maybe it was me, I'm certainly going to read this again in the future to find out, there are some scenes (when Geoffrey is 'captured' is definitely one that stands out) that still stick in my mind they are written so vividly. ( )

Unusual in that there isnt too much mystery in this story, but has more spiritual depth. Campion is one of my favorite sleuths of all time. But he didnt have to much to solve in this one. But he always brightens a page and illumines a book he's in. ( )

What drew me to this particular detective story was that I'd heard it was pretty good on murky foggy post-war London. On that score I wasn't disappointed. The band (pun unintended) of ruffians was, to say the least, unusual, and worlds away from Ms Allingham's pre-war middle-class milieux. ( )