Look to the Lady

Margery Allingham

Val Gyrth is down on his luck, homeless. Yet Albert Campion seeks him out. Gyrth is the heir to a family responsibility. His family has protected a royal chalice for 1500 years. He is due to be 25 soon and share in the responsibility. Campion has information the the chalice may be stolen for a private art collection.

Gyrth has to return home to protect the chalice. Campion and Campion's man, Lugg, accompany him. They return in time for Gyrth's aunt, the Maid of the Cuppe, to die of a heart attack in unusual circumstances. There is a ghost tied up in the mystery. Before he is finished, Campion needs to reunite a family, find the ghost, dispel spirits, discover the thief (or thieves), retrieve the jeweled cup, and ensure the the family heirloom and responsibility does not disappear forever.

Again Campion amuses and entertains the reader in a neat mystery. As one piece of the puzzle fits in, more still have to come into place. Even as the crime is solved there are pieces that still have not been added. The puzzle is completed in the last two pages of the book with its interesting skew. This book is immensely readable, not dimmed or outdated despite its original publishing date of 1931.

The Black Dudley Murder
Mystery Mile
Look to the Lady
Police at the Funeral
The Fear Sign
Death of a Ghost
Flowers for the Judge
The Case of the Late Pig
Mr. Campion, Criminologist
Dancers in Mourning
The Fashion in Shrouds
Mr. Campion and Others
Traitor's Purse
Coroner's Pidgin
Wanted: Someone Innocent
The Casebook of Mr Campion
More Work for the Undertaker
The Tiger in the Smoke
The Beckoning Lady
Hide My Eyes
The China Governess
The Mysterious Mr. Campion
The Mind Readers
Mr. Campion's Lady
Cargo of Eagles
The Allingham Casebook
The Allingham Minibus
The Return of Mr. Campion

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie