I Read Books: Death Of A Ghost
In this Margery Allingham murder mystery (and not any other Deaths of Ghosts that exist), John Lafcadio, a painter, has been dead for nearly twenty years. As a final act he left behind twelve paintings, never seen, and asked that after ten years they be shown and sold one a year. He had a slightly more successful rival who was some years younger than him, and didn’t want to leave the field clear after his death; with these twelve final works his pre-eminence would never be complete. The rival died before the first of the twelve were unveiled.
Despite being dead, Lafcadio still hangs like a shadow over his family and hanger’s on, which include his various muses (one his widow Belle, others perhaps former lovers or perhaps not) living in the same house in Little Venice, his granddaughter is going out with another painter, his agent who is always hanging about and there are a couple of artists who display their work at the unveiling of the painting because they were supporters when he was alive and Belle is too soft-hearted to deny them. Also an occasional visitor is Campion, Allingham’s detective character.
Anyway the granddaughter’s boyfriend becomes her ex- as he comes back with an Italian wife, though it turns out he only married her because she’s his model and muse and it was the easiest way to get her into the country, and he suggests they all move in together. Then at the unveiling of the latest Lafcadio painting the lights go out and he’s murdered. Campion tries to keep the scandal to a minimum and still catch the killer, but it’s all a bit difficult. He eventually settles on a suspect (after another suspicious death) but has no proof he can offer to the police.
In the climax he becomes very drunk after being fed a lot of gin and then a wine that reacts badly with spirits.
Read This: For a 30s murder mystery with a cast of eccentric characters who have concerns other than the murder, yet link together through the web of art and commerce and relationships back to it
Don’t Read This: If people of varying awfulness moving through the decaying ends of an artistic scene sounds like a terrible time.
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