Mr Campion's Seance

Mr Campion #7

by Mike Ripley

The truth is stranger than fiction for Albert Campion in this gripping mystery where murder, detective novels and the supernatural collide. 1946, London. The eagerly anticipated new detective novel from Albert Campion's godsibling, bestselling author Evadne Childe, is proving to be another runaway success. Unfortunately, it has also caught the attention of Superintendent Stanislaus Oates for reasons that go beyond its superior plotting. The crime at the heart of The Bottle Party Murder bears a number of striking similarities to a very real, recent and unsolved murder at the Grafton Club in Soho. Evadne wrote the book before the murder occurred, yet predicts it remarkably accurately - is it just a weird coincidence, is Evadne getting her information from 'the other side', or is something more sinister afoot? The repercussions of this extraordinary and complex case will reach out over the next fifteen years, drawing in three of Mr Campion's favourite policemen - Oates, Yeo and Luke - before finally coming to its violent conclusion in 1962.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, British Literature

272 pages, Hardcover

Published August 4, 2020

About the author

Mike Ripley is the author of the award-winning 'Angel' series of comedy thrillers which have twice won the CWA Last Laugh Award. It has been said that he 'paints a picture of London Dickens would recognise' and that 'he writes like the young Len Deighton, wierd and wonderful information and very, very funny'. Described as 'England's funniest crime writer' (The Times), he is also a respected critic of crime fiction, writing for the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and the Birmingham Post among others.

Reviews

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free advance publisher’s review copy, via Netgalley.

I discovered the Golden Age of Mystery when I came across runs of Penguin vintage green-spined paperback mysteries at the Powell’s used bookstore in Chicago in the 1970s. Among the many British authors I found on those shelves was Margery Allingham, and her amateur sleuth, Albert Campion.

For the last few years, Mike Ripley has carried on Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion series. This is his seventh Campion novel. This novel plays out over decades, and several Scotland Yard inspectors. The story is set in motion when a murder in the back office of a Soho club follows the plot of a murder mystery by Evadne Childe, with whom Campion shares a connection. A few years later, a woman connected with the club is murdered after asking Campion to meet her.

When Campion is unable to solve these murders, and then another crime mimics the plot of an Evadne Childe manuscript, Campion is determined to flush out the killer, who he believes is the same man in each case. It will take a scheme set up with the help of Campion’s wife, his right-hand man Lugg, and Evadne Childe herself to do the trick.

Mike Ripley does Margery Allingham proud with this entertaining recreation of a Golden Age mystery.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all six of the previous mystery novels written by Mike Ripley where he continues the crime stories featuring Albert Campion, the main character in the Margery Allingham novels. I've found the resulting books to be a little uneven at times but this one is a total winner for me. It feels like an Allingham novel and I can't say better than that. The plot is wonderfully complicated - a la Allingham. The dimensions of characterization are wonderful - a la Allingham. The story moves along at a wonderful pace - a la Allingham. Wonderful is the word and that's exactly how it felt to me when I was reading it. No stress because something just wasn't feeling right; no impatience because things were moving too slowly; no lack of interest because I had figured it all out pretty early on. No, this one was a success for me from the beginning and I had not figured it out.

Ripley sort of wrote himself into a corner by taking up the adventures of Albert Campion right where Allingham left off. This made Albert a pretty much certified elder statesman and that soon became a problem for me. Albert's age didn't coincide with the trials and tribulations he was being asked to participate in with the new stories. In Mr. Campion's Séance all those problems are circumvented because this story starts and stops in natural ways over a twenty-five year timespan. The mystery stays there, for all intents and purposes an unsolvable crime, while time passes. And yet Ripley is able to keep it all fresh and relevant when Albert comes up against the case again and again. The story revolves around a mystery author who uses a crime in her story and has that crime play out in real life, not once, but twice. How can that happen when the timing for the publication of the book should make it impossible? A twist within a twist in search of an ultimate twist. Good stuff!

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for an e-galley of this novel.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

288 pages

4 stars

Author Mike Ripley write a la Allingham so very well. I could imagine myself reading one of her books, it was so very real.

This is a great little story about a famous mystery writer Evadne Childe whose latest book is eerily like a real murder that occurred. Similar club, similar setting, same gun left at the scene... Inspector Albert Campion and his bosses want to know just how she managed to pull this off. Was she involved? An accomplice perhaps?

Campion sets about to discover just how she did know. When it happens again, confusion reigns. Campion and his lovely wife Amanda set up an experiment to test a theory. The first attempt ends up confusing them even more. But the second test has Campion thinking.

Very well written and plotted, these books are a delight to read. I truly enjoyed it. The book is full of little asides that take the reader on alternate journeys. And Lugg, Campion's aide-de-camp, is a true delight. (I don't care about his part and apparently, neither do the Campion's.)

I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where do things start? In the 1930's, when Evadne Childe escapes her demanding mother, the vicar's widow, by writing a mystery story about a handsome archaeologist? Or when she meets a handsome, much younger, archaeologist and marries him? Or when he's tragically killed in the War? But these things happen before the book even starts, when a young Mr. Campion, doing his war work, brings two young Belgian soldiers to billet on the Childes'. Then comes the book which describes a crime that was committed between the time the book was written and the time it was published--a time when almost no-one knew the plot at all. The dead man was little loss, and Mr. Campion was distracted by his responsibilities at the Nuremberg trials. But it happens again, and this time the police are distracted. There's a third murder before Campion, his family, and Scotland Yard are able to trap a murderer. By the way, I usually want to read fictional books mentioned in books, and "Childe" has some intriguing titles, but from the descriptions granted us of her writing, I'm not sure I'd enjoy them--even if they were real.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mr Campion's Seance: Mike Ripley
🤷‍♀️

From Amazon: "The truth is stranger than fiction for Albert Campion in this gripping mystery where murder, detective novels and the supernatural collide. 1946, London. The eagerly anticipated new detective novel from Albert Campion's godsibling, bestselling author Evadne Childe, is proving to be another runaway success. Unfortunately, it has also caught the attention of Superintendent Stanislaus Oates for reasons that go beyond its superior plotting. The crime at the heart of The Bottle Party Murder bears a number of striking similarities to a very real, recent and unsolved murder at the Grafton Club in Soho. Evadne wrote the book before the murder occurred, yet predicts it remarkably accurately - is it just a weird coincidence, is Evadne getting her information from 'the other side', or is something more sinister afoot? The repercussions of this extraordinary and complex case will reach out over the next fifteen years, drawing in three of Mr Campion's favourite policemen - Oates, Yeo and Luke - before finally coming to its violent conclusion in 1962."

Although I like the premise of the Campion books, I do not like Ripley's writing. I find the writing boring and self-congratulatory on his part. I also find the minutia of each of Campion's dialogs & recounting of his past adventures/conversations dreadful and so I skip most of it.

[Cindy Ladensack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love spending time with Campion and the gang — even more so in this updated series than in some of the originals. The premise of this one — especially the long timeline and the inside glimpses into mystery authorship and book publishing — so engaging. I have a quibble with the ultimate murder (was it really necessary/ believable or just a kind of cruel plot device?), also the setup of the denouement (too risky), and I did guess who- and how-dunnit — but I think the fun in this one was not figuring out whodunnit but finding out the clever way they were going to get nabbed in the end.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review.

Mr. Campion's Seance
by Mike Ripley

I read the other reviews of this book and because I have not read any other of Mr. Ripley's novels I feel like I missed something along the way. I did not truly enjoy this book BUT, can say it was well written and can see why other readers like it. Not my thing but at least well written.

[Debbie Koester · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mr. Campion's Seance" by Mike Ripley. Years ago PBS ran a British detective series called "Campion" and it was based on the books by Margery Allingham. Mr. Ripley was given permission to continue the series. Campion and his wife Amanda and Lugg wind up through a couple of decades figure out a series of crimes that seemed based books written by Campion's god sibling.

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different, very enjoyable. It's a murder mystery that spans decades, different from the usual mysteries I typically read. Lots of fun banter, although it took me a bit on some of the British phrases to sort out what was being said. Very enjoyable.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only if you like to re-live the war and mix it with murder, it would be the only reason to read this book.

[Jim Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

British crime writer Mike Ripley continues to add arrows to his already-impressive quiver with his latest addition to the Albert Campion canon. To the delight of the members of the Margery Allingham Society he has now published his seventh Campion novel. Mr Campion’s Séance follows Mr Campion’s Visit (2019), Mr Campion’s War (2018), Mr Campion’s Abdication (2017, Mr Campion’s Fault (2016), Mr Campion’s Fox (2015), and Mr Campion’s Farewell (2014), each of which have earned the author high praise from both Allingham devotees and the wider reading public.

London, toward the end of World War Two: bestselling crime writer Evadne Childe (born Evadne Walker-Pyne) has published a crime novel in which the rather disreputable owner of a London speakeasy (known as “bottle clubs” in London) is robbed and murdered. The crime seems to have mimicked one of her novels, “The Bottle Party Murder,” yet no one is ever arrested for the crimes.
A full six years from the date of the murder of the bottle club owner yet another killing takes place. This one too shares eerie similarities to a novel written by Evadne Childs. The police are again baffled, but can make no headway in the case.

Fast forward several more years and a daring robbery is committed in the heart of London. A postal van is stopped in broad daylight, breeched, and its contents taken away by thieves in front of startled passers-by. The heist had been previously described in one of Evadne Childe’s novels – a work that is still in the hands of her publishers, and has yet to be released! Yet again the police look into the matter, but they are unable to establish any link between the author and the crime itself.

Aristocratic amateur sleuth Albert Campion takes up the formidable task of solving these puzzles, assisted by a colourful cast of characters including his manservant (and former burglar) Magersfontein Lugg, his wife, Lady Amanda Fitton, and their precocious four-year-old son Rupert. Victims and suspects include Tony Valetta (the late night-club owner), the intriguingly-named “Rags” Donovan, (a former cigarette girl who has taken over the running of the club), two mysterious Belgians, and a spiritualist or medium named Miss Kitto. He is further aided by the familiar-to-Allingham-readers Superintendent Stanislaus Oates, Detective Superintendent Yeo, and Charles Luke, all of Scotland Yard. It is an ambitious and far-reaching tale, and Ripley carries it off with his characteristic panache.

In the original Campion canon humour and social commentary were very much a part of Allingham’s style, and Mike Ripley lends it his own special flavour. There are improbably-named characters such as Thaddeus P. Honeycutt, and of course Campion’s manservant Magersfortein Lugg. And there is no shortage of wit of the nudge-nudge-wink-wink variety, as when author Evadne Childe signs into a seedy night-club as “Mrs Agatha Leigh Sayers,” or when she is described as “a neighbor of D. Sayers and M. Allingham. ” When Lugg expresses his dislike for Belgium—acquired, it seems, during the First World War—Campion inquires why this is so, and Lugg acerbically replies “I only went once and they started shooting at me. No inclination to go back there.” Often the butt of Campion’s wit, when the sleuth apologises for his manservant Lugg he says “he can only read in short bursts because his lips get tired.”

In Mr.Campion’s Séance Mike Ripley undertakes a wide-ranging narrative. Undaunted by the complexity of his project he seamlessly transports the reader between times and places that would challenge a lesser author. Throughout the novel Ripley’s affection for Allingham and her characters is apparent, and he never fails to do her work justice. Mr. Campion’s Séance has a cracking good puzzle at its core, and has earned a rightful place on the shelf alongside Allingham’s original works. It will not disappoint.
_____

Since 2005 Jim Napier's reviews and interviews have appeared in several Canadian newspapers and on various crime fiction and literary websites. His debut crime novel Legacy was published in 2017, and the second in the series, Ridley’s War, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2020.

[jeff popple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Campion’s Séance is the seventh book in Mike Ripley's marvellous continuance of the Albert Campion novels by Margery Allingham and, in some ways, it is the most ambitious of the series to date.

The book opens in 1940 with Campion meeting the famed Evadne Childe at a police shooting range. Evadne is the author of a highly popular series of mysteries featuring archaeologist, and amateur detective, Rex Troughton and is also one of the War’s first war widows, with her archaeologist husband Edmund being killed at sea in 1939 during a U-boat attack. Campion and her also share the same godmother and they again meet briefly when Campion deposits two wartime lodgers, Belgian soldier refugees, at her country estate near Colchester. The story then moves forward to 1946 when Evadne’s latest bestseller catches the attention of Superintendent Stanislaus Oates. The crime at the heart of the book bears a striking similarity to a recent, real life, unsolved murder at a club in Soho. Although Evadne wrote the book before the murder occurred, she predicts it remarkably accurately and it sets Oates wondering. He asks Campion to investigate the matter, but his efforts are cut short when he is sent on a mission overseas. The effects of the murder linger across the 1950s before finally reaching their violent conclusion in 1962.

Mr Campion’s Séance is a carefully plotted and quite enjoyable murder mystery that proceeds down some unexpected paths. The spreading of the plot over three tumultuous decades gives the story some depth and the mystery writer Evadne Childe is a marvellous creation. It takes a little while for the crux of the story to emerge, but Ripley keeps the reader well entertained during the early parts of the book with amusing comments and interesting reflections on crime writing. While the latter stages deliver good surprises, unexpected deaths and a suspenseful conclusion.

See my full review at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/m...

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Mr Campion's Seance is the 7th book in the Mr. Campion series homage to Margery Allingham's Albert Campion. Released 4th Aug 2020 by Severn House, it's 288 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Author Mike Ripley has written several books featuring Campion (this is the 7th) as well as other fiction and nonfiction. The point is, he's an experienced and capable author. I've been a fan of golden age mystery (especially British) as long as I've been reading, more or less, and I'm always on the lookout for more golden age fiction since the original authors are sadly long gone. My "acid test" is that there is more than a token effort to channel the original author's voice. Mr. Ripley manages to a preternatural degree. There were a number of places where it really felt like Allingham herself could've written the text: from Campion's affably dotty facade, to his self deprecating humor, to the convoluted plots which resolve in several varying denouements with a twist at the end which leaves the reader really *thinking*; it's all pitch perfect.

This was a very well written and engaging standalone mystery in its own right. The addition of the perennially delightful Campion, Superintendent Oates, Amanda, and the others, made it irresistible. This book really cemented the series in my "must read" pile. I sincerely hope that the author has more in store.

Four stars. Very strong addition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘You’ve finished it? The new book?’

Told over five parts, the novel starts in 1940 with Albert Campion meeting the famous author Evadne Childe at a police shooting range. Miss Childe is seeking advice on firearms: not research for the detective novels she writes, but as preparation for self-defence when she moves to East Anglia to look after her ageing mother.

She and Albert Campion meet again when he delivers two temporary house guests (two Belgian soldier refugees) to her in East Anglia. She advises him that she is using her married name these days: Mrs Walker-Pyne. Her husband, Edmund was killed in 1939 during a U-Boat raid, and while she hasn’t abandoned writing fiction, she’s set it to one side for the moment. Albert Campion tells her that as they share a godmother, they are godsiblings.

In 1946, with the war over, Evadne Childe’s new detective novel ‘The Bottle Party Murders’ is successful. It catches the attention of Superintendent Stanislaus Oates because it bears similarities to a recent unsolved murder at the Grafton Club in Soho. The book was written before the murder: how can Evadne Childe have described the events before they occurred?

It will take fifteen years to answer this question and will involve several different people and some quite intriguing situations. This is a clever murder mystery, with some unexpected elements and the suspense builds towards the end.

This is the seventh novel in Mike Ripley’s continuation of Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion novels. It isn’t necessary to have read other books in the series to enjoy this instalment, but Albert Campion is such an interesting character that I want to read them all. While I’ve only read two so far, the others are on my reading list.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Jean Kolinofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A storyline may often be seen as ripped from the headlines, but suspicions arise when the book was written prior to an event. When Campion is called in to see Superintendent Oates, he is requested to contact author Evadne Walker Pyne about her latest mystery, The Bottle Party Murders. Released after the Grafton Club Murder, it was written before before the event but was virtually identical to what actually happened. Unfortunately, Evadne had left the country on vacation. Other than visiting the Grafton Club and interviewing the current manager, Rags Donovan, he was unable to make any connections. Six years later another of Evadne’s novels was used as a blueprint for a crime before it was even published. At the time, Rags contacted Campion after recognizing someone who had been at the club with Evadne. Before Campion can meet with her she becomes the next victim.

Mr. Campion’s Seance takes place over three time periods spanning fifteen years. The cases were all still open and Campion has never forgotten them. With the assistance of the three Inspectors involved in the cases, connections are made that finally offer a solution. With the help of his wife Amanda, a scenario is presented to Evadne that she can not pass up as a plot for a new mystery. Evadne is a believer in spiritualists so holding a seance is an important step in their plan to trap a killer. Mike Ripley’s mystery has moments of humor, a touch of the supernatural and a final solution that will not disappoint. I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for providing this book for my review.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts in 1940 and ends in 1962. That is a long time for a murder mystery. The story follows Evadne Walker-Pyne who is a mystery author with an archaeologist detective in her books. She has been writing his stories for over 30 years. Evadne Walker-Pyne is a woman who married a much younger man than her and he was an archaeologist. Shades of Agatha Christie! Unfortunately, her husband died early in their marriage.

When her books become the blue prints for actual crimes, the police and Albert Campion are interested. Although they are interested, they can’t get a handle on who has been able to know the plots of her books (which is a closely held secret until publication).

This book was a delight to read and felt that the author followed Margery Allingham’s style very well. I think this is a perfect book to curl up with on a rainy afternoon. My thanks to NetGalley for providing me an advance reading copy of this book.

[Melissa Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m usually somewhat dubious when one of my favorite detectives is “resurrected” for a new generation of readers by a modern author. Mike Ripley,however, gets Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion as perfectly as if he were taking spirit dictation from beyond the grave. Lugg, Amanda, Officers Yeo, Oates and Luke are all ear-perfect as well. The lively banter among them is straight from the golden age, and Campion’s essential decency and kindness shines through with entire authenticity.

Mr Campion’s Seance spans the years immediately following WWII through the early 60’s (and how old is Campion, exactly by then???)

Like Amanda, I was itching to get a two month start on all the other fans of my favorite detective. My sincere thanks to Mike Ripley and Severn House for an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Mr. Campion's Seance is another fantastic entry in the continuing adventures of one Albert Campion, wherein Evadne Childe (with whom he shares a godmother), a successful mystery writer whose novels seemingly foretell several crimes, drawing the attention of three different policemen (Oates, Yeo and Luke) over a fifteen year span.

Once again, Mike Ripley captures Allingham's voice with a well paced narrative that include subtle nods to fellow Golden Age mystery writer Agatha Christie. While the title is somewhat misleading, it does its job to divert the reader's presumption of otherworldly agents having a hand in real world crime.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1940 Evadne Walker-Pyne nee Childe, war widow, has just delivered her latest murder mystery book to her publishers before she travels to Essex to stay with her elderly mother.
Campion and Evadne, share a god-mother, which she discovers when he delivers two Belgian army men to stay at her home, the Mill House.
1946 Superintendent Oates informs Campion that the latest Childe novel - The Bottle Party Murder - depicts the Grafton Club murders of December 1945, which occurred after the book was written. But this is only the first time. When the plots are kept secret how is it possible.
A well-written and interesting crime mystery which spans the years from 1940 to 1962
A NetGalley Book

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of Mike Ripley's 'continuation' of the Albert Campion mysteries by Margery Allingham. Severn House Publishers released the book in the US. I enjoy seeing how contemporary authors add new additions to the Golden Age authors series. I quite enjoyed the book, but realized that I had not read any of Margery Allingham's Campion books in ages, so I didn't feel able to 'compare' Ripley's work to hers. Despite that, I felt it had the right tone and the story kept me reading.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent addition to this series, it was gripping and entertaining.
The plot is well written and it was interesting to read how it describes and develops the characters over 3 decades.
The mystery is solid, full of twists and turns, and it kept me guessing.
It was an excellent read and i strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.