Reading order · 19 books · 1929 to 1968 · Set in London
Albert Campion Books in Order
Albert Campion is a mild, bespectacled young man who seems vague and harmless, uses an assumed name and hints at a very grand family he never names. Behind the foolish manner is a sharp detective, helped by his manservant Magersfontein Lugg, a former burglar. The books move from light-hearted adventures in the 1930s to darker, subtler novels after the war.
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Series facts
- Books
- 19
- Published
- 1929 to 1968
- First book
- The Crime at Black Dudley
- Latest
- Cargo of Eagles (1968)
- Setting
- Set in London
The reading order
Every Albert Campion book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
19 books · Set in London
- 1The Crime at Black Dudley1929Dr George Abbershaw, a pathologist, joins a weekend party at Black Dudley, a gloomy country house on the Suffolk coast, where the guests play an old ritual game with a jewelled dagger.Buy on Amazon
- 2Mystery Mile1930With Albert CampionCampion is hired to protect an American judge, Crowdy Lobbett, who has been targeted by a criminal organisation, and hides him and his family at Mystery Mile, a remote village on the Suffolk marshes.Buy on Amazon
- 3Look to the Lady1931With Albert CampionCampion comes to the aid of Val Gyrth, heir to an old Suffolk family whose house holds a sacred chalice, the Gyrth Chalice, which a gang of international thieves means to steal.Buy on Amazon
- 4Police at the Funeral1931With Albert CampionCampion is asked to look into the disappearance of a member of the Faraday family, who live under the iron rule of their elderly matriarch, Great-Aunt Caroline, in a gloomy house in Cambridge.Buy on Amazon
- 5Sweet Danger1933With Albert CampionCampion, posing as the heir to a tiny European principality, travels to the Suffolk village of Pontisbright to recover the papers that prove the claim, and meets the irrepressible teenager Amanda Fitton and her family.Buy on Amazon
- 6Death of a Ghost1934With Albert CampionEvery year the widow of the great painter John Lafcadio unveils one of the pictures he left to be shown after his death.Buy on Amazon
- 7Flowers for the Judge1936With Albert CampionPaul Brande, a director of the old London publishing house of Barnabas, is found dead in the firm’s strongroom, twenty years after another member of the family vanished without trace on his way to work.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Case of the Late Pig1937With Albert CampionCampion attends the funeral of R.Buy on Amazon
- 9Dancers in Mourning1937With Albert CampionCampion is invited to the country home of Jimmy Sutane, a star of musical comedy, whose household has been plagued by malicious pranks.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Fashion in Shrouds1938With Albert CampionCampion’s sister Val is a leading London fashion designer, and her friend the actress Georgia Wells has a habit of losing the men in her life.Buy on Amazon
- 11Traitor’s Purse1941With Albert CampionCampion wakes in a hospital bed with no memory, accused of attacking a policeman, and with a desperate sense that he must stop something terrible within days.Buy on Amazon
- 12Coroner’s Pidgin1945With Albert CampionHome on leave in wartime London, Campion arrives at his flat to find Lugg and a titled lady carrying the body of a young woman into his bedroom, and is drawn into the case before he can rest.Buy on Amazon
- 13More Work for the Undertaker1948With Albert CampionCampion goes to Apron Street in London to look into a death in the eccentric Palinode family, whose house is shared with an undertaker.Buy on Amazon
- 14The Tiger in the Smoke1952In a London fog, Meg Elginbrodde, about to marry again, receives photographs of her husband, who was killed in the war.Buy on Amazon
- 15The Beckoning Lady1955With Albert CampionCampion and his wife spend a summer in the Suffolk village of Pontisbright, where their eccentric friends the Cassands are preparing for a grand party, and then a body turns up.Buy on Amazon
- 16Hide My Eyes1958With Albert CampionDetective Superintendent Charlie Luke is hunting a killer who has struck several times across London, and the trail leads to a small museum of curiosities.Buy on Amazon
- 17The China Governess1962With Albert CampionTim Kinnit, a war orphan raised by a wealthy family, asks Campion to discover the truth about his origins before his wedding, and the inquiry uncovers a dark secret about a governess from the family’s past.Buy on Amazon
- 18The Mind Readers1965With Albert CampionCampion’s young nephew and his school friend are almost kidnapped at Liverpool Street Station, and the trouble leads to a secret research establishment on a remote island off the east coast.Buy on Amazon
- 19Cargo of Eagles1968With Albert CampionIn the Essex village of Saltey, long known for smuggling, an old secret leads to murder, and Campion sends a young American associate to mix with the locals.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
The books can be read alone, but Campion changes a great deal over forty years, and his life with Amanda Fitton develops from Sweet Danger onwards, so publication order is best.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Albert Campion | Magersfontein Lugg | Stanislaus Oates | Amanda Fitton | Charlie Luke | Rupert Campion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Crime at Black Dudley | MMajor | |||||
| 2 Mystery Mile | LLead | MMajor | ||||
| 3 Look to the Lady | LLead | MMajor | ||||
| 4 Police at the Funeral | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 5 Sweet Danger | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 6 Death of a Ghost | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 7 Flowers for the Judge | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 8 The Case of the Late Pig | LLead | MMajor | ||||
| 9 Dancers in Mourning | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 10 The Fashion in Shrouds | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | MMajor | ||
| 11 Traitor’s Purse | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 12 Coroner’s Pidgin | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 13 More Work for the Undertaker | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | MMajor | ||
| 14 The Tiger in the Smoke | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 15 The Beckoning Lady | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 16 Hide My Eyes | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 17 The China Governess | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 18 The Mind Readers | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 19 Cargo of Eagles | LLead | MMajor |
Characters in the Albert Campion books
6 characters from Margery Allingham’s chart, with the number of Albert Campion books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Albert CampionGentleman sleuth of mysterious aristocratic birth | 19 | The Crime at Black Dudley 1929 |
| Magersfontein LuggCampion’s manservant, a former burglar | 18 | Mystery Mile 1930 |
| Stanislaus OatesScotland Yard detective and Campion’s friend | 6 | Police at the Funeral 1931 |
| Amanda FittonAircraft engineer who marries Campion | 6 | Sweet Danger 1933 |
| Charlie LukeDetective, a rising star at Scotland Yard | 6 | More Work for the Undertaker 1948 |
| Rupert CampionCampion and Amanda’s son | 2 | The Beckoning Lady 1955 |