Mystery Women Authors
Margery Allingham
Biography
Margery
Allingham was educated at the Perse School and Regent Street Polytechnic, she
wrote her first novel while still in her teens. She began to leave a lasting
mark on modern fiction in 1928, when, at the age of twenty-three, she wrote
the first of her Albert Campion detective novels. Her early books, such as The
Crime at Black Dudley, Mystery Mile and Look to the Lady,
had to be written in spare time hard won from her film work. At that time her
books were beloved by the few advanced spirits who enjoyed her gay and distinctive
approach to the problems and pleasures of post-war youth. Since then her gentle
detective and his strong-arm colleagues have become known and loved by readers
of all ages all over the world.
Margery Allingham also acquired a reputation as a more serious writer. In an Observer review of The Fashion in Shrouds, Torquemada remarked that 'to Albert Campion has fallen the honour of being the first detective to feature in a story which is also by any standard a distinguished novel'. Her novels cover a broad field. They vary in treatment from the grave to the frankly satirical, yet each example contrives to conform to the basic rules of the good detective tale.
Margery Allingham's work has been perennially popular in the United Kingdom and America, and this popularity was given a boost in 1989 with the adaptation of four of her novels for British television, starring Peter Davison (of All Creatures Great and Small fame) as Albert Campion. A second series followed in 1990, adapting another four novels.
Margery Allingham was married to Philip Youngman Carter and lived for many years on the edge of the Essex Marshes. Late in her career, Margery Allingham's work was shared with her husband, Phillip Youngman Carter. Indeed, some of the later novels bear both their names in the credits. These works, including The Mind Readers and Cargo of Eagles depict the familiar character of Albert Campion growing into middle age with the same wit and charisma as the earliest books. She died in 1966.
Only a few of her books are readily available. Those that can be ordered from Amazon.com are linked. The remainder are either out of stock or a special order for hardback editions.
Books
Albert Campion Mysteries
Margery Allingham wrote many mysteries in the 1960s involving her protagonist Albert Campion. Nearly all these books have been reprinted in the early 90s. The list of books below is in alphabetical order and not all feature Campion.
The Black Dudley Murder
Published Buccaneer Books1993
Black Plumes
The slashing of a valuable painting at the renowned Ivory Gallery in London, followed by the murder of the proprietor's son-in-law, Robert, sets the stage for another finely tuned Allingham mystery. The proprietor's mother, 90-year-old Gabrielle Ivory, holds the key to the web of intrigue and danger that permeates the gallery. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1995
Cargo of Eagles
Published Yestermorrow 1995
Case of the Late Pig
Published Avon 1989
The China Governess
Timothy Kinnit had everything - wealth and good looks. Then it happened: he learned he was adopted. His search in London for the facts of his birth involved a tale of evacuation and a mentally deficient youth, drags up a murder and sets off another, before Albert Campion can reveal the truth. (Synopsis from Penguin)
Published Yestermorrow 1993
Coroner's Pidgin
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 the discovery he makes as he steps out of the bath. (Synopsis from Penguin)
Published Amereon Ltd 1940
Crime and Mr Campion
Published Doubleday 1959
Dancers in Mourning
Strange
pranks are being played on dancer Jimmy Sutane, star of London's Argosy Theatre.
When they spread to the Sutanes' country estate, it becomes apparent that someone
wants Jimmy's famous feet to tap their final dance. Campion never dreamed the
big show-stopper would be murder--and a case that promises to test his mind
and break his heart. (From Amazon.com
synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1996
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The Darings of the Red Rose
Published Crippen & Landu
Deadly Duo
Deadly Duo presents two superb novellas of murder most mysterious, Wanted: Someone Innocent and Last Act. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1996
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Death of a Ghost
The first killing took
place at a crowded art show, in full view of the cream of London society. For
the second killing, only the victim and the murderer were present. Now the scene
was set for the third--a lavish dinner party with vintage wines, and with Albert
Campion's death as the main course. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1997
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The Estate of the Beckoning Lady
Published Doubleday 1955
The Fashion Shroud
Among the beautiful people, George Well's suicide was last year's gossip. But Albert Campion refused to close the books on the case and soon finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse. A maze of adultery, blackmail and espionage leads to a series of bizarre murders in the world of the wealthy. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1995
Fear Sign
Published Aeonian Pr(Amerx) 1988
Flowers for the Judge
One
morning, Tom Barnabas of the publishers Barnabas & Company left his house
as usual, then simply vanished. Twenty years later, his cousin Paul, now head
of the company, meets an untimely death. To solve Paul's murder, Campion has
to go back two decades and sort through a legacy of treachery to solve a case
sure to be one of his most difficult. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1995
Hide My Eyes (Tether's End in USA)
When a murdered London pawnbroker's corpse is missing, clues are scant and witnesses few. Scotland Yard Superintendent Charles Luke has come up with a farfetched theory, and even the imperturbable Albert Campion has doubts when evidence points them to a most unlikely conclusion. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Penguin 1993
Look to the Lady
Published Doubleday 1931
The Mind Readers
Published Amereon 1977
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More Work for the Undertaker
Published Amereon 1989
Mr Campion's Farthing
Published Carroll & Graf 1990
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Mr Campion's Quarry
Published Carroll & Graf 1991
Mystery Mile
The thin, bespectacled investigator is on the trail of a killer. Judge Crowdy Lobbett is the target, but whether due to bad luck or bad marksmanship, four other men have died in his place. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1994
No Love Lost
Published Carroll & Graf 1991
The Oaken Heart
Published Amereon 1996
Pearls Before Swine
It was
most unfortunate that Edna, Dowager Marchioness of Carados, found a strange
woman in her son's bed the night before his wedding--it was even more unfortunate
that the woman was dead, and that Edna decided to take the body to Albert Campion.
He wants to believe that the Marquess of Carados isn't the woman's killer, but
a string of baffling clues make him think otherwise. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1996
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Police at the Funeral
In this master detective novel, Albert Campion displays the charm and skill that made him Margery Allingham's best-loved character. This time Albert steps in to try and solve the murder of Andrew Faraday. Soon he suspects that a ruthless killer is out to remove all the Faradays, one by one. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1994
Safer Than Love
Published Aeron 1975
Sweet Danger
Published Viking Press 1983
Tether's End (Hide My Eyes in UK)
When a murdered London pawnbroker's corpse is missing, clues are scant and witnesses few. Scotland Yard Superintendent Charles Luke has come up with a farfetched theory, and even the imperturbable Albert Campion has doubts when evidence points them to a most unlikely conclusion. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1996
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The Tiger in the Smoke
Meg's marriage to self-made millionaire Geoffrey Levett promised to be one of the season's happiest events. Until Meg began receiving photos of her late husband Martin, who had presumably been killed in WWII. Meg called upon old friend Albert Campion to get to the bottom of things. For Campion, the case was cut and dry--until a brutal triple murder occurred. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1995
Traitor's Purse
A man
clouded by amnesia knows only that he must do something that is vitally urgent
to the fate of the world and must figure out what to do, and where, before it
is too late. (From Amazon.com synopsis)
Published Carroll & Graf 1997
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The White Cottage Mystery
Published Carroll & Graf 1990
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Short Stories
The Allingham Case-Book - Originally published in the 1960s, this collection of stories by the author of the Albert Campion mystery novels displays the writer's sense of the fantastic.
Published Carroll & Graf 1992
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Mr. Campion's Lucky Day and Other Stories
Published Carroll & Graf 1992
The Allingham Minibus
Published William Morrow & Co 1973
Margery Allingham Omnibus
Published Viking Press 1983
Mr Campion and Others
Published David & Charles 1990
The Return of Mr Campion: Uncollected Stories
Published St Martins Pr (Trade) 1990
Studies on Margery Allingham
Campion's Career: A study of the Novels of Margery Allingham by B. A Pike
Published Bowling Green State Uni, 1987
Ink in Her Blood : The Life and Crime Fiction of Margery Allingham (Challenging the Literary Canon) by Richard Martin
Published Univ of Rochester Pr 1988
Margery Allingham A Biography by Julia Thorogood
Published Heinemann
Web site address
None Found
Other sites for Margery Allingham
The Margery Allingham Archive
Listing of some Campion books
Margery Allingham's bibliography
An analysis of Margery Allingham's work
Page created by Leone Moffat
Last updated 26-Feb-2002