Cargo of Eagles

Margery Allingham

Morrow, 1968 - Fiction - 233 pages

In this, Ms. Allingham's last novel, the action revolves around Saltey, for centuries a hidey-hole for all manner of villains. Astonishingly, it is the early 1960s, and Saltey, like many English coastal towns, is being over-run by teenage gangs. But that's not why Albert Campion -- now, really astonishingly, in late middle-age -- has persuaded Lugg to take up residence. His interest lies in part with the just-out-of-prison thief who has (in time-honored tradition) gone to ground in Saltey. But his most passionate interest is reserved for the curious, newly revived story of the Saltey Demon.

Contents

• Section 1: 22
• Section 2: 39
• Section 3: 49

About the author

Margery Allingham, one of England's leading mystery writers, was born on May 20, 1904, in Ealing, a western suburb of London, but grew up in a remote village in Essex. Both of her parents were writers, and Margery carried on that tradition when she sold her first short story as an eight-year-old. At the Regent Street Polytechnic, she continued writing and studied drama and speech. While there, she wrote a verse play, Dido and Aeneas, in which she had a starring role during performances in London. At age 19, Allington published her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick. She wrote another novel, The White Cottage Mystery, before creating her most famous character, Albert Campion, in The Black Dudley Murder (published in England as The Crime at Black Dudley) in 1929. Allington went on to create twenty-eight more Campion mysteries, including several collections. She wrote more than 10 other novels, some under the pseudonym Maxwell March, as well as four novellas and sixty-four short stories. During World War II, Allingham served as First Aid Commandant for her district, organized the billeting and care of evacuees from London, and allowed her house to be turned into a temporary military base for eight officers and two hundred men of the Cameronians. The war greatly deepened Allingham's passion for her country, as evidenced in her later works. Allingham died of cancer on June 30, 1966.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Cargo of Eagles; Albert Campion mysteries, Margery Allingham
• Author: Margery Allingham
• Publisher: Morrow, 1968
• ISBN: 1567230032, 9781567230031
• Length: 233 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Traditional