Death of a Ghost
Encyclopedia
Death of a Ghost is a crime novel
by Margery Allingham
, first published in February 1934
, in the United Kingdom
by Heinemann
, London
and in the United States
by Doubleday, New York
. It is the sixth novel with the mysterious Albert Campion
, aided by his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.
must exercise all his powers to bring the killer to justice...
with a model, whom he has married to get into the country. Albert Campion
, a friend of Belle and the family, persuades her to attend the show, just in time to be there when Tommy is stabbed to death during a power outage.
Campion
calls in his old friend Stanislaus Oates to help avoid scandal, but Oates is convinced Linda must be guilty, as she has the only obvious motive. Max Fustian, a hanger-on to Lafcadio's coat-tails and now a flourishing art dealer, confesses to the crime, but his confession is laughable and a clear attempt to clear Linda. No further proof can be found however, and thanks to pressure from some important dignitaries attending the show, the matter is hushed up.
The mystery continues, however, as Tommy's art and possessions slowly vanish, until no trace of him remains. Campion
meets up with Max Fustian, and finds himself entertaining strange suspicions of the odd little man. Some weeks later, Belle visits Claire Potter in her studio in the garden and finds her dead, face down on the couch. Nicotine
poisoning is diagnosed, and suspicion falls at first on her husband, who had skipped work that day and had returned home for a minute an hour before the body was discovered, only to leave again in a hurry.
Potter reveals his wife suffered from alcoholism
, and frequently drank herself unconscious; he had assumed she had done this once more, washed her glass and left her there. Seeking the source of the poisoned booze, Campion
and Oates discover that Claire took in wood-blocks for cleaning from Max Fustian, and had returned a parcel that very day. Questioning the delivery boy, they find that he once dropped a similar package, and was surprised to find the wrapping wet.
Convinced of Fustian's guilt but lacking proof, Campion
seeks a motive. He learns from the model Rosa-Rosa that Tommy had a cottage in the country, and from the cook Lisa that Lafcadio, despite his determination to defeat his rival and keep his fame alive, had only managed to complete eight of the twelve paintings of his legacy, filling the remaining packages with junk as a joke. Campion
visits Tommy's cottage and finds Max there, all traces of Tommy burnt. He returns to Little Venice later, and finds Max in a blazing row with Belle - he has insisted he must take the remaining Lafcadio works abroad and sell them, and she has refused to let him.
Sure now that Max had Tommy fake the last four paintings for him, Campion
gets further proof in the form of a drawing uncovered in Paris by Linda. He meets Max and they go out to dinner, where Max has him sample a strange and rare wine from Romania
. Too late, Campion
recalls the wine has a terribly intoxicating effect if taken after spirits - and Max had made sure Campion
drank lots of gin
before dinner. After a drunken tour of town, Max leads Campion
to the edge of a Tube
platform, and pushes hard - only to be stopped by the plain-clothes men Oates has had on their tail, after a meeting with Campion
that morning.
Visiting Fustian in prison, Campion
finds him a gibbering lunatic, his mind pushed over the edge by the defeat of his schemes.
, the fourth of eight Campion stories starring Peter Davison
as Campion and Andrew Burt
as Oates. Originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes, the original UK air date was 5 March 1989. The series was shown in the United States
by PBS
.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
by Margery Allingham
Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham was an English crime writer, best remembered for her detective stories featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion.- Childhood and schooling :...
, first published in February 1934
1934 in literature
The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....
, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Heinemann
Heinemann (book publisher)
Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Doubleday, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It is the sixth novel with the mysterious Albert Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
, aided by his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.
Plot introduction
At the former home of John Lafcadio, the great painter dead some 18 years, the annual ceremony to unveil a painting he left behind to keep his memory alive is interrupted by a murder. Suspicion falls on a family member, but with no proof the police are baffled. When murder once again visits "Little Venice", Albert CampionAlbert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
must exercise all his powers to bring the killer to justice...
Plot summary
John Lafcadio, who modestly described himself as "probably the greatest painter since Rembrandt", has left a bizarre legacy - a collection of twelve sealed paintings, to be unveiled one at a time at an annual event commencing ten years after his death. While the first seven ceremonies went smoothly, the eighth starts with family ructions, when John's granddaughter Linda finds her boyfriend Tommy has returned from a painting trip to RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with a model, whom he has married to get into the country. Albert Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
, a friend of Belle and the family, persuades her to attend the show, just in time to be there when Tommy is stabbed to death during a power outage.
Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
calls in his old friend Stanislaus Oates to help avoid scandal, but Oates is convinced Linda must be guilty, as she has the only obvious motive. Max Fustian, a hanger-on to Lafcadio's coat-tails and now a flourishing art dealer, confesses to the crime, but his confession is laughable and a clear attempt to clear Linda. No further proof can be found however, and thanks to pressure from some important dignitaries attending the show, the matter is hushed up.
The mystery continues, however, as Tommy's art and possessions slowly vanish, until no trace of him remains. Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
meets up with Max Fustian, and finds himself entertaining strange suspicions of the odd little man. Some weeks later, Belle visits Claire Potter in her studio in the garden and finds her dead, face down on the couch. Nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...
poisoning is diagnosed, and suspicion falls at first on her husband, who had skipped work that day and had returned home for a minute an hour before the body was discovered, only to leave again in a hurry.
Potter reveals his wife suffered from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and frequently drank herself unconscious; he had assumed she had done this once more, washed her glass and left her there. Seeking the source of the poisoned booze, Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
and Oates discover that Claire took in wood-blocks for cleaning from Max Fustian, and had returned a parcel that very day. Questioning the delivery boy, they find that he once dropped a similar package, and was surprised to find the wrapping wet.
Convinced of Fustian's guilt but lacking proof, Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
seeks a motive. He learns from the model Rosa-Rosa that Tommy had a cottage in the country, and from the cook Lisa that Lafcadio, despite his determination to defeat his rival and keep his fame alive, had only managed to complete eight of the twelve paintings of his legacy, filling the remaining packages with junk as a joke. Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
visits Tommy's cottage and finds Max there, all traces of Tommy burnt. He returns to Little Venice later, and finds Max in a blazing row with Belle - he has insisted he must take the remaining Lafcadio works abroad and sell them, and she has refused to let him.
Sure now that Max had Tommy fake the last four paintings for him, Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
gets further proof in the form of a drawing uncovered in Paris by Linda. He meets Max and they go out to dinner, where Max has him sample a strange and rare wine from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Too late, Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
recalls the wine has a terribly intoxicating effect if taken after spirits - and Max had made sure Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
drank lots of gin
Gin
Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
before dinner. After a drunken tour of town, Max leads Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
to the edge of a Tube
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
platform, and pushes hard - only to be stopped by the plain-clothes men Oates has had on their tail, after a meeting with Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
that morning.
Visiting Fustian in prison, Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
finds him a gibbering lunatic, his mind pushed over the edge by the defeat of his schemes.
Characters in "Death of a Ghost"
- John Sebastian Lafcadio, a famous artist, eighteen years dead and still a dominant personality in his home
- Belle Lafcadio, widow of the artist, a much-loved and charming old lady
- Linda Lafcadio, granddaughter of John and Belle
- Thomas Dacre, Linda's fiance, recently returned from a two-year spell in Italy
- Rosa-Rosa Rosini, a striking-looking model, brought back from Italy by Tommy
- Matt D'Urfey, Tommy's roommate and a friend of Linda, a solid and friendly chap
- Thomas Dacre, Linda's fiance, recently returned from a two-year spell in Italy
- Linda Lafcadio, granddaughter of John and Belle
- Donna Beatrice, real name Harriet Pickering, once Lafcadio's model, become a rather dotty old lady obsessed with the spirit world
- W. Tennyson Potter, a failed and miserable artist taken in by Lafcadio
- Claire Potter, his wife, also an artist and a former Lafcadio model, a despairing but useful woman
- Lisa Capella, an Italian, once Lafcadio's model, become cook to the household in her old age
- Fred Rennie, Lafcadio's old assistant, still making his secret paint recipes
- Max Fustian, Lafcadio's biographer and art dealer, a foppish, self-important man
- Belle Lafcadio, widow of the artist, a much-loved and charming old lady
- Albert CampionAlbert CampionAlbert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
, an old friend of Belle, an adventurer, detective and universal uncle - Stanislaus Oates, a senior Scotland Yard man, Campion's friend
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The story was adapted for television by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the fourth of eight Campion stories starring Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
as Campion and Andrew Burt
Andrew Burt
Andrew Burt is an English actor, who has appeared in many British TV drama series from the 1970s to the present day...
as Oates. Originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes, the original UK air date was 5 March 1989. The series was shown in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
External links
- An Allingham bibliography, with dates and publishers, from the UK Margery Allingham Society.uk/bibliography
- A series of Allingham plot summaries, including many Campion books, from the UK Margery Allingham Society
- A page about the book from the Margery Allingham Archive
- Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions