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What better Christmas story is there than one containing a blizzard, a remote manor house, a house filled with guests—and a mystery, of course?
In this Albert Campion story, author Mike Ripley has given us just that gift.
Campion is the creation of Golden Age writer Margery Allingham, of course, but Ripley has continued from the original series. Now, in this 12th and final entry of his series, we see a 62-year-old Campion with his wife, Lady Amanda Fitton, and their university-age son, Rupert, comfortably ensconced in a Norfolk country house in 1962.
A blizzard on Boxing Day has snowed the Campions in, along with Albert's associate, Magersfontein Lugg, who has been visiting; their housekeeper and cook, Mrs. Thursby; and Mrs. Thursby's father-in-law, Lloyd Thursby.
What starts out as a cozy holiday gets crowded—and complicated—when a bus winding along a snowy road, initially set on a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, crashes into the gated entrance of the Campions' home where the bus driver and seven passengers seek refuge.
But hardly anyone on that bus is who he or she seems and the Campions are suddenly in danger. Can they, with the help of some of their uninvited guests, stop a nefarious plot?
It's always dicey when another author takes over a series, but Ripley has gotten strong reviews for his continuation. In an author's note, he writes that this is his final book in the series. And it's a fitting finale. The plot mirrors the plot of the first Campion book that Allingham wrote, but this one centers much more on Campion and his family. It's more enjoyable even, filled with the humor and idiosyncrasies of Albert Campion, but with a warmth that makes it the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter night.
§ Lourdes Venard is an editor for an education nonprofit and a copy editing instructor with the University of California, San Diego. She lives in Washington State.
Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, October 2024
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