Margery Allingham's The Gryth Chalice Mystery (U.K. title Look to the Lady) (1931), marking the third appearance of Albert Campion, features the seemingly inevitable car chase in an early chapter rather than as a climax. But worry not as Campion himself ultimately rides to the rescue on horseback! Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hartig Taylor's brief review in A Catalogue of Crime reads: "An early story with good scenes and relieved from murder by elegant robbery and clerical personages, but somewhat touched by the excessive lightheartedness of the period. Fortunately short, and thus worth an hour's inspection."JB & WHT seem to have forgotten the death of Mrs. Dick -- which might make one think of Scooby-Doo, but, as Campion might comment, that rather puts the cart ahead of the Hanna Barbera horse -- and of a "clerical personage" in the novel I have no memory. Maybe, confusing scholarly with clerical, they meant the American professor? Phillip Youngman Carter, in his preface to the short-story collection The Allingham Casebook, says the early novels "reflect the mood of the time and into them she crammed every idea, every joke and every scrap of plot which we had gathered like magpies hoarded for a year," and that is certainly the case here, so much so that the death of Mrs. Dick, once resolved is simply forgotten.For all of its absurdities -- did someone mention Gypsies? -- The Gryth Chalice Mystery has some nice exchanges such as:The girl looked at him incredulously. "What is that man Lugg?" she said.[Campion] adjusted his spectacles. "It depends how you mean," he said. "A species, definitely human, I should say, oh yes, without a doubt. Status -- none. Past -- filthy. Occupation -- my valet."Penny laughed. I wondered if he were you keeper," she suggested.And here's Campion on the art of detection:"The process of elimination," said he oracularly [...], "combined with a modicum of common sense, will always assist us to arrive at the correct conclusion with the maximum of possible accuracy and the minimum of hard labour. Which being translated means: I guessed it."Two daggers out of four.
I'm really enjoying my foray into the "Golden Age" of British mysteries with Margery Allingham; I only read one of her books, MANY years ago, and as I was engrossed in Christie and Sayers at the time, her hero Campion came off as a poor substitute for Lord Peter and I tossed him aside. My mistake! They are more adventures than mysteries, but a lot of fun and a very diverting look at one of my favorite periods, England before the wars (it couldn't possibly have been as golden and lush and gorgeous as Wodehouse, Sayers, Christie, Allingham, Thirkell, and many others make it, but of course they are almost exclusively occupied with the upper classes and often set their stories in manor houses in the countryside!)Anyway, lots of fun, and if you, like me, enjoy classic British mysteries like Christie and Sayers but missed out on Allingham, give her a try. Campion comes across as a silly toff, but the books are fun and you soon realize it's all an act - he always comes through. (I would also recommend the PBS Mystery videos or DVDs of the Campion mysteries if available at your video store or library - you'll recognize the actor who plays him, his name escapes me now, but he does a great job as Campion!)
What do You think about Look To The Lady (2006)?
AKA: "Look to the Lady."more like a 7.5, I'd say, although we don't have that option so I'll bump it to an 8. You know, the more I read this series, the better I like it. Albert Campion is portrayed as some what of a fop, a bumbler, and, okay, to be honest, a moron. However, when there's a job that needs to be done, you can literally see that outside disguise being shrugged off and a man with a gift for intelligence is revealed. Campion's latest exploit involves not so much a mystery, but the prevention of the theft of the Chalice, which turns out to be a British national treasure, the responsibility of which is the Gyrth family, which has been guarding it since time immemorial. Now Campion hears of a plot to steal it, and must take extraordinary means to protect it at all costs. Very nicely plotted, and a pleasure to read. Absolutely. Not a cozy, by any stretch, but one readers of golden-age mysteries and British mysteries will enjoy. On to the next one!
—Nancy Oakes
The Gyrth family are the hereditary guardians of the treasured Gyrth Chalice, which Campion has learned has been targeted to be stolen by a ring of rich and untouchable criminal-collectors. The stakes are high: If the Gyrths lose the Chalice, then their lands and wealth (what little they have) revert to the crown. However, the criminal ring will only abandon the hunt if their agent dies in the line of work. Campion travels to the village of Sanctuary with the prodigal son Val, where he meets Lord Percival Gyrth, Val's sister Penny, and other denizens of the town. Then, Val's aunt Lady Diana turns up dead, apparently frightened to death in the middle of the night in a forest clearing, adding another wrinkle to Campion's task.This is not really how a mystery is supposed to behave. Campion keeps too many things hidden from the reader.
—Mary
Still very silly, but slightly less ridiculous than the last one. Only slightly. I do like that they're quite unpredictable, but that's mainly because Albert is SO mysterious and refuses to explain anything. I think it's a fairly shoddy writing technique, since there's no chance the reader could possibly figure out what is going on (half the fun with a detective novel!) so I've decided to treat them a bit more like a fantasy. Albert Campion as the mysterious stranger who knows everything that's going on, turns up at the right time, the miraculous coincidences that keep happening, the supernatural elements (always explained away with science) - all it needs are some aliens, time travel and the world in danger and we've got a plausible Dr Who episode. It'd be nice to do away with the racial stereotypes though, these dodgy brown people are so derivative! (...and boring, two-dimensional, unbelievable, etc. etc.) I suppose it is nice that she bothered to include any ethnic diversity at all, I can't say that her compatriots did that very much. Let's face it, the whole book is a passing parade of tropes and stereotypes (yokels, thugs, gangsters, aristocrats, hobos, Americans, Jews, "bohemian artists", Gypsies etc. etc.). Two stars for the crazy witch, and the creepy thing on guard in the East Wing.
—Jillian
