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Mystery Mile is the second in a series of 9 novels (and over 20 short stories) with Albert Campion as the fictional detective. They are from the golden age of English Mysteries, which was at its peak in the 1920s and 1930s, and Mystery Mile was published in 1930. Golden Age English mysteries are mostly “whodunits�� involving a particular class of characters; a typical setting might be a secluded English country house. The upper-class inhabitants are generally landed gentry, and often portrayed with gentle humour and a lot of heart. One feature of golden age English Mysteries is to successfully mislead readers, thereby revealing the least likely suspect convincingly as the villain.

I had not read any books featuring the detective Albert Campion, but knew the type of read it would be. Mystery Mile is the name of a fictional town on an island off the coast of Suffolk. However, the book begins aboard a cruise ship rather than a country house there. This conforms to the idea of a small group of people in a restricted space, so we are on the lookout for an unusual event and an odd individual who may be our detective. Sure enough, we are introduced to a thin, blond, inoffensive chap wearing horn-rimmed glasses. He is affable, annoying and seems rather unintelligent. We fully expect this to be a deliberate deception, and soon enough learn that he is indeed Albert Campion, an eccentric young man who by his speech is from the top drawer of society.

With his easy, dimwitted aristocratic air, incessant use of the current slang, and hints of dubious connections with the criminal world, Albert Campion reminded me irresistibly of a rather fey imitation of Lord Peter Wimsey. It turns out that he was intended as a parody of him! But for me, unlike Dorothy L. Sayers�� invention, the humour felt forced, and Albert Campion more of a cold fish. Lord Peter Wimsey’s family and friends are interesting and amusing in their own right, but listening to accounts of Albert Campion’s circle was simply boring. There was too much “telling�� rather than showing, and too much meandering about with the plot.

The racial stereotypes, (including Americans) are always a hazard with this type of period novel, and these were so crass that they made me wince. Too many of the attempts at whimsy seemed merely odd, or embarrassing. And the episode at the beginning where the mouse (view spoiler)[is electrocuted (hide spoiler)] was bizarre, but too cruel to be done for laughs. There were other ways the danger point could have been made.

I realise that I am out of step here, as some readers love this series, and find Albert Campion a witty, ingenious, and resourceful protagonist. However his silly stunts, non-stop flippancy and slapstick humour just jarred with me, rather than feeling endearing.

Perhaps Mystery Mile is best read quickly on the page, rather than as an audio book. At any rate, I did not finish it, reading only about 9 chapters. But I doubt whether I shall try another in the foreseeable future. I would prefer to re-read some of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories I had forgotten. This is therefore not a final judgement, but merely a record of the aspects of a partial read which put me off. Apparently there was a TV series with Peter Davison in the title role. He was quite good as detective constable “Dangerous Davies�� (whose mild manners mean that he is is anything but) in “The Last Detective��, a TV series (2003-2007) based on Leslie Thomas’s comic novels. Perhaps then if any episodes of “Albert Campion�� (1989-1990) ever come my way, I will give them a try.

For a comprehensive blurb, the one on the ŷ������ book page will give you a good idea of what it is all about. I can say that the 9 chapters I read did not indicate any of this plot whatsoever! Perhaps then, the novel would have been more engaging if it had started at chapter 10 ��