The idyllic English village of Lindsay Carfax isn't run by the parish council, the rating authority, the sanitary inspector nor the local cops as you might suppose. The real bosses are the Carders - something to do with wool, four hundred years back. They wound stuff on cards, I suppose. But these boys are very fly customers - they're right on the ball. Boiled down, it comes to this; they're a syndicate who run this place - which makes a packet - with their own rules. One way and another they probably own most of it. Thus ruminated Superintendent Charles Luke to Albert Campion who was contemplating visiting his wayward artistic niece in Carfax. And when a missing schoolteacher reappeared after nine days, and Campion's car was inadvertently damaged, not to mention Campion himself, then all the signs were that not all was what it seemed. Campion himself plays the central role in this quintessentially British mystery, but there are appearances too from all of Margery Allingham's regular characters, from Luke to Campion's former manservant Lugg, to his wife Lady Amanda Fitton and others. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the observation keen, and the climax is thrilling and eerily atmospheric.
Mike Ripley is the author of the award-winning 'Angel' series of comedy thrillers which have twice won the CWA Last Laugh Award. Described as 'England's funniest crime writer' (Times), he is also a respected critic of crime fiction, writing for the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Times. He writes a hugely respected monthly review column for Shots Magazine.
Ripley first learned of the final unfinished Campion novel when he was a guest speaker at the Margery Allingham Society's annual convention. He offered - and received the Margery Allingham Society's blessing - to complete the manuscript on the adventures of Albert Campion, who Ripley describes as 'one of the brightest stars in the rich firmament of British crime writing'.
Title: A Maiden Weeping: A Medieval Mystery (A Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mystery)
Author: Westerson, Jeri
ISBN: 9780727895288
Binding:
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2014-12-31
Number of Pages: 384
Weight: 0.5672 kg
Gritty, noirish atmosphere... author's writing style, straight out of Hammett and Chandler. Booklist Once again Guest's past misdeeds actually help him in the present in a case that includes plenty of red herrings and an interesting look at medieval jurisprudence Kirkus Reviews