Supposedly created as a parody of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective Lord Peter Wimsey,[2] Campion established his own identity, and matured and developed as the series progressed. After Allingham's death her husband Philip Youngman Carter completed her last Campion book and wrote two more before his own death.
Fictional biography
Albert Campion is a pseudonym used by a man who was born in 1900 into a prominent Britisharistocratic family. Early novels hint that he was part of the Royal Family but this suggestion is dropped in later works. However, it is hinted at again in Cargo of Eagles, Allingham's last novel. He was educated at Rugby School and the (fictitious) St. Ignatius' College, Cambridge (according to a mini-biography included in Sweet Danger; this is also hinted at in Police at the Funeral). Ingenious, resourceful and well-educated, in his 20s he assumed the name Campion and began a life as an adventurer and detective.
Characteristics
Campion is thin, blond, wears horn-rimmed glasses,[3] and is often described as affable, inoffensive and bland, with a deceptively blank and unintelligent expression.[4][3] He sometimes engages in silly stunts, slapstick humor, and carries a realistic-looking water pistol instead of a firearm.[4] He is, nonetheless, a man of authority and action, and considers himself to be a helpful and comforting 'Uncle Albert' to friends and those in need. In some stories, he lives in a flat above a police station at Number 17A, Bottle Street in Piccadilly, London. In the early stories he has a pet jackdaw called Autolycus.
In some stories, Allingham explores the differences between society as it existed before the Great War, and the modern world.[3] Campion sometimes works as an intermediary between old upper-class characters and the new, modern police.[3]
Names
White campion, a wildflower
The name 'Campion' may have its origin in the Old French word for 'champion'.[5] Another source says the name was suggested by Allingham's husband, Philip Youngman Carter, and may allude to the Jesuit martyr St. Edmund Campion. Carter and St. Edmund Campion were both graduates of Christ's Hospital school. Campion's fictional college, St. Ignatius, supports the Edmund Campion connection, since St. Ignatius of Loyola was the founder of the Jesuits.[6] There are also occasional references in the books to the field-flower campion (e.g., Look to the Lady ch. 21), evoking the similar relationship between the fictional hero the Scarlet Pimpernel and the pimpernel flower.
'Albert Campion' is revealed early on to be a pseudonym. In Mystery Mile and Police at the Funeral, his true first name is said to be Rudolph, while his surname begins with a K. In The Fashion in Shrouds he also mentions his first name being Rudolph but confides he changed it, asking people to call him Albert as he did not like the name Rudolph. In Look to the Lady the butler reveals to Lugg that he has deduced who Campion is by a particular feature of his pyjamas which he has also seen on Campion's elder brother's pyjamas.
Campion has used many other names in the course of his career. 'Mornington Dodd' and 'the Honourable Tootles Ash'[3] are mentioned in The Crime at Black Dudley; 'Christopher Twelvetrees' and 'Orlando' are mentioned in Look to the Lady.
Family and background
Allingham makes various references to Campion's aristocratic background, and hints at a connection to royalty in several asides. However, none of the books reveal his full birth name or identify more than an isolated individual or two in his family of origin.[3] A study of the books suggests his father was a viscount and was already dead at the start of the series.[7] Campion's mother is mentioned several times and writes a letter in The Fashion in Shrouds, and Campion borrows a car from his older brother (apparently the current holder of the title) in Mystery Mile, but neither of them appears in person. In Sweet Danger, it was mentioned that his brother was 'still unmarried' and therefore Campion is likely to 'come into the title some day.' In Coroner's Pidgin a character mentions Campion's uncle, a bishop, and says, 'Let me see, you're the only nephew now, aren't you?' This indicates that, by the middle of the Second World War, Campion's older brother Herbert has died and Campion has inherited the title.
In More Work For the Undertaker, set just after the war, Lugg addresses Campion sarcastically as 'young Viscount Clever'. Campion's sister Valentine Ferris plays a central part in The Fashion in Shrouds; in that book, it is revealed that they are both estranged from most of their family. In Police at the Funeral, the venerable Caroline Faraday is aware of his true identity, and knows his grandmother Emily (whom she refers to as 'The Dowager') – she calls him by his real name, 'Rudolph', and states at one point that the rest of his family blame Emily for encouraging Campion in his adventurous ways.
In wartime, Campion is involved in intelligence work, and after the war he continues to have an unspecified connection to the secret services.
Campion also has many friends and allies, seemingly scattered all across London and the English countryside, often including professional criminals. In the short story "The Meaning of the Act" Campion explains to Oates that the secret of his success is to 'take a drink with anyone, and pick your pals where you find 'em'.[8]
In Mystery Mile Campion is subtly shown to be in love with Biddy Paget, around whose home most of the story revolves; Campion is distraught when, at the end of the adventure, she marries an American, and his sadness at losing her is mentioned again in subsequent stories.
After a doomed passion for a married woman in Dancers in Mourning, Campion eventually marries Amanda Fitton, who first appears in Sweet Danger as a 17-year-old and later becomes an aircraft engineer; they have a son, named Rupert. Her brother Hal recovers the family title of Earl of Pontisbright as a result of the adventures described in Sweet Danger, and Amanda then becomes Lady Amanda, as the sister of an Earl.
Crime writer Mike Ripley completed an unfinished Campion manuscript, started by Philip Youngman Carter before his death.[9] The fragment, which contained revisions and minor corrections but no plot outline, character synopsis or plan, was bequeathed to Margery Allingham's sister Joyce; upon her death in 2001, the manuscript was left to officials of the Margery Allingham Society.[10] Beginning in 2012, Ripley, with the approval and agreement of the Margery Allingham Society, completed Youngman Carter's manuscript, which has become Mr Campion's Farewell. The novel was published in March 2014 by Severn House Publishers.[11] Succeeding volumes were entirely Ripley's work.
Bibliography
The Campion stories are generally adventures rather than true mysteries, as they rarely feature puzzles that the reader has a chance of solving; it is the characters and situations which carry the story. Most of the novels are short by modern standards – about 200 pages long.
During a party game at a remote manor house named the Black Dudley, a man is stabbed to death, and some important documents have disappeared. Introduces Campion a little later in the story, as a pleasant hanger-on with a possibly shady side; the main character is a pathologist.
A retired American judge believes he has the key to identifying the real identity of a criminal mastermind. Campion, after saving his life, is hired to protect him and his children. Most of the book takes place at a country house on an island called Mystery Mile.
A shadowy club of art collectors intends to steal an ancient and sacred chalice from a family whose home, title, and livelihood depends upon keeping it in safely in its tower. This book opens with an attempt to locate the estranged and recently homeless heir to the family.
Set in Cambridge (where Allingham attended boarding school as a teenager[12]), a friend asks Campion to visit after the difficult and disliked younger son of a client disappears. Campion partners more officially with Stanislaus Oates, who has been sent to investigate the apparent murder of the missing son and is then kept on to investigate further attacks on the family. This book marks Allingham's transition from thrillers to mystery novels.[4]
Sweet Danger (1933) (U.S. title: Kingdom of Death or The Fear Sign)
In which Campion meets his future wife.[12] The main task is to find objects that will prove that the young people have a legitimate claim on a property whose value has suddenly increased by the discovery of oil.
A famous painter, before his death, left a dozen secret paintings to be unveiled, one per year, beginning 10 years after his death. Through this, he meant to provide more income to his widow. However, at the unveiling of the eighth painting, someone is murdered.
One of the senior members in a family business dies of carbon monoxide. The cause is also related to the unexplained disappearance of another family member 20 years before.
In January, Campion attends the unexpected funeral of a bully, nicknamed Pig, that he went to school with; in June, he is confronted with Pig's corpse, freshly killed.
Campion is brought in to investigate a series of threatening pranks involving a group of actors and finds himself falling in love with a married woman.
This book has elements of a thriller, a detective story, and a psychological novel.[4] Fake engagements, secret weddings, jealous spouses, and broken hearts appear in this book, which introduces Campion's sister as a fashion designer.
Traitor's Purse (1941) (U.S. title: The Sabotage Murder Mystery)
Campion, who gets married during this book, experiences amnesia during this book, which causes an apparent change in personality.[3] The first war-time book, Campion is unable to remember the important information and unable to find Stanislaus Oates, the only person in Scotland Yard who knows the critical secret.
Campion is on his way home from the war for the first time in three years, and his attempt to catch a train out of London is delayed by the discovery of a dead body put in his bed while he takes a bath. Ultimately, he is unable to leave town until after he solves a series of art thefts.
Crime and Mr Campion (1959) – Death of a Ghost, Flowers for the Judge and Dancers in Mourning.
Three Cases for Mr Campion (1961) – Look to the Lady, The Fashion in Shrouds and Traitor's Purse.
The Mysterious Mr Campion (1963) – The Case of the Late Pig, Dancers in Mourning and The Tiger in the Smoke; also a short story On Christmas Day in the Morning and a preface by the author.
Mr Campion's Lady (1965) – Sweet Danger, The Fashion in Shrouds and Traitor's Purse; also a short story A Word in Season and a preface by the author.
Mr Campion's Clowns (1967) – Mystery Mile, Coroner's Pidgin and More Work for the Undertaker; with a preface by Philip Youngman Carter.
Two stories were adapted by the BBC in 1959 and 1960, with Bernard Horsfall as Campion and Wally Patch as Lugg. Each story was shown in six 30-minute episodes. The 1959 adaptation of Dancers in Mourning also featured John Ruddock as Oates, Denis Quilley as Jimmy Sutane, Michael Gough as Squire Mercer and Noel Howlett as 'Uncle' William Faraday. The 1960 adaptation, Death of a Ghost, featured Arthur Brough as Oates.
Detective (1968)
In 1968 The Case of the Late Pig was adapted for television starring Brian Smith as Campion, and George Sewell as Lugg.[13] It was part of the BBC Detective (1964–1969) series which was an anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories.
In 1989 and 1990, the first eight of the novels (excluding The Crime at Black Dudley) were adapted over two seasons, with each story shown in two hour-long episodes. Peter Davison played Campion, Brian Glover was Lugg and Andrew Burt was Oates.
Radio
Various stories have been adapted for BBC Radio over the years. Campion was played by James Snell, Richard Hurndall, William Fox, and Basil Moss. Among them were the following. "Traitor's Purse" (read by Roger Allam in 10 episodes), "Look to the Lady" (1961) starred Richard Hurndall. "Mr Campion's Falcon" (1972) by Youngman Carter. not by Allingham: William Fox took the lead role.
1 2 3 4 5 Kaplan, Carey (1998). "Margery Allingham". In Schlueter, Paul; Schlueter, June (eds.). An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers (Rev. and expandeded.). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN978-0-8135-2542-6.
↑ Martin, Richard. (1988) Ink in her Blood (The Life and Crime Fiction of Margery Allingham). Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press. p64.
↑ Morpurgo, J. E. (1988) introduction to The Return of Mr Campion London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. xiii.
1 2 3 4 5 Sutherland, John (2012). Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. pp.448–449. ISBN978-0-300-17947-7.
Margery Louise Allingham was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh.
Campion is a British television mystery drama first broadcast on the BBC on 22 January 1989. Each of the eight stories featured across the two series, broadcast in 1989 and 1990 respectively, are adapted from the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. The series starred Peter Davison as Albert Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.
Mystery Mile is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1930, in the United Kingdom by Jarrolds Publishing, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. Following his first, supporting appearance in The Crime at Black Dudley (1929), it is the first of many novels starring the mysterious Albert Campion, and introduces his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg.
The Crime at Black Dudley, also known in the United States as The Black Dudley Murder, is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1929, in the United Kingdom by Jarrolds, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York. It introduces Albert Campion, her misleadingly vapid detective, who would go on to appear in another 18 novels and many short stories over the next 30 years.
Dancers in Mourning is a crime novel by English writer Margery Allingham, first published in 1937, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York City; later U.S. versions used the title Who Killed Chloe?.
Flowers for the Judge is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in February 1936, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. It is the seventh novel to feature the mysterious Albert Campion, aided by his grouchy manservant Magersfontein Lugg.
Look to the Lady is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in January 1931, in the United Kingdom by Jarrolds Publishing, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York, as The Gyrth Chalice Mystery. It is the third novel featuring the mysterious Albert Campion, accompanied by his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg.
Police at the Funeral is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in October 1931, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in 1932 in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. It is the fourth novel with the mysterious Albert Campion, aided as usual by his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg and his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.
The Case of the Late Pig is a crime novel by English writer Margery Allingham, first published 1937, by Hodder & Stoughton. It is the ninth novel featuring the mysterious Albert Campion and his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg.
Death of a Ghost is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in February 1934, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. It is the sixth novel with the mysterious Albert Campion, aided by his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.
Sweet Danger is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in October 1933, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by The Crime Club as Kingdom of Death; later US versions used the title The Fear Sign. It is the fifth adventure of the mysterious Albert Campion, aided as usual by his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg, and introduces the recurring character of Amanda Fitton.
Magersfontein Lugg is a fictional character in the Albert Campion detective novels, written by Margery Allingham. Servant and factotum to Mr Campion, Lugg is a former burglar, with a gruff manner, who hinders Campion socially as much as he helps detection–wise.
Traitor's Purse is a crime novel written by Margery Allingham. It was originally published in 1941 in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday, New York as The Sabotage Murder Mystery. It is the eleventh novel in the Albert Campion series and is set during the Second World War.
The Fashion in Shrouds is a crime novel by English writer Margery Allingham. It was originally published in 1938 in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday, New York. It is the tenth novel in the Albert Campion series.
Coroner's Pidgin is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1945, in the United Kingdom by William Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York as Pearls Before Swine. It is the twelfth novel in the Albert Campion series.
The gentleman detective, less commonly lady detective, is a type of fictional character. He has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. The heroes of these adventures are typically both gentlemen by conduct and often also members of the British gentry. The literary heroes being in opposition to professional police force detectives from the working classes.
Cargo of Eagles is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1968, in the United Kingdom by Chatto & Windus, London. It was incomplete at her death in 1966 and completed by her husband Philip Youngman Carter. It is the nineteenth novel in the Albert Campion series.
Mike Ripley was born in 1952 and is the British author of the award-winning ‘Angel’ series of comedy thrillers as well as a critic and archaeologist.
Severn House Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction in hardcover and ebooks. Severn House specialises in publishing mid-list authors in both the UK and the USA. Established in 1974, Severn House began republishing out-of-print titles by popular library authors. The publishing house now specialises in providing libraries and the public worldwide with reinforced editions of brand new contemporary fiction, as well as rare or previously unpublished works. Since 2011, Crème de la Crime has been part of Severn House Publishers. In September 2017, Severn House was acquired by Canongate Books.
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