THE TIGER IN THE SMOKE by Margery Allingham

The Tiger In The Smoke

by Margery Allingham

(Vintage £8.99)

Allingham was well established as a leading light of crime fiction when she came to write Tiger In The Smoke. All the signs are of a gifted writer aiming higher than the formulaic mystery novel.

In fact, the mystery, such as it is, of a supposed treasure hidden away in the ruins of war, is secondary to the conflict between good and evil — the latter personified by Jack Havoc, a vicious street fighter ever ready to put the knife or the boot in to get what he wants.

In pursuing him to his end, Albert Campion, Allingham’s recurring hero, takes a leading role.

But this is no longer Campion as the upper-class twit whose goofy looks mask a brilliant mind. Rather, we have a dedicated upholder of decency, a valued ally of the elderly clergyman who risks his life to light a spark of humanity in the seemingly irredeemable Havoc.

London at its post-war dingiest makes for a fitting backdrop to a tale that could easily have tipped over into melodrama but for the author’s unfailing grip on the reality of place and character.

Tiger In The Smoke is Allingham on top form.

MAIGRET by Georges Simenon

Maigret

by Georges Simenon

(Penguin Modern Classics £6.99)

It was billed as Maigret’s final appearance. After a string of bestsellers featuring the taciturn chief inspector, Simenon was heartily sick of his literary treadmill.

So it was that in this notional signing off, Maigret is found enjoying his retirement. But not for long. His rural seclusion is shattered when his nephew seeks his help. A police rookie, he stands accused of an unlawful killing.

Reluctantly, Maigret returns to his Parisian beat to expose complacency and corruption among his former colleagues.

It is Simenon’s images of low life that are indelible; a young prostitute as she takes the downward track from Maxim’s to Montmartre; the line-up of petty criminals as they strip naked for a prison medical. The smell of cheap liquor and stale tobacco lifts off the page.

In the event, Simenon did not give up on Maigret. After this eponymous novel there were another 56 mysteries for his hero to solve. Penguin is republishing them in new translations at a rate of one a month, an inestimable service to classic crime.

Superfluous Women

SUPERFLUOUS WOMEN by Carola Dunn

by Carola Dunn

(Constable £7.99)

Strict feminists may not like the title. How can there be too many women? But the phrase, though derogatory, is based on historical truth: the plight of young women who lost their chance of marriage and family in the slaughter of the Great War.

Daisy Dalrymple is one of the lucky ones, happily married to a senior Scotland Yard detective who tolerates her insatiable curiosity and her compulsion to involve herself in police affairs.

They visit three of Daisy’s old school friends who have set up house together. Exploring their new home, they find the cellar barred against them.

Handy work on the lock with a wire coat-hanger reveals a steep flight of steps leading down to a decomposing corpse.