Most art critics agreed: John Lafcadio was a great artist. John Lafcadio also agreed - and he wanted to be sure that his reputation and his work would survive his death. So he came up with an ingenious plan to keep his name and his paintings very much in the minds of the public. Only things didn't quite work out the way he had planned, what with the murder and all...
The story is found in Margery Allingham's excellent 1934 book, Death of a Ghost, featuring her enduring amateur detective, Albert Campion. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.
Lafcadio's plan for keeping his art alive after his death was laid out by the artist in a letter he left for his widow, Belle. The artist left twelve sealed - and never-seen - canvases behind. Beginning a few years after his death, the paintings would be unveiled, one by one each year for a dozen years. There would be a new Lafcadio painting on view every year, which ought to ensure his lasting reputation.
And, in fact, the plan worked quite well - until the eighth year. At the gala show and exhibit of Lafcadio's latest painting that year, the unexpected happened - all the lights went out and there was a murder. Although Albert Campion - a friend of Belle - was present, he had little or no idea of what had happened. And he and his friend, Inspector Stanislaus Oates, are quickly stymied and frustrated by the apparent lack of any physical evidence whatsoever. And the first murder, it soon became clear, would not be the last.
Margery Allingham is generally regarded as one of the so-called “crime queens” of the Golden Age of detective fiction. Most of her books feature Campion in a central role, but the books also cover a range of sub-genres; some are classic puzzle mysteries, others are really thrillers at heart. Death of a Ghost really falls more into the thriller category. It’s not really a classic “whodunit” type of mystery – Campion and the readers, even the police (in the person of Inspector Oates) know the answer to THAT question about halfway through the book. The question is how to find enough proof to convince a jury and convict a killer. And finding an answer to that question would put Campion's life in grave danger. It's a beautifully written book; Allingham makes readers care about her characters - even the truly horrifying villain of the piece. I recommend Death of a Ghost to you very highly.
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