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Albert Campion #7
Flowers for the Judge
Albert Campion investigates the relationship between the murder of Paul Barnabas and the disappearance of his cousin, Tom, twenty years earlier
Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
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About the author
Margery Allingham
268 books611 followersAka Maxwell March.
Margery Louise Allingham was born in Ealing, London in 1904 to a family of writers. Her father, Herbert John Allingham, was editor of The Christian Globe and The New London Journal, while her mother wrote stories for women's magazines as Emmie Allingham. Margery's aunt, Maud Hughes, also ran a magazine. Margery earned her first fee at the age of eight, for a story printed in her aunt's magazine.
Soon after Margery's birth, the family left London for Essex. She returned to London in 1920 to attend the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster), and met her future husband, Philip Youngman Carter. They married in 1928. He was her collaborator and designed the cover jackets for many of her books.
Margery's breakthrough came 1929 with the publication of her second novel, The Crime at Black Dudley . The novel introduced Albert Campion, although only as a minor character. After pressure from her American publishers, Margery brought Campion back for Mystery Mile and continued to use Campion as a character throughout her career.
After a battle with breast cancer, Margery died in 1966. Her husband finished her last novel, A Cargo of Eagles at her request, and published it in 1968.
Also wrote as: Maxwell March
Margery Louise Allingham was born in Ealing, London in 1904 to a family of writers. Her father, Herbert John Allingham, was editor of The Christian Globe and The New London Journal, while her mother wrote stories for women's magazines as Emmie Allingham. Margery's aunt, Maud Hughes, also ran a magazine. Margery earned her first fee at the age of eight, for a story printed in her aunt's magazine.
Soon after Margery's birth, the family left London for Essex. She returned to London in 1920 to attend the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster), and met her future husband, Philip Youngman Carter. They married in 1928. He was her collaborator and designed the cover jackets for many of her books.
Margery's breakthrough came 1929 with the publication of her second novel, The Crime at Black Dudley . The novel introduced Albert Campion, although only as a minor character. After pressure from her American publishers, Margery brought Campion back for Mystery Mile and continued to use Campion as a character throughout her career.
After a battle with breast cancer, Margery died in 1966. Her husband finished her last novel, A Cargo of Eagles at her request, and published it in 1968.
Also wrote as: Maxwell March
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
March 13, 2019
Published in 1936, this is the seventh in the Albert Campion series. After a rocky start with this series, I am gradually warming to Campion. Allingham is gradually making Albert Campion a more serious character, while dropping the plots which revolve around international gangs and concentrating more on mysteries and murder.
This novel centres on a family publishing firm, owned by the Barnabas family. In 1911, junior partner, Tom Barnabas vanishes while walking down a London street, and is never seen again. It is now 1931 and another director has gone missing. Paul Brand has not been seen for a couple of days and nobody seems too concerned, including his wife, Gina. The couple had an unhappy marriage so, when he is found dead, suspicion falls on another family cousin, Mike Wedgewood, who is in love with Gina.
It is up to Campion to try to get to the bottom of, not only the murder of Paul, but the disappearance of Tom Barnabas. I liked the setting of this novel, which had a good cast of characters and an interesting range of possible motives. Definitely a series I will be continuing.
This novel centres on a family publishing firm, owned by the Barnabas family. In 1911, junior partner, Tom Barnabas vanishes while walking down a London street, and is never seen again. It is now 1931 and another director has gone missing. Paul Brand has not been seen for a couple of days and nobody seems too concerned, including his wife, Gina. The couple had an unhappy marriage so, when he is found dead, suspicion falls on another family cousin, Mike Wedgewood, who is in love with Gina.
It is up to Campion to try to get to the bottom of, not only the murder of Paul, but the disappearance of Tom Barnabas. I liked the setting of this novel, which had a good cast of characters and an interesting range of possible motives. Definitely a series I will be continuing.
March 28, 2025
Favorite Campion Mystery So Far!
A murder trial is the main story here. The accused is innocent, but it's not going to be an easy exoneration, even with Albert Campion looking into it. This was quite different from the other books I've read by her in the series. Campion figures it all out, but is flummoxed in how he is going to save the life of his friend.
A murder trial is the main story here. The accused is innocent, but it's not going to be an easy exoneration, even with Albert Campion looking into it. This was quite different from the other books I've read by her in the series. Campion figures it all out, but is flummoxed in how he is going to save the life of his friend.
May 13, 2021
My first Campion and Allingham.
This was enjoyable but nothing to make me see the classic in both detective and author. I see note some other reviewers saying Allingham and Campion are starting to develop, and I can recognise that from my reading: the plot and characters with their path to the end result were okay although not gripping m.
I'll explore Campion more and as a starter this was a passable outing.
This was enjoyable but nothing to make me see the classic in both detective and author. I see note some other reviewers saying Allingham and Campion are starting to develop, and I can recognise that from my reading: the plot and characters with their path to the end result were okay although not gripping m.
I'll explore Campion more and as a starter this was a passable outing.
July 31, 2017
A locked room mystery, I said to myself. How delicious! It was the exact sort of book I needed right at the time. Allingham is another of those Golden Age Mystery writers I like to periodically read. My only complaint is the number of books it has taken her to get into a stride or rhythm that I like. The last two were whimsical, the earlier ones were just plain bad & probably should have been suppressed in her later life.
It wasn’t too hard to determine who the murderer was, but it was still a joy to continue reading to the end. I had three suspects until the obvious is shown to the reader – at exactly the same time as Campion sees it – so no hidden clue only available to our detective. Here we have excellent characterisation. As someone on GR has commented – for a publisher’s there are very few books around, or the mention of them. I didn’t find this surprising – when you are in the industry you are probably heartily sick of manuscripts, so that the actual physical hardbound book is going to be missing in your life. They are present at the formal reception room, but nowhere else. The description of Ritchie’s room, piled high with manuscripts in an attic room felt both Dickensian and delightfully idiosyncratic.
As per usual in 1930’s detection fiction, the characters are all types: stereotypes that readers would have recognised in the streets of cities. Allingham had an ear & eye for these sort of people and these minor characters are also one of the fun parts of reading her books. And now, many of these types have gone – all due to changes in culture, the intervening world wars, and the welfare state that was introduced in Britain after 1945. It is actually good to read these novels as social commentary and to realise how much kinder the world is to those less fortunate. The Good Ol Days, weren’t that good.
I enjoyed the court room scene, which reminded me of the Caradine Case, and other court room films of the Film Noir period. There is a tantalising little piece on the 1st page that appears to be of no consequence and rarely mentioned. Well, not until that final chapter when it all comes together. I guessed something of the sort about 10-20 pages earlier when Ritchie vanishes. That tied end is really wonderful and popped a pleasant smile on my face. The only bleat is the title. It really has nothing to do with the main theme of the novel and alludes to a minor part. When it became apparent, I did exclaim a sort of WTF!!
Overall, enjoyed this delightful interlude between more heavier material.
It wasn’t too hard to determine who the murderer was, but it was still a joy to continue reading to the end. I had three suspects until the obvious is shown to the reader – at exactly the same time as Campion sees it – so no hidden clue only available to our detective. Here we have excellent characterisation. As someone on GR has commented – for a publisher’s there are very few books around, or the mention of them. I didn’t find this surprising – when you are in the industry you are probably heartily sick of manuscripts, so that the actual physical hardbound book is going to be missing in your life. They are present at the formal reception room, but nowhere else. The description of Ritchie’s room, piled high with manuscripts in an attic room felt both Dickensian and delightfully idiosyncratic.
As per usual in 1930’s detection fiction, the characters are all types: stereotypes that readers would have recognised in the streets of cities. Allingham had an ear & eye for these sort of people and these minor characters are also one of the fun parts of reading her books. And now, many of these types have gone – all due to changes in culture, the intervening world wars, and the welfare state that was introduced in Britain after 1945. It is actually good to read these novels as social commentary and to realise how much kinder the world is to those less fortunate. The Good Ol Days, weren’t that good.
I enjoyed the court room scene, which reminded me of the Caradine Case, and other court room films of the Film Noir period. There is a tantalising little piece on the 1st page that appears to be of no consequence and rarely mentioned. Well, not until that final chapter when it all comes together. I guessed something of the sort about 10-20 pages earlier when Ritchie vanishes. That tied end is really wonderful and popped a pleasant smile on my face. The only bleat is the title. It really has nothing to do with the main theme of the novel and alludes to a minor part. When it became apparent, I did exclaim a sort of WTF!!
Overall, enjoyed this delightful interlude between more heavier material.
December 26, 2024
An intriguing story. Campion’s friend Mike is accused of murder. Gina the wife of the victim Paul is suspected of having an affair with Mike the suspect. The mysterious disappearance for twenty years of Ritchie an employee of the publishing company adds to the mix.
A valuable manuscript, John the uptight Managing Director appears only interested in the reputation of the company. Set up n the 1930s we have familiar characters and the locked in room mystery.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The revelation of the murderer is not surprising and Mike is exonerated. Barnabas, Ritchie’s brother is found to be living in France at a circus by Campion. He stole the original manuscript and sold it to buy the circus. John the MD murdered Paul who wanted to display the manuscript which would have revealed it was a fake and destroyed the reputation of the company. Ritchie arranged John’s death to look like a suicide for murdering Paul. He then joined the circus with his brother as a clown. Very entertaining story.
A valuable manuscript, John the uptight Managing Director appears only interested in the reputation of the company. Set up n the 1930s we have familiar characters and the locked in room mystery.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The revelation of the murderer is not surprising and Mike is exonerated. Barnabas, Ritchie’s brother is found to be living in France at a circus by Campion. He stole the original manuscript and sold it to buy the circus. John the MD murdered Paul who wanted to display the manuscript which would have revealed it was a fake and destroyed the reputation of the company. Ritchie arranged John’s death to look like a suicide for murdering Paul. He then joined the circus with his brother as a clown. Very entertaining story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2023
A jolly good Margery Allingham/Golden Age mystery, though I had guessed the real (and interestingly eccentric) culprit early on. Beautiful ending too.
September 1, 2021
At a traditional London-based family-owned publishing firm, internecine rivalries culminate in the premeditated murder of company director Paul Brande. Gina Brande, his long-neglected young wife is the subject of an infatuation from junior partner Mike Wedgwood, whom the police waste no time in arresting.
There develops an intriguing locked-room mystery and subsequent courtroom drama. Private investigator Albert Campion is not convinced, and there ensues a race against the clock to unmask the true killer before the jury’s verdict is delivered (and Mike hanged).
Like a railway journey that explores obscure branch lines, a Margery Allingham novel can be a pleasant way to while away your spare time. When passengers neither alight nor board you might wonder why the train went there in the first place; however, the scenery was interesting and the company entertaining. In due course, the locomotive rejoins the main line and the story is back on track.
Except … in Flowers For The Judge, the author abruptly switches the points. Nearing its final destination, the plot is suddenly hijacked by a somewhat bizarre backstory, whose actors lack credible motives. The denouement soon follows as a shuddering halt.
Despite my bewilderment, I mainly enjoyed the book (certainly up to this pivot point), and on the plus side, there are some excellent Campion-Lugg moments in the great mickey-taking tradition of Holmes and Watson, and Poirot and Hastings.
There develops an intriguing locked-room mystery and subsequent courtroom drama. Private investigator Albert Campion is not convinced, and there ensues a race against the clock to unmask the true killer before the jury’s verdict is delivered (and Mike hanged).
Like a railway journey that explores obscure branch lines, a Margery Allingham novel can be a pleasant way to while away your spare time. When passengers neither alight nor board you might wonder why the train went there in the first place; however, the scenery was interesting and the company entertaining. In due course, the locomotive rejoins the main line and the story is back on track.
Except … in Flowers For The Judge, the author abruptly switches the points. Nearing its final destination, the plot is suddenly hijacked by a somewhat bizarre backstory, whose actors lack credible motives. The denouement soon follows as a shuddering halt.
Despite my bewilderment, I mainly enjoyed the book (certainly up to this pivot point), and on the plus side, there are some excellent Campion-Lugg moments in the great mickey-taking tradition of Holmes and Watson, and Poirot and Hastings.
July 29, 2013
At times, this is one of the best books that Allingham has written; with some interesting, well-written scenes in the courtroom and, in the character of Richie, a very interesting person that I would like to see a lot more of - he has an interesting turn of phrase and, hidden behind the dim exterior he is clearly possessed of a very sharp intellect.
However, there are two major flaws that stop the novel getting 4 stars - firstly, I'm not entirely sure why the first murder was actually done, as the grievance behind it seems so miniscule as to be almost pointless. Secondly, it's pretty unbelievable that when the second murder occurs, everyone - including the police - seems to be willing to just ignore it and write it off as a suicide. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen and the novel therefore just seems to end. A shame, as it had been a good crime novel up until then!
However, there are two major flaws that stop the novel getting 4 stars - firstly, I'm not entirely sure why the first murder was actually done, as the grievance behind it seems so miniscule as to be almost pointless. Secondly, it's pretty unbelievable that when the second murder occurs, everyone - including the police - seems to be willing to just ignore it and write it off as a suicide. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen and the novel therefore just seems to end. A shame, as it had been a good crime novel up until then!
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April 18, 2021Flowers for the Judge first published in 1936 is the seventh of the Albert Campion mysteries, but my first time reading one.
Our story is set around a family-run publishing firm, Barnabas Limited. As the book opens, we are told of a strange occurrence in 1911, when Tom Barnabas, one of the founder’s grandsons left home to head to the office and somewhere along the way simply disappeared, never to be seen again. In the present, twenty years later, Barnabas Limited is run by three cousins as partners, John Widdowson, Paul Brande, and Mike Wedgwood, all sons of the founder, Jacoby Barnabas’ daughters. Jacoby’s one surviving son, Sir Alexander is a KC with no interest in the business. Tom’s brother Ritchie is part of the firm but only as a reader, and no one thinks much of him or his abilities-viewing him with a sort of pity.
We find Gina, Paul’s wife, Mike and John at a weekly gathering on a Sunday in Gina (and Paul)’s home (the cousins live on different floors of the same building) where we learn that Paul has not been seen since Thursday. While Paul taking off like this is not unusual, this time around he has been away much too long. Campion, who is a friend of Mike, has also been invited and is asked to look into the matter. But before he can really do anything, the very next morning he is woken by the company’s long-time secretary, Miss Curley (who was also present at the gathering) who tells him Paul’s body has been found. And that too, in the office ‘strong room’ in its basement, a room that Mike had visited the previous evening to fetch some papers. Not only that Gina and Paul did not have a particularly good relationship (Paul was entirely self-absorbed and the two were living separate lives), and Mike is very obviously is in love with Gina. Soon it turns out that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence against Mike from his having a very weak alibi to his car being involved in the crime (no Paul was not run over). He is arrested and put to trial. But Ritchie and Campion are sure that Mike is innocent and Campion sets out to solve the case.
Paul, like the typical murder victim was a fairly obnoxious and unlikeable person, but there doesn’t at first appear to be any one that could have had a strong enough motive (besides Mike, that is). But as Campion begins to look into things, links and clues begin to emerge. Alongside, Mike’s trial proceeds, every sentence of the prosecutor seeming to condemn him. Can Campion solve it in time?
I enjoyed Allingham’s writing from the very start of the book especially the touch of humour in it. The uniquely named Magerfontein Lugg, Campion’s manservant also adds to the humour. A former burglar, Lugg, now increasing in girth (his trousers are described as the ‘hind legs of a black elephant’), is trying to move up in the world serving in Campion’s household. He comes across as lugubrious and is ever grumbling, and seems forever in preparation for the time when Campion’s titled relation will go the way such relations do, so that Campion (and Lugg) can take their ‘rightful’ places in the world. But fun apart, as an ex-burglar, Lugg is a great source of help for Campion when he needs information or access to those in Lugg’s former line that can give it. But he is always at odds with Campion for taking on matters that may reflect badly on them socially. A rather interesting creation from Allingham’s pen.
Another character that really stood out in this one was Ritchie Barnabas. Ritchie is an underdog of sorts not thought much of by his family. He is strange in his habits, speaks in disjointed phrases but is very sensitive, good-hearted and well meaning. Campion soon finds as do we that Ritchie is much more perceptive than he seems at the surface and he turns out to be a strong ally in solving the case.
Of Campion himself, I felt I couldn’t really get as much a sense of as a character as I did of the others. Perhaps this is a consequence of not starting at the beginning of the series.
The mystery itself was a really enjoyable one for me. While one was reasonably sure Mike couldn’t have done it, there is really not even the slightest clue who it could have been until Campion starts to really dig. The story is set in February, when the London streets are always covered in a fog, and it seems as though this represents our mystery as well—the real killer hidden in a fog. Quite a bit of the book focuses on the inquest and then Mike’s trial which we witness in detail. There are also other questions like whether the earlier disappearance of Tom Barnabas was in any way connected with our present-day mystery. All is resolved at the end which I thought was really well done. There was no denouement and last-minute reprieve in the courtroom. Instead, the Mike’s trial ends rather surprisingly and more surprises are in store for us in the last chapter in particular, which was something I wasn’t expecting at all but which certainly brought a smile to my face.
I really enjoyed my first Allingham and look forward to reading more sometime soon!
I read this for the #1936Club hosted by Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings and Stuck in a Book.
Our story is set around a family-run publishing firm, Barnabas Limited. As the book opens, we are told of a strange occurrence in 1911, when Tom Barnabas, one of the founder’s grandsons left home to head to the office and somewhere along the way simply disappeared, never to be seen again. In the present, twenty years later, Barnabas Limited is run by three cousins as partners, John Widdowson, Paul Brande, and Mike Wedgwood, all sons of the founder, Jacoby Barnabas’ daughters. Jacoby’s one surviving son, Sir Alexander is a KC with no interest in the business. Tom’s brother Ritchie is part of the firm but only as a reader, and no one thinks much of him or his abilities-viewing him with a sort of pity.
We find Gina, Paul’s wife, Mike and John at a weekly gathering on a Sunday in Gina (and Paul)’s home (the cousins live on different floors of the same building) where we learn that Paul has not been seen since Thursday. While Paul taking off like this is not unusual, this time around he has been away much too long. Campion, who is a friend of Mike, has also been invited and is asked to look into the matter. But before he can really do anything, the very next morning he is woken by the company’s long-time secretary, Miss Curley (who was also present at the gathering) who tells him Paul’s body has been found. And that too, in the office ‘strong room’ in its basement, a room that Mike had visited the previous evening to fetch some papers. Not only that Gina and Paul did not have a particularly good relationship (Paul was entirely self-absorbed and the two were living separate lives), and Mike is very obviously is in love with Gina. Soon it turns out that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence against Mike from his having a very weak alibi to his car being involved in the crime (no Paul was not run over). He is arrested and put to trial. But Ritchie and Campion are sure that Mike is innocent and Campion sets out to solve the case.
Paul, like the typical murder victim was a fairly obnoxious and unlikeable person, but there doesn’t at first appear to be any one that could have had a strong enough motive (besides Mike, that is). But as Campion begins to look into things, links and clues begin to emerge. Alongside, Mike’s trial proceeds, every sentence of the prosecutor seeming to condemn him. Can Campion solve it in time?
I enjoyed Allingham’s writing from the very start of the book especially the touch of humour in it. The uniquely named Magerfontein Lugg, Campion’s manservant also adds to the humour. A former burglar, Lugg, now increasing in girth (his trousers are described as the ‘hind legs of a black elephant’), is trying to move up in the world serving in Campion’s household. He comes across as lugubrious and is ever grumbling, and seems forever in preparation for the time when Campion’s titled relation will go the way such relations do, so that Campion (and Lugg) can take their ‘rightful’ places in the world. But fun apart, as an ex-burglar, Lugg is a great source of help for Campion when he needs information or access to those in Lugg’s former line that can give it. But he is always at odds with Campion for taking on matters that may reflect badly on them socially. A rather interesting creation from Allingham’s pen.
Another character that really stood out in this one was Ritchie Barnabas. Ritchie is an underdog of sorts not thought much of by his family. He is strange in his habits, speaks in disjointed phrases but is very sensitive, good-hearted and well meaning. Campion soon finds as do we that Ritchie is much more perceptive than he seems at the surface and he turns out to be a strong ally in solving the case.
Of Campion himself, I felt I couldn’t really get as much a sense of as a character as I did of the others. Perhaps this is a consequence of not starting at the beginning of the series.
The mystery itself was a really enjoyable one for me. While one was reasonably sure Mike couldn’t have done it, there is really not even the slightest clue who it could have been until Campion starts to really dig. The story is set in February, when the London streets are always covered in a fog, and it seems as though this represents our mystery as well—the real killer hidden in a fog. Quite a bit of the book focuses on the inquest and then Mike’s trial which we witness in detail. There are also other questions like whether the earlier disappearance of Tom Barnabas was in any way connected with our present-day mystery. All is resolved at the end which I thought was really well done. There was no denouement and last-minute reprieve in the courtroom. Instead, the Mike’s trial ends rather surprisingly and more surprises are in store for us in the last chapter in particular, which was something I wasn’t expecting at all but which certainly brought a smile to my face.
I really enjoyed my first Allingham and look forward to reading more sometime soon!
I read this for the #1936Club hosted by Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings and Stuck in a Book.
January 5, 2019
It took me almost my whole life to discover Margery Allingham's Albert Campion. He is overshadowed by Agatha Christie's, detectives, which is a shame. He is as charming as Poorly with none of the affectation that get on my nerves. He is as down to earth as Miss Harold while still being sophisticated.
I think "Flowers for the Judge" is the 8th book in the series, and while it is by no means the most exciting of the Campion novels, it is worth reading for the good character development Allingham provides of the other players. The story is truly about them, not about Albert.
It drags a little, and we get no tantalizing hints as to who this mysterious Mr. Campion really is, but this book makes a nice, almost stand alone break in the saga.
I think "Flowers for the Judge" is the 8th book in the series, and while it is by no means the most exciting of the Campion novels, it is worth reading for the good character development Allingham provides of the other players. The story is truly about them, not about Albert.
It drags a little, and we get no tantalizing hints as to who this mysterious Mr. Campion really is, but this book makes a nice, almost stand alone break in the saga.
September 26, 2011
Although this is the seventh Albert Campion book written, it was my first introduction to Allingham's gentleman sleuth and his former burglar manservant, Magersfontein Lugg. Compared to many of the Golden Age queens of mystery (Christie, Sayers, Marsh, etc.), I came late to Allingham's work. It wasn't until I was married and living in a very tiny town with a very tiny public library that I found her.
But...back to Flowers for the the Judge. This story begins with the strange disappearance of Tom Barnabas--a member of a family who owns a leading publishing house in London. He disappeared in broad daylight while walking down a London street. There is an investigation, but Tom is never found and the mystery soon loses public interest. The rest of the family keep the business going...and then twenty years later another member of the family goes missing. Enter Albert Campion. Universal uncle and friend to the family, Campion is called upon to investigate what happened to the missing cousin. This time the family is not left in doubt...the missing man is found dead in the manuscript vault. Suspicion falls on the youngest Barnabas cousin who was known to be in love with the dead man's wife. It is up to Campion to search through the family history to expose the murderer--but, as so often happens, he finds more than he bargained for.
I remember being very taken with Albert Campion and Lugg. Like Lord Peter Wimsey, Campion obviously came from a wealthy, upper-crust family. He was definitely a gentleman. But he chose to go in disguise, so to speak, taking on an assumed name. I also enjoyed his relationship with Lugg. Lugg was certainly no Bunter. He was not the ideal "gentleman's gentleman," but he most definitely had qualities that were very useful to Campion. A very entertaining mystery that urged me to seek out more of Allingham's work
But...back to Flowers for the the Judge. This story begins with the strange disappearance of Tom Barnabas--a member of a family who owns a leading publishing house in London. He disappeared in broad daylight while walking down a London street. There is an investigation, but Tom is never found and the mystery soon loses public interest. The rest of the family keep the business going...and then twenty years later another member of the family goes missing. Enter Albert Campion. Universal uncle and friend to the family, Campion is called upon to investigate what happened to the missing cousin. This time the family is not left in doubt...the missing man is found dead in the manuscript vault. Suspicion falls on the youngest Barnabas cousin who was known to be in love with the dead man's wife. It is up to Campion to search through the family history to expose the murderer--but, as so often happens, he finds more than he bargained for.
I remember being very taken with Albert Campion and Lugg. Like Lord Peter Wimsey, Campion obviously came from a wealthy, upper-crust family. He was definitely a gentleman. But he chose to go in disguise, so to speak, taking on an assumed name. I also enjoyed his relationship with Lugg. Lugg was certainly no Bunter. He was not the ideal "gentleman's gentleman," but he most definitely had qualities that were very useful to Campion. A very entertaining mystery that urged me to seek out more of Allingham's work
September 25, 2012
Paul Brande is found dead in his publishing firm's strong room under puzzling circumstances. At the inquest, this death is ruled to be murder and his cousin, Mike, is arrested for the crime. Certain his young friend is innocent and asked to investigate by Brande's neglected widow, Gina, Albert Campion tries to discover what really happened.
I found as I read my way through this that, despite what I initially believed, I hadn't read it before. I didn't really miss anything. Others on the mailing list finished it before me and their verdicts weren't particularly effusive. I have to agree. There is a flatness to Flowers for the Judge that hasn't been present in the other Campion books I've reread lately. In this one, Allingham seems to have put so much work into the Coroner's Court and the Old Bailey trial that she forgot about characterisation. This is a book about courts and trials, not a book about people. As such, if fails in its attempt to capture the reader's concern for the characters. Instead, it all becomes a very academic exercise.
Mike and Gina, who are supposed to be the thwarted hero and heroine are instead cardboard cutouts. We never even meet the victim, Paul, so our sympathy for him is non-existent. The murderer is pompous and annoying but never particularly sinister. Even Campion and Lugg are poorly defined here, compared to other novels. The only characters that really appealed to me were Uncle Ritchie, who was a delight, and poor Teddie Dell, who appeared briefly and swiftly disappeared.
Flowers for the Judge felt like a sleight of hand trick with a very long and somewhat boring set-up that was only revealed as a trick right at the very, very end. This is a solid book, but not a particularly inspiring one.
[Copied across from Library Thing; 25 September 2012]
I found as I read my way through this that, despite what I initially believed, I hadn't read it before. I didn't really miss anything. Others on the mailing list finished it before me and their verdicts weren't particularly effusive. I have to agree. There is a flatness to Flowers for the Judge that hasn't been present in the other Campion books I've reread lately. In this one, Allingham seems to have put so much work into the Coroner's Court and the Old Bailey trial that she forgot about characterisation. This is a book about courts and trials, not a book about people. As such, if fails in its attempt to capture the reader's concern for the characters. Instead, it all becomes a very academic exercise.
Mike and Gina, who are supposed to be the thwarted hero and heroine are instead cardboard cutouts. We never even meet the victim, Paul, so our sympathy for him is non-existent. The murderer is pompous and annoying but never particularly sinister. Even Campion and Lugg are poorly defined here, compared to other novels. The only characters that really appealed to me were Uncle Ritchie, who was a delight, and poor Teddie Dell, who appeared briefly and swiftly disappeared.
Flowers for the Judge felt like a sleight of hand trick with a very long and somewhat boring set-up that was only revealed as a trick right at the very, very end. This is a solid book, but not a particularly inspiring one.
[Copied across from Library Thing; 25 September 2012]
July 7, 2018
Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham is the 7th Albert Campion mystery. A director in a family publishing house is found murdered in a locked cellar and when one of his cousins is arrested, Albert Campion is asked to investigate. I found this book a bit slow and confusing in parts and the murderer obvious. I did enjoy the courtroom scenes but the investigation was a bit drawn out.
March 10, 2017
I don't think I've ever encountered a novel that was not only set in a publishing house, but actually had books serving important plot point, which displayed so little interest in books.
September 29, 2019
Dame Agatha Christie and Her Peers
BOOK 16
I was not much of a fan of Allingham’s first work, "The Crime at Black Dudley.' So I moved forward a few years hoping for a better novel. Is there improvement?
CAST – 3 stars: This time around, Albert Campion has come fully into his own as an investigator. Allingham describes him as follows: “His slender, drooping figure, pale ingenuous face and sleek yellow hair were rendered all the more indefinite by the immense and unusually solid horn-rimmed spectacles he chose to affect.” And the work ‘affect’ is perfect: Campion surprises with silly remarks that are often right on the money, and when he must defend himself, he has a few tricks up his sleeves. But these silly remarks are often just silly, imo. Early, we’re told that Tom Barnabas, of “Barnabas and Company” (publishers), had simply disappeared into thin air in 1911, twenty years previous to this novels setting. Shortly, the unhappily married Paul Brande, a director of the publishing company, has simply vanished also. But Paul is found dead in the publishing company’s ‘Strong Room.’ Paul’s wife, Gina, doesn’t much care and even says so to investigators. Mike Wedgewood, the ‘youngest cousin’ and a junior director of the firm is arrested early in the story. Ritchie Barnabas is the only cousin to receive no share of the business when the “Old Man” died in 1908. But Ritchie is ‘a reader’ for the company and notices that Paul’s murder repeats a novel the company had published a year earlier. Then there is the terrific Miss Curley who “was the firm” as she’d started out as secretary to the Old Man and she’s seen it all, and might know it all. Albert simply makes himself at home by illegally, and comically, obtaining keys to the publishing company, offices, and their safe. At one point, Albert is “employed with a cocktail- shaker at the cabinet on the other side of the room” but oh, he hears and sees everything. Mrs. Austin, post-murder, was “enjoying the tragedy with all the shameful delight of the under-entertained. This is the kind of cast that rises above the story itself and is typical of the most fascinating characters in “The Golden Age of Mystery.” I’d give this element 4 stars, but Allingham isn’t very clear as to who, exactly, relates to who and how. (And half way through, just when the family needs a really good lawyer, a seemingly forgotten family lawyer conveniently appears…and is a little too convenient for my taste.) Still, these folks are fun to be around.
ATMOSPHERE – 4: We start with a Sunday afternoon tea in the home of Paul and Gina Brande, who live on the top floor of a building purchased for the family. John Widdowson, another director, lives on the middle floor, and Mike Wedgwood occupies the ground floor. Ritchie has a small room on the roof. (At one time, small rooms were added to homes as additional space for the help, and these rooms at some point were named ‘penthouses’ and without elevators were the most inaccessible and uncomfortable rooms of homes.) Imagine: the entire family managing the business lives right next door to the publishing house itself. Allingham uses this continually to throw what might be red herrings all over the place: Mike has his own garage underground which is adjacent to the “Strong Room” in which Paul’s body is found. Who is on which floor at what time? Who heard what through the walls, or via not-quite-shut doors. (In Allingham’s first Albert Campion novel, “Crime at Black Dudley”, the author invents all kinds of secret passageways so that anyone could be anywhere at any time. This time around, there are no secret passageways, but we have 2 building with 4 floors each and basement rooms and it is done very nicely without a single secret passageway anywhere. Well…except one…but it’s not a trick and it works perfectly.) There is a lot of fog and rain and top hats and umbrellas and tobacco shops and of course Scotland Yard. Oh, and there is a mysterious screenplay entitled “The Gallivant” that’s been in storage for many years and no one is allowed to read it. This story ONLY works because of 2 buildings side by side and that's always a good thing for this element.
PLOT/CRIME – 3: Paul Brande, who has been gone for 4 days, is found dead in the “Strong Room”. That’s all I’ll say, the crime itself isn’t the highlight of the story.
INVESTIGATION – 2: Albert just sorta stands around and listens, and as I stated before has copies of keys made illegally. He inconveniently pops in and out of people’s offices and rooms at the wrong time: this lends a rather comical tone. The last half of the novel consists of the trial itself: Albert pretty much just watches and waits. The investigation isn’t the highlight of the story either.
SOLUTION – 5: An absolutely magnificent slam dunk by Allingham. Perfect in every way. I’ll say no more about this element.
SUMMARY: 3.4. Yes, Allingham improves and now I know why this author is so highly regarded. Early in her career, she’d stated she didn’t really want to do conventional detective/murder mysteries. Here, she does not, yet pulls off some pretty good stunts. So, for the under-entertained out there, this one is a must. Is she a competitor of Dame Agatha Christie for the title “Queen of Crime”? In a sense, not really. So far, that is. Still, thankfully, there are many books left by Allingham and I can’t wait to get to more of them!
BOOK 16
I was not much of a fan of Allingham’s first work, "The Crime at Black Dudley.' So I moved forward a few years hoping for a better novel. Is there improvement?
CAST – 3 stars: This time around, Albert Campion has come fully into his own as an investigator. Allingham describes him as follows: “His slender, drooping figure, pale ingenuous face and sleek yellow hair were rendered all the more indefinite by the immense and unusually solid horn-rimmed spectacles he chose to affect.” And the work ‘affect’ is perfect: Campion surprises with silly remarks that are often right on the money, and when he must defend himself, he has a few tricks up his sleeves. But these silly remarks are often just silly, imo. Early, we’re told that Tom Barnabas, of “Barnabas and Company” (publishers), had simply disappeared into thin air in 1911, twenty years previous to this novels setting. Shortly, the unhappily married Paul Brande, a director of the publishing company, has simply vanished also. But Paul is found dead in the publishing company’s ‘Strong Room.’ Paul’s wife, Gina, doesn’t much care and even says so to investigators. Mike Wedgewood, the ‘youngest cousin’ and a junior director of the firm is arrested early in the story. Ritchie Barnabas is the only cousin to receive no share of the business when the “Old Man” died in 1908. But Ritchie is ‘a reader’ for the company and notices that Paul’s murder repeats a novel the company had published a year earlier. Then there is the terrific Miss Curley who “was the firm” as she’d started out as secretary to the Old Man and she’s seen it all, and might know it all. Albert simply makes himself at home by illegally, and comically, obtaining keys to the publishing company, offices, and their safe. At one point, Albert is “employed with a cocktail- shaker at the cabinet on the other side of the room” but oh, he hears and sees everything. Mrs. Austin, post-murder, was “enjoying the tragedy with all the shameful delight of the under-entertained. This is the kind of cast that rises above the story itself and is typical of the most fascinating characters in “The Golden Age of Mystery.” I’d give this element 4 stars, but Allingham isn’t very clear as to who, exactly, relates to who and how. (And half way through, just when the family needs a really good lawyer, a seemingly forgotten family lawyer conveniently appears…and is a little too convenient for my taste.) Still, these folks are fun to be around.
ATMOSPHERE – 4: We start with a Sunday afternoon tea in the home of Paul and Gina Brande, who live on the top floor of a building purchased for the family. John Widdowson, another director, lives on the middle floor, and Mike Wedgwood occupies the ground floor. Ritchie has a small room on the roof. (At one time, small rooms were added to homes as additional space for the help, and these rooms at some point were named ‘penthouses’ and without elevators were the most inaccessible and uncomfortable rooms of homes.) Imagine: the entire family managing the business lives right next door to the publishing house itself. Allingham uses this continually to throw what might be red herrings all over the place: Mike has his own garage underground which is adjacent to the “Strong Room” in which Paul’s body is found. Who is on which floor at what time? Who heard what through the walls, or via not-quite-shut doors. (In Allingham’s first Albert Campion novel, “Crime at Black Dudley”, the author invents all kinds of secret passageways so that anyone could be anywhere at any time. This time around, there are no secret passageways, but we have 2 building with 4 floors each and basement rooms and it is done very nicely without a single secret passageway anywhere. Well…except one…but it’s not a trick and it works perfectly.) There is a lot of fog and rain and top hats and umbrellas and tobacco shops and of course Scotland Yard. Oh, and there is a mysterious screenplay entitled “The Gallivant” that’s been in storage for many years and no one is allowed to read it. This story ONLY works because of 2 buildings side by side and that's always a good thing for this element.
PLOT/CRIME – 3: Paul Brande, who has been gone for 4 days, is found dead in the “Strong Room”. That’s all I’ll say, the crime itself isn’t the highlight of the story.
INVESTIGATION – 2: Albert just sorta stands around and listens, and as I stated before has copies of keys made illegally. He inconveniently pops in and out of people’s offices and rooms at the wrong time: this lends a rather comical tone. The last half of the novel consists of the trial itself: Albert pretty much just watches and waits. The investigation isn’t the highlight of the story either.
SOLUTION – 5: An absolutely magnificent slam dunk by Allingham. Perfect in every way. I’ll say no more about this element.
SUMMARY: 3.4. Yes, Allingham improves and now I know why this author is so highly regarded. Early in her career, she’d stated she didn’t really want to do conventional detective/murder mysteries. Here, she does not, yet pulls off some pretty good stunts. So, for the under-entertained out there, this one is a must. Is she a competitor of Dame Agatha Christie for the title “Queen of Crime”? In a sense, not really. So far, that is. Still, thankfully, there are many books left by Allingham and I can’t wait to get to more of them!
July 23, 2020
In his hand he held a formal bouquet, the nosegay dating from the time when the air of the courtroom was not so hygienic as modern cleanliness has made it and a handful of flowers and herbs was at least some barrier between a fastidious gentleman and the plague.
July 2, 2020
I love this book for many reasons: the London setting, the publishing offices, the part played by Lugg. But I'm used to the abridged version read (brilliantly) by Peter Davidson, now sadly unavailable. He is particularly good at bringing out Mr Campion's jokes. Avignon? It's the French Colchester!
I have just reread the unabridged version (actually listened to the wonderful reading by Francis Matthews). The good bits are still good, but the court scenes are interminable, and loaded down with detail. Usually I hate to miss a single sentence from Allingham, but she strives to characterise the judge and the lawyers, giving them rather too many quirks. Cousin Alexander, the defending barrister hired by the Barnabas family, turns out to be a futile, pompous windbag.
There are other interesting characters - in fact this could be the most Dickensian of her novels. The weaselly Peter Riggert - you have to read the full version to really understand what he's up to. Miss Netley, who with her every utterance implies that she knows something she's not telling. Haven't we all known a Miss Netley? The book was published in 1936, explaining why the wife of the murdered man wears "pyjamas" at home. But Miss Netley is still dressed as if it was 1929, with a dress like a school uniform and bobbed hair. But she has her own reasons for being "mutton dressed as lamb".
Teddy Dell (who rather vanishes from the story) lives in one of those interiors Allingham loves to describe. Like Polly Tassie and Mrs Broome, she has done up the place in a style that is both tasteless and cosy. Red lino clashes with the joke oak sideboard in her little Arts and Crafts cottage built in the gardens of an earlier apartment block. And the brass knocker on her front door is embossed with an image of Lincoln cathedral.
Gina Brand, whose husband is found murdered just as she was about to ask him for a divorce, is initially an attractive girl. She's young, and a dress designer, and from New England - but we see her from the outside. She is ably supported by Mrs Austin, her cleaner, who has a large bust swathed in layers of cardigans. (Probably topped off with a flowery overall.)
But then we get to the endless court scenes. Gina and Mike have fallen in love, and Mike is arrested for the murder. Now we see the court proceedings through Gina's eyes, and she is reduced to a tortured soul suffering agonies. Once Mike is in custody, they can't contact each other - it would only make his supposed motive more obvious. This gives Allingham an opportunity to do the "sundered lovers" trope familiar from romantic novels - which she wrote on the side under other names.
Around these events Mr Campion flits, following up the strangest of leads, such as the mysterious disappearance of an earlier Mr Barnabas - in 1916. He is aided by Richie Barnabas, an eccentric but friendly member of the family. Lugg takes him to visit a shady old acquaintance in Camden Town, shedding pretentions as he goes.
Is it worth reading? Oh yes!
I have just reread the unabridged version (actually listened to the wonderful reading by Francis Matthews). The good bits are still good, but the court scenes are interminable, and loaded down with detail. Usually I hate to miss a single sentence from Allingham, but she strives to characterise the judge and the lawyers, giving them rather too many quirks. Cousin Alexander, the defending barrister hired by the Barnabas family, turns out to be a futile, pompous windbag.
There are other interesting characters - in fact this could be the most Dickensian of her novels. The weaselly Peter Riggert - you have to read the full version to really understand what he's up to. Miss Netley, who with her every utterance implies that she knows something she's not telling. Haven't we all known a Miss Netley? The book was published in 1936, explaining why the wife of the murdered man wears "pyjamas" at home. But Miss Netley is still dressed as if it was 1929, with a dress like a school uniform and bobbed hair. But she has her own reasons for being "mutton dressed as lamb".
Teddy Dell (who rather vanishes from the story) lives in one of those interiors Allingham loves to describe. Like Polly Tassie and Mrs Broome, she has done up the place in a style that is both tasteless and cosy. Red lino clashes with the joke oak sideboard in her little Arts and Crafts cottage built in the gardens of an earlier apartment block. And the brass knocker on her front door is embossed with an image of Lincoln cathedral.
Gina Brand, whose husband is found murdered just as she was about to ask him for a divorce, is initially an attractive girl. She's young, and a dress designer, and from New England - but we see her from the outside. She is ably supported by Mrs Austin, her cleaner, who has a large bust swathed in layers of cardigans. (Probably topped off with a flowery overall.)
But then we get to the endless court scenes. Gina and Mike have fallen in love, and Mike is arrested for the murder. Now we see the court proceedings through Gina's eyes, and she is reduced to a tortured soul suffering agonies. Once Mike is in custody, they can't contact each other - it would only make his supposed motive more obvious. This gives Allingham an opportunity to do the "sundered lovers" trope familiar from romantic novels - which she wrote on the side under other names.
Around these events Mr Campion flits, following up the strangest of leads, such as the mysterious disappearance of an earlier Mr Barnabas - in 1916. He is aided by Richie Barnabas, an eccentric but friendly member of the family. Lugg takes him to visit a shady old acquaintance in Camden Town, shedding pretentions as he goes.
Is it worth reading? Oh yes!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2019
Still a 4 star read - first read this years ago, this reread was with the Reading the Detectives group.
My favorite part of this series is still the interplay between Albert Campion and his self-proclaimed “houseman” Lugg, a former cat burglar. When Campion is asked to investigate the suspicious death of a publishing executive, Lugg is convinced sex is the motive and Campion shouldn’t drag them down by getting involved.
There are several interesting courtroom scenes, played well for drama, and a good deal of dry humor as Campion explores the dirty secrets behind the facade of respectability around the old family-owned publishing house. I thought the ending was rather drawn out unnecessarily, but will continue with the Campion series buddy reads - I enjoyed the first several books of this series first time around many years ago, and look forward to reading the rest of the series now.
My favorite part of this series is still the interplay between Albert Campion and his self-proclaimed “houseman” Lugg, a former cat burglar. When Campion is asked to investigate the suspicious death of a publishing executive, Lugg is convinced sex is the motive and Campion shouldn’t drag them down by getting involved.
There are several interesting courtroom scenes, played well for drama, and a good deal of dry humor as Campion explores the dirty secrets behind the facade of respectability around the old family-owned publishing house. I thought the ending was rather drawn out unnecessarily, but will continue with the Campion series buddy reads - I enjoyed the first several books of this series first time around many years ago, and look forward to reading the rest of the series now.
April 19, 2018
An arrest and trialtrial - again not one of my favoured styles of detective stories One of hte main characters in the story would probably be read today as autistic, although I'm not sure if that was the source of Allingham's characterisation here.
Campion is again feeling his age here, and while he still has occasional moments of fun, he's a far more serious person than the one we first met.
Campion is again feeling his age here, and while he still has occasional moments of fun, he's a far more serious person than the one we first met.
February 17, 2021
I have finally read another Golden Age mystery by a writer that’s new to me! And the more I read of these lesser-known works (like Mitchell, for instance), the more I think that it was a pity that these authors are not more widely read.
Flowers for the Judge starts with the detective being called in for a missing person’s case. Paul, one of the directors at Barnabas Limited has been missing for a few days, and the family thinks that Mr Campion can help. But sadly, before anything can happen, Paul is found dead in the strongroom of the firm. The curious thing is that one of his family was in the room the day before Paul was discovered, and he claims he didn’t see anything!
The book does start off by implying that this could be related to an earlier disappearance, but that line of inquiry wasn’t really followed. If anything, this book traces what happens as the police investigates, and as Mr Campion continues his investigation after Paul has been arrested. The judge, as you can guess, is the judge that presides over Paul’s case.
Although this was my first introduction to the Albert Campion mysteries, I enjoyed it very much and found it easy to follow. It probably helped that the mystery felt like a standalone, so even though I’m probably missing something when it comes to more established characters like Campion’s assistant, the former criminal Lugg I didn’t feel like I lost their plot. In fact, I found their banter amusing and thought it helped to bring some light-heartedness into the mystery. I assume that the people in Barnabas Limited are new to the book, but I loved the way that Allingham brought them to life – the characterisation in this book is definitely top-notch.
The only place where this book fails is at the end. After all that dogged detective work, there is no great reveal, and hence no real climax. The murderer is found and the method of murder uncovered, but I was left a bit confused as to why the murder happened and why certain steps were taken after the murder. Perhaps it was intentional, but it was not wholly satisfying to read.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to Margery Allingham, and I am definitely going to lookout for more of her books.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
Flowers for the Judge starts with the detective being called in for a missing person’s case. Paul, one of the directors at Barnabas Limited has been missing for a few days, and the family thinks that Mr Campion can help. But sadly, before anything can happen, Paul is found dead in the strongroom of the firm. The curious thing is that one of his family was in the room the day before Paul was discovered, and he claims he didn’t see anything!
The book does start off by implying that this could be related to an earlier disappearance, but that line of inquiry wasn’t really followed. If anything, this book traces what happens as the police investigates, and as Mr Campion continues his investigation after Paul has been arrested. The judge, as you can guess, is the judge that presides over Paul’s case.
Although this was my first introduction to the Albert Campion mysteries, I enjoyed it very much and found it easy to follow. It probably helped that the mystery felt like a standalone, so even though I’m probably missing something when it comes to more established characters like Campion’s assistant, the former criminal Lugg I didn’t feel like I lost their plot. In fact, I found their banter amusing and thought it helped to bring some light-heartedness into the mystery. I assume that the people in Barnabas Limited are new to the book, but I loved the way that Allingham brought them to life – the characterisation in this book is definitely top-notch.
The only place where this book fails is at the end. After all that dogged detective work, there is no great reveal, and hence no real climax. The murderer is found and the method of murder uncovered, but I was left a bit confused as to why the murder happened and why certain steps were taken after the murder. Perhaps it was intentional, but it was not wholly satisfying to read.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to Margery Allingham, and I am definitely going to lookout for more of her books.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
June 16, 2025
Where's a criminal lawyer when you need one?
Barnabas and Company is a long-established London publishing house which specializes in producing quality books and selling them in a dignified manner. It's true that a junior partner (one of old Jacoby Barnabas' many nephews) disappeared into thin air on his way to work one day, but that's an old story and the firm has long since lived it down. Even with the removal of Tom Barnabas, there are plenty of Jocoby's nephews to keep the business going.
Undisputed head of the company is John Widdowson. A middle-aged bachelor, he's autocratic and determined to have his way about everything. Younger cousin Paul Brande challenges Widdowson occasionally, although never successfully. He's the flamboyant cousin and even has an American wife - beautiful Gina Brande. Younger still is Mike Wedgwood, an attractive bachelor who's in love with Gina.
The wild card is Richie Barnabas. His clumsy mannerisms and elliptical speech so unnerved old Jacoby that he wasn't left a partnership at all, but has only a minor job as a "reader." He's treated kindly, but dismissively by the family. A much more potent force in the company is the elderly Miss Curley, who was secretary to Jacoby. She's risen to a position of great trust and some influence by virtue of her devotion to the family firm and the fact that she knows where the bones are buried.
Paul is a faithless husband and Mike resents it. Gina wants a divorce and things are coming to a head when Paul simply disappears. Unlike his cousin Tom, he's located, but not alive. Mike has already called in his friend Albert Campion to investigate the disappearance. Now Campion can investigate the death. Even better.
This book was published in 1934 and what most strikes a modern reader is the foolishness of an intelligent group of people failing to "lawyer up" as soon as they're involved in a suspicious death. The Barnabas family is so very respectable and the idea that anyone could suspect one of them of a crass act like suicide never occurs to them. Still less are they worried about being suspected of committing a crime. All talk freely to the police and before they realize what's happening, they're in a coroner's hearing and one of them is charged with willful murder. Uh-oh.
Of course, our Albert knows they have the wrong man in the dock, which means he has to find the murderer. And murderers never want to be found. In middle-age, Campion has finally acquired a sense of self-preservation. He still can't resist following up on a clue, but at least he now looks before he leaps. Or, in this case, falls.
Allingham's description of the trial is interesting and surprisingly humorous. The English courts are heavy with ancient traditions, including wigs for the judge and barristers and the traditional posy for the judge. It was originally needed to protect the official from the odors of the largely unwashed crowd. It's no longer needed, but the English love their traditions and give them up very reluctantly.
Best of all, Campion's wonderful sidekick Lugg is a full, if reluctant, partner in the investigation. We even get to see Lugg return to his old neighborhood, where he's still remembered by elders as a young, slim thief-in-training. Lugg has moved up in the world and wishes his employer would stick to classy cases. After all, when Albert's older brother kicks off, the two of them will be moving in aristocratic circles. If Albert Campion is content to remain a lowly private detective, his gentleman's gentleman has greater ambitions.
Allingham was always a fine writer, but as the Campion series gained fo, she developed more confidence in herself and in her detective. By this book, Campion has become a man of wry humor without losing the common touch and Lugg is a great addition to the series. I'm reading them in order and I think they just keep getting better.
Barnabas and Company is a long-established London publishing house which specializes in producing quality books and selling them in a dignified manner. It's true that a junior partner (one of old Jacoby Barnabas' many nephews) disappeared into thin air on his way to work one day, but that's an old story and the firm has long since lived it down. Even with the removal of Tom Barnabas, there are plenty of Jocoby's nephews to keep the business going.
Undisputed head of the company is John Widdowson. A middle-aged bachelor, he's autocratic and determined to have his way about everything. Younger cousin Paul Brande challenges Widdowson occasionally, although never successfully. He's the flamboyant cousin and even has an American wife - beautiful Gina Brande. Younger still is Mike Wedgwood, an attractive bachelor who's in love with Gina.
The wild card is Richie Barnabas. His clumsy mannerisms and elliptical speech so unnerved old Jacoby that he wasn't left a partnership at all, but has only a minor job as a "reader." He's treated kindly, but dismissively by the family. A much more potent force in the company is the elderly Miss Curley, who was secretary to Jacoby. She's risen to a position of great trust and some influence by virtue of her devotion to the family firm and the fact that she knows where the bones are buried.
Paul is a faithless husband and Mike resents it. Gina wants a divorce and things are coming to a head when Paul simply disappears. Unlike his cousin Tom, he's located, but not alive. Mike has already called in his friend Albert Campion to investigate the disappearance. Now Campion can investigate the death. Even better.
This book was published in 1934 and what most strikes a modern reader is the foolishness of an intelligent group of people failing to "lawyer up" as soon as they're involved in a suspicious death. The Barnabas family is so very respectable and the idea that anyone could suspect one of them of a crass act like suicide never occurs to them. Still less are they worried about being suspected of committing a crime. All talk freely to the police and before they realize what's happening, they're in a coroner's hearing and one of them is charged with willful murder. Uh-oh.
Of course, our Albert knows they have the wrong man in the dock, which means he has to find the murderer. And murderers never want to be found. In middle-age, Campion has finally acquired a sense of self-preservation. He still can't resist following up on a clue, but at least he now looks before he leaps. Or, in this case, falls.
Allingham's description of the trial is interesting and surprisingly humorous. The English courts are heavy with ancient traditions, including wigs for the judge and barristers and the traditional posy for the judge. It was originally needed to protect the official from the odors of the largely unwashed crowd. It's no longer needed, but the English love their traditions and give them up very reluctantly.
Best of all, Campion's wonderful sidekick Lugg is a full, if reluctant, partner in the investigation. We even get to see Lugg return to his old neighborhood, where he's still remembered by elders as a young, slim thief-in-training. Lugg has moved up in the world and wishes his employer would stick to classy cases. After all, when Albert's older brother kicks off, the two of them will be moving in aristocratic circles. If Albert Campion is content to remain a lowly private detective, his gentleman's gentleman has greater ambitions.
Allingham was always a fine writer, but as the Campion series gained fo, she developed more confidence in herself and in her detective. By this book, Campion has become a man of wry humor without losing the common touch and Lugg is a great addition to the series. I'm reading them in order and I think they just keep getting better.
June 22, 2017
The seventh Albert Campion. sees Margery Allingham take a major step towards becoming one of the greats of classic crime writing.The action takes place in London, apart from the last chapter set in Avignon which both acts as an Epilogue and an Explanation. In this book, the characterisation, plotting, and atmospheric description of buildings and places, combine to make a very fine piece of fiction.
The plot centres on a family publishing business currently in the hands of John Widdowson, Paul Brande and Mike Wedgewood, all nephews of the founder. Ritchie Barnabas, another nephew is also employed there.
Paul Brande has disappeared in what seems to be an echo of the disappearance in 1911 of Ritchie’s brother,Tom. Mike calls on his friend, Albert Campion, to investigate. Campion meets members of the family as well as Paul’s wife, Gina and trusted employee, Miss Curley, in one of the family flats situated next to the firm’s headquarters. During the meeting John asks Mike to fetch some documents from the office strongroom. The next morning Paul’s body is found there in plain view.
At the end of a Coroner’s Inquest, Mike is arrested. Paul had been deliberately poisoned with carbon monoxide fed into the locked strongroom from Mike’s car. Mike was obviously in love with Gina whom Paul refused to divorce. Thus Mike had a strong motive and can provide no alibi for the time of the murder. The case against him, though circumstantial, is strong, Campion is convinced of his innocence and sets out to find the murderer.
There are in this book two great set-pieces, the Inquest, in a chapter entitled “ Inquisition”,and the trial. There are seemingly unconnected issues concerned with the disappearance of Tom, and the Galivant, a valuable manuscript of a play by Congreve which the firm owns.
On the surface, then, Flowers for the Judge is simply a locked room murder mystery. However it deals, incidentally, with the nature of existence in the modern world- which may sound heavy but is not. It is also about relationships and their complicated nature and difficulties. There are romance and comedy and some chilling moments.It is complex but very readable.
Thank you to the Allingham Estate for my review copy.
The plot centres on a family publishing business currently in the hands of John Widdowson, Paul Brande and Mike Wedgewood, all nephews of the founder. Ritchie Barnabas, another nephew is also employed there.
Paul Brande has disappeared in what seems to be an echo of the disappearance in 1911 of Ritchie’s brother,Tom. Mike calls on his friend, Albert Campion, to investigate. Campion meets members of the family as well as Paul’s wife, Gina and trusted employee, Miss Curley, in one of the family flats situated next to the firm’s headquarters. During the meeting John asks Mike to fetch some documents from the office strongroom. The next morning Paul’s body is found there in plain view.
At the end of a Coroner’s Inquest, Mike is arrested. Paul had been deliberately poisoned with carbon monoxide fed into the locked strongroom from Mike’s car. Mike was obviously in love with Gina whom Paul refused to divorce. Thus Mike had a strong motive and can provide no alibi for the time of the murder. The case against him, though circumstantial, is strong, Campion is convinced of his innocence and sets out to find the murderer.
There are in this book two great set-pieces, the Inquest, in a chapter entitled “ Inquisition”,and the trial. There are seemingly unconnected issues concerned with the disappearance of Tom, and the Galivant, a valuable manuscript of a play by Congreve which the firm owns.
On the surface, then, Flowers for the Judge is simply a locked room murder mystery. However it deals, incidentally, with the nature of existence in the modern world- which may sound heavy but is not. It is also about relationships and their complicated nature and difficulties. There are romance and comedy and some chilling moments.It is complex but very readable.
Thank you to the Allingham Estate for my review copy.
December 31, 2018
This book was simply superb. I fell in love 💘 with certain characters and was so sorry that the book ended. The ending was completely just and legally wrong. It was the perfect ending for a Campion novel. Ms. Allingham 's character development is flawless. Everything is important. Pay attention to the small details. Those small details are crucial to understanding the ending, the characters and what makes Albert Campion unique.
January 7, 2024
I figured I'd give Margery Allingham another go. But I am staying with my original opinion: these Albert Campion mysteries are not my cup of tea. On one hand, overwrought psychology and far-fetched plots. On the other hand, (attempts at) low comedy in the shape of Magersfontein Lugg, Albert Campion's lugubrious ex-burglar of a personal servant. If I want to read about an aristocratic sleuth with an indispensable servant, I'll read Dorothy L. Sayers again.
June 29, 2017
The unthinkable: An Allingham I'd thought I'd read but hadn't.
June 23, 2024
I read this as part of a summer knit along which includes a calendar of 10 mysteries by the Golden Age British mystery writer Margery Allingham. Participants are provided excellent essays for each book as they come up in the schedule which help enrich the experience of the read along that is running parallel with the knit along..
This is the third Campion Mystery I have read this summer. It is set in a publishing house in 1931 London.The essay provided for this book describes the huge changes that were introduced around this time in the book publishing industry. Previously, books were published only in hard cover and at a cost of 7 shillings, were beyond the reach of most people. Eventually, a parallel publishing business emerged that sold cheap copies of books that were designed to appeal to tastes of "ordinary" people. Many of these were not well written, but they filled a gap. Around the time that this story is set, Penguin editons were first marketed. These were paperback versions of literary fiction in an affordable, and nicely designed format.
In this installment of the Albert Camion series, Campion is called to the premises of a prestigious publishing house, Barnabus. One of the directors has been found dead in a locked storeroom after he has been missing for four days. He has an attractive, young American wife, but the couple were estranged. Another employee of the firm is ia love with this woman, and this puts him in line as prime suspect for the murder.
The court case is at times plodding, but the end becomes very suspenseful and makes up for the slow middle.
This is the third Campion Mystery I have read this summer. It is set in a publishing house in 1931 London.The essay provided for this book describes the huge changes that were introduced around this time in the book publishing industry. Previously, books were published only in hard cover and at a cost of 7 shillings, were beyond the reach of most people. Eventually, a parallel publishing business emerged that sold cheap copies of books that were designed to appeal to tastes of "ordinary" people. Many of these were not well written, but they filled a gap. Around the time that this story is set, Penguin editons were first marketed. These were paperback versions of literary fiction in an affordable, and nicely designed format.
In this installment of the Albert Camion series, Campion is called to the premises of a prestigious publishing house, Barnabus. One of the directors has been found dead in a locked storeroom after he has been missing for four days. He has an attractive, young American wife, but the couple were estranged. Another employee of the firm is ia love with this woman, and this puts him in line as prime suspect for the murder.
The court case is at times plodding, but the end becomes very suspenseful and makes up for the slow middle.
July 10, 2023
Allingham is, along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Ngaio Marsh, one of the Queens of Crime, placed among the greatest mystery writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. I cannot see why. "Flowers for the Judge" is her seventh mystery, by which point a mystery writer should have reached her stride but before a dull repetitiveness or failing powers set in. It doesn't appear to be reviewed worse than most of her other books. I expect it is representative of Allingham's abilities.
It is a mess, both as a mystery and as a novel. We never come to learn much of the victim or suspects, and the detective is uncompelling and whose principal trait appears to be an unwillingness to tell anyone what he is thinking or why he takes various steps in the investigation. Allingham's prose is workmanlike, but I found it occasionally jarring, and she has a habit of inserting literary flourishes which fail to blend in.
The murder itself is a rather contrived affair and it is not difficult to figure out the murderer. A certain sub-mystery involves some of the characters being in their spare time, which even if everything else was great, is a sin I would have a great deal of difficulty forgiving.
It is a mess, both as a mystery and as a novel. We never come to learn much of the victim or suspects, and the detective is uncompelling and whose principal trait appears to be an unwillingness to tell anyone what he is thinking or why he takes various steps in the investigation. Allingham's prose is workmanlike, but I found it occasionally jarring, and she has a habit of inserting literary flourishes which fail to blend in.
The murder itself is a rather contrived affair and it is not difficult to figure out the murderer. A certain sub-mystery involves some of the characters being in their spare time, which even if everything else was great, is a sin I would have a great deal of difficulty forgiving.
March 24, 2019
As a pre-review bonus note: there seems to be at least three versions of this novel out and about. The first, the now O.o.P. Felony & Mayhem paperback (which I read), the Agora/Ipso version in paperback and ebook (I read the ebook version), and some sort of "Canadian Proofreaders" ebook version that is cheaper based on Canadian Life+50 copyright and is possibly illegal elsewhere. The F&M version seems to be superior in general typesetting and includes an additional chapter towards the end which better completes the novel (more on this towards the end of the review). The "Proofreaders" version has a family tree shoehorned into the first chapter which might be of use but generally is unnecessary. Both the F&M and the Proofreaders versions have a note towards the beginning showing how real-life criminal court cases as depicted in the court scene would have had a different handling of upcoming witnesses (missing in the Agora/Ipso edition). The A/I edition being the standard edition in the current market is alright, being generally of good quality (unlike their previous ebook which had a number of wayward punctuation marks that seem indicative of an un-doublechecked OCR process), though the missing chapter is perhaps problematic.
On to the review. This novel, like its predecessor, shows Allingham's penchant for juggling and rewriting the genetic code of the Golden Age mystery tropes while still reveling in the basic tropes/concepts of the vintage/"cozy" mystery (which, truth be told, most of the classics of the genre did). You still have a mostly insular family with various secrets and stresses. You still have old keys and young upstarts. You still have a locked room with a dead body inside and a family estate [albeit a city house turned apartments] with a history of strange occurrences (or at least, one particular strange occurrence). You still have mixed motives and an affair of the heart and busybody staff. Only, in this case, the locked room itself is mostly spoiled early on the first time that Campion investigates it, and the affairs of the heart are out in the open rather than in secret. In fact, it is not the locked room or the affair that is the problem, it is the question of how they collide: the wife's potential but not-quite lover was himself in the room after the murder took place, how could he have not seen the body unless he is guilty? The novel fairly insures us he is not guilty both by the existence of the plot (it is not an unheard of plot twist that the seemingly innocent is guilty, mind) and by a couple of throwaway lines that suggest he could not have done it woven into the author's wordchoice.
The novel gets these aspects out of the way - the locked room and the potential guilt of the main suspect - to instead focus on the various ways that the various folks involved - cousins, lovers, rivals, staff members, neighbors - handle this murder and its aftermath and possible impact on their business. It is not particularly adept at (nor particularly striving for) Crime and Punishment levels of proto-psychoanalysis, but it still gets more into the emotional/social impact of the crime than the practical procedures of the crime and its investigation, preconfiguring more modern mysteries such as the Wallander series. It does toss in a few procedural bits and some fine danger/adventure bits in the latter half, possibly to keep the audience awake as the second court hearing mostly repeats the first, and these do help to add spice and prevent the novel from wallowing in its own near-despair as a largely innocent couple are destroyed by the death of the man that stood between them.
Most interestingly, in a crime series in which the main character (and his main helper) are the "fools that tell the truth better than the non-fools" (i.e., the King Lear's Fool), this novel has someone who is an even more obvious version of the trope. Cousin Ritchie, who would now be portrayed as a person on the autism spectrum, often erupts in strange and broken English that simply and sometimes succinctly explains the issues at play: be it social stigmas or class warfare or criminal cases or, in one spectacular case, the entire basis of society and its modern ills. A scene meant to portray this character as either having a secret lover or being a secret cross-dresser foreshadows a rise to the perfect apotheosis of his archetype coming later. There is a whole other emotional novel that Ritchie inhabits, one that is encroaches upon high literature, but we only see some of the highlights, here.
As for that missing chapter in the current standard version of this novel: it is the chapter that takes place right after the trial. In the F&M version we see a sort of downbeat conclusion with the young lovers semi-broken by their ordeal, unable to face one another, as Campion finds out the ugly aspects of a later crime and the somewhat "silly" aspects of a previous mystery. It casts the novel as something darkly comic: a play of fools and their folly where everything is the external of themselves and the actors are often forgotten in the aftermath. Agora/Ipso's version excises this chapter and jumps straight to the epilogue where things are patched up, troubles are magically forgotten and the two main mysteries are both solved at once, in the same place (in the same way as the missing chapter, but less conclusively). The novel ends, in either version, with a dive into the above mentioned apotheosis and a darkly surreal jest, but the absence of the immediate chapter sort of weakens the story even if it doesn't tank it completely. A novel of careful contemplation suddenly becomes a Dickensian "and they all drank lemonade!" without even a nod to the suffering that has been building since chapter 1.
The lemonade drinking was inevitable, the giving the reader whiplash is an odd choice.
Those who have ideas and concepts of what the Golden Age Mystery novels were like should be reading them and seeing how much more complex and varied the actual source materials were, and this one is a testament to that.
On to the review. This novel, like its predecessor, shows Allingham's penchant for juggling and rewriting the genetic code of the Golden Age mystery tropes while still reveling in the basic tropes/concepts of the vintage/"cozy" mystery (which, truth be told, most of the classics of the genre did). You still have a mostly insular family with various secrets and stresses. You still have old keys and young upstarts. You still have a locked room with a dead body inside and a family estate [albeit a city house turned apartments] with a history of strange occurrences (or at least, one particular strange occurrence). You still have mixed motives and an affair of the heart and busybody staff. Only, in this case, the locked room itself is mostly spoiled early on the first time that Campion investigates it, and the affairs of the heart are out in the open rather than in secret. In fact, it is not the locked room or the affair that is the problem, it is the question of how they collide: the wife's potential but not-quite lover was himself in the room after the murder took place, how could he have not seen the body unless he is guilty? The novel fairly insures us he is not guilty both by the existence of the plot (it is not an unheard of plot twist that the seemingly innocent is guilty, mind) and by a couple of throwaway lines that suggest he could not have done it woven into the author's wordchoice.
The novel gets these aspects out of the way - the locked room and the potential guilt of the main suspect - to instead focus on the various ways that the various folks involved - cousins, lovers, rivals, staff members, neighbors - handle this murder and its aftermath and possible impact on their business. It is not particularly adept at (nor particularly striving for) Crime and Punishment levels of proto-psychoanalysis, but it still gets more into the emotional/social impact of the crime than the practical procedures of the crime and its investigation, preconfiguring more modern mysteries such as the Wallander series. It does toss in a few procedural bits and some fine danger/adventure bits in the latter half, possibly to keep the audience awake as the second court hearing mostly repeats the first, and these do help to add spice and prevent the novel from wallowing in its own near-despair as a largely innocent couple are destroyed by the death of the man that stood between them.
Most interestingly, in a crime series in which the main character (and his main helper) are the "fools that tell the truth better than the non-fools" (i.e., the King Lear's Fool), this novel has someone who is an even more obvious version of the trope. Cousin Ritchie, who would now be portrayed as a person on the autism spectrum, often erupts in strange and broken English that simply and sometimes succinctly explains the issues at play: be it social stigmas or class warfare or criminal cases or, in one spectacular case, the entire basis of society and its modern ills. A scene meant to portray this character as either having a secret lover or being a secret cross-dresser foreshadows a rise to the perfect apotheosis of his archetype coming later. There is a whole other emotional novel that Ritchie inhabits, one that is encroaches upon high literature, but we only see some of the highlights, here.
As for that missing chapter in the current standard version of this novel: it is the chapter that takes place right after the trial. In the F&M version we see a sort of downbeat conclusion with the young lovers semi-broken by their ordeal, unable to face one another, as Campion finds out the ugly aspects of a later crime and the somewhat "silly" aspects of a previous mystery. It casts the novel as something darkly comic: a play of fools and their folly where everything is the external of themselves and the actors are often forgotten in the aftermath. Agora/Ipso's version excises this chapter and jumps straight to the epilogue where things are patched up, troubles are magically forgotten and the two main mysteries are both solved at once, in the same place (in the same way as the missing chapter, but less conclusively). The novel ends, in either version, with a dive into the above mentioned apotheosis and a darkly surreal jest, but the absence of the immediate chapter sort of weakens the story even if it doesn't tank it completely. A novel of careful contemplation suddenly becomes a Dickensian "and they all drank lemonade!" without even a nod to the suffering that has been building since chapter 1.
The lemonade drinking was inevitable, the giving the reader whiplash is an odd choice.
Those who have ideas and concepts of what the Golden Age Mystery novels were like should be reading them and seeing how much more complex and varied the actual source materials were, and this one is a testament to that.
March 19, 2019
Paul Brande, a director of the Barnabas family publishing firm, is found dead on the firm's premises, locked in the strongroom. Albert Campion investigates the circumstances of Brande's death, including the mysterious disappearance of another director twenty years earlier.
This is one of my favourite books from this excellent author, not only for the well-constructed plot, but also for its beautifully poignant ending which resolves the last remaining loose ends. Campion is on good form, clever and determined, and the other characters are interesting and engaging. The only slightly negative aspect was that there is a trial scene which dragged rather - in fact, given there is also an inquest, we spend a little too long in court overall.
Overall a charming and rewarding Golden Age mystery, from a series which continues to improve.
This is one of my favourite books from this excellent author, not only for the well-constructed plot, but also for its beautifully poignant ending which resolves the last remaining loose ends. Campion is on good form, clever and determined, and the other characters are interesting and engaging. The only slightly negative aspect was that there is a trial scene which dragged rather - in fact, given there is also an inquest, we spend a little too long in court overall.
Overall a charming and rewarding Golden Age mystery, from a series which continues to improve.
April 5, 2020
This may be the first Margery Allingham novel I've ever read, certainly the first in many years, at least. I found it to have a slight obtuseness about it, though it did strike me as intelligent and well-written. A fair amount of the story revolves around a trial, and those segments were particularly interesting. I rather liked her detective, Albert Campion, but, in this novel, at least, the character was not particularly colorful. For that matter, I didn't feel there was much character development in this novel at all, though the story itself was moderately engaging.
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