Deadly Duo (also published as Take Two at Bedtime) is a 1949 collection of two novellas by Margery Allingham, neither of which feature her famous detective, Albert Campion. I’ve discovered over the years that I tend to prefer Allingham’s stories without Campion to the ones with him, so I thought I would probably enjoy this book – and I was right, although I found one of the novellas much stronger than the other.

The first of the two novellas is Wanted: Someone Innocent. Twenty-year-old Gillian Brayton is attending a school reunion when she is approached by an older woman, Rita Fayre, whom she barely remembers from her school days. To her surprise, Rita greets her like a close friend and offers her a job in her household. Gillian has been completely alone in the world since the death of her beloved uncle and is struggling financially, so despite her misgivings she finds herself accepting. On arriving at Rita’s house, she learns that her job will involve taking care of Rita’s husband, who was injured in the war – but why do all the other servants seem so suspicious of Gillian? Is there another reason for Rita’s invitation?

I really enjoyed this story and thought it could easily have been developed into a longer novel. Allingham creates a lot of suspense and atmosphere and although we see everything through the eyes of Gillian, who is rather naive and gullible – the ‘someone innocent’ of the title – it’s obvious to the reader from early on that she is going to be used as a pawn in a crime. I guessed some of the solution but not all of it and anyway, part of the fun was in getting to know the various members of the household, as well as the police officer, Superintendent McNaught, who is brought in to investigate. McNaught is a character I particularly liked; I’m sure he could have been the star of his own series!

The second novella, Last Act, is the longer of the two and it didn’t interest me as much as the first. It’s written from the point of view of Margot Robert, a young French actress who has fallen in love with Denis, one of the grandsons of her guardian, Mathilde Zoffany (known as Zoff). Unfortunately for Margot, Zoff doesn’t like or trust her grandson and has accused him of trying to kill her. When Zoff is indeed found dead under unusual circumstances, suspicion naturally falls upon Denis – but there are other people in the house who all have motives for wanting her dead.

This story has a more complex plot than the other one and a larger cast of characters, but it didn’t have the same atmospheric feel to it and I felt that the characters were less well developed. I disliked almost all of them, particularly Zoff, who was so unpleasant I couldn’t understand why everyone seemed to be in thrall to her. The solution is clever and quite surprising, but as I didn’t really care how or why Zoff had died, the revelation was less impactful than it probably should have been. Still, these two novellas together made a light, quick and entertaining read!