Mystery Mile
Encyclopedia
Mystery Mile is a crime novel
by Margery Allingham
, first published in 1930
, in the United Kingdom
by Jarrolds Publishing, London
, and in the United States
by Doubleday, Doran, New York
. Following his first, supporting appearance in The Crime at Black Dudley
(1929), it is the first of many novels starring the mysterious Albert Campion
, and introduces his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg
.
Elephantine are an American judge
, Crowdy Lobbett, and his children. A number of people around Judge Lobbett have been murdered, and he is said to be fleeing to England
for safety. Apparent buffoon Albert Campion offers the family sanctuary with his friends in remote Suffolk
, but a local commits suicide, the Judge vanishes, and another disappearance follows soon after. What is the Judge's mysterious secret? How was he kidnapped from a remote maze
? Can Campion and his friends get to the bottom of things before it's too late?
coast, where Campion's friends Biddy and Giles Paget own a run-down manor house.
The night they arrive, a roving fortune-teller visits, and soon afterward the local Rector "St." Swithin Cush, a mild and much-loved man, commits gruesome suicide, leaving a note and some mysterious clues—a red knight
from his chess
set, and the word "Danger" in encrypted form.
Settling in at the manor, the judge calls in an art expert to inspect a possible masterpiece, but as the man (an annoying bore they had encountered on the boat) arrives at the house, the judge vanishes, seemingly inexplicably, while exploring the maze. They search for the judge's secret knowledge, the clue to the identity of crime boss Simister, which has brought such danger, but find only a large box of children's books.
Travelling to London to investigate the judge's enemies, and to shake off art expert Barber, Campion and Lobbett's son Marlowe are recalled by a shocking telegram, but find the local Post Office
man has exaggerated things—not a body, but Judge Lobbett's clothes, have been found. Next day, Biddy disappears, and Campion soon sees that the shopkeeper is behind it.
Thos. T Knapp, a low-class criminal of Campion's acquaintance, arrives with news of their enemies, and they all decamp to London to rescue Biddy, leaving Lobbett's daughter safe in Campion's flat. They break into the house of the fortune-teller
, where Biddy is being cruelly interrogated, and after a fight and Campion's use of a smoke-bomb, escape, leaving the gang in disarray.
Back at Campion's flat, they see a photo of the judge in a newspaper, and Campion reveals that he had arranged for the disappearance, and hidden the man on a nearby estate, following St. Swithin's advice. They go there, fetch the judge, and he, Giles and Campion decamp for Mystery Mile once more, where they find the household, including Mr Barber, drugged. They retrieve the judge's evidence—a book of stories from the Thousand and One Nights
from his set—and Giles and the judge flee using the same path used to smuggle the judge away before, a boat from a beach near some dangerous "soft" - mud that works like quicksand
.
Campion sits in the hut and deciphers the clue—the art expert's name is Ali Barber. The man comes in, and reveals his secret role as Simister, head of a colossal criminal gang, inherited from his father. He tries to kill Campion with a syringe
filled with acid
, but Campion breaks through the floor of the hut and falls beneath it. Barber goes to retrieve the book, but is taken by the soft mud, dying horribly.
Recuperating later, Campion's friend Stanislaus Oates tells him the secret of Swithin Cush's suicide - he was in fact not a parson
at all, having taken the place of his brother who died young. The fortune-teller, a blackmailer working for Simister, knew this and threatened to reveal it.
Biddy and Giles Paget plan to marry Marlowe and Isopel Lobbett, respectively, and to sell the valuable painting for a small fortune.
, Essex
, where Allingham spent some time in her youth, and set her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick.
The book includes some hints about Campion's background. We learn his real first name is "Rudolph", and last name begins with "K". And we learn that that Campion looks enough like some Very Important Person to impersonate him on a trip to Asia. These hints appear off and on throughout many other Campion novels.
Campion's affection for Biddy, and jealousy of Marlowe Lobbett, is quite apparent throughout, though never explicitly stated. Campion's thoughts turn to Biddy again in Look to the Lady.
The character of Simister bears striking similarity to Keyser Soze
, a fictional character
in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects
— an all powerful crime lord, operating entirely through minions so that he himself is never exposed, thought by many to be a myth, to have existed too long to be a single man, and originating from the Middle East
.
, the last of eight Campion stories starring Peter Davison
as Campion and Brian Glover
as Lugg. Originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes, the original UK air date was 9 March 1990. The series was shown in the United States
by PBS
.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
by Margery Allingham
Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham was an English crime writer, best remembered for her detective stories featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion.- Childhood and schooling :...
, first published in 1930
1930 in literature
The year 1930 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 6 - The first literary character licensing agreement is signed by A. A. Milne, granting Stephen Slesinger U.S...
, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Jarrolds Publishing, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Doubleday, Doran, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Following his first, supporting appearance in The Crime at Black Dudley
The Crime at Black Dudley
The Crime at Black Dudley, also known in the United States as The Black Dudley Murder, is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1929, in the United Kingdom by Jarrolds, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York...
(1929), it is the first of many novels starring the mysterious Albert Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
, and introduces his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg
Magersfontein Lugg
Magersfontein Lugg is a fictional character in the Albert Campion novels, written by Margery Allingham. Servant and factotum to Mr Campion, Lugg is a former burglar, with a gruff manner, who hinders Campion socially as much as he helps.- Appearances :...
.
Plot introduction
Crossing the Atlantic on the luxurious linerOcean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
Elephantine are an American judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, Crowdy Lobbett, and his children. A number of people around Judge Lobbett have been murdered, and he is said to be fleeing to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for safety. Apparent buffoon Albert Campion offers the family sanctuary with his friends in remote Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, but a local commits suicide, the Judge vanishes, and another disappearance follows soon after. What is the Judge's mysterious secret? How was he kidnapped from a remote maze
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
? Can Campion and his friends get to the bottom of things before it's too late?
Plot summary
When Campion saves him from certain death on the ship over, Judge Lobbett looks into the man's background, and is advised to trust him. So, he takes Campion's advice and brings his handsome son and pretty daughter down to Mystery Mile, a tiny village on a near-island on the SuffolkSuffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
coast, where Campion's friends Biddy and Giles Paget own a run-down manor house.
The night they arrive, a roving fortune-teller visits, and soon afterward the local Rector "St." Swithin Cush, a mild and much-loved man, commits gruesome suicide, leaving a note and some mysterious clues—a red knight
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
from his chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
set, and the word "Danger" in encrypted form.
Settling in at the manor, the judge calls in an art expert to inspect a possible masterpiece, but as the man (an annoying bore they had encountered on the boat) arrives at the house, the judge vanishes, seemingly inexplicably, while exploring the maze. They search for the judge's secret knowledge, the clue to the identity of crime boss Simister, which has brought such danger, but find only a large box of children's books.
Travelling to London to investigate the judge's enemies, and to shake off art expert Barber, Campion and Lobbett's son Marlowe are recalled by a shocking telegram, but find the local Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
man has exaggerated things—not a body, but Judge Lobbett's clothes, have been found. Next day, Biddy disappears, and Campion soon sees that the shopkeeper is behind it.
Thos. T Knapp, a low-class criminal of Campion's acquaintance, arrives with news of their enemies, and they all decamp to London to rescue Biddy, leaving Lobbett's daughter safe in Campion's flat. They break into the house of the fortune-teller
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
, where Biddy is being cruelly interrogated, and after a fight and Campion's use of a smoke-bomb, escape, leaving the gang in disarray.
Back at Campion's flat, they see a photo of the judge in a newspaper, and Campion reveals that he had arranged for the disappearance, and hidden the man on a nearby estate, following St. Swithin's advice. They go there, fetch the judge, and he, Giles and Campion decamp for Mystery Mile once more, where they find the household, including Mr Barber, drugged. They retrieve the judge's evidence—a book of stories from the Thousand and One Nights
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age...
from his set—and Giles and the judge flee using the same path used to smuggle the judge away before, a boat from a beach near some dangerous "soft" - mud that works like quicksand
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
.
Campion sits in the hut and deciphers the clue—the art expert's name is Ali Barber. The man comes in, and reveals his secret role as Simister, head of a colossal criminal gang, inherited from his father. He tries to kill Campion with a syringe
Syringe
A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...
filled with acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
, but Campion breaks through the floor of the hut and falls beneath it. Barber goes to retrieve the book, but is taken by the soft mud, dying horribly.
Recuperating later, Campion's friend Stanislaus Oates tells him the secret of Swithin Cush's suicide - he was in fact not a parson
Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
at all, having taken the place of his brother who died young. The fortune-teller, a blackmailer working for Simister, knew this and threatened to reveal it.
Biddy and Giles Paget plan to marry Marlowe and Isopel Lobbett, respectively, and to sell the valuable painting for a small fortune.
Characters in "Mystery Mile"
- Albert CampionAlbert CampionAlbert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
, mysterious but amiable adventurer- Magersfontein LuggMagersfontein LuggMagersfontein Lugg is a fictional character in the Albert Campion novels, written by Margery Allingham. Servant and factotum to Mr Campion, Lugg is a former burglar, with a gruff manner, who hinders Campion socially as much as he helps.- Appearances :...
, Campion's servant, a beefy ex-crook
- Magersfontein Lugg
- Giles Paget, owner of the manor on Mystery Mile, a friend of Campion
- Biddy Paget, Giles' sister, whom Campion admires
- Addlepate, the Paget's dog
- Crowdy Lobbett, an American judge, scourge of gangsters
- Marlowe Lobbett, his handsome son
- Isopel Lobbett, his attractive daughter
- Swithin Cush, rector of Mystery Mile, a friend of the Pagets
- Ali Ferguson Barber, art collector and bore
- Thos. T Knapp, low-class London criminal, a friend of Campion
Literary significance & criticism
The setting, the semi-island of Mystery Mile, is based on Mersea IslandMersea Island
Mersea Island is the most easterly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, located marginally off the coast of Essex, England, to the southeast of Colchester. It is situated in the estuary area of the Blackwater and Colne rivers and has an area of around...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, where Allingham spent some time in her youth, and set her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick.
The book includes some hints about Campion's background. We learn his real first name is "Rudolph", and last name begins with "K". And we learn that that Campion looks enough like some Very Important Person to impersonate him on a trip to Asia. These hints appear off and on throughout many other Campion novels.
Campion's affection for Biddy, and jealousy of Marlowe Lobbett, is quite apparent throughout, though never explicitly stated. Campion's thoughts turn to Biddy again in Look to the Lady.
The character of Simister bears striking similarity to Keyser Soze
Keyser Söze
Keyser Söze is a fictional character in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects, written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. According to Roger "Verbal" Kint, Söze is a crimelord whose ruthlessness and influence have acquired a legendary, even mythical, status among police and criminals...
, a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Pete Postlethwaite....
— an all powerful crime lord, operating entirely through minions so that he himself is never exposed, thought by many to be a myth, to have existed too long to be a single man, and originating from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The story was adapted for television by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the last of eight Campion stories starring Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
as Campion and Brian Glover
Brian Glover
Brian Glover was an English character actor, writer and wrestler. Glover was a professional wrestler, teacher, and finally a film, television and stage actor. He once said, "You play to your strengths in this game. My strength is as a bald-headed, rough-looking Yorkshireman".-Early life:Glover was...
as Lugg. Originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes, the original UK air date was 9 March 1990. The series was shown in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
External links
- An Allingham bibliography, with dates and publishers, from the UK Margery Allingham Society
- A series of Allingham plot summaries, including many Campion books, from the UK Margery Allingham Society
- A review of the book from who-dunnit.com
- A page about the book from the Margery Allingham Archive