The Tiger in the Smoke

⚖The case for it

Allingham built this book around weather and dread, and Campion recedes so far that some readers will wonder why the series detective bothered showing up. What she puts in his place earns the trade. Jack Havoc is a rare thing in this genre, a murderer who reasons his way to cruelty and can defend it, and Allingham squares him against Canon Avril's quiet, unbudging belief so the whole story becomes a real quarrel about mercy and appetite. Avril leans preachy here and there. The fear and the ruined city stay with you regardless.

— the honest librarian

✕The case against

Campion barely matters in his own novel; he stands at the edge while the fog and Jack Havoc do the work. The treasure plot underneath is a contrivance the atmosphere has to carry, and Canon Avril's saintliness tips the moral debate into sermon. Magnificent weather, thinner machinery.

— the honest librarian