Weird. Dated. Wordy. Some very fine words and sentences but altogether too many. Also, weirdly sexist and racist in disturbingly offhand ways. It was a bit of a slog to get to the end—the murderer, it was a mystery after all, but by then I just wanted to be done with it.

The Fashion in Shrouds by Margaret Allingham
Detective Albert Campion has a talented dress designer sister with celebrated clients. Georgia Wells is a glamorous actress who exemplifies the 1930s femme fatale. Vain, stupid, and selfish, she attracts men like moths to a flame. When these men die, Albert suspects Georgia is more deliberately fatale than alluring.
Purchased from Audible.
Published in the late 1930s, this is a book much of it's time - there's language and ideas in here that some modern readers might find offensive, so should be avoided if the reader is one likely to jump to indignation.
Richard Portland-Smith disappeared without a trace three years previously. Albert Campion has recently found his skeleton in some woods, with a bullet in the remains. The investigation of his apparent suicide, which turns out to be murder, leads to Richard's former fiancée, the actress Georgia Wells, and onto a further series of deaths. Albert Campion's involvement is more than just professional this time, because the case involves his sister Valentine, Georgia's dress designer and occasional friend.

Georgia's 2nd husband (3rd fiancée after Richard), is due to depart on a diplomatic mission to some Colonial Island State, but whilst his wife flirts with the chief aeronautical designer, the husband is found dead in the plane about to take him off. It's then for Campion and friends to work out whodunnit.

The book is published 20 years after WWI, and just before WWII. A lot can be said about how working women are portrayed - one of the women is a well thought of engineer - but considering this was published in the year proceeding WWII, there is no indication that anything is wrong in Europe. In fact the only people that could be considering trouble are the Colonial foreigners!

So, on the whole a decent crime novel with plenty of twists and turns. A few scenes and characters that had me twitching (but which I cant talk about without giving away some spoilers. Only tip is that you need to pay attention to *everyone*!

This isn't the best entry in the series. There are an increased number of characters here, a number of them female.Spolier ridden review follows.
The crimes seems to be centered upon Georgia Wells, an actress who is portrayed as voluptuous, a femme fatale who goes after what she wants and expect to get it, while not being terribly bright, being rather vulgar and not at all classy. At times it seems that she is being set up as the villain, while also being portrayed as not bright enough to carry it off.
Also in the frame is Campion's sister, Val. She's the designer at a fashion house. While seeming, to modern eyes, to have a perfectly sensible career and her life in balance, she is repeatedly portrayed as being inferior to Campion and men in general. She has a suitor, Alan Dell, who also has a successful career as an aircraft designer. Along the way, he is seduced by Georgia Wells, before offering marriage of a form that would lead me to tell him to stuff it.
The third woman with a key part to play is Caroline Adamson, who starts the book as a model at the design house, until she leaks a new design for Georgia's latest dress and appears with Ramillies wearing the same dress as Georgia at a nightclub they all attend on the same evening. She is variously portrayed as a victim and a villain.
The final female comes off a bit better. Amanda is a young lady of good family, who gets herself involved with the investiagtion and, to explain her presence, engaged to Campion. By the end I remain unclear of this is still a fake engagement or not. It leaves an odd taste in the mouth, the age difference especially.
The murders start with the discovery of a 3 year old body of Georgia's previous fiance, Richard (later we find out that they were married), he vanished and not long after Georgia marries Raymond Ramillies, to whom she is married at the start of the book. The fact of her marriage leads you to the conclusion that she knew that Richard was dead, aiming to replace him with Raymond, When Raymond dies, there's the suspicion that she was trying to replace him with Alan. The idea that this is somehow Georgia's doing is played out against the constant repetition that she's not clever enough to carry off that kind of scheme without blabbing.
The book itself is rather complicated, with the police not getting involved until the third death. Then Oates comes along and the investigation takes on more structure. It feels rather like Campion is taking sides, trying to protect his sister and his circle in the middle of the investigation.
It went past quickly enough, but I;m not sure that the tone and the way that the women are presented doesn't leave a sour taste in the mouth. ( )

I really enjoyed The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham, the 10th book in her Albert Campion series. I was intrigued by the characters which included both Campion’s sister, fashion designer Valentine as well as the reappearance of Amanda Fitton, who first made her appearance in book number 5, Sweet Danger. Amanda has now grown up and is working as an aircraft engineer. She and Albert decide to work together gathering information and so embark on a fake engagement but really they are fooling no one, these two are meant to be together.

The mystery is quite complex as Campion tries to figure out how a popular actress manages to have the unwanted men in her life conveniently die. This actress is vain, selfish and self-obsessed but could she be intelligent enough to carry out a murder? Then when his own sister is implicated in the recent death of the actress’ latest husband, he realizes that he has to solve the mystery and find out who is the murderer.

As well as giving the reader more information about the mysterious Campion, and giving us clues to work through toward solving the mystery, the author uses this novel to expose some less than stellar truths about fashionable society in 1930’s London. There were a few racist and sexist statements that reflect the 1930s viewpoint but overall this was a very good addition to the series. ( )

A good Albert Campion outing with some great development of Amanda’s character. The story is somewhat hampered by too many characters, and by a disconcerting attitude toward the “essential nature of women.” But the humor and the convoluted plot make up for any faults. ( )