Margery Allingham is probably one of the best known of the Golden Age crime authors but I’d had no idea that she had also written several thrillers under the name of Maxwell March until I came across this one, recently reissued along with two others by Ipso Books. I didn’t know what to expect from it, but I’m pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it – and I’m sure Margery Allingham must have enjoyed writing it too!
Originally published in 1933 as Other Man’s Danger, the novel opens by introducing us to Robin Grey, the ‘man of dangerous secrets’, a detective who holds an unofficial position with the government. On a secret mission for the Foreign Office at Waterloo Station late one night, he witnesses a young man being pushed onto the tracks and manages to save him. The next day, he is visited by Jennifer Fern, the victim’s girlfriend, who begs him to look into the murder attempt as her previous two fiancés had died under suspicious circumstances and she’s sure it can’t possibly be a coincidence. Jennifer suggests that she and Robin pretend to be engaged and then wait for the unseen enemy to make the next move, but will Robin agree to this – and if so, what will happen?
The story then becomes more and more exciting and convoluted, so I’m not going to say anything else about the plot…except that it includes all of the following: murder, blackmail, kidnappings and car chases; hidden documents, clever disguises and secret conspiracies; a beautiful heiress, a sinister doctor and an escaped prisoner. I suppose you couldn’t describe it as great literature, but it’s certainly great fun to read, with a similar feel to Agatha Christie’s thriller They Came to Baghdad. It’s a real page-turner and I wished I hadn’t started reading it during a busy working week, as I think it would have been better read in one or two large chunks.
There’s not much in the way of character development, but I think that’s often the case with this sort of book. Robin is potentially an interesting character, but I couldn’t help thinking he was a bit careless for a man in a position of such responsibility. He’s too trusting, too quick to confide in people, gets himself into some dangerous situations which I felt could have been avoided and allows his judgement to be clouded by his feelings for a certain young woman…as his colleague Inspector Whybrow says, “I’ve never known a detective yet who could do his work when he was in love”.
As for the mystery itself, we are given enough hints to guess at least part of the solution, although the identity of the criminal mastermind is not as easy to work out. The final revelations are not very plausible and I couldn’t believe that the criminal could really have done what he/she is described as doing (sorry for being vague) but considering the tone of the rest of the novel I hadn’t really expected a realistic ending anyway!
This was a quick, entertaining and highly enjoyable read. The Albert Campion mysteries must have been the books Allingham really wanted to write, but I’m still sorry that she only wrote three as Maxwell March. I will definitely be reading the other two, Rogues’ Holiday and The Devil and Her Son.
Thanks to Ipso Books for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
This is book #4 for the R.I.P XII challenge.
Thanks for the information, I had no idea she wrote under another name.
She only wrote three books under this name, I think, but if they’re all as good as this one they deserve more attention!
Ha! Love the list of all the included elements – can’t think of any she’s missed! Sounds like great fun…
It had just about everything you would expect to find in this type of book. I actually enjoyed it much more than the one Albert Campion book I’ve read… although I’m going to give him at least one more chance to win me over. 🙂
I’ve just starting reading Allingham againand so these will have to join the list. From the date she must have been writing them at the same time as the Campion novels so perhaps she felt she needed a break occasionally.
I would be interested to know what you think of this one if you do read it. I have only read two of Allingham’s other books so didn’t have much to compare it with, but I did enjoy it and got the impression she probably had fun writing it as well.
Those Golden Age mystery writers do love their convoluted plots!
Yes, they do! This was a fun read but it did get quite complicated.
I had no idea she wrote under another name. I will definitely have to read them. I do enjoy many of the Golden Age mysteries. I love the list of plot elements that are included. It must have taken a bit of effort for her to fit all of that into one story!
It was a bit overwhelming at times as there’s so much happening and the pace never slows at all, but it was a lot of fun to read!
Sometimes a quick, entertaining read is just what you need, and this sounds great for the R.I.P event 🙂
Yes, it was a perfect R.I.P. book!