This is Albert Campion #5.
Also published as Sweet Danger (UK) and Kingdom of Death (USA)
Major characters:
- Albert Campion
- Magersfontein Lugg, Campion's butler/valet
- Augustus "Guffy" Randall
- Jonathan Eager-Wright, a mountaineer
- Dicky Farquharson, a mining engineer
- M. Etienne Fleurey, hotel manager
- Sniffy Edwards, a rat-faced crook
- Peaky Doyle, crook with the pronounced widow's peak
- Brett Savanake, financier
- Amanda Fitton, a Huntingforest heiress
Locale: Village of Pontisbright, Suffolk, England
Synopsis: Averna is a tiny principality in the Balkans, deeded centuries ago to the Huntingforest family. Long forgotten and abandoned until an earthquake rearranges things, it suddenly has an enviable seaport. The British government enlists Albert Campion to investigate and reclaim ownership. Campion and friends Guffy Randall, Jonathan Eager-Wright, and Dicky Farquharson pose as the Hereditary Paladin and his entourage, and journey - not to Averna, but to the tiny Suffolk village of Pontisbright; wherein are the only remaining Huntingforest heirs. Campion seeks the three proofs of ownership: a crown, a charter, and a receipt.
The meet charming young Amanda Fitton, who operates a mill with an attached dynamo; which she uses to recharge batteries for the villagers. She also has an electric car (and this is 1933!). While Campion seeks the three proofs, he has competition from an evil financier Brett Savanake, who wants them for his own ends.
Review: This story, while written in 1933, reminds me of the Superintendent Richard Jury series (by Martha Grimes) with a titled hero and an sidekick who works the amusing locals, combined with the all-hell-breaks-loose adventures of the Tommy Hambledon stories (by Manning Coles). If you enjoy either of those authors, you will like this one. It also has overtones of the tiny principality comedies (The Mouse That Roared, for one).
Also see this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.
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