The White Cottage Mystery, by Margery Allingham

Imagine being a female author writing police procedural mysteries in the 1920s. Margery Allingham was born in 1904, and she wrote "The White Cottage Mystery" in 1928. She was one the most pre-eminent mystery writers during the "golden age" of detective fiction. Luckily for those of us who love classical mystery novels, Bloomsbury Reader has just reissued this book, and has plans to re-issue more of Allingham's books.

W.T. Challoner is a British detective with the "yard," and he has a young, adult son, Jerry. Jerry has an eye for pretty ladies and offers one, with a blister on her heel, a ride home while driving down a lovely country lane. Shortly after dropping her off, after stopping to put his car's roof up, and chatting with a local policeman, he hears a gun shot and a parlour maid comes running out of house screaming (what else?), "Police! Murder!"

Although constrained by her age to use only acceptable language, and polite terms, Allingham pushes the boundaries set by the British class system and the social mores affecting women. Published in 1928, the plot is actually set five years after the beginning of WW I, which makes several of the plot revelations quite shocking for the time. Allingham also depicts a darker undercurrent, one that is reminiscent of the early Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Whimsey stories, and several of Agatha Christie's novels. Set in England, Paris and the Riveria, the book offers a wonderful window into those places after the Great War. If you appreciate a good mystery, with a calm, polite unfolding of the plot, and no gore, you will love this book. If you have read it before, revisiting Allingham is still a treat. I give the book five stars. (I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

• Print Length: 170 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Reader; 1 edition (October 28, 2011)
• Publication Date: October 28, 2011
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC