Mr. Campion's Farthing

The first Campion book written fully by Youngman Carter, Allingham's husband. He had previously completed Cargo of Eagles after her death, and this one was inspired by her idea but all his own work. I can't say that I noticed there was a different author. Allingham's Campion stories are all over the place in style so this one felt much like her own later entries. I do think Carter was perhaps more interested in placing Campion in the central role than Allingham was, and I was very excited to see Rupert was a main character, somewhat short-lived as he and his father don't particularly interact. As usual, I had no idea what was going on for the most of it but there were some decently exciting action scenes.

Really, this book is not quite "3" worthy; but it's a little more than a 2.5 so I'll leave it at 3. If you're read quite a lot of Allingham's work, you can definitely tell that this is not the way she would have written it.

"Mr. Campion's Farthing" is really a Kopeck -- one Vassily Kopeck who has seemingly defected from the USSR (let us not forget that this was written in 1969 originally and thus we're into the cold war years). Kopeck was last seen at a quaint house/hotel called The Turrets, which tries ever so hard to stay in Victorian character and is often used by those in the public eye that want to have a little unpublic fun. The owner of the Turrets is one Lottie Cambric, and she is possibly the last one to have seen Kopeck. Now show more everyone seems to be after him; Campion wants to know why this man is so important.

Just kind of a mediocre read; nothing at all like the earlier novels that I've enjoyed so much. With this book, I will probably say goodbye to Mr. Campion, whose exploits have provided me with hours upon hours of good reading time.

You may want to read it if you're involved with the rest of the series (but don't do them out of order, please), or if you want something dealing with UK-USSR tensions during the Cold
War. Other than that, well,it's just not our good old Albert Campion here. show less

A Russian defector disappears from exclusive resort which is also besieged by a company that wishes to buy it out. With overlapping actions by various enemies, appearing and disappearing bodies. Style slightly different from other Campions since it was completed by Allingham's husband after her death.

Campion's friend Lottie Cambric has a Victorian mansion which she runs as a specialty hotel/cultural exchange. Lately she's been the target of various interests out to shut her down. Campion is called in to figure out what's behind it all.