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    The Beckoning Lady
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    The Beckoning Lady
    Unavailable
    The Beckoning Lady
    Ebook305 pages5 hours

    The Beckoning Lady

    By Margery Allingham

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Murder darkens the bright days of summer in an idyllic Suffolk village, in an Albert Campion mystery that is simply “unforgettable” (A.S. Byatt).
     
    Private detective Albert Campion’s glorious summer in Pontisbright is blighted by death. Amidst the preparations for Minnie and Tonker Cassand’s fabulous summer party, a murder is discovered—and it falls to Campion to unravel the intricate web of motives, suspicion and deception.
     
    Danger is hardly unknown in this idyllic rural village, but it is a less romantic peril than Campion faced on his first visit, more than twenty years ago . . .
     
    “My very favourite of the four Queens of Crime is Allingham.” —J. K. Rowling
     
    “Margery Allingham has precious few peers and no superiors.” —The Sunday Times
     
    “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
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 1, 2015
    ISBN9781504048729
    Unavailable
    The Beckoning Lady
    Author

    Margery Allingham

    Margery Louise Allingham is ranked among the most distinguished and beloved detective fiction writers of the Golden Age alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh. Allingham is J.K. Rowling's favourite Golden Age author and Agatha Christie said of Allingham that out of all the detective stories she remembers, Margery Allingham 'stands out like a shining light'. She was born in Ealing, London in 1904 to a very literary family; her parents were both writers, and her aunt ran a magazine, so it was natural that Margery too would begin writing at an early age. She wrote steadily through her school days, first in Colchester and later as a boarder at the Perse School for Girls in Cambridge, where she wrote, produced, and performed in a costume play. After her return to London in 1920 she enrolled at the Regent Street Polytechnic, where she studied drama and speech training in a successful attempt to overcome a childhood stammer. There she met Phillip Youngman Carter, who would become her husband and collaborator, designing the jackets for many of her future books. The Allingham family retained a house on Mersea Island, a few miles from Layer Breton, and it was here that Margery found the material for her first novel, the adventure story Blackkerchief Dick (1923), which was published when she was just nineteen. She went on to pen multiple novels, some of which dealt with occult themes and some with mystery, as well as writing plays and stories – her first detective story, The White Cottage Mystery, was serialized in the Daily Express in 1927. Allingham died at the age of 62, and her final novel, A Cargo of Eagles, was finished by her husband at her request and published posthumously in 1968.

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    Reviews for The Beckoning Lady

    3.5/5

    100 ratings8 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Sadly, this book has aged badly. There are so many expressions and references that are no longer used, it's like entering a time capsule without a translator on board. Trying to get past the midway point, but too many livelier books beckon. For the record, I enjoyed Tiger in the Smoke and The Fashion in Shrouds more.
    • 4/5
      This Campion mystery seems more self-contained than most. It's also got a nice set of characters, extending even to the corpses. Finally, the various threads are tied together pretty well without a lot of circumstantial glue. All in all, one of my favorites in the series.
    • 4/5
      This one takes place at Pontisbright, with detective Albert Campion, his wife Amanda and their son Rupert immersed in the preparations for their eccentric friends Minnie and Tonker's huge party. There is some period slang and references to many characters from past books in the series - a bit obscure in places. The mystery itself is a good one, but some of the atmosphere and culture is hard to understand 60 or 70 years later.
    • 5/5
      This one takes place after Campion's marriage to Lady Amanda Fitton.
    • 4/5
      Hmmm...champers, anyone? That's champagne, of course, and it's on the menu at Minnie and Tonker's party of the season at the Beckoning Lady. This installment finds our hero, Albert Campion, down in the country for this party along with Amanda & their son Rupert; it all begins with the discovery of a dead body and the death of Uncle William. Uncle William, if you've been following the series, has been in a couple of Campion mysteries, and is much beloved by Campion and Amanda. So...Campion does not believe that Uncle William died peacefully, but rather was murdered, and while preparing for the party, must investigate to see if he was correct. He's also involved in the investigation into the other death, so he's very busy.I liked this one, but it was rather silly in places, and if you aren't aware of current cultural references of the time you might be a bit lost. Otherwise, not quite as good as some of the Campion novels, but not too bad. Do NOT start with this one as an opener to the series. Campion is not at his detecting best here. Recommended for those following the series and those who are fans of British mystery in general.
    • 4/5
      My memory of this is vaguely positive but it is a long time since I read it. s I recall it is set in the English countryside.
    • 3/5
      Campion and his wife are in Pontisbright where a large party is to be held. "Uncle William" has died at his estate, presumably in his sleep, The Beckoning Lady. The body of another man is found soon afterwards. Campion feels the two deaths may be related. This is not my favorite Campion novel, but it is okay. At times there seems to be too much time spent on small talk rather than the investigation itself. Persons unfamiliar with the series probably want to start with an earlier installment.
    • 2/5
      The only clunker of Allingham’s I’ve read

      I love the Campion mysteries and have re-read them from time to time over the years. I wondered why I hadn’t bothered with this one and now I know why. It’s mannered, cluttered, confused, and dated beyond belief. Not recommended.