What do you think?
Rate this book
Albert Campion #13
More Work for the Undertaker: A Masterful Mystery by the Queen of Crime
In a masterpiece of storytelling, Margery Allingham sends her elegant and engaging detective Albert Campion into the eccentric Palinode household, where there have been two suspicious deaths.
And if poisoning were not enough, there are also anonymous letters, sudden violence and a vanishing coffin. Meanwhile, the Palinodes go about their nocturnal business and Campion dices with danger in his efforts to find the truth.
More Work for the Undertaker was originally published in 1948.
“More than a little wit, and a great deal of brilliance.“ — Kirkus
“The best of Margery Allingham’s work, like More Work for the Undertaker and The Tiger in the Smoke, well repay reading. And, as I well know, re-reading and re-reading.’— HRF Keating, Mystery Scene
“A top-notch mystery, full of keen characterization, humor, old English atmosphere, a charmingly decadent family and a few sudden deaths” — New York Times
“Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light.“ — Agatha Christie
“My very favourite of the four Queens of crime is Allingham“ — JK Rowling
“Margery Allingham deserves to be rediscovered.“ — PD James
“Spending an evening with Campion is one of life’s pure pleasures“ — The Sunday Times
And if poisoning were not enough, there are also anonymous letters, sudden violence and a vanishing coffin. Meanwhile, the Palinodes go about their nocturnal business and Campion dices with danger in his efforts to find the truth.
More Work for the Undertaker was originally published in 1948.
“More than a little wit, and a great deal of brilliance.“ — Kirkus
“The best of Margery Allingham’s work, like More Work for the Undertaker and The Tiger in the Smoke, well repay reading. And, as I well know, re-reading and re-reading.’— HRF Keating, Mystery Scene
“A top-notch mystery, full of keen characterization, humor, old English atmosphere, a charmingly decadent family and a few sudden deaths” — New York Times
“Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light.“ — Agatha Christie
“My very favourite of the four Queens of crime is Allingham“ — JK Rowling
“Margery Allingham deserves to be rediscovered.“ — PD James
“Spending an evening with Campion is one of life’s pure pleasures“ — The Sunday Times
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1948
434 people are currently reading
1099 people want to read
About the author
Margery Allingham
269 books599 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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
July 24, 2020
This, thirteenth, Albert Campion mystery, published in 1948, sees us in post-war London. Campion himself is due to be packed off to be a governor of an unnamed location, but you sense it is not really what he wants. Lugg has announced he will have to find a new position and Amanda’s work is important to her and there is a suggestion she may not follow.
So, when Campion is invited to lunch by Oates and a mystery put in front of him, he does not seem to resist too hard. There are rumours about Apron Street, the location for a group of small shops and the family home of the Palinode’s; elderly siblings, and a young niece, who have come down in the world and who are reduced to being the lodgers of an elderly, variety actress, who now runs the house. The Palinode’s are eccentric and poverty stricken and possibly being poisoned – or poisoning each other…
We have an undertaker, who is also Lugg’s brother in law, a chemist, banker, greengrocer and other denizens of the street. There are mysterious goings on and odd characters. Maybe too many eccentrics, but this is a very atmospheric book in the series. Enjoyable as a read, but confusing as a mystery, as it is hard to unravel who is suspicious among all the possible suspects. Rated 3.5
So, when Campion is invited to lunch by Oates and a mystery put in front of him, he does not seem to resist too hard. There are rumours about Apron Street, the location for a group of small shops and the family home of the Palinode’s; elderly siblings, and a young niece, who have come down in the world and who are reduced to being the lodgers of an elderly, variety actress, who now runs the house. The Palinode’s are eccentric and poverty stricken and possibly being poisoned – or poisoning each other…
We have an undertaker, who is also Lugg’s brother in law, a chemist, banker, greengrocer and other denizens of the street. There are mysterious goings on and odd characters. Maybe too many eccentrics, but this is a very atmospheric book in the series. Enjoyable as a read, but confusing as a mystery, as it is hard to unravel who is suspicious among all the possible suspects. Rated 3.5
June 9, 2010
I'm reading Allingham's Campion series in order, and this was next on my list - interesting, but I had a hard time getting into it. I think it was because of the Palinode family, around whom the mystery (such as it is) evolves. I kept getting the impression I was supposed to find them charming and whimsical, but I just found them rather pathetic and obnoxious (made it hard to be sympathetic to them as characters, needless to say).
Also, the previous two installments of the series ("Traitor's Purse" and "Pearls Before Swine") had rather heroic, James Bondesque plots with the monolithic menace of World War II overshadowing the action, and it felt as if Campion's action (or failure to act in time) would lead to some horrific, unspeakable event. Here, Allingham takes us to Apron Street, a tucked away corner of dreary post-war London. Mysterious deaths can't be explained away by Scotland Yard, so Campion and a very welcome Lugg are recruited to move into a boarding house and infiltrate the locals. Colorful characters abound, and my favorite scenes are those with Lugg and Campion; having said that, I just couldn't sink my teeth into this one! Other reviews I've read have pointed out the rather esoteric conversation of the Palinodes as the reason some readers might be put off; I didn't have a problem comprehending them and their crumbling sense of entitlement and class-consciousness, I just didn't find them very engaging characters.
Also, the previous two installments of the series ("Traitor's Purse" and "Pearls Before Swine") had rather heroic, James Bondesque plots with the monolithic menace of World War II overshadowing the action, and it felt as if Campion's action (or failure to act in time) would lead to some horrific, unspeakable event. Here, Allingham takes us to Apron Street, a tucked away corner of dreary post-war London. Mysterious deaths can't be explained away by Scotland Yard, so Campion and a very welcome Lugg are recruited to move into a boarding house and infiltrate the locals. Colorful characters abound, and my favorite scenes are those with Lugg and Campion; having said that, I just couldn't sink my teeth into this one! Other reviews I've read have pointed out the rather esoteric conversation of the Palinodes as the reason some readers might be put off; I didn't have a problem comprehending them and their crumbling sense of entitlement and class-consciousness, I just didn't find them very engaging characters.
August 11, 2019
I haven't read too many detective stories from that period. This is also my first book by this author. All in all, this is a very nice book.
It may not be a story that I will remember for years or the best detective story I have read but it is certainly a fast and good story with which I had a good time. The criminal intrigue is interesting, and although I had some suspicions from the beginning, I was not able to figure out the whole plot myself. And that's always a good sign. Although, I admit that the clue of the whole story is a bit unrealistic.
Another strong point is the group of remarkable heroes including Albert Campion himself. He and his servant are interesting enough for me to read another book in which they appear. I am also very curious about Campion's wife, who is only mentioned in this book. Her letter to Campion reveals that she can be a fascinating woman. I wonder if there is a book in which Campion and his wife solve the case together, I really would like to read something like this. This idea needs some further research.
Summing up, it’s a very nice and fast read worth your time.
It may not be a story that I will remember for years or the best detective story I have read but it is certainly a fast and good story with which I had a good time. The criminal intrigue is interesting, and although I had some suspicions from the beginning, I was not able to figure out the whole plot myself. And that's always a good sign. Although, I admit that the clue of the whole story is a bit unrealistic.
Another strong point is the group of remarkable heroes including Albert Campion himself. He and his servant are interesting enough for me to read another book in which they appear. I am also very curious about Campion's wife, who is only mentioned in this book. Her letter to Campion reveals that she can be a fascinating woman. I wonder if there is a book in which Campion and his wife solve the case together, I really would like to read something like this. This idea needs some further research.
Summing up, it’s a very nice and fast read worth your time.
February 15, 2023
This is number 13 in the Albert Campion series, and unlucky for some – indeed a tale of family intrigue and poisoning fit for the Borgias.
Published in 1948, and set in an overcast and dilapidated post-war London, Margery Allingham paints a picture of austerity, mean streets and cheaply shrouded windows.
Earlier foul play suspected, Campion is enlisted to lodge at a slightly tawdry boarding house run by a stern if philanthropic female acquaintance.
Therein lurks a family of misfit upper-class eccentrics and their associates, who have fallen upon hard times and who seem intent upon bumping one another off. Prime among the suspects, one sister brews dubious herbal concoctions from her ill-informed gleanings in nearby Hyde Park.
Throw in a shady local pharmacist, an avaricious local bank manager, and a sinister local undertaker, and the stage is set. It has all the ingredients for the perfect murder mystery – poison as the means, money as the motive, empty coffins as the opportunity.
Campion’s ex-burglar batman, Magersfontein Lugg, plays a substantial supporting role – much to my enjoyment. And of course there is an underlying subterfuge of greater import that emerges as the tale unfolds.
Overall, there is the author’s usual high quality of writing, outstanding in her era and genre; a well-woven plot, with fascinating characters; and Campion in typical nonchalant form – if getting a bit worn around the edges and slightly cynical in his middle age.
Perhaps she should have frozen him in time at his youthful and ingenuous best?
Published in 1948, and set in an overcast and dilapidated post-war London, Margery Allingham paints a picture of austerity, mean streets and cheaply shrouded windows.
Earlier foul play suspected, Campion is enlisted to lodge at a slightly tawdry boarding house run by a stern if philanthropic female acquaintance.
Therein lurks a family of misfit upper-class eccentrics and their associates, who have fallen upon hard times and who seem intent upon bumping one another off. Prime among the suspects, one sister brews dubious herbal concoctions from her ill-informed gleanings in nearby Hyde Park.
Throw in a shady local pharmacist, an avaricious local bank manager, and a sinister local undertaker, and the stage is set. It has all the ingredients for the perfect murder mystery – poison as the means, money as the motive, empty coffins as the opportunity.
Campion’s ex-burglar batman, Magersfontein Lugg, plays a substantial supporting role – much to my enjoyment. And of course there is an underlying subterfuge of greater import that emerges as the tale unfolds.
Overall, there is the author’s usual high quality of writing, outstanding in her era and genre; a well-woven plot, with fascinating characters; and Campion in typical nonchalant form – if getting a bit worn around the edges and slightly cynical in his middle age.
Perhaps she should have frozen him in time at his youthful and ingenuous best?
March 13, 2025
This whodunnit consists largely of an endless parade of extravagantly eccentric characters of different kinds, interacting in their own peculiar ways in an obscure corner of London. There is much mystery, but Albert Campion gets to the bottom of it in the end.
I found it readable and mildly entertaining, but rather over the top. Allingham apparently set out to paint pictures of as many distinctive characters as she could think of, and stuff them all into the same book, so that there’s hardly room for anyone normal.
When I found out what had been going on in the end, most of it took me completely by surprise. However, I’m no amateur detective, and when reading this kind of book I make no attempt to solve the case before the hero does. I just read it as a story and observe.
Not one of my favourite Campion stories, though it’s not a bad one. A pity that we see nothing of his wife Amanda, apart from brief messages; but I suppose she wouldn’t fit into this story.
I found it readable and mildly entertaining, but rather over the top. Allingham apparently set out to paint pictures of as many distinctive characters as she could think of, and stuff them all into the same book, so that there’s hardly room for anyone normal.
When I found out what had been going on in the end, most of it took me completely by surprise. However, I’m no amateur detective, and when reading this kind of book I make no attempt to solve the case before the hero does. I just read it as a story and observe.
Not one of my favourite Campion stories, though it’s not a bad one. A pity that we see nothing of his wife Amanda, apart from brief messages; but I suppose she wouldn’t fit into this story.
July 7, 2021
ENGLISH: One of the rules usually given about how to write a good crime novel says that the reader must receive the same information as the detective, so that the reader may be able, in principle, to make the same deductions. It is not correct, according to this rule, for the detective to solve the case by means of certain information that he has received, but we haven't been told.
In this novel, this rule is not fulfilled. For example, in chapter 24, near the end, this happens:
[Campion] asked him a single, and, as it seemed to the sick man, an utterly absurd and irrelevant question.
'Well, yes,' said Lawrence Palinode in reply. 'Yes, as a matter of fact we did... Good heavens! You are not suggesting...'
We know what the answer was, but not what the question was. However, this question is essential, as we find out in the last chapter, when Campion explains how he solved the case.
ESPAÑOL: Una de las reglas que se suele dar sobre cómo escribir una buena novela policiaca dice que el lector debe recibir la misma información que el detective, de modo que sea capaz, en principio, de hacer las mismas deducciones. No es correcto, de acuerdo con esta regla, que el detective resuelva el caso aduciendo cierta información que él tiene, pero que no nos han dicho.
En esta novela, esta regla no se cumple. Por ejemplo, en el capítulo 24, ya cerca del final, ocurre esto:
[Campion] le hizo una sola pregunta, que al enfermo le pareció completamente absurda e irrelevante.
—Bueno, sí —respondió Lawrence Palinode. —Sí, de hecho lo hicimos... ¡Santo cielo! No estará usted sugiriendo... '
Sabemos cuál fue la respuesta, pero no cuál fue la pregunta. Sin embargo, esta pregunta es esencial, como averiguamos en el último capítulo, cuando Campion explica cómo resolvió el caso.
In this novel, this rule is not fulfilled. For example, in chapter 24, near the end, this happens:
[Campion] asked him a single, and, as it seemed to the sick man, an utterly absurd and irrelevant question.
'Well, yes,' said Lawrence Palinode in reply. 'Yes, as a matter of fact we did... Good heavens! You are not suggesting...'
We know what the answer was, but not what the question was. However, this question is essential, as we find out in the last chapter, when Campion explains how he solved the case.
ESPAÑOL: Una de las reglas que se suele dar sobre cómo escribir una buena novela policiaca dice que el lector debe recibir la misma información que el detective, de modo que sea capaz, en principio, de hacer las mismas deducciones. No es correcto, de acuerdo con esta regla, que el detective resuelva el caso aduciendo cierta información que él tiene, pero que no nos han dicho.
En esta novela, esta regla no se cumple. Por ejemplo, en el capítulo 24, ya cerca del final, ocurre esto:
[Campion] le hizo una sola pregunta, que al enfermo le pareció completamente absurda e irrelevante.
—Bueno, sí —respondió Lawrence Palinode. —Sí, de hecho lo hicimos... ¡Santo cielo! No estará usted sugiriendo... '
Sabemos cuál fue la respuesta, pero no cuál fue la pregunta. Sin embargo, esta pregunta es esencial, como averiguamos en el último capítulo, cuando Campion explica cómo resolvió el caso.
February 12, 2025
La deliciosa costumbre de resolver misterios (Comentario, 2025)
Hay algo reconfortante en leer novelas de detectives donde el alma atormentada no está tan atormentada. El protagonista de esta obra no es presa de un vicio, no está al margen de la sociedad, no es un genio atravesado por sus demonios. Es un tipo normal, con un toque de rareza, y una mente un poco más aguda que el resto. Pero eso es todo. Qué gusto leer sus deducciones y qué grato encontrar una obra que se desenvuelve con un ritmo lento pero sin freno, y que consigue retratar a un buen puñado de personajes particulares.
Creo que la revelación final es lo que más gracia me ha causado. Aquí Allingham hace una venia a otra inteligencia, siempre fuera de plano, que se demuestra superior. Tengo pendiente averiguar si sobre este personaje hay algún texto escrito, si es posible elaborarlo novelísticamente y si Allingham lo hizo. Quizás haya elegido no hacerlo para conservar la potencia del misterio, para darle fuerza en la medida en que se refuerza un mito: permitiendo que sea la imaginación ajena la que teja en un vacío de datos una ficción a su medida.
Estaré atento a las otras novelas protagonizadas por Albert Campion, si se parecen a esta serán un buen prado en el que tenderse a ver el mundo pasar, para recuperar fuerzas para luego poder uno pasarle al mundo.
Hay algo reconfortante en leer novelas de detectives donde el alma atormentada no está tan atormentada. El protagonista de esta obra no es presa de un vicio, no está al margen de la sociedad, no es un genio atravesado por sus demonios. Es un tipo normal, con un toque de rareza, y una mente un poco más aguda que el resto. Pero eso es todo. Qué gusto leer sus deducciones y qué grato encontrar una obra que se desenvuelve con un ritmo lento pero sin freno, y que consigue retratar a un buen puñado de personajes particulares.
Creo que la revelación final es lo que más gracia me ha causado. Aquí Allingham hace una venia a otra inteligencia, siempre fuera de plano, que se demuestra superior. Tengo pendiente averiguar si sobre este personaje hay algún texto escrito, si es posible elaborarlo novelísticamente y si Allingham lo hizo. Quizás haya elegido no hacerlo para conservar la potencia del misterio, para darle fuerza en la medida en que se refuerza un mito: permitiendo que sea la imaginación ajena la que teja en un vacío de datos una ficción a su medida.
Estaré atento a las otras novelas protagonizadas por Albert Campion, si se parecen a esta serán un buen prado en el que tenderse a ver el mundo pasar, para recuperar fuerzas para luego poder uno pasarle al mundo.
May 6, 2011
I blow hot and cold with the Campion mysteries.......this one is lukewarm. I like the character of Albert Campion and his man-of-all-work, Lugg but sometimes their conversations leave me wondering exactly what they said or what they meant. This book visits the home of the eccentric Palinode family (which I kept reading as "palindrome") where a murder by poison has occurred and it is Campion's job to pull all the clues together to expose the villain or villains. In fact, there are several murders and the final solution strains credibility. Myriads of characters come and go and may or may not be connected to the crimes. The street dialect of London can sometimes be disconcerting and some of the characters' behaviours are surreal to say the least. The Campion books are an acquired taste and this one is not for the first-time reader. Too much plot, too many incidental characters.....but for the Campion fan, it is good enough to add to your list.
April 27, 2018
The closure of World War II sees Campion at a crossroads. Now far from foolish youth, he is being encouraged to grow up completely by taking up a colonial governership. Fortunately murder among the near-destitute, charming intellectual Palinodes saves him from a fate worse than.
This book sees the introduction of Charlie Luke, an upcoming police detective who resembles a gangster, is a dynamo of energy, extremely physical, and highly entertaining to watch.
It's also pleasing to see that Amanda is by now an aircraft designer, and that her work is considered important enough that she's not necessarily going to simply trail her husband around.
This book sees the introduction of Charlie Luke, an upcoming police detective who resembles a gangster, is a dynamo of energy, extremely physical, and highly entertaining to watch.
It's also pleasing to see that Amanda is by now an aircraft designer, and that her work is considered important enough that she's not necessarily going to simply trail her husband around.
October 27, 2015
The plot was so confusing and there were so many characters that im not quite sure what happened, but i dont care. Shes a wonderful writer and this book is a witty and entertaining gem.
September 23, 2024
Margery Allingham is one of my favorite writers; imagine my delight when I saw a reference to this novel and realized to my surprise that I had somehow overlooked it and never read it. I got my hands on a copy post haste.
Published in 1948, it's one of her later novels in which she explores obscure corners of London, teeming with offbeat characters and buried secrets. Like a great many of her books, it involves eccentric members of an old family fallen from a high social position. The haunting remnants of Victorian society, fading after two world wars, is a major Allingham theme.
In this one, several elderly siblings are living as tenants in their once-grand family home, ownership having passed to a former music-hall actress who happens to be a friend of Albert Campion, Allingham's gentleman sleuth. Youth is represented by an impoverished young niece, sneaking out at night to meet her lover.
One of the sisters falls dead of a mysterious affliction; poisoning is suspected. Campion's old pals in the police put him onto the scent. The siblings are not the only eccentrics in the neighborhood; the local doctor, the banker, the pharmacist and not least the undertaker of the title all have their sinister aspects. It all has something to do with whispered fears among the criminal classes of "going up Apron Street", the locus of the story. Campion and his reformed burglar manservant Lugg will figure it out.
It's classic Allingham, social commentary on a tired and faded post-war Britain, keen characterization, wit-- and understated menace lurking below the surface. Highly enjoyable.
Published in 1948, it's one of her later novels in which she explores obscure corners of London, teeming with offbeat characters and buried secrets. Like a great many of her books, it involves eccentric members of an old family fallen from a high social position. The haunting remnants of Victorian society, fading after two world wars, is a major Allingham theme.
In this one, several elderly siblings are living as tenants in their once-grand family home, ownership having passed to a former music-hall actress who happens to be a friend of Albert Campion, Allingham's gentleman sleuth. Youth is represented by an impoverished young niece, sneaking out at night to meet her lover.
One of the sisters falls dead of a mysterious affliction; poisoning is suspected. Campion's old pals in the police put him onto the scent. The siblings are not the only eccentrics in the neighborhood; the local doctor, the banker, the pharmacist and not least the undertaker of the title all have their sinister aspects. It all has something to do with whispered fears among the criminal classes of "going up Apron Street", the locus of the story. Campion and his reformed burglar manservant Lugg will figure it out.
It's classic Allingham, social commentary on a tired and faded post-war Britain, keen characterization, wit-- and understated menace lurking below the surface. Highly enjoyable.
June 11, 2017
I am an unabashed admirer of Margery Allingham’s work, and this is one of her most splendid, in many respects.
For starters, it gives us some important clues into just who “Albert Campion” really is. The War (WWII) is over, and Campion is in line to become Governor of some unnamed island. We are told that finally, the man is offered something “even his grandfather” would consider suitable. And his man Lugg refers to Albert as “the young viscount” at one point. All this is by way of reminding us the exalted position that the unassuming Albert apparently holds in abeyance.
Then there are the characters we meet. Of course there is the splendid Lugg (of whom we learn a little more about in the course of the story). There are the Scotland Yard folks, notably the Chief Stanislaus Oates, Superintendent Yeo and the young, brilliant D. D. I. Charles Luke (again, we learn quite a bit more about Luke here). The Lady Amanda, Albert’s spouse, has an important cameo role and in a way is given the opportunity for the last word (always satisfying, don’t you think?”
The new and indelibly memorable characters belong to the eccentric Palinode family. Allingham outdoes herself in her depiction of characters at once extremely odd, unaccountably appealing, and uncommonly intelligent. Then there is the undertaker (Jas Bowles & Son), a creation any author would be proud to claim.
The story itself full of momentous happenings, poisonings, anonymous letters, a magnificent coffin that appears and disappears seemingly at will, a sizeable but apparently worthless inheritance, and a case that Scotland Yard wants very much to solve--quietly and quickly.
This is a fun, adventurous and challenging read from beginning to end.
For starters, it gives us some important clues into just who “Albert Campion” really is. The War (WWII) is over, and Campion is in line to become Governor of some unnamed island. We are told that finally, the man is offered something “even his grandfather” would consider suitable. And his man Lugg refers to Albert as “the young viscount” at one point. All this is by way of reminding us the exalted position that the unassuming Albert apparently holds in abeyance.
Then there are the characters we meet. Of course there is the splendid Lugg (of whom we learn a little more about in the course of the story). There are the Scotland Yard folks, notably the Chief Stanislaus Oates, Superintendent Yeo and the young, brilliant D. D. I. Charles Luke (again, we learn quite a bit more about Luke here). The Lady Amanda, Albert’s spouse, has an important cameo role and in a way is given the opportunity for the last word (always satisfying, don’t you think?”
The new and indelibly memorable characters belong to the eccentric Palinode family. Allingham outdoes herself in her depiction of characters at once extremely odd, unaccountably appealing, and uncommonly intelligent. Then there is the undertaker (Jas Bowles & Son), a creation any author would be proud to claim.
The story itself full of momentous happenings, poisonings, anonymous letters, a magnificent coffin that appears and disappears seemingly at will, a sizeable but apparently worthless inheritance, and a case that Scotland Yard wants very much to solve--quietly and quickly.
This is a fun, adventurous and challenging read from beginning to end.
January 8, 2017
Another really good Albert Campion mystery. This is in the detective part of the Campion series, rather than the adventure-y end. He's getting a bit older by this point, so there's less running around and obvious danger, but he's not slowing down at all. He starts this book seemingly having been offered the governorship of an unnamed island but is still quite happy (in fact probably happier) moving into a boarding house to investigate a poisoning. The street surrounding the boarding house is full of eccentrics, and dubious characters and it's totally engrossing. It's probably not the best book to pick for your first Campion though - as there's very little explanation of his background and the reoccurring characters so I imagine if this was your first encouter with Albert, it might be a little baffling.
August 11, 2024
No sé si es una crítica legítima, pero un libro no puede tener más personajes que páginas.
January 17, 2022
Allingham's books are unlike those of Ngaio Marsh, who drew you into characters lives to the point where it might be half a book before a murder actually occurs, and you don't really mind! Her eccentric family here are nowhere near as compelling as Marsh's Lamprey family, but they do have their moments, and the ending of this book is just perfect.
March 18, 2021
‘I should hardly think there was much danger of indiscriminate poisoning,’ Campion ventured diffidently. ‘I mean, what are the facts? An old lady died a couple of months ago and for reasons best known to themselves the police have dug her up again. No one knows yet what the findings of the public analyst will be. The inquest hasn’t been resumed. No, I don’t think there’s anything to show that everyone in the household is now in danger, I really don’t. I mean it’s not as though any further attempt has been made . . .’
January 27, 2021
"Well, there you are, my dear. If you hear any thumping it's just the undertaker."
"The ultimate reassurance," said Campion, and he got of bed and into a dressing-gown.
February 20, 2013
This was an interesting read. Because I've been enjoying the Lord Peter Wimsey books, these books were recommended to me, and I agree they are in the same genre. Very British, very tongue-in-cheek,very procedural mysteries. This is my introduction to Campion, a detective who has his own ways of finding things out. In this case, a very old family of eccentric brainiacs seem to be being killed off, in their home. So Campion moves in with them as a tenant to find out what's going on.
Campion has an underling move in with the undertaker who has buried two of the family members of the Palinodes, because he is obviously up to something...but what, Campion isn't sure.
Not only does Campion have to deal with outside people who may have it in for the Palinodes, but the family members themselves have strange habits and motives that leave them up for suspicion. One sister unfortunately likes to make strange teas out of 'natural' components, which could possibly make people quite ill. The niece disappears and reappears at strange hours of the night, crawling through upper story windows. None of them ever quite seem to make sense to Campion, or anyone else for that matter. Partly because they are so smart, and partly because they have their own family 'language' that they use.
Apparently Margery Allingham introduces a new character, Charlie Luke, in this novel who becomes a partner to Campion in further myteries of hers. The two work well together, and Campion admires the young man's abilities in detecting.
My only problems with this book was quite frankly the language. It was so British that some of it went quite over my head. Perhaps if I read more of Allingham's books I will understand more of what is being said. I'm not sure the dialect is cockney or just 1940's British, but I had a hard time understanding some of what was being said...
Other than that, fun read!
Campion has an underling move in with the undertaker who has buried two of the family members of the Palinodes, because he is obviously up to something...but what, Campion isn't sure.
Not only does Campion have to deal with outside people who may have it in for the Palinodes, but the family members themselves have strange habits and motives that leave them up for suspicion. One sister unfortunately likes to make strange teas out of 'natural' components, which could possibly make people quite ill. The niece disappears and reappears at strange hours of the night, crawling through upper story windows. None of them ever quite seem to make sense to Campion, or anyone else for that matter. Partly because they are so smart, and partly because they have their own family 'language' that they use.
Apparently Margery Allingham introduces a new character, Charlie Luke, in this novel who becomes a partner to Campion in further myteries of hers. The two work well together, and Campion admires the young man's abilities in detecting.
My only problems with this book was quite frankly the language. It was so British that some of it went quite over my head. Perhaps if I read more of Allingham's books I will understand more of what is being said. I'm not sure the dialect is cockney or just 1940's British, but I had a hard time understanding some of what was being said...
Other than that, fun read!
May 24, 2010
[These notes were made in 1987:]. The first Allingham I've read, and I'm glad I did. Her specialty is vivid portraits of highly eccentric characters, combined with a control of language that at times resembles Dorothy Sayers', altho' it is not so self-consciously literary. I chuckled a lot in this book. The mystery itself is quite tremendously tangled, and I had absolutely no foreboding of the solution - the murder of the eccentric member (Ruth) of an eccentric family (the Palinodes) was in fact only a sideshow to a body-running scheme: live bodies of most-wanted criminals, who, with the assistance of a shady bank manager, had themselves smuggled out of the country in coffins. Allingham tied in all of her suspects to this enterprise somehow -there were no 100% red herrings, even tho' many of the characters (like the young lovers) were 100% innocent. Albert Campion is apparently the regular hero of Allingham's stories. He's described as having the curious ability to become entirely colourless and melt into the background. In contrast, his junior assistant is built like a wrestler and has a surprisingly gentle way with young ladies, as well as powers of description which rival his author's. Like the suspects, each individual policeman is clearly and delightfully delineated. The dialogue is sometimes more than a little elliptical, but not to the point of making one really exasperated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2013
The first thing I noticed when I opened the book was that there was a map in the front. I love books with maps. There's just something about being able to position everything clearly that makes reading a story (and especially a mystery) even more satisfying. This is an extremely well-written mystery with the most fabulous characters I have ever come across. I had no idea who had done it, though I thought the why was fairly obvious as soon as I heard about . I loved the Palinodes, they seem like such fun, though I do not want to try any of Jessica's concoctions, whatever Boon may say of them.
May 28, 2018
Wonderful! A really mind boggling mystery and a thundering good read. After stumbling through the depressing Dancers and the frivolous chalice, things looked up in the coroner's pidgin.
I read my first Allingham only a couple of months ago and she is not as easy and lucid as Christie or Marsh.Her detective is also nothing like a detective and people talk in a most curiously oblique fashion .But after the first two ,I think I have got an handle on her prose style and the previous 5 has been thoroughly rewarding .These will stand re- reading a few years hence unlike Christie's ,because these books has so much more to offer than just the puzzle.
Mrs. Allingham is to detective story what Lecarre is to spy thrillers...
Brilliant creation of people and place.Unforgettable characters as well...
I read my first Allingham only a couple of months ago and she is not as easy and lucid as Christie or Marsh.Her detective is also nothing like a detective and people talk in a most curiously oblique fashion .But after the first two ,I think I have got an handle on her prose style and the previous 5 has been thoroughly rewarding .These will stand re- reading a few years hence unlike Christie's ,because these books has so much more to offer than just the puzzle.
Mrs. Allingham is to detective story what Lecarre is to spy thrillers...
Brilliant creation of people and place.Unforgettable characters as well...
January 14, 2017
re read today....love re reading because you notice all the little things more the 2nd or 3rd time around..like a bank.manager named Henry James..LOL...re-read yet again. still a marvelous if dated mystery. If you enjoy classic British mysteries, try this one.
Read
September 7, 2015Love Allingham. In the current times we need more of this attitude; flippant, not so self centered but still self aware...with humor. A Campion of today how good would that be?
November 12, 2018
Ha estado bien, he sentido casi nostalgia por aquellos detectives clásicos
June 26, 2021
It's quite an exciting journey as I move into the latter-day Campion novels, the ones that were not adapted for the TV series, because I have no idea where they are going. I just hope they don't end up like Hide My Eyes (1958), in which Campion only appeared in one scene. Anyway, that's not the case yet. More Work For The Undertaker was published in 1949 (the first of the post-war books), which marks 20 YEARS since Campion's first appearance. The books are set roughly when they were written, so the characters have aged and matured along with the author. Despite that, this particular book has a fairly familiar set-up as some of the first Campion novels. There's something fishy going on in Apron Street and an old family involved, so our hero moves into a boarding house there to figure it out. I was extremely pleased that there was no 'puppet-master' character for once, which is a trope that Allingham got stuck in for a while. Not sure who the killer is? Look for the overbearing character who is controlling everyone's lives. Not so here. In fact, I had no idea whatsoever what was going on and just let the story unfurl itself in front of me without trying to figure it out for myself, which is very unlike me. But Campion always does play his cards close to his chest.
Oates and Yeo make brief appearances before handing off to a new cop character: Charlie Luke. Allingham seems incredibly pleased with her new character. He is very expressive and every scene involving him has him pantomiming his stories and Campion observing how vividly this paints a picture. This felt a little bit over done by the end. Lugg is around in the background but doesn't make much of an impression, and for some reason Amanda doesn't show up at all (except for a brief note at the end). This omission felt weird. By this point in his life Campion is married with a son, but the whole novel plays out like he's still a bachelor. What married father can just move into a boarding house on no notice to root out a killer? Amanda and son are never mentioned to the reader during the bulk of the novel, even though Campion must be thinking about them. It almost felt like this was an earlier draft of Allingham's from Campion's bachelor days that she quickly updated to fit into continuity. The only hint we get of what Campion's life is like these days is a joke at the start where he is finally having to accept responsibility for his titled heritage and become respectable as a governor of an island.... but is gleefully sucked back into the world of crime instead.
My only real quibble with this story is that there were so many characters - or rather names - that I couldn't keep up with them all. Each character is vividly described and then practically dropped from the plot, so I could never remember which was which. This was particularly difficult as the story started to wind up and suspects were discussed because I couldn't remember who they were. I could have done with a cast of characters list, which I'm pretty sure some of the earlier books actually had.
Anyway, this was a good read and clearly bridging the way between the old and new eras of the Campion series.
Oates and Yeo make brief appearances before handing off to a new cop character: Charlie Luke. Allingham seems incredibly pleased with her new character. He is very expressive and every scene involving him has him pantomiming his stories and Campion observing how vividly this paints a picture. This felt a little bit over done by the end. Lugg is around in the background but doesn't make much of an impression, and for some reason Amanda doesn't show up at all (except for a brief note at the end). This omission felt weird. By this point in his life Campion is married with a son, but the whole novel plays out like he's still a bachelor. What married father can just move into a boarding house on no notice to root out a killer? Amanda and son are never mentioned to the reader during the bulk of the novel, even though Campion must be thinking about them. It almost felt like this was an earlier draft of Allingham's from Campion's bachelor days that she quickly updated to fit into continuity. The only hint we get of what Campion's life is like these days is a joke at the start where he is finally having to accept responsibility for his titled heritage and become respectable as a governor of an island.... but is gleefully sucked back into the world of crime instead.
My only real quibble with this story is that there were so many characters - or rather names - that I couldn't keep up with them all. Each character is vividly described and then practically dropped from the plot, so I could never remember which was which. This was particularly difficult as the story started to wind up and suspects were discussed because I couldn't remember who they were. I could have done with a cast of characters list, which I'm pretty sure some of the earlier books actually had.
Anyway, this was a good read and clearly bridging the way between the old and new eras of the Campion series.
October 12, 2024
I kept thinking this was the same detective as The Moving Toyshop (different author, different detective, in some ways similar writing style) and being stunned how much better the characterisation in this book is- how much more warm although I loathed the appalling Palinodes, especially Laurence. Clytie was OK even if she was kinda silly.
The mystery was fairly predictable there are clues where there should not be (better not to say more). It untangled in an enjoyable enough way but the prose, the writing itself was terrible, it was hard to follow. I wondered if maybe it made more sense in its own space and time. Allingham went too hard with showing the odd ways of talking of all her types (close to stereotypes). Mostly the most unlikeable ones were the bad guys (with some exceptions) and the most likeable ones were not. I should not approve of that but it's satisfying to read.
I love Amanda who barely registers in the book. She makes me like Campion a lot better than I could like him as a bachelor or whatever. I couldn't understand what his background was but I liked how he rubs shoulders with all classes easily. He is one of the more likeable male detectives I have read. A lot of stuff in the book might be queer coded or maybe I am reading it anachronistically.
Apparently all these are standalones and I approve of that and may read another some time, but not in any hurry because the writing is hard to follow and is full of self-consciously inserted long words and difficult twists of phrase (now I know why my supervisors get tough on me when I am not being clear).
The mystery was fairly predictable there are clues where there should not be (better not to say more). It untangled in an enjoyable enough way but the prose, the writing itself was terrible, it was hard to follow. I wondered if maybe it made more sense in its own space and time. Allingham went too hard with showing the odd ways of talking of all her types (close to stereotypes). Mostly the most unlikeable ones were the bad guys (with some exceptions) and the most likeable ones were not. I should not approve of that but it's satisfying to read.
I love Amanda who barely registers in the book. She makes me like Campion a lot better than I could like him as a bachelor or whatever. I couldn't understand what his background was but I liked how he rubs shoulders with all classes easily. He is one of the more likeable male detectives I have read. A lot of stuff in the book might be queer coded or maybe I am reading it anachronistically.
Apparently all these are standalones and I approve of that and may read another some time, but not in any hurry because the writing is hard to follow and is full of self-consciously inserted long words and difficult twists of phrase (now I know why my supervisors get tough on me when I am not being clear).
April 18, 2025
Complex and intricate plot - or, actually, double-plot - but Allingham satisfyingly ties all the threads together in the end, with no loose ends. In contrast to the majority of cosy mysteries, this one demands and expects the reader to pay careful attention and actively make inferences to follow the story. Everything is eventually explained, but one has to do some work to get there.
All the characters are vivid and well-imagined, with the author taking great care with details of their language and appearance. The dialogue is smoothly and authentically handled; their idiosyncracies and actions compellingly portrayed.
I must have read some of Margery Allingham's books before, but I can't remember being this taken and impressed with any of them. I definitely plan to follow up: it's a good thing there are over 20 Campion books waiting. I may finally have found a writer to set beside P. D. James and Peter Dickinson.
All the characters are vivid and well-imagined, with the author taking great care with details of their language and appearance. The dialogue is smoothly and authentically handled; their idiosyncracies and actions compellingly portrayed.
I must have read some of Margery Allingham's books before, but I can't remember being this taken and impressed with any of them. I definitely plan to follow up: it's a good thing there are over 20 Campion books waiting. I may finally have found a writer to set beside P. D. James and Peter Dickinson.
Read
July 24, 2025My first Margery Allingham novel and this one's a miss for me. The beginning was promising: Campion is a charming lad and we get a murder in a big, messed up family, which is something all mystery fans love. But we end up spending very little time with the Palinode family. Instead Campion focuses on a different mysterious crime happening in the same area (). A little disappointing.
March 30, 2020
World War II is over, and Albert Campion must decide whether to please his family by accepting a job that is in accordance with his real station in life (whatever that is; Allingham never lets us know) or continue his disreputable hobby of investigating crimes. When he meets the Palinode family, however, it's no contest. Two have died already. The remaining brother, two sisters, and niece are intelligent, domineering, totally charming. Was one of them a murderer? Certainly the former dancer who now acts as landlady in their ancestral home couldn't be guilty, but what about Lugg's brother-in-law? The neighborhood doctor? The pharmacist, who probably supplied the poison? There are many suspects, but Campion must find the answer before his favorite Palinode is arrested.
August 8, 2022
Good fun. Allingham gets better and better as she goes on and this was satisfyingly complex.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews