The more I read Margery Allingham's mysteries the more I like her work. She writes wonderful cozy mysteries, but they're smart, intelligent (well written) cozies! The Tiger in the Smoke really deserves a more insightful post than I'm going to give it, but I'm feeling a bit lazy and faced with such an intricate plotline that makes up this story, I think I'll direct you instead to Cornflower's wonderful description and the subsequent discussion of the book, which shed invaluable light on things for me.
I will say that though this is an Albert Campion mystery, he takes a backseat in the proceedings. I got my first taste of aristocratic Albert Campion's quirkiness in Mystery Mile, which was a much lighter read in a variety of ways. Mystery Mile is Allingham's second (though the first really proper Campion mystery where he is a true sleuth in his own right) novel. The Tiger in the Smoke was written much later, and as you would expect Albert is older and more mature.
I had no idea that London is (was?) referred to as "The Smoke", though curiously after just learning this, I've come across the reference in another of my books recently as well! The Tiger in the Smoke is set in a dull, gloomy, post-WWII London. It's an extremely dark and atmospheric novel. November brings with it dense fog, which presses down on characters and story alike. To be honest I felt a bit in a fog as I was reading, but persevered until the plot untangled itself. It's a mystery worthy of a more careful reread. Not only is the weather dark, but so are the villains--none of your garden-variety murderers here.
The story opens with a young woman, a widow, planning on remarrying. For five years she's believed that her husband was killed in the war, but all of a sudden someone has been sending her photos of a man resembling him. The confusion and doubt is relayed to Albert Campion, a friend of the family (peripherally anyway), and by association, the police. It may be a simple case of blackmail, but then bodies start turning up and things become messy for both Meg and her fiancé, Geoffrey. This is a novel where details are important (well, no doubt with any mystery, but this is one where you can't let your mind wander) and relationships particularly so. I had to backtrack a few times as I was muddling people, and one of Allingham's strengths are carefully developed characters.
For a slender novel (though one with tiny print) this story packed quite a punch. It is considered Allingham's best work, and the biographical sketch notes that Allingham has been compared to Dickens in "her evocation of the city's shady underworld". I had already decided I would go back to the beginning and read all the Albert Campion mysteries in order, and this only confirmed my plans. Happily Felonly & Mayhem Press has been reprinting her books on this side of the Atlantic. Margery Allingham has been one of my great mystery finds of the year!