Mr. Campion’s Fault

Once again, Ripley proves that he’s the perfect choice to continue Margery Allingham’s beloved light mystery series featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Set in 1969 Yorkshire, Ripley’s wholly original second effort (after 2015’s Mr. Campion’s Fox) captures the blend of puzzle, playfulness, and wit that were Allingham’s trademark. Albert finds himself enmeshed in a murder inquiry after following his son Rupert and daughter-in-law Perdita to the Yorkshire village of Denby Ash. Perdita’s godfather, Brigham Armitage, recruited the couple to take over the duties of a teacher at the Ash Grange School for Boys, Bertram Browne, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Perdita, an actress, agrees to shepherd the production of a musical version of Doctor Faustus, and Rupert consents to become the school’s interim games master, despite his misgivings about his competency. They soon learn that Browne’s death came right after he witnessed a poltergeist outbreak—and that the community has its own witch. Amusing prose (one teacher has “the expression of one who had forgotten how to smile, but did not miss the experience much”) nicely complements the fair-play whodunit. (Sept.)