‘The man and the woman carried the body cautiously up the stairs… Meanwhile, in the apartment above, Mr Albert Campion, who was in that particular state of ignorance wherein it is downright idiocy to be wise, was taking a warm bath.’

It is Mr Campion’s first moment of peace after three years of nameless service in the war. Catching his train is his only worry. But his peace is rudely interrupted by Lugg’s helpful disposal of the unknown woman foundd ead in the bed of Lord Carados on the eve of his wedding.

The machinations of a dotty dowager, the fate of a bottle of wine, a young widow in love and the affairs – public and private – of his lordship, Lugg’s feeling for his pig, treachery that threatens the nation and, of course, murder, all combine to keep Campion from his train and a vital meeting. But not for too long…

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-016611-4

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

Will Albert Campion give up detection and turn respectable?

Perhaps… but after a series of coincidences, culminating in a letter from Lugg’s brother-in-law, Campion can no longer resist involvement in the eccentric Palinode household, where there have been two suspicious deaths. And if poisoning were not enough, there are also anonymous letters, sudden violence, a dying convict’s last words and a vanishing coffin. Meanwhile, the residents of Apron Street go about their nocturnal business… For Campion, finding the truth is a very dificult and dangerous undertaking.

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008777-X

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

The edition sited above was the first unabridged edition of what is considered Margery Allingham’s blackest comedy to be published by Penguin in over twnety years.

How could a painting commit murder… ?

John Sebastian Lafcadio, R.A., ‘probably the greatest painter since Rembrandt’ (according to himself), is dead. But his influence is not.

He wanted lasting fame and he left instructions to his wife, Belle, for one painting to be exhibited every year after his death. Eight years later in Little Venice, a select group of friends and family gather to view the eighth painting.  They are treated instead to a murder. The lights go down, and a young man is stabbed to death.

Albert Campion is one of the guests, and in his deceptively calm way he gets to work onthe baffling case, with its long – suspiciously long – line-up of possible killers. Soon Campion finds himself having to fac his dearest enemy…

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008423-1

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

Everyone fell under the spell of Jimmy Sutane, the charming and talented song-and-dance man.

Everyone, that is, except the spiteful practical joker who put a pin in his stick of grease-paint and pasted ‘Last Week’ over the ‘House Full’ notices. Nothing to deadly. But as soon as AlbertC ampion is called in to investigate, people begin to die, and there’s no shortage of suspects when the first victim’s death is so convenient for so many.

As the death toll rises and the tension mounts, Margery Allingham’s imperturbale detective loses his heart – and his customary detachment – when he falls violently in love with Jimmy sutane’s wife…

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008782-6

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

The path that a murderer takes to reach his victim is fraught with risk.

So whoever killed Matt Phillipson on that rainy night in London’s theatreland must ensure that he was not spotted. When Polly Tassie, owner of the museum of curiosities, is offered a ride home in a taxi, she does not realise she is being deliberately removed from the scene.

Inspector Luke and the deceptively sharp-eyed Mr Campion make a bizarre but accurate connection that leads them along a mysterious chain of clues: that the two old people huddled on a bus as the murderer went to work were not in fact witnesses, but waxworks…

‘The book’s great, gripping virtue is its Dickensian love for London, and its Dickensian gusto: they give an extra dimension to a splendid thriller’ – Spectator

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-016615-7

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

I’m not going to make any more comments at this stage, especially as for me Miss Marple will always be Joan Hickson, but I will await this new series with interest.

“That was the beauty of Campion; one never knew where he was going to turn up next – at the Third Levee or swinging from a chandelier…”
Here Albert Campion poses as the king of a tinpot Balkan state looking for his lost crown – an odd thing to do, even for Mr Campion, particularly as he is doing it in Mentone, at the Hotel Beauregard of all places. Guffy Randall is stolid, Nordic and logical, but his curiosity is aroused, and he cannot resist the temptation to join in the tantilising treasure hunt.

Sweet Danger is perfectly crafted, full of surprising twists and turns. What starts as a light-hearted, slightly crazy wild-goose chase becomes something much more dangerous, nasty and sinister.

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008779-6

Cover art by Andrew Davidson

Great Aunt Caroline rules the roost in an old Cambridge residence which is riddled with mystery, evil…and terror.
Uncle Andrew is dead, Aunt Julia is poisoned, Uncle William attacked…and once again Albert Campion, that much-loved hero of detective fiction, comes to the rescue. With her customary skill Margery Allingham takes the reader through a delightful maze of intrigue as Albert Campion, bland, blue eyed and deceptively vague, encounters the formidable Great aunt Caroline and her bizarre household of horror.

‘Both her passions and her patterns are beautiful, accurate and serene’ – Daily Telegraph

First published by Heinemann 1931 – dedicated ” To my seven paternal uncles”

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008780-X – Cover art by Andrew Davidson

Interesting Fact

In this story we discover that Albert Campion’s true first name is in fact Randolph, and that there is far more to our hero’s heritage than meets the eye.

When George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he has only one thing on his mind – proposing to Meggie Oliphant.
Unfortunately for George, things don’t quite go according to plan. A harmless game turns decidedly deadly and suspicions of murder take precedence over matrimony. Trapped in a remote country house with a murderer, George can see no way out. But Albert Campion can.

The Crime at Black Dudleyis Campion on peak form, his razor wit well masked by his innocent appearance, and his aptitudefor solving the most fiendish crimes undimmed.

First published in 1929

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-009381-1 – Cover art by Andrew Davidson

Cover Synopsis

‘Everyone ought to have done it, but by the evidence nobody had’
Seven suspects all have an excellent motive for killing Eric Crowther, the mysterious recluse. He knew their secrets. They lived in fear of him. And they all wanted him dead. Only one person had the courage to pull the trigger. The quest for that one person takes Detective Chief Inspector Challoner and his son Jerry half way across Europe and into the suspects’ past before a surprising discovery is made.

Margery Allingham’s first detective story was originally published as a newspaper serial. Her sister Joyce skilfully revised the text, transforming it into a masterpiece of detective fiction untarnished by time.

Penguin Edition – ISBN 0-14-008785-0 – Cover art by Andrew Davidson