Pearls Before Swine: #12 Albert Campion [Paperback]

Margery Allingham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2009 | Series: Albert Campion (Book 12)

World War II is limping to a close, but it isn?t the Germans who are troubling the Dowager Marchioness of Carados right now. The problem is the potential derailment of her son?s wedding by the discovery, in his bed, of the body of a distinctly inappropriate girl who seems to have swallowed a fatal handful of pills. Never one to be cowed, the Marchioness enlists a friend to dump the body in a temporarily empty flat. But the flat?s owner?Albert Campion?returns home unexpectedly, on brief leave from the war. Understandably a bit put out, Campion determines nonetheless to carry out his original plan: A fast change of clothing and then off to the country. The police, however, have other ideas.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Allingham has that rare gift in a novelist, the creation of characters so rich and so real that they stay with the reader forever Sara Paretsky Philip Franks sounds, marvellously, as if he's reading in a dinner-jacket ... Fabulous INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY The real queen of crime GUARDIAN Margery Allingham has precious few peers and no superiors SUNDAY TIMES --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Margery Allingham was born in London in 1904. Her first novel was published when she was seventeen. In 1929 she published The Crime at Black Dudley and introduced the character who was to become the hallmark of her writing - Albert Campion. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem; No Additional Listings Printed edition (December 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934609374
• ISBN-13: 978-1934609378
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars buyer beware, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pearls Before Swine: An Albert Campion Mystery (Paperback)

Be careful -- this book is also published (by Penguin) as "Coroner's Pidgin."

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Johnny Comes Back from the War, July 25, 2002

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Coroner's Pidgin (Hardcover)

In the waning days of World War II Albert Campion has returned from Europe on leave. His intent is a quick stopover in his old London flat and then to take a train into the country to be with his wife Amanda and a child he only knows from letters. Unfortunately, he surprises Lugg and Lady Carados, the mother of his close friend Johnny, carrying a corpse into his rooms.

The corpse is that of a woman who apparently had the nerve to crawl into Johnny Carados' bed and take an overdose of sleeping salts. At first, Campion attempts to get things under control, but finally thinks the better of it and sets out for the train. Unexpectedly, he is kidnapped by the cab driver and returns mysteriously to consciousness in a garage. To add insult to injury, the police insist that he stay in London to help with the Carados problem. A much-disgruntled Campion starts digging into a suicide that is looking more and more like murder.

In short order the plot thickens. To the murder add a stolen bottle of rare wine, another murder attempt, and finally a series of art thefts. To make matters worse, the primary suspect is Johnny Carados himself, back in town to marry the widow of a war comrade in arms. Carados is motivated more by duty than love and the woman has fallen in love with a U.S. soldier on duty in London. There are even more complications to come, but if I told you about them I would start giving away the plot (maybe that should be 'plots').

"Pearls before Swine" is a perfect parlor puzzle, full of interlocking pieces that never quite seem to fit together. Not only has Allingham once again created a great detective story, but she also captures much of the atmosphere and psychology of wartime London. Early in the book Carados complains to Albert, "I'm living in two different worlds, Campion, two utterly different worlds." As, the reader will discover, are most characters in this novel. It is up to Campion to pierce through all the masks, and reestablish the rule of justice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great tale of murder in wartime London!, May 1, 2011

By 

Sarah Rogers - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pearls Before Swine: #12 Albert Campion (Paperback)

"Pearls Before Swine" provides a close-up look at wartime London. You get a real feel for how people thought and lived between the blackouts and the bombings. And within the realities of war, Allingham adds murders that involve wartime heroes, Civil Defense personnel, revue stars, minor royalty, connoisseurs of food and wine and, of course, Scotland Yard. It's a heady mix.

The action starts immediately. Albert Campion has returned to England after three war years abroad on a secret government mission. He stops at his London apartment on his way to the country. And finds a woman's body in his bed! The suspects in the crime are former friends and associates and his old acquaintances at Scotland Yard pull him unwillingly into the case.

There are a lot of relationships to examine. Characters are sharply drawn. And the story advances with lots of twists, turns and mis-directions. But you learn most of the evidence as it is revealed, so you can try to solve the case along with Campion.

This is a well-crafted, intellectual mystery that holds your attention and delivers a surprising, but satisfying, ending.