A house party is under way at the remote mansion of Black Dudley, and among the guests are some very shady characters. As they playfully recreate the ritual of the Black Dudley Dagger, someone dies. Pathologist George Abbershaw suspects foul play, and when a vital item is mislaid, a gang of crooks hold the guests hostage. Will they escape the house – what did happen to the Colonel – and just who is the mysterious Mr Campion? Neither the story nor Albert Campion is quite as vapid and slow as you might expect.... apa in US as THE BLACK DUDLEY MURDER, 1929

A red chess piece... An improbable suicide... A disappearing judge... These were the clues to a killer whose victims never escaped. Judge Lobbett has found evidence pointing to the identity of the criminal mastermind behind the deadly Simister gang that is terrorizing New York. After four attempts on his life, he seeks the help of enigmatic and unorthodox amateur sleuth, Albert Campion, during his travel to England. For safety, Campion sends the Judge and his family to a secluded house in an island on the Suffolk coast. But that safety is illusory: it seemed fitting that odd things should happen in a town called "Mystery Mile". Soon after their arrival the local vicar is killed - a clear message from the gang. Its a race against time for Campion to get the judge to safety and decipher the clue to their mysterious enemy's name.But even a connoisseur of crime as Scotland Yard's Albert Campion had never encountered such elusive clues. He had to trace a mastermind of crime in time to save his client's life—and his own. Luckily for Judge Lobbett, underneath his constant stream of banter, Campion displays a diamond-sharp intelligence and a natural detective's instinct... Blackmail, abduction and sudden death bring matters to a climax.

The Gyrth family had guarded the Gyrth Chalice for hundreds of years. It was held by them for the British Crown. Its antiquity, its beauty, the legends that were connected with it, all combined to make it unique. It was irreplaceable. No thief could hope to dispose of it in the ordinary way. And indeed no ordinary thief would dream of trying. Kept in a windowless chapel, and protected by a fearsome curse, the Chalice should be impervious to thievery. But this is 1930, and the crooks have all the advantages of the modern world. Chief among these is the craving for publicity, to which at least one member of the Gyrth clan has succumbed. Her careless chatter about the Chalice seems to have called up all manner of misfortunes - of which larceny is just the beginning. Finding himself the victim of a botched kidnapping attempt, Percival St. John Wykes Gryth, current heir to the Gyrth family and guardian-elect of the Chalice, suspects that he might be in a spot of trouble. Unexpected news to him - but not to the mysterious Mr Campion, who reveals that the ancient Chalice entrusted to Val's family is being targeted by a ruthless ring of wealthy thieves intent on supplementing their own private treasure trove. The vague, bespectacled Albert Campion doesn't look like he'll be much help against them. But looks can be deceptive. Fleeing London for the supposed safety of the village of Sanctuary, in Suffolk, Campion and his trusty assistant Luggand come face to face with events of a perilous and puzzling nature. When Val's aunt is found dead with an expression of terrified - and terrifying - shock upon her face, Campion must preserve not only the safety of Chalice, but also that of the Gyrth family. Campion might be accustomed to outwitting criminal minds, but can he foil supernatural forces?

The imperious Great Aunt Caroline Faraday runs her old Cambridge residence like a Victorian fiefdom, unconcerned with the fact that it's 1931. Furniture and meals are heavy and elaborate, both motorcars and morning tea are forbidden on account of vulgarity. The Faraday children—now well into middle age—chafe at the restrictions, but with no money of their own, they respond primarily by quarreling amongst themselves. The illustrious Faraday family endless squabbling is tedious, but the tense tranquility is punctured when Nephew Andrew vanished without trace one Sunday morning after church, only to be found dead in a secluded stream. Matters are complicated further by the murder of Julia, his petulant and whining sister, poisoned by her morning cup of tea. Though neither will be much missed, decency demands that Caroline Faraday hire the nearly respectable Albert Campion to investigate away from the bustle of Piccadilly,their untimely ends. Mr. Campion must untangle a web of family resentments, little does he expect to be greeted by a band of eccentric relatives all at daggers with each other. He must unravel a chillingly ingenious plot, strewn with red herrings to get to the real secret of the Faradays. Unfortunately, what Mr. Campion discovers will force the modern world relentlessly into Mrs. Faraday's stuffy Victorian parlor.

Way back during the crusades Richard I presented the Huntingforest family with the tiny Balkan principality of Averna but since then the kingdom has been forgotten, until circumstances in Europe suddenly render it extremely strategically important to the British Government. They hire unconventional detective Albert Campion to recover the long-missing proofs of ownership - the deeds, a crown, and a receipt - which are apparently hidden in the village of Pontisbright. On arriving in Pontisbright, Campion and his friends meet the eccentric, young, flame-haired Amanda Fitton and her family who claim to be the rightful heirs to Averna and join in the hunt. Mr. Campion and his two young friends, Eager-Wright and Farquharson, posted as the Hereditary Paladin of Averna and his entourage! Unfortunately, criminal financier Brett Savanake is also interested in finding the evidence of the oil-rich state's ownership for his own ends. Things get rather rough in the village as Savanake's heavies up the pressure on Campion to solve the mystery before they do. In the course of the hunt, Campion dresses in drag, takes refuge in a tree, is nearly drowned in a mill race, and his friends find themselves bound and gagged in sacks, shot at, and witnesses to a satanic ceremony led by the local doctor. The rural calm of Pontisbright is well and truly shattered.

John Sebastian Lafcadio, is one of the greatest painters of the Edwardian period, and his ambition to be known as the greatest painter since Rembrandt was not to be thwarted by a matter as trifling as his own death. Lafcadio was not only a brilliantly talented, it appears, a bit psychic: Certain that his reputation would improve dramatically after his death, he left aset of twelve sealed paintings with his agent, along with the instruction that her widow should wait a suitable interval and then begin doling out the work to a newly ravenous public at the rate of one per year. Lafcadio's widow unveil the eighth canvas to a carefully selected audience. Albert Campion, an old friend of the widow's, is among the cast of gadabouts, muses and socialites gathered for the latest ceremony. The event is a success for all but one of the attendees—a young artist who is brutally stabbed while others are sipping champagne. The art is the last thing on the sleuth's mind whenl the wife of another painter is poisoned. 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. 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. Mr. Campion must employ all his tact as well as his formidable intelligence to trap the killer, and dodge death.

Scandal hits the prestigious publishing house of Barnabas when one of the directors is found dead in a locked cellar. All eyes are on the other partners at the firm – cousins of the dead man with much to gain from his demise – and all rumours hint at a connection to the disappearance of another director decades earlier. Desperate to salvage their reputation, the cousins turn to Albert Campion – but will his investigations clear the Barnabas family name, or besmirch it forever?

Private detective Albert Campion is summoned to the village of Kepesake to investigate a particularly distasteful death. The body turns out to be that of Pig Peters, freshly killed five months after his own funeral. Soon other corpses start to turn up, just as Peter's body goes missing. It takes all Campion's coolly incisive powers of detection to unravel the crime. The Case of the Late Pig is, uniquely, narrated by Campion himself. In Allingham's inimitable style, high drama sits neatly beside pitch perfect black comedy. A heady mix of murder, romance, and the urbane detective's own unglamorous past make this an unmissable Allingham mystery.

When song-and-dance star Jimmy Sutane falls victim to a string of malicious practical jokes, there's only one man who can get to the bottom of the apparent vendetta against the music hall darling—Albert Campion. Soon, however, the backstage pranks escalate and an ageing starlet is killed. Under pressure to uncover the culprit and plagued by his growing feelings for Sutane's wife, Campion finds himself uncomfortably embroiled in an investigation which tests his ingenuity and integrity to the limit.

Detective Albert Campion has a talented dress designer sister with celebrated clients. Georgia Wells is a glamorous actress who exemplifies the 1930s femme fatale. Vain, stupid, and selfish, she attracts men like moths to a flame. When these men die, Albert suspects Georgia is more deliberately fatale than alluring. All the books from Albert Campion series are standalone titles and can be read in any order.

Celebrated amateur detective Albert Campion awakes in hospital accused of attacking a police officer and suffering from acute amnesia. All he can remember is that he was on a mission of vital importance to His Majesty’s government before his accident. On the run from the police and unable to recognise even his faithful servant or his beloved fiancée, Campion struggles desperately to put the pieces together while the very fate of England is at stake. Tightly plotted and perfectly drawn, Traitor's Purse is an enduring classic of wartime fiction. ‘A wartime masterpiece.’ – The Guardian

Albert Campion returns from three years’ work for the War Office in Europe to find that Lugg, his manservant, has brought him an unusual gift from Edna, Dowager Marchioness of Carados: the black silk nightdress-clad body of a dead woman, an apparent suicide, found in her son's bed the night before his wedding. All the books from Albert Campion series are standalone titles and can be read in any order.

Elegant and engaging detective Albert Campion investigates two deaths in the eccentric Palinode household. If poisoning were not enough, there are also anonymous letters, sudden violence and a vanishing coffin. All the books from Albert Campion series are standalone titles and can be read in any order.

A fog is creeping through the weary streets of London—so too are whispers that the Tiger is back in town, undetected by the law, untroubled by morals. And the rumors are true: Jack Havoc, charismatic outlaw, knife-wielding killer, and ingenious jail-breaker, is on the loose once again. As Havoc stalks the smog-cloaked alleyways of the city, it falls to Albert Campion to hunt down the fugitive and put a stop to his rampage—before it’s too late . . . “Allingham’s work is always of the first rank.” —The New York Times

Private detective Albert Campion's glorious summer in Pontisbright is blighted by death. Amidst the preparations for Minnie and Tonker Cassand's fabulous summer party a murder is discovered and it falls to Campion to unravel the intricate web of motive, suspicion and deduction with all his imagination and skill. Danger is hardly unknown in this idyllic Suffolk village, but it is a less romantic peril than on Mr Campion’s first visit, more than twenty years ago. ‘Margery Allingham has precious few peers and no superiors.’ - The Sunday Times ‘Allingham’s work is always of the first rank.’ – New York Times ‘Unforgettable.’ – A.S. Byatt

In Hide My Eyes, private detective Albert Campion finds himself hunting down a serial killer in London's theatreland. A spate of murders leaves him with only two baffling clues: a lefthand glove and a lizard-skin letter case. These minimal clues and a series of perculiar events sets Campion on a race against time that takes him from an odd museum of curiosities hidden in a quiet corner of London to a scrapyard in the East End. Allingham shows her dark edge in Hide My Eyes and evokes the sights, sounds, and inimitable atmosphere of Fifties London.

Truth that kills Adopted heir Timothy Kinnit refuses to marry his beloved Julia until he learns the truth about his parentage. But when Albert Campion traces the roots of young Timothy’s family tree, he finds them buried in a century-old scandal involving a jilted nanny and a rather nasty murder. When another tragic death occurs, a sinister Victorian blood legacy suddenly threatens the lives of the two young lovers... and Campion’s to boot!

Mind over murder Two schoolboys have discovered a miraculous gadget that enables them to read other people’s minds. Then one of the children vanishes—and Albert Campion is called in to crack the case. Soon the intrepid sleuth becomes snared in a sinister web of conspiracy, violence, and assassination—and in a lethal power play for control of a devastating device that could shatter the world! Mystery at its British Best Equally at home in the underworld and among the upper crust, super-sleuth Albert Campion rarely misses a clue or fails to find a motive. Behind his horn-rimmed glasses and mild-mannered facade is a brilliant mind that can penetrate to the villainous heart of the most heinous crime.

In this, Ms. Allingham's last novel, the action revolves around Saltey, for centuries a hidey-hole for all manner of villains. Astonishingly, it is the early 1960s, and Saltey, like many English coastal towns, is being over-run by teenage gangs. But that's not why Albert Campion—now, astonishingly, in late middle-age—has persuaded Lugg to take up residence. His interest lies in part with the just-out-of-prison thief who has (in time-honored tradition) gone to ground in Saltey. But his most passionate interest is reserved for the curious, newly revived story of the Saltey Demon. All books in the Albert Campion series are standalone titles and can be read in any order.

Murder and bad publicity stalk the inhabitants of Inglewood Turrets, the outrageous Victorian mansion where Lottie Cambric has recreated the best of the turn of the century for wealthy foreign culture-vultures. But when it becomes evident that this is a matter of highest state security the inimitable Mr. Campion takes a hand. All books in the Albert Campion series are standalone titles and can be read in any order.

‘It’ll be common knowledge in an hour or two…we’re treating this as a case of murder. Is that what you wanted to know?...Now, Mr Campion, I’m a busy man as you can see. Can you help me at all, or are you wasting my time? ’ Matthew James Matthew dies of natural causes whilst staying at the upmarket Drover’s Arms in the Cotswolds. Max Newgate, the pompous manager of the inn is found dead miles away in a Suffolk river near an archaeological dig. The star geologist of Omega Oils, the brilliant but eccentric Francis Makepeace, could be connected to both, but he has disappeared and seems determined not to be found. L.C. Corkran, whose retirement from Her Majesty’s security service ‘has been greatly exaggerated’ now consults for the multi-national Omega Oils and turns to his old friend Albert Campion (who has always behaved ‘like a civilised non-entity’ but you wouldn’t play poker with him) for help. A carnival of delightful, and not so delightful, characters become involved in the hunt for the missing geologist: the cool-headed, independent Miss Anthea Peregrine; the love-struck schoolboy Robert Oncer Smith; the rather dubious antique-dealer Morris Jay; known thug and small-time villain Ginger Scott, Appleyard, a boorish Suffolk policeman; and the grotesque, repellent and very dangerous Claude Porteous. But why is Makepeace, a brilliant and successful man, on the run? Is it because of a failed Omega Oil exploration project in the new African republic of Serendi, or connected to the archaeological excavation of a 4th Century Roman ship? Could the missing Francis Makepeace and the dead Matthew James Matthew somehow be one and the same person? It takes all Campion’s guile and charm to get to the bottom of the mystery and ensure that the new, youthful allies he recruits emerge unscathed.