Margery Allingham

Margery Allingham was one of the Four Queens of Crime, along with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, during the Golden Age of mystery writing.  There's apparently some dispute among fans of the genre as to whether the fourth "queen" was Ngaio Marsh, a New Zealander, or Josephine Tey, but Allingham's place in the pantheon seems secure.  

Allingham's detective, Albert Campion, can be a bit tiresome with his vague mannerisms, but usually comes through with the solution, winding things up in a satisfactory manner.  

I decided to re-read the Allingham books in chronological order of copyright date, if I have them.  Since the object of the exercise was to read the books in my own collection, I am resisting so far the temptation to go out and find the ones I don't have.  I've noted the titles of the missing books in red.  

Margery Allingham books in chronological order:

The White Cottage Mystery, 1928.   Boring.  Didn't finish.  Grade:  D.  

The Crime At Black Dudley, 1929.  Introduces Albert Campion.  House party murder, jeweled dagger, master criminal and international gang.  Grade:  C.

Mystery Mile, 1930.  Another international gang attempting to assassinate a visiting American judge.  Grade:  C.

Look to the Lady; alternate title The Gyrth Chalice, 1931.  One of my all time favorites.  Campion tries to protect a priceless historical object.  This one moves right along. I particularly like Campion's friendship with the Gypsies.  Grade:  A.

Police at the Funeral, 1931  Introduces Uncle William Faraday.  Plot a bit convoluted and ending rather doubtful--would anyone really have done this if he weren't going to be around to see the effect of all that effort?  Grade:  C.

Sweet Danger, 1933.  Another favorite.  Introduces Amanda Fitton.  Plot unlikely, but really good fun otherwise.  Grade: A.

Death of a Ghost, 1934.  Don't have this one.

Flowers for the Judge, 1936.  Don't have this one, either.

The Case of the Late Pig, 1937.  Don't have this one, either, but it sounds interesting.  May have to check the library.  I've tried to stick to books I already have and not use this as an excuse to acquire more, as my heirs will eventually have to figure out what to do with them all, but some of these are really tempting.  

Dancers in Mourning, 1937.  Good plot, interesting characters.  Grade:  B.

The Fashion in Shrouds, 1938.  Campion (or whatever their real name is) family drama.  Introduces his sister, Val.  Always good.  Grade:  B. 

Mr. Campion and Others, 1939.  Short stories.  Grade: B.

Black Plumes, 1940.  Not a Campion book.  Gothic-ish tone.  Has a touch of the HIBK* to it., HIBK being the annoying "Had I But Known" school of detective story writing.  For a hilarious satire of this style of writing, see Ogden Nash's poem, "Don't Guess, Let Me Tell You".  According to Allingham's husband, Philip Youngman Carter, in his introduction to the collection of short stories in The Allingham Case Book, she had to rush to finish this one so she could get started on Traitor's Purse.  Grade: D.

Traitor's Purse, 1940.  Maybe she had to write this one to get the taste of the previous one out of her system.  Agonizingly suspenseful book with Campion stumbling around, deep in amnesia, not knowing friend from foe and what it is that he needs to do to save the country from economic chaos.  Grade:  A+.

Coroner's Pidgin; alternate title Pearls Before Swine, 1945.  Parts of this don't make sense--why would the police want to keep Campion hanging around in London doing nothing?  But the ending is good, and made reading it worthwhile.  Grade:  B.

More Work For the Undertaker, 1948.  Complicated plot.  Not sure it's believable that crooks would flee in caskets.  Grade: B.  

Tiger in the Smoke, 1952.  I read this one decades ago and only remember that I didn't like it much, so probably got rid of it.  J.K. Rowling thinks it's Allingham's best one.  

The Beckoning Lady; alternate title, Estate of the Beckoning Lady, 1955.  I nearly gave up on this one about a third of the way through; the plot seemed dreary and the characters incomprehensible, but persevered and it got better as it went on.  Had to read it twice to get it all straight, but it was even better the second time around.  Grade:  A, upgraded from a B.  This one may become a favorite.   

Ten Were Missing; alternate titles Tether's End and Hide My Eyes, 1958.  C'mon, Margery, not another psychopath.  Done with it.  Grade:  D.  

The China Governess, 1962.  Young man trying to discover his parentage.  At least she plays fair, but the motive for two murders seems pretty far fetched.  Grade:  C.  

The Mind Readers, 1965.

Cargo of Eagles, 1968.

The Allingham Case Book, 1969.  Short stories.  Grade:  C.

Bottom Line:  Margery Allingham was a talented writer, although her plots sometimes are hard to believe.  Some of these will remain favorites, and some I will probably never read again.