I thought it would be very suitable for two of my reading challenges. I read it in Danish (I shouldn´t have, but my excuse is that I found it in a bargain bin).
On the first pages we meet the bus driver with the terrifying and uncanny face who carries a revolver and gloves in his case. He kills a money-lender, and for eight months he believes he has committed the perfect crime – until Inspector Charles Luke takes a closer look at some unsolved cases and sees a pattern emerge, assisted by Mr Albert Campion, the private detective. If the murderer had not turned out to be too smart, planning his very intricate crimes and alibis, they might never have caught him, though.
This story was a traditional crime story with lots of atmosphere and interesting characters, but the murderer´s behaviour was a bit incredible for me.
Read for 2011 Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge & Bogudfordringen 2011
Margery Allingham, En morder lukkes ind (1971)
De første linjer:
“Bussens ankomst var tidsmæssigt nøje beregnet. Køretøjet blev overhovedet ikke bemærket af nogen, som kunne være interesseret i det.”
Nej, man bør ikke læse klassisk, britisk krimi i venstrehånds-oversættelse, man risikerer at støde på ´possessive kvinder´og andet mærkeligt, men min undskyldning er, at den var så billig.
På første side møder vi buschaufføren med det rædselsfulde og uhyggelige ansigt, som render rundt med en revolver og et par handsker i sin taske. Han dræber en pengeudlåner, og i otte måneder ser det ud til, han har begået den perfekte forbrydelse – indtil kriminalkommissær Charles Luke kigger nærmere på en række uløste sager og aner et mønster, godt hjulpet af privatdetektiven Albert Campion. Men hvis morderen ikke havde været oversmart og gjort for meget ud af sine udspekulerede forbrydelser og alibier, havde de måske aldrig pågrebet ham.
Romanen er en meget traditionel krimi med masser af Londonatmosfære og interessante personer, men morderens opførsel virkede ikke alt for overbevisende. Hurtigt læst hyggekrimi som ikke ødelægger nogens nattesøvn.
Læst som en del af:
Bogudfordringen 2011, januar: en krimi fra før 2000.
2011 Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge.
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12 kommentarer:
Shoot. Sorry that in the end it wasn't quite up to snuff. Still, sounds like it had some merit.
Dorte - Thanks for this review. I always notice it, too (and it bothers me) when the criminal doesn't act in believable ways. But I'm glad that overall, it wasn't bad.
Sounds like it had some good parts to it, although the murderer's behavior sounds distracting.
HA! Vintage. Too funny...71 was my birth year and that book looks SO old...
Beth: it certainly had, it was just a quieter book.
Elizabeth: 1971 is the Danish year of publication so this English cover may be from 1958 (even older than *me*) - it definitely looks fiftyish and not like something from OUR time :D
I went through an Allingham binge some years ago, though I don't remember if I read this one. Some of her stuff is great. Tiger in the Smoke is the great example, but there are lots of others. She started off making Campion a bit of a fop, or a smart guy playing a fop, but my understanding is that WWII had the effect of making her change Campion into someone more substantial and serious.
Allingham is another writer who's been on my to-read list for years. I might start with a different book in the series, though - I'm not fond of villains who aren't credible.
Seana & Belle: I read two of her stories last year, and while the first one also seemed a bit dated, I enjoyed the second quite a lot. And I do understand that so many readers like her so it is just a question of finding the stories that don´t seem too dusty or incredible today.
Man, I've never heard of the author and it sounds so cool.
CD
Hmmm. I'm not familiar with the author or her detective.
Great review! Sorry this one wasn't quite as good as you hoped. Allingham most definitely has some better ones out there.
I've your review linked up on the progress site.
Sounds like a good read and now I'm inspired to get cracking with my own Vintage reading challenge. Great to see your first one up.
Clarissa: some of her stories are very fine, but the quality varies.
Kelly: she is a Golden Age British crime writer.
Bev: I know they differ; I read one last year which was fine.
Joanne: thank you! I like making some progress in January so I can feel I am on top of my challenges.
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