On Christmas Day in the Morning
Albert Campion made a welcome Christmas appearance on BBC Radio 4, when Celia Imrie read the short story On Christmas Day in the Morning. It appeared in a programme called The Other Side of Christmas, broadcast in two parts on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The story was originally published in The Evening Standard on 23 December 1950 and can also be found in the omnibus edition The Mysterious Mr Campion (1963), which was a slightly different version, revised by Margery.
Contributed by Chris Seymour
In good company
‘The clergy-house drawing-room was…shabby and comfortable…A few scattered books showed tastes not far removed from the worldly: fiction by Huxley, Isherwood and Katherine Mansfield; plays by Bridie and Congreve; and, in another but still noble sphere, John Dickson Carr, Nicholas Blake, Margery Allingham and Gladys Mitchell. The cathedral clergy are great readers – they have little else to do.’ Edmund Crispin Holy Disorders [Gollancz 1945}.
Contributed by Barry Pike
For the umpteenth time
Pat Marjoram has been a loyal member of the Margery Allingham Society for many years, and she’s still enjoying Margery’s books, as her Christmas card for last year confirmed. She has generously allowed me to quote from her Christmas message. As you’ll see, she likes Mike Ripley, too – and Youngman Carter is not forgotten. ‘Looking forward to Mike Ripley’s latest Campion book, which is heading my way this Christmas. I’ve reread all the Margery Allingham books in my collection for the umpteenth time and enjoy them tremendously still. I’m re-reading Mr Campion’s Farthing again at the moment. I do hope Mike Ripley keeps writing about Mr. Campion as he’s so good at it!’ (Editor; That’s the stuff to give the troops. BP)
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