It
had become something of an annual tradition. Each year for the past seven
years, a new, previously unreleased painting by the deceased artist John
Lafcadio was unveiled at a grand soiree at the home of Lafcadio’s widow Belle
in the Little
Venice area of London. The unveiling, prescribed by the terms of Lafcadio’s
will, attracts the art establishment, nobility, critics, art gallery owners,
and )it was rumored) even an occasional royal personage.
One
of the guests at this year’s unveiling is Albert Campion, a detective of
independent means (his family is of the best lines in Britain, and no one ever
mentions it.) He is a friend of Belle Lafcadio, and we see the extended
Lafcadio family through his eyes. All goes well until the lights unexpectedly
go out (Belle forgot the shilling for the meter). When the lights come back on,
one of the attendees, a young man who had been engaged to Lafcadio’s granddaughter,
is found stabbed to death with a pair of steel scissors.
Campion
enlists the help of his friend, Inspector Stanislaus Oates of Scotland Yard. As
the investigation gets underway, the private and professional detectives discover
that there is no motive that can be determined, and an absolute dearth of
suspects. Yet someone did the young man in.
Death
of a Ghost
by Margery Allingham
was originally published in 1934, during the heyday of the Golden Age of the
mystery novel. While many mysteries of the period could be formulaic, there is
nothing formulaic about Allingham works in general and Death of a Ghost in particular.
 |
| Margery Allingham |
She
and the novel are also good reminders that mystery writers could write fine
prose; if you haven’t read her novels, you might be surprised to discover how
good a writer she is.
And
this story has our hero Mr. Campion stumped. He understands fairly early on who
the murderer is; the problem is that there is no evidence of the murderer’s
guilt and no apparent motive. And then a second murder occurs, and it is just
as frustrating as the first, and for the same reasons.
Death of a Ghost is a classic
mystery story from a classic period of mystery writing. And its appeal endures.
Related:
Top photograph: Little Venice in London,
courtesy of Hidden
London.
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