Carroll & Graf Publishers – Carol's Notebook

The plot is simple: Jerry finds a lovely girl and drives her home. Just as they arrive, a shot is heard. The dead man is a neighbor, who is hated by everyone around him. It just so happens that Jerry's father is the famous Detective Chief Inspector Challenor, and aided by his son, he will do everything in his power to solve the mystery. We've got plenty of suspects. Everyone really did hate the man, although no one wants to tell Challenor why. We've got a nice batch of secrets, a few red herrings, and a bit of travel. There's even a little romance because of course, Jerry falls in love with the girl. The White Cottage mystery is an enjoyable read, but I found I didn't really care about any of the characters, maybe because the novel was so short. The final solution was well-done. All the clues added up, but I wouldn't have guessed who the killer was. I...

The Tiger in the Smoke is an intelligent crime novel set just a few years after World War II. It's a tough time in London. Many people are quite poor and many ex-servicemen are having a difficult time. London is also being plagued by a pea-soup fog, which lends a darkness and opaqueness to many scenes in the story. The story starts with Meg, who is soon to be married, has been receiving photos showing, in theory, her husband, who was presumed killed in the war, walking around modern-day London. She calls on Campion to help her. At first, the mystery seems to be who is planning on blackmailing her, but soon it becomes more of a thriller than a mystery. We know who the bad guy is: Havoc, an escaped convict, a psychopath. The man sending Meg the photos had been one of his lackeys. Now, it becomes a race for the detectives to catch him before there are...

Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers

The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham

The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham