Classic Crime from the Golden Age, the first in the Albert Campion Series. Margery Allingham is J.K. Rowling's favourite Golden Age author.George Abbershaw is set for a social weekend at Black Dudley manor, hosted by Wyatt Petrie and his elderly uncle Colonel Combe, who enjoys the company of Bright Young Things. With Meggie Oliphant in attendance, George looks forward to the chance of getting closer to the girl he's set his heart on. But when murder spoils the party, the group soon find out that not only is there a killer in their midst, but the house is under the control of notorious criminals. Trapped and at their mercy, George must find a way to thwart their diabolical plans while getting himself and Meggie out alive.Luckily for Abbershaw, among the guests is Albert Campion - a garrulous and affable party-crasher with a great knack for solving mysteries and interrogating suspects.The Crime at Black Dudley, first published in 1929, is the first novel to introduce Margery Allingham's amiable and much loved sleuth - Albert Campion.

A suspicious death and a haunted family heirloom were not advertised when Dr George Abbershaw and a group of London's brightest young things accepted an invitation to the mansion of Black Dudley. Skulduggery is most certainly afoot, and the party-goers soon realise that they're trapped in the secluded house. Amongst them is a stranger who promises to unravel the villainous plots behind their incarceration - but can George and his friends trust the peculiar young man who calls himself Albert Campion?

A house-party with a glittering guest-list. An imposing country estate with endless shadowy staircases and unused rooms. The breathless period between the two world wars. It's the ideal setting for the classic English murder mystery, and bringing it to perfection is the introduction - in a supporting role, for the first and last time - of Albert Campion, the consummate (if compulsively quipping) Gentleman Sleuth. The guests take some time to be grateful for Campion's presence; he is a bit peculiar, and they have more than enough distractions, what with various complicated love affairs, a curious ritual involving a jewelled dagger, and a deadly game of hide-and-seek. But the savvy reader will be singing hosannas from Campion's first appearance, knowing that it marks the beginning of one of the most intelligent and delightful series in the history of crime fiction. An extremely fine tale of death in an English country house - New York Times

In an ancient remote mansion nestles the infamous Black Dudley Dagger - a jewel-encrusted Italian blade, weapon in a centuries-old murder. As house-party guests merrily recreate the traditional ceremony of the dagger, passing it from person to person in pitch darkness, death strikes once more when Colonel Gordon Coombe is felled by an apparent heart attack. But pathologist Dr George Abbershaw suspects foul play. And Meggie Oliphant swears that when the dagger was pushed into her hand, it was stained with blood. What really happened to the Colonel? And just who is the mysterious guest Mr Albert Campion?

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The Black Dudley is an ancient, remote mansion inhabited by recluse, Colonel Combe, but owned by Waytt Petrie, a young academic who decides to revive his property with a weekend party to which he invites his friends and colleagues. Among the guests is George Abbershaw, a renowned doctor and pathologist who is occasionally summoned by Scotland Yard to help with consulting mysterious deaths. Abbershaw hopes that the leisurely weekend at Black Dudley will help him to get acquainted with red-haired Meggie Oliphant whom he quietly admires. Little does he suspect that instead he will be involved in a series of extraordinary and dangerous incidents which unravel one by one in the gloomy mansion and split the party.

It all begins with a seemingly innocent ritual-game, played in Black Dudley for generations, in which a jewelled dagger is passed between the guests in the darkness. The young visitors are intrigued and eager to play, but when the lights are restored it becomes apparent that Colonel Combe has fallen ill. In the commotion of helping the invalid gentleman to his bedroom the dagger disappears and the Colonel is soon pronounced dead. Although Colonel's closest friends claim that he suffered from a weak heart for many years, Abbershaw begins to suspect that there is more to his death. Soon the guests realise that the petrol has been drained from every single car and the party is imprisoned within the manor of Black Dudley with a murderer among them.

Luckily for Abbershaw, among the guests is Albert Campion – a garrulous and affable party-crasher with a great knack for solving mysteries and interrogating suspects. The Crime at Black Dudley, first published in 1929, is the first novel which introduces Margery Allingham's amiable sleuth – Albert Campion.

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-- The Crime at Black Dudley, first published in 1929, is the first novel to introduce Margery Allingham's amiable and much loved sleuth â?? Albert Campi

When George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he has only one thing on his mind--proposing to Meggie Oliphant. Unfortunately for George, things don't quite go according to plan. A harmless game turns decidedly deadly and suspicions of murder take precedence over matrimony. Trapped in a remote country house with a murderer, George can see no way out. But Albert Campion can. About the author: Margery Allingham was born in London in 1904. Her first novel was published when she was 17. In 1929 she published The Crime at Black Dudley and introduced the character who was to become the hallmark of her writing--Albert Campion.

"A house-party with a glittering guest-list. An imposing country estate with endless shadowy staircases and unused rooms. The breathless period between the two world wars ... The guests take some time to be grateful for Campion's presence; he is a bit peculiar, and they have more than enough distractions, what with various complicated love affairs, a curious ritual involving a jewelled dagger, and a deadly game of hide-and-seek ..."--Page 4 of cover.

Murder turns a weekend house party at Black Dudley Manor into a deadly affair when the host is discovered brutally slain. Nor do gruesome rituals, callous interrogations, and perilous traps add to the fun. Fatal mystification might win the day, if Albert Campion were not there to sift through the motives and clues as with brilliant detection and his signature charm he penetrates the heart of the crime.

When George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he has only one thing on his mind--proposing to Meggie Oliphant. Unfortunately for George, things don't quite go according to plan. A harmless game turns decidedly deadly and suspicions of murder take precedence over matrimony. Trapped in a remote country house with a murderer, George can see no way out. But Albert Campion can.

A house party with a glittering guest list. An imposing country estate with endless shadowy staircases and unused rooms. The breathless period between the two world wars. It's the ideal setting for the classic English murder mystery, and bringit it to perfection is the introduction - in a supporting role, for the first and last time - of Albert Campion, the sonsummate gentleman sleuth. the guests take some time to be grateful for Campion's presence; he is a bit peculiar, and they have more than enough distractions, what with various complicated love affairs, a curious ritual involving a jewelled dagger, and a deadly game of hide-and-seek.

When the guests at an old country house in Suffolk decide to test the sanquineous legend of the Black Dudley dagger, the fatal outcome results in Albert Campiion's confrontation with the century's most diabolic criminal mind.

The Black Dudley is an ancient, remote mansion inhabited by recluse, Colonel Combe, but owned by Waytt Petrie, a young academic who decides to revive his property with a weekend party to which he invites his friends and colleagues. Among the guests is George Abbershaw, a renowned doctor and pathologist who is occasionally summoned by Scotland Yard to help with consulting mysterious deaths. Abbershaw hopes that the leisurely weekend at Black Dudley will help him to get acquainted with red-haired Meggie Oliphant whom he quietly admires. Little does he suspect that instead he will be involved in a series of extraordinary and dangerous incidents which unravel one by one in the gloomy mansion and split the party.It all begins with a seemingly innocent ritual-game, played in Black Dudley for generations, in which a jewelled dagger is passed between the guests in the darkness. The young visitors are intrigued and eager to play, but when the lights are restored it becomes apparent...