Customer Reviews

Case of the Late Pig Albert CA (Black Dagger Crime Series)

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Albert Campion, Margery Allingham's gentleman detective, presents 'The Case of the Late Pig' in the first person, recounting his progress in the whimsical voice so accurately captured by Peter Davision in the BBC adapations of a decade ago.

Campion is invited to a most peculiar funeral, at which an old school-fellow, Roland Isidore 'Pig' Peters is the guest of honour, joined by a cast of extraordinary characters, whom Campion observes and, in his turn, dismisses. Several months pass uneventfully, then Campion is called upon by an old friend, Sir Leo Pursuivant, to investigate a death at the local country club. To his surprise, Campion finds not only that the corpse is none other than 'Pig' Peters, whom he had believed dead, but that the cast of the funeral from months before have returned to the stage, all with parts to play. As the death toll begins to climb, Campion must sort truth from fiction, not to mention determine the identity of a mysterious mole...

Some readers consider 'the Late Pig' to be one of Margery Allingham's least successful Campion novels. I cannot agree with this opinion. To my mind, this is one of the most amusing and clever of the Campion books, and well worth the time of anyone who has enjoyed any of the other pre-war stories.

The Case of the Late Pig was originally part of the Mr. Campion Criminologist collection. The novelette took on a life of it's own, however. Quite short, it is ideal for audiotapes, large print novels, and even the telly.

What is most unusual about the Late Pig is that it is told by Campion in the first person. If anything, Mr. Campion's version of the crime outdoes Margery Allingham, herself. The shift is viewpoint is refreshing, and it is a shame Allingham did not try this more often.

Invited via an anonymous letter Campion attends the funeral of Pig Peters, his school bully, only to find himself invited six months later to assist in a murder case - and the victim is the very same Pig Peters.

The dead Mr. Peters has shown up under another identity in a Suffolk Village. His efforts to turn a charming country house into the 30's version of a strip mall earns him the enmity of the owner, Poppy, and all the residents of the local village. So it is no surprise when someone siezes the opportunity and drops a 300 pound flowerpot on him. Campion is called in to assist the chief constable in saving the day (and to defend the innocent).

What follows is a classic Allingham comedy of manners, full of delightful characters and unpredictable events. We have two estranged lady friends (Campion's and Pig's), the overly amorous vicar, the bored physician, the mild mannered whippet, and the mysterious mole. And there is the inevitable climax, in which Campion hares over the fields of Suffolk in an effort to save the indomitable Lugg.

All of this action helps to distract us from the somewhat thinly disguised murderer. The relative shortness of the book prevents Allingham from throwing up enough confusing red herrings, so you should be able to make a good guess in the first forty or so pages. Don't let this stop you from reading the book, though. It certainly doesn't detract from the overall fun of the novel.

This book is quite different from the others in the Campion series. For one thing it is written in the first person (as if AC is writing his account for a book or a narrative). Secondly, it's a mystery more than a thriller. Most of the books in this series are thrillers, but this one has a genuine mystery to it. As with other Campion stories, the plot has many twists and turns, but with this one the plot really hurries along. Campion attends a funeral of an old school chum at the beginning of the book, but then five months later he hears that this same person has just been recently murdered. He has to go down to East Anglia to investigate this one! How could old "Pig" Peters be dead twice? While he and Lugg are trying to unravel the mystery, they find they are both in grave danger. Although the book is a short one, it still has Margery Allingham's wonderful style and prose. These are really "thinking man's mysteries".

Albert Campion is a gentleman inspector in the style of Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey. Here Campion finds himself investigating the death of a former classmate. Pig Peters was a nasty child who grew into a nasty adult. Few people are sorry to see him die, even if he does appear to die twice. Campion attends Peters's funeral after reading a notice in the newspaper. Months later he happens upon a second funeral, also purported to be that of Pig Peters. The second time around Campion views the body in the morgue. It is unmistakably Peters. Who was buried at the first funeral? How did one or two people meet their death? These are the questions Campion sets out to answer.

While reading this I was struck by the many similarities between Campion and Lord Peter Wimsey. Both are sons of minor gentry waiting to inherit. Both are dilettantes assisted by faithful valets. I found Campion's valet, Lugg, somewhat difficult to

comprehend. He is presented as a large, hulking, almost ogre-like man who dons aprons and makes tea. I was unable to figure out how and why he is with Campion. Presumably this is explained earlier in the series. Jumping into the middle of the series made it somewhat difficult to understand all of the characters' quirks.

This book is notable among recent mysteries I've read in that its ending is wholly satisfying. Generally when I read mysteries I enjoy the build-up and then find the ending to be a disappointment. With this book I had the opposite reaction. There were points where I got bored with the build-up, but the ending was full of suspense and intrigue.

Margery Allingham takes a turn away from her increasingly complex psycho-dramas in this slight (127 pages), black comedy. Campion attends the funeral of a bully who made his childhood miserable, then six months later stumbles across the fresh corpse of the man he thought was dead and buried. This is the only Campion mystery that the detective-hero narrates in the first person.

It was fun to get behind those horn-rimmed spectacles, suffer the pangs of unrequited love, and work on the mystery of the reanimated Piggy Peters. I thought the villain was fairly obvious, but maybe he wouldn't stick out quite so obviously to a 1930s audience. Lugg's Cockney non sequiturs spice this minor mystery, and he obviously doesn't guess the identity of the villain, since he almost ends up substituting for Piggy when the bad guy needs an extra corpse.

Here is a complete list of the Campion novels that Allingham wrote ("Cargo of Eagles" was completed by her husband after her death in 1966). There are also short story collections and Campion novels that were written by her husband, Youngman Carter, which I didn't include in this list.

1. The Black Dudley Murder aka The Crime at Black Dudley (1929)

2. Mystery Mile (1930)

3. Look to the Lady aka The Gyrth Chalice Mystery (1931)

4. Police at the Funeral (1931)

5. Sweet Danger aka Kingdom of Death aka The Fear Sign (1933)

6. Death of a Ghost (1934)

7. Flowers for the Judge (1936)

8. The Case of the Late Pig (1937)

9. Dancers in Mourning aka Who Killed Chloe? (1937)

10. The Fashion in Shrouds (1938)

11. Traitor's Purse aka The Sabotage Murder Mystery (1941)

12. Pearls before Swine (1945)

13. More Work for the Undertaker (1948)

14. The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)

15. Estate of the Beckoning Lady (1955)

16. Tether's End (1958)

17. The China Governess (1963)

18. The Mind Readers (1965)

19. Cargo of Eagles (1968)

I decided to re-read the Allingham series again, because I'm in the mood for the classics. I enjoyed this entry in the Albert Campion series, which began in 1929, The Crime at Black Dudley (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries). Although it's a little later here, 1937, it's action is still in that interval between WWI and WWII that saw society making vast changes and accommodations necessary after the horrors of The Great War and it's staggering loss of life and fortune. There is a great attempt to keep to the culture of the "good old days," but things are obviously changing everywhere, and Campion is illustrative of the trends. His "true" identity is only occasionally referred to and his involvement with the criminal world is in direct opposition to the "norms" of his social set, as indicated by the disapproval exhibited by his factotum, Lugg, who has become an inveterate snob.

The characters continue in their light hearted vein, but they're older now. Although Albert's off-the-wall witticisms are still in evidence, in his mid thirties now he is more serious than he was in the earlier episodes. The author's focus seems to be more on the actual solution of the crime than upon stressing Campion's "fatuous," "vacant," slightly "stupid," "affable" and non-threatening appearance as viewed by those around him. Perhaps as he has aged, others are less likely to cooperate with his endeavors if he continues to be the slightly idiotic "uncle" to all and sundry. Lugg has become less of the savvy burglar and more of an above stairs wannabe. He still engages in verbal fisticuffs with his employer, but it's now over "appearances" rather than over the dangers of an undertaking or over the viciousness of an opponent.

Although I've read most of the Allingham mysteries almost 20 years ago, I had not noticed the degree to which they refer to earlier episodes, places and characters. There is a sense of the sequal about them that gives them a more charming almost "family" feel, much like the sequence of novels about Barsetshire by Angela Thirkell, High Rising (Angela Thirkell Barsetshire Series). One has heard of Kepesake before in passing during earlier works, but now one learns more about the character and details of the village and becomes more intimately acquainted with the people living there.

The plot is well constructed, though I found the method of the murder somewhat doubtful; not because I know it wouldn't work, so much as because I suspect that it wouldn't based upon at least a rudimentary understanding of physics. The introductory pages hook one into the story right away, leaving one to wonder whether a murder has occurred or not. By the time it is irrefutable, the entire thing has been confused by the introduction of what appear to be impossibilities.

The story is a very active one, with the hero and his associates traveling throughout the area to find clues and confront the guilty, which gives the author the opportunity to exhibit her rich vocabulary and narrative skills. The country, emotional ambiance, and social environment are all richly described. For those more used to the almost purely dialogue character of many modern mysteries, these may feel "slow." It is the tale of young, active people with enough experience in living life to be wise to the world, but not so much of youth having passed to turn them into more arm chair sleuths or even spectators as in later entries in the series.

The clues are there to be discovered by the reader, though there is a large red herring that borders on the "unfair" that doesn't so much divert the reader's attention as withhold information until 2/3 through the story. Still it's not enough to prevent the reader from guessing the identity of the villain, the clues to whose identity are always there.

For those who've seen the televised series starring Peter Davison, the cinematic version follows the book very closely, even to much of the dialogue. For those who've not seen the PBS/BBC productions of these works, Campion - The Complete First Season,they're well worth the viewing. The series capture the allure and visual texture and richness of the 1930s Art Deco period. For those who've enjoyed the many Poirot mysteries, Agatha Christie's Poirot: Collector's Set Volume 1, by the same producers, these are similar in quality.

A wonderful example of Allingham's work.

For me this one and "Police at the Funeral" are the best Allinghams.

Which one is best is a moot point. I believe the "Pig" has still

more originality, pace and fine irony.It's a delightfully "lean" book,

everything she put in it is important for the story (and for the fun).

She manages to create a story and an ambience that are both surreal (the odd aproach) and plausible at the same time.

This was also the Allingham where I found Lugg to be genuinely

amusing.

First published over 65 years ago, this entry in Allingham's long-running Campion series didn't do much to enthuse me to investigate other of Campion's adventures. It starts with the detective attending the funeral of an old schoolmate, who was rather widely despised. Several months later, Campion is called to the country to investigate a suspicious death, and the victim appears to be the same schoolmate. Wacky antics and murky mystery ensue. A kind of unsatisfying blend of P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie which is unlikely to interest those who aren't already fans of the series. The one bright spot is Campion's valet, who is kind of a rough "anti-Jeeves".