This is the second novel by Margery Allingham that I have read, and I expect I will read a couple more, not least because her detective novels are so different from those in which an escalation of gruesome murders or a surfeit of global locations can have a dulling rather than an exhilarating effect. Both "The China Governess" (1962) and "A Cargo of Eagles" (1968 and completed by her husband, Philip Youngman Carter) evince the two qualities which make Allingham worth reviving: the diffidence and urbanity of her detective, Mr Albert Campion, and a sense of how London's past seeps into the fabric of its present. "The China Governess" opens in the Turk Street Mile in the present (the early 1960s), and was once "the wickedest street in London", before being destroyed in the first raid of the Blitz. The area is cleared war-damage when the novel opens, other than the first of four model apartment blocks planned by Councillor Cornish, an admirer of Le Corbusier, standing in splendid “modern” isolation. However, the criminal past lives on in the affluent Kinnit family. The first crime takes place in the new and vast modern slab of apartments, but it and other crimes seem to stretch back through a story of governesses to Miss Thryrza, who is memorialized in a china ornament, along with other supposed murderers.The threat from the past is directed at a newly engaged couple, and this is the weakest strand in the novel because – even allowing for this being a post-war novel – I found the two lovers irritating and couldn’t have cared less about their fate, happy or otherwise. But Mr Campion appears, almost incidentally, and is such an intriguing character, quite unlike any other hero of a crime novel, perhaps evoking E. W.Hornung’s Raffles, except that he is the detective and not the criminal. I would describe him as “limpid”, as long as this adjective could be combined with its antonym, “opaque”. He is associated from time to time and in an amateurish way with the intelligence services; has a close relationship with Superintendent Luke; is obviously well-connected but assisted by Lugg, a character who is Dickensian in name and attributes; and has an unerring, if tangential, understanding of crime and of its locations. This comes across even more in “A Cargo of Eagles”, which imaginatively reconstructs the old smuggling route into the East End of London from a now-silted-up village on the Essex coast.Allingham’s dialogue will, I am sure, jar with many readers, particularly when she moves out of Mr Campion’s class, but there is something or more than just something about her novels that merits attention.
Tim Kinnit, an adopted child, is about to get married when his belief about his past (that he was a by-blow of the wealthy family who adopted him) is overturned, and the need to know who he is overwhelms romantic interest. [I note, though, that he was perfectly fine not knowing anything about his real mother, but discovering that he wasn't related to the man who he thought was his father knocks him for six.]This is a story about class. Is Tim from the gutter? Are the Kinnits too impossibly condescending? Does nature overcome nurture? Does it matter what your blood is, or your personality?Allingham doesn't really answer these questions, merely pokes them a little. It's a good mystery, but I don't really like this story, particularly because of something related to Charlie Luke, but also because I really disliked the older Kinnits.
What do You think about The China Governess (1990)?
#17 in Alfred Campion amateur criminologist set in London mystery series. Events take place sometime in the late 1950's which has Campion involved with the members of a wealthy family who are a bit off beat. Story focuses upon their adopted son and his girlfriend and the mystery of who he actually is. He starts searching to uncover his real identity which brings him into contact with someone who doesn't want that to happen. Focus is really upon the various characters and how things are resolved with a few twists along the way.
—George
Sadly, this is one of the last books of the Campion series; I'm going to really miss these books when I've finished. Sigh. Oh well, I suppose that's why I keep these things forever so that someday I can go back and reread them. In the prologue, a council flat is vandalized to such an extent that it gives one of its occupants a fatal stroke upon her discovery of the damage. Then on to the main part of the novel: Timothy Kinnit and Julia Laurell are a young couple engaged to be married. Both are from upper class families, and are happy as can be. However, Julia's father decides that the marriage will not happen, due to rumors that are being passed along about Tim's parentage. Although Julia does not care, Tim is determined to seek the truth about his identity, but as he investigates he runs up against several obstacles -- and needs the help of Albert Campion.Once again we find Campion in the background, not as active as in the earlier part of the series -- here lending his cool-headedness and deductive prowess. However, the story was quite good, but then at the end I got a bit confused and had to backtrack to figure out what it was I missed. I love these books, but sometimes they can get bogged down with dialogue that detracts from the main part of the story.I'd recommend it to classic mystery fans, those who like British mysteries and those who are considering the series. However, to the latter I say do NOT start with this one, but go back and start with the first one so you can watch the development of Campion's character. Personally, I liked him better in the older books.Overall ... not one of her best, but okay.
—Nancy Oakes
One of the last in the Albert Champion series, a young man engaged to be married is shocked when rumors start to circulate about his parentage. Determined to uncover the truth as to his identity, and with the encouragement of his fiancee's father, he puts their engagement on hold until he finds the answers he seeks. However, there appears to be someone equally determined that he shall not uncover the truth. Albert Champion is engaged to unravel the mystery behind the death of an old lady, and with the help of his friend, Charles Luke, find the answers before someone else is murdered.Albert Champion stays a bit in the background in this book, which is a shame, but it still makes for a good read.
—Caroline
