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Author | Margery Allingham |
---|---|
Cover artist | Boris Artzybasheff (US) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Series | Albert Campion |
Genre | Crime novel |
Publisher | Heinemann (UK) Doubleday Doran (US) |
Publication date | 1934 |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Preceded by | Sweet Danger |
Followed by | Flowers for the Judge |
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.
At the former home of John Lafcadio, the great painter dead some 18 years, the annual ceremony to unveil a painting he left behind to keep his memory alive is interrupted by a murder. Suspicion falls on a family member, but with no proof the police are baffled. When murder once again visits "Little Venice", Albert Campion must exercise all his powers to bring the killer to justice...
John Lafcadio, who modestly described himself as "probably the greatest painter since Rembrandt", has left a bizarre legacy – a collection of twelve sealed paintings, to be unveiled one at a time at an annual event commencing ten years after his death. While the first seven ceremonies went smoothly, the eighth starts with family ructions, when John's granddaughter Linda finds her boyfriend Tommy has returned from a painting trip to Rome with a model, whom he has married to get into the country. Albert Campion, a friend of Belle and the family, persuades her to attend the show, just in time to be there when Tommy is stabbed to death during a power cut.
Campion calls in his old friend Stanislaus Oates to help avoid scandal, but Oates is convinced Linda must be guilty, as she has the only obvious motive. Max Fustian, a hanger-on to Lafcadio's coat-tails and now a flourishing art dealer, confesses to the crime, but his confession is laughable and a clear attempt to clear Linda. No further proof can be found however, and thanks to pressure from some important dignitaries attending the show, the matter is hushed up.
The mystery continues, however, as Tommy's art and possessions slowly vanish, until no trace of him remains. Campion meets up with Max Fustian, and finds himself entertaining strange suspicions of the odd little man. Some weeks later, Belle visits Claire Potter in her studio in the garden and finds her dead, face down on the couch. Nicotine poisoning is diagnosed, and suspicion falls at first on her husband, who had skipped work that day and had returned home for a minute an hour before the body was discovered, only to leave again in a hurry.
Potter reveals his wife suffered from alcoholism, and frequently drank herself unconscious; he had assumed she had done this once more, washed her glass and left her there. Seeking the source of the poisoned booze, Campion and Oates discover that Claire took in wood-blocks for cleaning from Max Fustian, and had returned a parcel that very day. Questioning the delivery boy, they find that he once dropped a similar package, and was surprised to find the wrapping wet.
Convinced of Fustian's guilt but lacking proof, Campion seeks a motive. He learns from the model Rosa-Rosa that Tommy had a cottage in the country, and from the cook Lisa that Lafcadio, despite his determination to defeat his rival and keep his fame alive, had only managed to complete eight of the twelve paintings of his legacy, filling the remaining packages with junk as a joke. Campion visits Tommy's cottage and finds Max there, all traces of Tommy burnt. He returns to Little Venice later, and finds Max in a blazing row with Belle – he has insisted he must take the remaining Lafcadio works abroad and sell them, and she has refused to let him.
Sure now that Max had Tommy fake the last four paintings for him, Campion gets further proof in the form of a drawing uncovered in Paris by Linda. He meets Max and they go out to dinner, where Max has him sample a strange and rare wine from Romania. Too late, Campion recalls the wine has a terribly intoxicating effect if taken after spirits – and Max had made sure Campion drank much gin before dinner. After a drunken tour of town, Max leads Campion to the edge of a Tube platform, and pushes hard – only to be stopped by the plain-clothes men Oates has had on their tail, after a meeting with Campion that morning.
Visiting Fustian in prison, Campion finds him a gibbering lunatic, his mind pushed over the edge by the defeat of his schemes.
It was the basis for the second series of Campion in 1960, with Bernard Horsfall in the title role.
The story was again adapted for television by the BBC, the fourth of eight Campion stories starring Peter Davison as Campion and Andrew Burt as Oates. Originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes, the original UK air date was 5 March 1989. The series was shown in the United States by PBS.
Yakumo Koizumi , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the West. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Before moving to Japan and becoming a Japanese citizen, he worked as a journalist in the United States, primarily in Cincinnati and New Orleans. His writings about New Orleans, based on his decade-long stay there, are also well-known.
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.
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley (1929), an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 18 novels and over 20 short stories.
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.
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.
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.
The Tiger in the Smoke is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1952 in the United Kingdom by Chatto & Windus and in the United States by Doubleday. It is the fourteenth novel in the Albert Campion series. Critics have called it the finest of the Campion mysteries and her best book.
Tiger in the Smoke is a 1956 British crime film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Tony Wright, Bernard Miles and Christopher Rhodes. It is based on the 1952 novel The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham, although the film omits the principal character of Albert Campion. The film is set in a noirish smog-shrouded London and briefly in Brittany, France, and combines the genres of mystery, thriller, crime and drama. The cinematography was by Geoffrey Unsworth.
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.