What do You think about Traitor's Purse (2006)?
I take it back. While I still adore Sweet Danger beyond belief, this book has completely and utterly stolen the crown of my favorite Campion book from it.Amanda returns again (you'll probably notice I tend to adore the books with her in them) and this time Albert *finally* gets it, what the reader has seen all along, that she is the perfect partner for him in every sense of the word and he is head over heels in love with her. Naturally, it takes a bad case of traumatic amnesia to do it and his timing couldn't be worse: Amanda, weary of waiting for him to come around, has fallen under the spell of a charming other man and wants out of their engagement of convenience.As if that weren't bad enough, some horrid Axis plan to undermine Britain's war effort--and its sovreignty--is under way and the only way to stop it is locked in Campion's very lost memory. Meaning he has to not only figure out a way to win back the girl of his dreams, but also to save the Empire while he's at it. For a man unaccustomed to being helpless in matters personal *or* professional, it's a humbling position to be in. And quite frankly, though I adore Campion just the way he is, it's a humbling he sorely needs. ;-)
—Azar
Lately I have been exploring classic mystery novels, in order to understand how a good mystery is crafted. I've checked out Perry Mason and Miss Marple. I've liked some, and I could take or leave others. Of note among these volumes is Traitor's Purse. It's the 11th in the Albert Campion mystery series, and although I've never read a Campion mystery before, I was able to follow without needing to have back story explained ... sort of. But that's because of the way the story is told. It opens with Campion waking in a hospital with amnesia, overhearing a guard and a nurse talking about how he killed a police officer. Fleeing the hospital, Campion spends the entire book trying to piece together the events of the past few days. There are some excellent twists in this book --- one in particular that sent the story in an entirely new direction, reinvesting the reader more than halfway through. I want to read this book again to fully understand the nuances of the story. It succeeds on two fronts: as a page-turner and as an excellent lesson in craft.
—Kim Fay
A very odd Albert Campion story that begins not with our hero his usual unflappable self but bewildered by amnesia in the midst of a supersecret mission for King and country during WWII. I always used to think of this hero-with-amnesia plot device as Roger Zelazny's, since he opens the Nine Princes in Amber series with it, but I see now that Zelazny was preceded by another. The device itself is not entirely satisfying, but Allingham commits herself to it, perseveres, and makes the best anyone could of the gimmick. But I mainly just want to hear about Campion and Amanda, and I welcome the sensitivity the author imparts to characters in full possession of their faculties, so I do like her writing better when she plays it straight. Nevertheless this is a romp of a story, a page-turner and a fun read.
—Stven
