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Audible Studios (2013)
Original publication date
1952
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"The Tiger in the Smoke is a phenomenal novel." -J. K. Rowling A fog is creeping through the weary streets of London-so too are whispers that the Tiger is back in town, undetected by the law, untroubled by morals. And the rumors are true: Jack Havoc, charismatic outlaw, knife-wielding killer, and ingenious jail-breaker, is on the loose once again. As Havoc stalks the smog-cloaked alleyways of the city, it falls to Albert Campion to hunt down the fugitive and put a stop to his rampage-before it's too late . . . "Allingham's work is always of the first rank." -The New York Times.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Thoroughlyillread
Taut, susenseful, and utterly unlike most of the novels in the Campion series so far. Regular fans may miss Campion himself, but his few appearances show him changing with the years. The main characters are unforgettable in their own right, particularly Canon Avril, whose morality is central to
The mystery itself is insubstantial; read instead for the Graham Greene-like meditation on virtue and vice, faith and despair. It's very 1950's. Few genre authors capture their own present as well as she does here. As an additional plus the exasperating elitism of the earlier novels has finally softened into a less off-putting moral conservatism . . .
Highly recommended. This one's a classic.
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both structure and plot. The mystery itself is insubstantial; read instead for the Graham Greene-like meditation on virtue and vice, faith and despair. It's very 1950's. Few genre authors capture their own present as well as she does here. As an additional plus the exasperating elitism of the earlier novels has finally softened into a less off-putting moral conservatism . . .
Highly recommended. This one's a classic.
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LibraryThing member joel
Not much of a mystery here. More of a thriller but with very little suspense. Aside from an early mistaken identity mystery, Campion does little in this one and exhibits no deductive reasoning.
LibraryThing member Crowyhead
This is a wonderfully murky mystery/thriller. Meg Elginbrodde's first husband, Martin, was killed in World War II -- or so she has believed for the past five years. Now, just as she is about to be married to Gregory Levett, she begins receiving photographs that, though unclear, seem to show her
The atmosphere in this novel is absolutely bang-on; it's so creepy and evocative, with the London fog insinuating itself into every cranny of the plot. As in many of the later Allingham novels, Campion does not play as active a role as he has previously (he IS getting older, after all), but this is still extremely enjoyable, and Allingham's descriptions of her characters remain some of the most evocative I've read.
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first husband alive and well. She turns to family friend Albert Campion to help unravel this mystery.The atmosphere in this novel is absolutely bang-on; it's so creepy and evocative, with the London fog insinuating itself into every cranny of the plot. As in many of the later Allingham novels, Campion does not play as active a role as he has previously (he IS getting older, after all), but this is still extremely enjoyable, and Allingham's descriptions of her characters remain some of the most evocative I've read.
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LibraryThing member Mikalina
One of the finest studies of the emptiness the doer of evil, the pure opportunist, is left with I have seen in this genre of writing. The human fog, the infinite shades of grey that comes from our animality enshrined in an infinite variety of different cultural layers is delineated by the tiger,
It is a masterful chilling depiction of the dehumanizing process the murderer that leaves all morality behind goes through. Paradoxically, the murderer´s fall from humanity makes him the main sufferer, the one to be most pitied. That Allingham makes us, the ordinary reader, not only understand Canon Avril´s point of view, but in fact embrace it before we understand, lies in the strength of her writing, her ability to strip naked what choices we have. The people the murderer kills, had a life to loose, and we feel for them, for the loss, their´ and their families´. But it is minor to the the killer´s loss, for he is a living dead, in the end, a hollow shell, a human form without any shade of the moral fogginess that make us all human. What Allingham says in this book - without being moralistic - is, that if we loose our moral code all together, we do not have anything of human worth left to loose. And then we really are to be pitied.
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the pure immoral animal that shows up from time to time amongst us. The one that sees through the fog, through the mix of altruistic and egoistical motives that prompt actions in most people, and chooses to use his clear sight, his ability to think and see, to his own benefit, only. This human tiger is further portrayed by the likewise clearsighted canon Avril, who shows that even death is to be preferred to life outside humanity, to the existence in the opportunistic emptiness that surrounds and threatens life inside the fragile human frames of moral law. It is a masterful chilling depiction of the dehumanizing process the murderer that leaves all morality behind goes through. Paradoxically, the murderer´s fall from humanity makes him the main sufferer, the one to be most pitied. That Allingham makes us, the ordinary reader, not only understand Canon Avril´s point of view, but in fact embrace it before we understand, lies in the strength of her writing, her ability to strip naked what choices we have. The people the murderer kills, had a life to loose, and we feel for them, for the loss, their´ and their families´. But it is minor to the the killer´s loss, for he is a living dead, in the end, a hollow shell, a human form without any shade of the moral fogginess that make us all human. What Allingham says in this book - without being moralistic - is, that if we loose our moral code all together, we do not have anything of human worth left to loose. And then we really are to be pitied.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
I must say that I was a bit underwhelmed with this story. I know, I know, a LOT of people have written that this was one of Allingham's finest. Truthfully, I read these books because I enjoy the character of Albert Campion, and I enjoy watching him go after the bad guys. However, here, he's
I do recommend it if you're reading the series, but read them in order and for heaven's sake, do NOT start with this one! It's not Allingham's best, and if you had no clue about Campion, you wouldn't gain anything from starting with this book.
I hate dissing one of Allingham's books, but this one (imho) just didn't do it for me.
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somewhat incidental and I didn't like it as much as I've liked other books in the series. The bad guy in the story was portrayed quite well, but everyone else just sort of fell flat. I do recommend it if you're reading the series, but read them in order and for heaven's sake, do NOT start with this one! It's not Allingham's best, and if you had no clue about Campion, you wouldn't gain anything from starting with this book.
I hate dissing one of Allingham's books, but this one (imho) just didn't do it for me.
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LibraryThing member JustAGirl
Excellent detective novel, featuring the magnificent Albert Campion, complete with mistaken identities, buried treasure, a cast of entertaining characters and a thick London pea-souper!
LibraryThing member saroz
This is a dark, dank, hard-edged book, and with it, Allingham completes her transformation from a simple mystery-adventure writer to a social commentator and psychoanalyst. There are occasional criticisms that her characters are too big and broad, but that just gives them room to breathe; they feel
The one element that really feels out of place is Albert Campion, and it's pretty telling that while he's present for most of the investigation, he has almost no impact on its outcome. I'm guessing that Allingham wasn't brazen enough to borrow Christie's late-stage technique (where Hercule Poirot would barely cameo at the beginning and end of several novels); she felt she needed to give the public their due if the book had "A Campion mystery!" emblazoned across the front. He really doesn't add anything, though, and Allingham's disinterest is obvious; there's a wide-open invitation to involve him in the book's denouement, and she skirts straight around it.
It's hard to say that I liked The Tiger in the Smoke. It's not an inviting book, and much of it is permeated by a sense that something awful is about to happen. It is, however, a very skillful piece of writing, all the more astonishing if you have any sense at all of where Allingham was twenty-five years earlier. This is a grown-up thriller for grown-up readers. And there are a couple of places, in particular, where it will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
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far more alive than any of those written by Agatha Christie, for example. Here, we've got Chief Inspecotr Luke, a moral man stuck in an immoral world; Canon Avril, Campion's uncle, whose saintly outlook is both a benefit and a curse; and Jack Havoc (what a name!), who can really only be called by a couple of very modern terms: serial killer and psychopath. They all get their moments in the spotlight, and their actions play out against a harsh backdrop of drippy, wet, smoggy, post-war London. The Folio Society edition looks almost tobacco-stained, with each of the illustrations cast in sickly brown and yellow tones, and that only adds to the effect. This isn't a nice place. This isn't a nice story. There is no "mystery-adventure" here. The one element that really feels out of place is Albert Campion, and it's pretty telling that while he's present for most of the investigation, he has almost no impact on its outcome. I'm guessing that Allingham wasn't brazen enough to borrow Christie's late-stage technique (where Hercule Poirot would barely cameo at the beginning and end of several novels); she felt she needed to give the public their due if the book had "A Campion mystery!" emblazoned across the front. He really doesn't add anything, though, and Allingham's disinterest is obvious; there's a wide-open invitation to involve him in the book's denouement, and she skirts straight around it.
It's hard to say that I liked The Tiger in the Smoke. It's not an inviting book, and much of it is permeated by a sense that something awful is about to happen. It is, however, a very skillful piece of writing, all the more astonishing if you have any sense at all of where Allingham was twenty-five years earlier. This is a grown-up thriller for grown-up readers. And there are a couple of places, in particular, where it will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
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LibraryThing member Eat_Read_Knit
Is the mysterious man in the photograph really the late Major Elginbrodde, believed killed in the war? How is he connected to the knife-wielding escaped convict terrorising fog-bound London? And just where has Mrs Elginbrodde's fiancé gone?
This mystery is tense and atmospheric. No, strike that.
This mystery is tense and atmospheric. No, strike that.
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It's very tense and very atmospheric. It's impossible to say much without giving away parts of the plot, but this really is a classic mystery and it unfolds magnificently. Allingham's timing is superb, and the prose is excellent. Campion is rather in the background in this story, which means that it stands alone well for those who don't want to read the whole series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Figgles
Of all the Margery Allingham books I have read so far this is her tour de force. Not so much a thriller, but a moving study of the conflict between good and evil, climaxing first in a darkened church and later in a ruined garden on the coast of France. Although Albert Campion is a character his
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role here is a minor one. This is, like the central treasure of the story, a miraculous mystery and will leave you weeping. Show Less
LibraryThing member bunwat
This is a terrific book with extremely vivid and particular characters and an absolutely palpable atmosphere of menace as a dangerous man stalks through islands of brightly lit places isolated and disconnected from one another by the encroaching fog. Whew. The woman could write all right.
LibraryThing member Kasthu
A young woman receives a series of photographs—snapshots of a man who looks exactly like her first husband. An investigation turns up something much darker and more sinister than anyone could have expected, and secrets from the past come to light. Most dangerous of all is a mad serial killer on
The Tiger in the Smoke is the first Albert Campion book I’ve read, having first heard about it in a list of great 20th century mysteries. Maybe it wasn’t the best book to start with, as Campion isn’t a central figure in this book and there’s not much character development of the regulars. But nonetheless I enjoyed this taut, slightly grim story of the chase of a homicidal maniac, loose on the streets on postwar Europe. It’s a highly suspenseful novel; I especially enjoyed the scene in the empty house. There’s also a wonderfully intriguing cast of characters, including an albino and a dwarf. But the “character,” if you could call it that, is the November fog, which pervades everything. This is a highly effective mystery; suspenseful, as I’ve said. I’ll definitely be reading more by Margery Allingham in the future.
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the loose with everything to lose, called Jack Havoc.The Tiger in the Smoke is the first Albert Campion book I’ve read, having first heard about it in a list of great 20th century mysteries. Maybe it wasn’t the best book to start with, as Campion isn’t a central figure in this book and there’s not much character development of the regulars. But nonetheless I enjoyed this taut, slightly grim story of the chase of a homicidal maniac, loose on the streets on postwar Europe. It’s a highly suspenseful novel; I especially enjoyed the scene in the empty house. There’s also a wonderfully intriguing cast of characters, including an albino and a dwarf. But the “character,” if you could call it that, is the November fog, which pervades everything. This is a highly effective mystery; suspenseful, as I’ve said. I’ll definitely be reading more by Margery Allingham in the future.
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LibraryThing member cmbohn
Meg believes her first husband was killed in the war. So why, weeks before her wedding, is she receiving photographs of him in the mail? Campion steps in to help.
This books has some terrifying moments that really grip you by the throat. Great ending.
This books has some terrifying moments that really grip you by the throat. Great ending.
LibraryThing member charlie68
Unusual in that there isnt too much mystery in this story, but has more spiritual depth. Campion is one of my favorite sleuths of all time. But he didnt have to much to solve in this one. But he always brightens a page and illumines a book he's in.
LibraryThing member jburlinson
The typical mummery. Thankfully, the unspeakable Lugg is absent, although there is an egregious police inspector with broad chest and brow. As is not unusual with Allingham, there is one excellent scene hidden in the smoke -- an encounter in a church between the villainous tiger of the title with a
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saintly old bishop who actually lives his faith. Show Less
LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
What an incredibly tedious read. This book is so dated: it is not a whodunnit, but a straight forward tale of daring do. It moves along by a series of coincidences, without any attempt to hoodwink the reader into thinking that a believable plot exists. An example of the poor plot working occurs
This may have been a great opus in the detective fiction genre, when first published but, now it falls between all stalls: the characters are unreal, the plot is ludicrous and the thrill minimal. What a waste of a tree!
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near the end when Avril, a decent man of the cloth, tells Havoc, the Mr Big of London's underworld, where to find the treasure for no better reason than to lead to the denouement when Campion, lake and Havoc could so nearly meet but, even that turns into a damp squib. This may have been a great opus in the detective fiction genre, when first published but, now it falls between all stalls: the characters are unreal, the plot is ludicrous and the thrill minimal. What a waste of a tree!
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LibraryThing member antiquary
This is primarily a conventional mystery, but singular in that the villain (who is also a point of vbiew character), believes I a "science of luck" which amounts to an ability to manipulate probabilities in hi favor -up to a point, it seems to work, though he ultimately dies.
LibraryThing member paakre
London, post WW II, consumed by fog. Foggier still is why someone would impersonate Meg Elginbrodde's husband, presumed killed during war five years earlier. Or is he still alive and wishes to prevent Meg's approaching wedding to millionaire Geoffrey Levett.
What begins as a knotty problem whose
Mourning is not forgetting. It is an undoing. Every minute
tie has to be untied and something permanent and valuable
recovered and assimilated from the knot. The end is gain,
of course. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be made strong, in fact. But the process is like
all other human births, painful and long and dangerous.
The central character is a psychopathic serial killer, and there is a band of freaks who live underground, literally. This is a novel of its time when England was emerging from the war victorious but cleansed of its feeling of indominability.
What begins as a knotty problem whose
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solution depends on a cartoonish detective named Luke, gains in sympathetic characters like Meg's father, the Canon Avril who says:Mourning is not forgetting. It is an undoing. Every minute
tie has to be untied and something permanent and valuable
recovered and assimilated from the knot. The end is gain,
of course. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be made strong, in fact. But the process is like
all other human births, painful and long and dangerous.
The central character is a psychopathic serial killer, and there is a band of freaks who live underground, literally. This is a novel of its time when England was emerging from the war victorious but cleansed of its feeling of indominability.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
It's hard to all this a mystery because there's really no mystery beyond a couple of minor facts. It's more a thriller.
This appears to be one of the later volumes in the Campion series, which I didn't know when I read it. I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why but I
I'll continue with this series, but try to find something a bit earlier to get a sense of the main character.
This appears to be one of the later volumes in the Campion series, which I didn't know when I read it. I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why but I
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think it's that, even though the plot was a bit weak, the characters seemed rather vivid. The exception is Campion, himself…perhaps Allingham expected him to be well-known to the reader by this point.I'll continue with this series, but try to find something a bit earlier to get a sense of the main character.
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LibraryThing member neurodrew
A complexly plotted police procedural set in London after the Second World War. The "smoke" is the London slang for the dense fog of the time. A first, the story is about a scam, a man claiming to be the war-lost husband of a woman about to be married. It becomes more intricate, as the scam appears
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to be launched by a convict who escapes, and who is unrepentant about killing, hence the "tiger". The characters are very well drawn. The inspector and the Canon Avril are memorable. It would be unfair to reveal more of the plot; the uncertainty of motive and incident as the novel progresses is key to its success Show Less
LibraryThing member vguy
Great title but otherwise just old-fashioned without quite making it to classic. Some nice phrasing here and there but a story line that is hard to follow mainly because the narrative point of view keeps shifting, i.e. no central character. Quaintly class-ridden 1950s, with much concern about
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accents; bad boys all have bad accents, while the arch bad-hat has an accent that shifts between proper and not quite proper. Rejoices in the nom-de-guerre of Havoc and the real name of Johnny Cash. Really messes up towards the end when he stabs a chap in a church but chap recovers; then knife breaks when he tries to open a treasure-concealing statue with it. All rather contrived and inconclusive. Show Less
LibraryThing member phyllis2779
The suspense built from the middle of the book on, but I can't say this is one of my favorite Campion books. For one thing, there's very little Campion. The book feels like the odd duck in the Allingham oeuvre. Very dark in physical and emotional ways, not much humor, not much mystery. Ot was still
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a touching story in some ways but I wouldn't re-read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
I seriously was mystified by this book... Albert was mostly absent, but his wife was involved helping their friend Meg.
Meg is about to be married for the 2nd time, the first time she was a war-bride & found herself widowed...
All of a sudden she is receiving photographs of her long-dead husband...
Meg's fiancée runs after him only to be coshed in the head & kidnapped & the man pretending to be Meg's husband murdered w/ his throat cut.
During the war, Meg's husband & his band were part of a group that stormed the house once belonging to his family where spies were residing.... After killing the spies, he went back in & took some of his family's treasures & buried the most valuable....
In present day, the group of men have reconvened & are working to retrieve the treasure, but someone more clever & deadly is also planning the same.....
Three people in the lawyer's household are murdered, the house is ransacked.... A letter written to Meg, by her husband telling the location of the treasure is the impetus....
I really thought this was long, drawn-out & boring! I also did not like the characters... I much prefer to read about Campion, himself than his friends/acquaintances.
Meg is about to be married for the 2nd time, the first time she was a war-bride & found herself widowed...
All of a sudden she is receiving photographs of her long-dead husband...
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photographs of him being very much alive & in the vicinity. When Meg arranges to meet him, he takes off... Meg's fiancée runs after him only to be coshed in the head & kidnapped & the man pretending to be Meg's husband murdered w/ his throat cut.
During the war, Meg's husband & his band were part of a group that stormed the house once belonging to his family where spies were residing.... After killing the spies, he went back in & took some of his family's treasures & buried the most valuable....
In present day, the group of men have reconvened & are working to retrieve the treasure, but someone more clever & deadly is also planning the same.....
Three people in the lawyer's household are murdered, the house is ransacked.... A letter written to Meg, by her husband telling the location of the treasure is the impetus....
I really thought this was long, drawn-out & boring! I also did not like the characters... I much prefer to read about Campion, himself than his friends/acquaintances.
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LibraryThing member sblock
Beautiful writing, but the characters kept doing really dumb things, like teen-agers in a horror flick.
LibraryThing member ritaer
Albert Campion plays small role in case of ruthless killer tracking treasure belonging to his dead commanding officer
LibraryThing member ffortsa
Nothing like an old favorite to reignite the reading habit. I found this on my dusty old mystery shelf and couldn't resist. Something about Allingham's characters grabs me. I love that much of the story is told through the actions of the criminals, and that the settings, in the worst of the days of
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the London fogs, are so evocative. Show Less
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Original language
English