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by Margery Allingham

Margery_Allingham Mystery English
  • ISBN: 1567230121
  • Category: Thriller & Mystery
  • Author: Margery Allingham
  • Subcategory: Mystery
  • Other formats: lrf lrf mobi doc
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Yestermorrow Inc (December 1, 1994)
  • FB2 size: 1461 kb
  • EPUB size: 1512 kb
  • Rating: 4.9
  • Votes: 244
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The Mind Readers is the last book completely written by Margery Allingham; her husband finished up. .The Mind Readers is very different from the rest of Margery Allingham's Campion novels. It has a distinct science-fiction flavor and it just didn't seem like Allingham's strong suit

The Mind Readers is the last book completely written by Margery Allingham; her husband finished up Cargo of Eagles (next in the series). So basically I've come to the end of the original Allinghams and it's a sad day. However, the good news is that I have each and every Campion story on my British reading room shelves (and all of the PBS dvds!) that I can read again if I so choose. It has a distinct science-fiction flavor and it just didn't seem like Allingham's strong suit. It was decent, but definitely not a page-turner.

The charm of Allingham was that while Campion was sometimes overly smart, he was much more relatable to the reader than Holmes, Wimsey, Poirot, or Holmes. Indeed many of us know someone a lot like Campion (while a few of the more conceited one might think they are Campion). This means that the Campion stories themselves were relatable, we can see them actually occurring. This story isn't possible.

A vintage murder mystery

The Luck of the Vails. A vintage murder mystery. Nestled along the Adriatic coastline, the kingdom of Averna has suddenly - and suspiciously - become the hottest property in Europe, and Albert Campion is given the task of recovering the long-missing proofs of ownership.

Margery Allingham become. He appeared desperate to talk: marooned amid a generation who treated him as something between an oracle and a pet owl, he seized upon the visitor as if he carried the elixir of life.

You might not read Margery Allingham's detective novels for the plots, but her stories and insights are so irresistible that guests keep stealing them, discovers Jane . Support The Guardian.

You might not read Margery Allingham's detective novels for the plots, but her stories and insights are so irresistible that guests keep stealing them, discovers Jane Stevenson.

Finding books BookSee BookSee - Download books for free. 215 Kb. Cargo of Eagles.

Books related to The Mind Readers. More by Margery Allingham. Mr Campion's Farewell. Six Against the Yard.

Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", best remembered for her hero, the gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Initially believed to be a parody of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective Lord Peter Wimsey, Campion matured into a strongly individual character, part-detective, part-adventurer, who formed the basis for 18 novels and many short stories.

Have you discovered Margery Allingham, the 'true queen' of the classic murder mystery?Fact catches up with fiction when the secret of telepathic communication is discovered

Have you discovered Margery Allingham, the 'true queen' of the classic murder mystery?Fact catches up with fiction when the secret of telepathic communication is discovered. But the device at the centre of the mystery is in the possession of two schoolboys and whether they stole it or invented it, there are powerful interests who will kill to get hold of it. Private detective Albert Campion faces as deadly a challenge as any in his career. Meet one of crime fiction’s Great Detectives, Mr Albert Campion.

The Mind Readers (Paperback). Margery Allingham (author). Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light. She has a sense of the fantastic, and is never dull" Times Literary Supplement "The real queen of crime" Guardian .

Sam Ferris is an ordinary English schoolboy. Well, except for a few things. One: His father is an eminent scientist, based on a military research island off the English coast. Two: Sam is about to be interviewed by a solicitor, giving evidence, in a serious legal matter, against one of his favorite teachers. And three: Sam can read minds. But there's a four: Sam's uncle is Albert Campion. And Sam's story, in all its seemingly unrelated elements, gives his Uncle Albert quite a lot to be curious about.
Reviews about The Mind Readers (7):
Gavigamand
I see that the nine reviewers of this book to date (2015) are about equally split on its virtues. I think this understandable since being late Allingham, it is not up to the standards of her earlier books. At any rate, I enjoyed it despite a somewhat excessive amount of detail about the invention which lies at the center of the story: a device which allows people to read other's thoughts. Being a misfit in the contemporary world of science and technology, I did not feel that she is being primitive in her accounts, rather that she has found a rather amusing way of parodying what was already going on in the world half century ago, when the book was written. Happily, her long-time hero, Albert Campion, plays a bigger role than in some other of the late novels as he helps the government deal with problems created by the fight for control of this new instrument of power and wealth creation. Incidentally, this was the last Campion which she wrote herself, later ones in the series were either completed by or written entirely by, her husband. (She died of cancer at age 62). To those who are devoted as am I to Allingham and other British writers of her time, I should advise that this is worth reading, although one should not expect the quality found in the books of the more vigorous period of her life. To newcomers, I would suggest that one is better off beginning earlier in the series when the author was more vigorous and her books better written. However, if you can get it at a bargain price, it is worth a try.
Yozshubei
This was the very last of all the Campion novels written by Allingham that I have read. It is the worst. This is set in a similar style as a few other Campion novels in that it is not a mystery but rather a pseudo-mystery adventure tale. There is almost no mystery at all other than the need to understand certain characters motivations.

If this happened in another way with a more feasible less science-fiction premise I would rate the story higher. However the introduction of ESP into the novel makes the story seem incredibly dated. Many science-fiction writers at the time, indeed many scientists, felt that ESP was a near certain thing and I have read many dozens of stories by science-fiction writers at that time that seemed to suggest a brand new frontier in mind reading was about to begin. Some stories even suggested that due to mind reading crime would drop to a very small percent.

Alas that is science fiction and like most science fiction it is nowadays thought highly improbable.

The charm of Allingham was that while Campion was sometimes overly smart, he was much more relatable to the reader than Holmes, Wimsey, Poirot, or Holmes. Indeed many of us know someone a lot like Campion (while a few of the more conceited one might think they are Campion). This means that the Campion stories themselves were relatable, we can see them actually occurring. This story isn't possible. The skullduggery between rival companies and nations for a new product or weapon is possible, but much of the novel focuses on ESP and this makes the novel quite simply boring.
funike
The secret of telepathic communication is discovered in Cold War England. But the device is in the possession of two schoolboys, one of whom happens to be serial detective, Albert Campion's nephew, Sam. Whether the boys stole the device or invented it, there are bad guys who will kill to get hold of it.

Canon Avril, who was a prominent character in "The Tiger in the Smoke" (Campion #14 - 1952) takes the two boys in after an attempt has been made to kidnap them. They entrust their telepathic devices (I picture them as small spark plugs) to the good Reverend, who promptly turns them over the chief scientist of the British telepathy project.

I thought that was a rather bad show on Canon Avril's part, as he had promised the two boys he would safe-keep their devices.

On the way back to his laboratory, the chief scientist is murdered.

This was a strangely plotted book, with hints of a futuristic technology that is being fought over by several governments, plus a billionaire tycoon who seemed to be playing one competitor against another. I never was sure if he was a good guy or a bad guy.

Campion does uncover the murderer, but "The Mind Readers" doesn't have an ending that will satisfy most readers. The question of whether telepathy will be a source of good or evil for humanity is left unresolved. The fate of the Campion's nephew, Sam, who seemed to regress into a form of autism without his telepathic device was also unresolved.

Here is a complete list of the Campion novels that Allingham wrote ("Cargo of Eagles" was completed by her husband after her death in 1966). There are also short story collections and Campion novels that were written by her husband, Youngman Carter, which I didn't include in this list.

1. The Black Dudley Murder aka The Crime at Black Dudley (1929)
2. Mystery Mile (1930)
3. Look to the Lady aka The Gyrth Chalice Mystery (1931)
4. Police at the Funeral (1931)
5. Sweet Danger aka Kingdom of Death aka The Fear Sign (1933)
6. Death of a Ghost (1934)
7. Flowers for the Judge (1936)
8. The Case of the Late Pig (1937)
9. Dancers in Mourning aka Who Killed Chloe? (1937)
10. The Fashion in Shrouds (1938)
11. Traitor's Purse aka The Sabotage Murder Mystery (1941)
12. Pearls before Swine (1945)
13. More Work for the Undertaker (1948)
14. The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
15. Estate of the Beckoning Lady (1955)
16. Tether's End (1958)
17. The China Governess (1963)
18. The Mind Readers (1965)
19. Cargo of Eagles (1968)
Munigrinn
Ridiculous premise, with too much scientific jabber. I was bored to tears. Not up to the standards of the other books in this series.
Tygralbine
I bought "The Mind Readers" in the Kindle Edition because I wanted it with me always. My favorite old authors' books aren't always available at the library as they make room for me authors. Campion charmed me from the start.
Cha
I've read several of the Albert Campion books, and this was my least favorite. It was less humorous and less exciting than the other novels. If this had been the first Campion book that I had read, I probably would not have chosen another to read. The work was well written. but not up to the adventure and fun of the others in the series.

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