Four Margery Allingham Shorts - two of them with Albert Campion - and a nice Festive treat. If you haven't read any Campion before this probably isn't the best place to start, but if you have it's a lot of fun to drop in briefly on Albert. They're all quite cleverly put together too which makes them more satisfying than you'd expect given the length of them.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Campion, after enjoying the tv adaptations when I was younger. Took me a long time to get around to any of the books – starting with The Crime at Black Dudley – and to be honest I’ve still only read a couple. However, a set of four short stories from Margery Allingham, based at Christmas, just sounded lovely!

And, they are quite sweet. Three of the four, On Christmas Day in the Morning, The Man with the Sack, and Word in Season, involve Albert Campion, two of those solving mini mysteries and the other one a slice of family life with a very very large dollop of whimsy. I enjoyed all of these, picturing Peter Davison in the role, and who doesn’t love dogs with the last one? :)

The other story, Happy Christmas, the second in the collection, is a different beast. While clearly about Christmas, it doesn’t feature Campion and to be honest I was left scratching my head a little over what it was all about. Nothing wrong with it, it’s still a sweet little slice of period frippery, just not entirely sure what I was missing. It’s the oldest story, too, published in 1937 compared with the 1960s for the others.

If you’re a fan of Campion, this is a short but lovely little compilation of cosy mystery niceness that conjures images of a more gentile time.

This is 4 short stories - the longest took me about 20 minutes to read. So I sat in front of the Christmas tree and read them all in one sitting.

The stories have a bit of a Victorian feel to them, although they are set quite that far back.

For someone who loves Christmas and historical reads, I think they would love these. For me, who only loves Christmas, I enjoyed that they were a good wholesome story, but I think I'm better to stick to tales like Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer and The Night Before Christmas.

But a quality short read.

Fab holiday read. Short stories, which are brilliant when you’re busy, all with a seasonal theme. You can’t beat a good murder mystery, and Campion is an old favourite. Loved this!

As a long term Campion fan and Christmas lover, these stories couldn’t go wrong! Short and simple but full of delicious character descriptions and a feel for a bygone time. This is a book I would return to in festive seasons to come.

Four individual short holiday themed stories showcase Allingham's creative versatility. Homey seasonal settings of crackling fires and frosty weather, murder, mysteries, and ending with a fantasy. Treated to a variety in this wintry collection, readers discover more insights of Campion in these choice tasters.
As originally written and published in the British 30s and 60s Golden Age of Crime, the stories offer uniquely evocative insights of the era in dialogue, dress, action, and settings. Sure to be a treat for any Allingham fan!

Find a variety of seasonal reading delights in ~
On Christmas Day in the Morning
Happy Christmas
The Case of the Man with the Sack
Word in Season

I do like to read a bit of seasonal classic crime at Christmas. To be honest I like to read classic crime at any time of year!
Last Christmas I read a selection of Georges Simenon’s Christmas short stories, this year it is Margery Allingham that has been granted to me by the good people at Classic Crime Advance Readers Club.

I have previously read only one Margery Allingham novel (not a Campion story) and it was quite excellent, so this I was looking forward to greatly. Apparently Campion is her great creation but to be honest this VERY short collection proves not to be a great introduction to Campion as a character so I was a little disappointed. It may very well be that if you are already a fan and understand the history and ‘backstory’ of the character that you may get more out of these stories but I was left feeling a little nonplussed particularly when it came to the story of what Campion’s dog said to him on Christmas Eve... Yes, that's right, apparently this is/was a ‘thing’ and indeed it comes up in two out of the four stories contained in this collection.

That being said, in one affecting story in particular there is genuine sorrow and concern portrayed and it is every bit as profound as that found in Simenon, but with a little more warmth.

As I often say about golden age crime stories, it is very pleasing to be able to consider stories, set in the relatively recent past, not written by a modern author either cynically viewing the past or writing a pastiche of a certain type of novel as one so frequently comes across. Allingham’s voice is distinctive and contemporary with the time and situations about which she is writing. We don’t need to imagine how people may have thought and reacted to events; Mrs Allingham tells us precisely as she was there.

Four short Christmas stories, two are detective stories, the last one is a slice of domestic life for the Campion's and I have no idea what the second story was supposed to be.

What is this thing about dogs can speak in the final hour of Christmas Eve? Is this a thing? I've never heard it before and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's mentioned more than once in these stories and I wish it wasn't.

The two detective stories were well thought out and full of characters - perfect cosy Christmas reads. The first one is quite sad too, I really felt for the lonely old lady.

The second story is a bit odd, though it made a bit more sense when I saw that it was originally published in a Woman's Own Magazine in the '60s. It felt out of place here.

The last story made me laugh, it has the funniest married couple scene I've read for a while.

"I take back everything except cackhanded."

"I concede cackhanded."

Campion knows when to take a hit.

Overall, it's a nice little book to sit down with for an afternoon but I wish it were longer, or that they were all detective stories. Though for just £2 on Amazon at the moment it's not bad value.

My favourite of all the past and present crime writers, still the Queen in my book!

Four delicious short stories to whet the appetite for Christmas reading; all elegant little presentations, complete and encapsulated and like all bonnes bouches leaving us wanting more!

Highly recommend this group of Christmas stories from Margery Allingham.I enjoyed each story each with the Christmas theme woven in.Would make a lovely stocking stuffer ,#netgalley #agora

I don’t think I’ve run into this series character before, and I find him very charming in these series. These are gentle stories that are more about the season than the mystery. A lot of slang and references have been lost in time, and I only happened to learn recently that it was once a custom to hang all the presents from the tree with ribbons (try hanging a new laptop) or I would have been a bit lost. The only thing that jarred was a definite need for closer editing – someone relied too heavily on spell-check when they produced this book. Some of the malaprops are humorous, but most are just annoying. The stories were written, of course, in the 1930s and you have to be ready for a different style of writing. Just slow your mind down, brew a pot of Christmas tea, sit by the fire and enjoy.

Margery Allingham is my favourite writer of the ‘Golden Age’ of detective fiction, so I was delighted to receive Campion at Christmas from Agora Books and NetGalley. There are only four stories in this collection and they’re very slight. Three are from previous collections and one was originally printed in Woman’s Own. The longest and best is The Case of the Man with the Sack, which is a classic ‘Campion spends time at a country house’ story. If you already like Albert Campion, you’ll want to read these stories but if you’re new to Allingham, it would be much better to start with a full-length novel like The Beckoning Lady or Sweet Danger.

You can’t like Michael Edward’s writing and not have an appreciation for the golden age of crime.
Margaret Allingham is a treasured figure in this period; that one reads and criticises her work with caution looking for self-preservation or the hope to remain credible in your reviewing of crime fiction.
Campion at Christmas is a collection of 4 short stories about how her famous detective spent this seasonal period, as a guest of others or in his own home.
These are not over-plotted gems rich on complex matters but simple tales that capture the spirit of Christmas from sending cards, buying gifts, decorations and relationships.
There’s a wealth of historical value here to digest aa we gaze upon a servant heavy society and recall a less commercial time. There is a joy and those simple truths to consider away from social media.
Of the stories contained in this book. I enjoyed the first which has a puzzle to solve and the final one which reflects the Christmas message. Peace on Earth.
Of the others I would have to re-read the second as I lost it’s direction and story values and in the third it seemed all a little predictable to fully engage my mind.
I like Campion and the easy characters depicted but beware this is set within a different world even though television is mentioned. A time of mistletoe, when kisses were sought and when animals were lovingly considered to be granted the power of speech on Christmas Eve.
Objectively, and not listening to my dog’s opinion, I think I will commit to reading more in the hope of falling under the author’s spell.

This is a wonderful little short story collection by an author I haven't heard of before (for shame!), it's a really quick read because, short stories, and it gave me a taster of the writing and of the characters in the Campion series.

As these are all set at Christmas it's given me a little bit of push to get into the spirit of the season.

Have a couple more stories to read by this author now so will be getting to them soon.

*Huge thanks to Margery Allingham, Agora Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

A fine mixture of Christmas themed short stories. Not all are mysteries, not all are Campion. Pure Allingham but, alas, the book is far too short to be satisfying. Good preview, but leaves the reader wanting more.

This is a collection of short stories, three of which feature Albert Campion. I really enjoyed both “On Christmas Day in the Morning”, and “The case of the Man with the Sack”. Both of these stories focus on Campions skill as a detective and observer of human nature.

I felt pretty neutral about the other two stories in this collection. The third Campion story, “Word in Season”, was not a mystery, but consisted mostly of musings by Campions dog, who felt that the Campion’s domestic harmony was in danger. At the end, all is well. I didn’t hate it, but I certainly didn’t love it either.
The other story in this collection, “Happy Christmas”, was really a “feel good” story about a young couples happy Christmas, brought about by inviting the lady upstairs to join them.

These were very quick to read stories, and I doubt that the four stories together took much over an hour to read. They are certainly worth the time it takes to read them.

4 short stories with a Christmas theme, two of which are Campion mysteries, with another one being a charming Campion story told from the point of view of his dog. The story that did not feature Campion didn’t do it for me, but all the Campion stories were enjoyable. But be aware that these are all short stories, so it is a very quick read.

I enjoyed this book but would have preferred a book of all Albert Campion stories and drop the Christmas theme. I am a fan of Margery Allingham but was not enamoured of two of the stories _ hence the three stars Personally I really enjoy Campion solving crimes and feel that this is where the author is at her best.

This is a very short book, with 4 stories, whilst I am a great fan of Margaret Allingham's Campion books, this really didn't do I for me. With only two stories that passed as mysteries, it was quickly read.
Having said that, it is a book of the era and represents the style and type of fiction of the times.

Margery Allingham was one of the four 'Queens of Crime' of the Golden Age, together with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L Sayers, and this short collection of four festive stories is a perfect introduction to her work. Three of the stories feature Campion, her most famous character, including a glimpse at his domestic life in Word In Season, while the fourth - Happy Christmas - is a delightful vignette featuring a couple trying to recreate a Victorian Christmas.