I love spec fiction. Whether it’s fantasy, sci-fi, time travel, or Gothic inspirational, I read many books from these genres.
But sometimes I like a change. I tend to binge-read, and this past summer, I devoured the twenty British mystery novels in Margery Allingham’s series involving the universal Uncle, Albert Campion. I love the characters and the way they change and grow: Albert Campion, his faithful sidekick, Lugg, and Amanda Fitton, the love interest.
These are detective mysteries from the Golden Age– novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s, but often going into the 1960s.
The Tiger in the Smoke is the most suspenseful of all the novels and will keep you looking over your shoulder as you follow the chase.
In London.
In a fog/smog that lasted for days.
What could be better? Here’s a little more about this book…
The Tiger in the Smoke
“The Tiger in the Smoke is a phenomenal novel.” —J. K. Rowling
A fog is creeping through the weary streets of London—so too are whispers that the Tiger is back in town, undetected by the law, untroubled by morals. And the rumors are true: Jack Havoc, charismatic outlaw, knife-wielding killer, and ingenious jail-breaker, is on the loose once again.
As Havoc stalks the smog-cloaked alleyways of the city, it falls to Albert Campion to hunt down the fugitive and put a stop to his rampage—before it’s too late . . .
“Allingham’s work is always of the first rank.” —The New York Times
Favorite quote: “‘Mourning is not forgetting,’ he said gently, his helplessness vanishing and his voice becoming wise. ‘It is an undoing. Every minute tie has to be untied and something permanent and valuable recovered and assimilated from the knot. The end is gain, of course. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be made strong, in fact. But the process is like all other human births, painful and long and dangerous.'”
I haven’t given up reading spec fiction. I just keep expanding my borders for great books–classics and contemporaries.
Different can be cool too.
