Mr Campion's Wings (An Albert Campion Mystery)

by Mike Ripley

A gruesome discovery at an aircraft hanger leads Albert Campion into a turbulent mystery set in Cambridge in the middle of the Cold War.

"Ripley again marries a crafty plotline with a persuasive evocation of Allingham's style and characterizations. Fans of the originals will be delighted"- Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"I have often said that my wife is a constant surprise to me."

Cambridge, 1965. The honorary doctorate ceremony for Albert Campion's wife takes a dramatic turn when Lady Amanda is arrested by Special Branch for breaking the Official Secrets Act.

Never before having taken much interest in his wife's work in cutting-edge aircraft design, Mr Campion sets out to discover more about the top-secret Goshawk Project in which Amanda is involved. He quickly realizes he is not the only one keen to learn the secrets of the project.

When a badly mutilated body is discovered at the Goshawk Project's hangar - the result, it would appear, of a bizarre accident - Campion is drawn into a turbulent mix of industrial espionage and matters of national security. And as he attempts to get to the bottom of the deadly goings-on, it seems that the bicycles and punts are almost as dangerous as the aircraft . . .

• ISBN10: 0727850407
• ISBN13: 9780727850409
• Publish Date: 28 October 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Imprint: Severn House
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Mr Campion's Wings is the ninth book in Mike Ripley's wonderfully written homage to Margery Allingham's Albert Campion. Released 4th Jan 2022 by Severn House, it's 288 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, 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.

This series has been an absolute joy to read from the beginning. 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 since the original authors are sadly long gone. This story turns on cold war espionage, high tech aeronautics, and the shocking arrest (for espionage) of Albert's brilliant wife, Lady Amanda. Lugg is, as always, wonderful, and Campion is self-deprecatingly and devastatingly brilliant.

The clues are fair-play, and the climax and denouement are so very satisfyingly Campion. I really love this series. Readers who are not already fans of Mr. Ripley's Campion, but who are fans of Ms. Allingham, will find much to love here. Ripley treats the canon with the respect (and humour) it deserves. Although it's the 9th book in this series (may there be many more), it works well as a standalone. Fans of golden and silver age British crime should see this as a wonderful opportunity for a long binge read.

Five stars.

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