Mr Campion and Others

Margery Allingham

Illustrated by Darya Shnykina

Amateur detective Albert Campion is back on the case in the latest in Folio’s popular Margery Allingham series. This time, our doyenne of crime is illustrated by Darya Shnykina.

In these 13 short mysteries, gentleman sleuth Albert Campion is on hand to assist friends, acquaintances and Scotland Yard with a rogue’s gallery of criminal conundrums. Blackmail, jewel theft, fraud, confidence tricks and even the shady operations of the Special Branch: no sticky situation is beyond the keen eye and keener mind of ‘the cleverest man in London’. Described by Agatha Christie as ‘a shining light’, Margery Allingham was one of the most celebrated ‘queens of golden age crime’, known for her exceptionally atmospheric prose, ear for dialogue and witty characters. Albert Campion quickly became her most popular hero, starring in 19 novels and multiple short stories; readers will find that the more they read of Campion, the more they will crave his company. For this edition, produced in series with Folio’s previous Allingham novels, artist Darya Shnykina has created seven elegant images capturing the mood and style of the 1930s, as well as a gorgeous binding design crowded with the diverse shadows of London.

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Bound in printed and blocked Elephanthide paper

Set in Utopia with Victoria Titling as display

280 pages

Frontispiece plus 6 full page colour illustrations

Plain slipcase

9˝ x 5¾˝

THIRTEEN MYSTERIES TO UNRAVEL

‘Always of the elect, Margery Allingham now towers above them’

Observer

Scotland Yard’s secret weapon has his work cut out for him in these satisfyingly twisty stories. In ‘The Widow’, Campion must go undercover to solve the mystery of an impossibly perfect brandy, while an unusually ugly piece of jewellery hides an unexpected secret in ‘The Name on the Wrapper’. ‘The Danger Point’ sees a string of pearls send a ripple of scandal throughout the city, and in ‘The Longer View’, a chance trip down memory lane leads to the discovery of a sinister room, its walls marked with a desperate message – who has been held captive there, and why? Throughout each of these stories and the rest, Campion moves through both the high echelons of glittering society and the murkier depths of the criminal underbelly with equal ease, uncovering the truth with his sharp intellect and pleasantly disarming manner.

THE FLAVOUR OF THE 1930S

This beautiful illustrated edition features images by Darya Shnykina. Her moody and atmospheric illustrations capture the style and the colour of the 1930s, heightened with meticulously rendered period detail. These illustrations, like Allingham’s writing, reward close observation – the longer you look, the more details are revealed, such as the tiny scribbled letters on the wall in the image for ‘The Longer View’, or the prone body, almost concealed by shadows in ‘The Meaning of the Act’. Saturated in gorgeous sepia tones, the binding is populated by the shadows of Campion’s London; these are the men and women of all backgrounds that flit into his stories with their own tales to tell. 

ABOUT MARGERY ALLINGHAM

Margery Allingham is pre-eminent among the writers who brought the detective story to maturity in the decades between the two world wars. She was born in London in 1904, and her first novel was published when she was 17, with her first detective story, The White Cottage Mystery, following in 1928. Her next book, The Crime at Black Dudley (1929), introduced the character who was to become the hallmark of her writing: Albert Campion. Further Campion mysteries include Traitor’s Purse (1941), The Tiger in the Smoke (1952) and Hide My Eyes. (1958). She died in 1966.

ABOUT DARYA SHNYKINA

Darya Shnykina is an illustrator based in Moscow. While studying Graphics and Art of the Book at Moscow State University of Printing Arts, she submitted images for Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, winning the 2017 annual Book Illustration Competition, run by the House of Illustration and The Folio Society. Although created using digital techniques, her artwork retains the charm of traditional materials and textures. Recent clients include VICE magazine, Universal Pictures, Alpha book magazine and Dark City Gallery. Shnykina was among the winning illustrators in the 2019 Communication Arts Annual.