Albert Campion #13

The Undertaker in question suffers from the unfortunate name of Bowels, but that’s rather the least of his worries. More problematic is his location in Apron Lane, a little bit of Dickensian London that still appears to be flourishing in this brave new post-War world. Urchins abound, and a quasi-feudal order is maintained by the eccentric Palinode family, once the squires of Apron Street and still expecting a certain forelock-tugging deference, even as their fortunes have evaporated.

The Apron might be nothing more than an amusing anachronism if its Dickensian aspect did not include a distinctly Bill Sykes-style of omnipresent threat. With the police prototypically baffled, Campion takes up local lodgings in an effort to identify the source of the violence and, incidentally, lend a hand with the Palinodes’ beloved crossword puzzles.

“A top-notch mystery, full of keen characterization, humor, old English atmosphere, a charmingly decadent family and a few sudden deaths” — New York Times