Mr Campion’s Memory – Review

In early 1970s London, everyone in high society covets a gong. Construction magnate Sir Lachlan McIntyre wants to add a peerage to his knighthood, but his chance to don ermine is threatened by scandal and, much worse, murder. A journalist Sir Lachlan has engaged in fisticuffs with has been found shot to death.

Enter Albert Campion, an aristocrat himself who has foregone the traditional pursuits of the landed gentry in favour of a career in detection. Campion’s nephew Christopher is an aspiring public relations guru who wants his uncle’s help to clear Sir Lachlan’s name, but by doing Campion finds himself implicated. Campion’s name was found among a list of dodgy names in the late journalist’s notebook.

Mike Ripley’s first Campion novel was published in 2014. Mr Campion’s Memory is his eleventh in the series. Each novel is a perfect cocktail of mystery and fizzy wit which builds on the legacy created by Margery Allingham. Recently, Mike brought to a close his excellent online column on crime fiction ‘Getting Away With Murder’ after 200 issues. I never missed a word Mike wrote in that column which is why I made the dedication for Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy ‘To Mike Ripley – For Getting Away With It’. I thought writing ‘For Getting Away with Murder’ might have been a tad tasteless given the unsolved murder of Jean Ellroy.

The humour and expertise Mike brought to his 200 columns of ‘Getting Away With Murder’ is delightfully in evidence in the excellent Mr Campion’s Memory.