M. Allingham. Cargo of Eagles (1968)

     M. Allingham. Cargo of Eagles (1968) Vintage Allingham, right down to her habit of revealing essential facts in the denouement. She’s learned something of real police procedure, so she cannily puts the cops in the background, positions Campion as an astute observer rather than investigator, and places the reader in the middle of a dysfunctional village and next to a couple who don’t quite court each other yet end up in each other’s arms. The release of a lifer triggers a number of searches for hidden loot. Campion of course finds it, but not before an unsavoury solicitor is shot and a couple other people turn up dead (one twenty years after his supposed demise). An amusing read, but with a lame puzzle whose solution depends on hidden knowledge. ** (2005)