Once he paused and swore at himself softly, for through the mesh of clearly balanced thought which he should have applied to this problem, as he did to every other, he was haunted by the face of a girl, a girl lovely beyond all imagining, with stark terror in her wide grey eyes.
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Maxwell March is the pseudonym of Margery Allingham. She was born in Ealing, London in 1904 to a family immersed in literature. Her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick, was published in 1923 when she was just 19. In 1928 she published her first work of detective fiction, The White Cottage Mystery, after it was serialized in the Daily Express, but her breakthrough came in 1929 with the publication of The Crime at Black Dudley and the introduction of Albert Campion.
Whilst her Albert Campion mystery series was taking off, she turned her attention to what she termed her ‘thrillers’; serialized stories for magazines featuring larger than life characters and page turning plots. For this venture she adopted the name Maxwell March and the resulting three novels were later published under the same pseudonym.
Campion continued to flourish. He proved so successful that Allingham made him the centerpiece of a further 17 novels and over 20 short stories, continuing into the 1960s.
Allingham’s writing marked the arrival of a new breed of more sophisticated detective fiction defined by sharply drawn characters, wry observations and a flash of eccentricity. Allingham has been called the ‘Dickens of detective writing’ and sits alongside Agatha Christie as one of the Four Queens of Crime.
Margery Allingham died in 1966.
Books by
MAXWELL MARCH
The Man of Dangerous Secrets
Rogues’ Holiday
The Devil and Her Son
Books by
MARGERY ALLINGHAM
Police at the Funeral
Sweet Danger
Death of a Ghost
Flowers for the Judge
The Case of the Late Pig
Dancers in Mourning
The Fashion in Shrouds
Traitor’s Purse
Coroner’s Pidgin
More Work for the Undertaker
The Tiger in the Smoke
The Beckoning Lady
Hide My Eyes
The China Governess
The Mind Readers
Cargo of Eagles
Black Plumes
This edition published in 2017 by Ipso Books
First published in Great Britain in 1936 by Collins and by Doubleday in America
Drury House, 34-43 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HA
Copyright © Rights Limited, 1936
All rights reserved
Margery Allingham has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Contents
I THE LONG SHADOW
II NOTHING TO LOSE
III BARON’S TYE
IV THE DREADFUL THING
V “… AND TO HOLD …“
VI THE MOUSETRAP
VII THE WIFE
VIII THE INGENUITIES OF MRS DE LIANE
IX THE AMATEUR
X THE CITY OF SHADOWS
XI THE CONFIDANTS
XII THE OPEN DOOR
XIII THE CITY OF STRANGERS
XV THE COMPANION
XVI MONEY TALKS
XVII You WON’T FORGET ME
XVIII CONFERENCE
XIX BLACKMAIL
XX INTERESTS INVOLVED
XXI RED TAPE
XXII THE MOVING FINGER
XXIII THE LITTLE SOUND
XXIV THE FIRE
XXV “I’LL FOLLOW YOU …“
XXVI THE SHOWDOWN
XXVII THE END OF THE DAY
XXVIII TOGETHER