The Fashion in Shrouds (1938) by Margery Allingham

May’s Book group choice saw me returning to the work of Margery Allingham. My history with her books has been somewhat up and down. Prior to today’s read, I have enjoyed The Tiger in the Smoke, The Case of the Late Pig, Police at the Funeral and Mr Campion and Others, but I did not get on as well with The China Governess, Traitor’s Purse (which surprised me when I looked at my Goodreads rating), The Mind Readers, More Work for the Undertaker, Death of a Ghost, and Flowers for the Judge. Allingham’s writing style shifts a lot from book to book which has probably contributed to this, as I have been able to click with some of her styles more than others. I have however got on much better with the TV series, starring Peter Davidson as Albert Campion.

Synopsis

‘First, there is a skeleton in a dinner jacket. Then a corpse in a golden aeroplane. After another body, private detective Albert Campion nearly makes a fourth… Both the skeleton and the corpse have died with suspicious convenience for Georgia Wells, a monstrous but charming actress with a raffish entourage. Georgia’s best friend just happens to be Valentine, a top couturière and Campion’s sister. In order to protect Valentine, Campion must unravel a story of blackmail and ruthless murder.’

Overall Thoughts

I am in two minds about the opening chapter. On the one hand it is almost confusingly circuitous in the way it sets up the first scene and introduces various characters. I did find it hard to pin down who was who, and what gathering everyone was meeting to attend. Even figuring out the rough time of day was more of a challenge than it needed to be. However, on the other hand, I did like the bombshell that Campion drops at the end of the first chapter, revealing that he has located the corpse of Georgia Wells’ missing fiancée, Portland Smith, who disappeared three years ago. His corpse is found in a remote location, and it appears as though he has committed suicide. I found this setup interesting to begin with, as there is the issue of why he killed himself and even the possibility that his death could be a murder made to look like a suicide.

Unfortunately, this element is not capitalised upon. Even worse, this nugget of a potential crime gets lost in the morass of dense prose and social engagements. Regarding the latter, Albert Campion is somewhat frustrating during these events. Sometimes this is because he is reluctant to act as a sleuth and goes as far as saying to Portland Smith’s father that he won’t snoop around his sister workplace and that he should not be relied upon to find out the truth behind his son’s death. This is rather deflating and comes across as priggish. This priggishness comes out later on after the second death, which is clearly suspicious, and Campion thinks everyone is being railroaded into accepting it as death by natural causes. Yet he won’t speak out:

‘Both his professional dignity and his natural ingrained reluctance to abuse his position as a guest prevented him from speaking. They were his two vulnerable spots, his two vanities.’

On other occasions, Campion just seems to be hanging around waiting for something definite to happen. It is therefore not surprising that the sleuthing objective of the narrative doesn’t really get going until two-thirds of the way through, when the detective component of the story finally kicks in with a third death, a bona fide murder to investigate. If you like the mystery to be at the forefront of your… well… your mystery novels, then you might struggle with this one, as a lot of the time the mystery is in the background. I have used the word circuitous already in this review, but it is an apt descriptor for this book, as it did feel like it took a long time for the major plot points to be arrived at. Returning to the third murder, I think the arrival of the police, and the fact Campion’s sister might be implicated in the deed, finally gives the story some oomph and direction. Naturally, Campion’s motivation to detect perks up no end when his sister’s safety is on the line.

The world of fashion was not a bad choice on Allingham’s part, as it was nice, for a while, seeing Campion out of his depth in this arena:

‘There was so much going on under his nose that needed explanation. The strangers were vivid personalities but not types he recognised and at the moment he did not understand their reactions at all.’

But perhaps this went on for too long.

I liked Campion’s sister Val and initially I thought she was a character set up as an enterprising and intelligent woman. Like Campion she became a family black sheep, making her own way in the world, after marrying a man her family disapproved of (although now she is a widow). Val’s character had so much promise, a fashion designing Harriet Vane maybe, but then she receives and accepts the most awful marriage proposal ever:

“Wives are out of fashion. I love you, Val. Will you marry me and give up your independence, the enthusiasm which you give your career, your time and your thought? That’s my proposition. It’s not a very good one, is it? I realise that I’ve made a fine old exhibition of myself with Georgia Wells, which has hardly enhanced my immediate value in the market, but I can’t honestly say that I regret the experience. That woman has maturing properties. However, that is the offer. In return – and you probably won’t like this either – in return, mind you (I consider it an obligation), I should assume full responsibility for you. I would pay your bills to any amount which my income might afford. I would make all decisions which were not directly in your province, although on the other hand I would like to feel that I might discuss everything with you if I wanted to; but only because I wanted to, mind you; not your right. And until I died you would be the only woman. You would be my care, my mate as in plumber, my possession if you like. If you wanted your own way in everything you’d have to cheat it out of me, not demand it.”

If I didn’t know which book this came from, I would have thought it was written by a man, given the double standards embedded in the above passage. Personally, I think the wrong man got chucked in the river (if you have already read this book, you will know which part of the story I am alluding to.) Given how Val is not afraid of sharing her opinion earlier in the mystery, I expected her to kick back at some parts of the proposal, but her response is dispiriting to say the least. It’s rather along the lines of a woman being happy to be met with authority, as at last she can be appreciated a womanly woman. (Pass the sick bag please…) It is such a shame things go this way, as at the beginning of the novel Val seems to value independence and individuality more, such as when she says to her brother:

“Like most men you’re between three and five years out of date. Don’t you notice a change in the fashion? […] To-day anything can happen. People can wear anything, say anything, do anything. It’s the motif of the moment; look at the waist-line.”

Gender politics is problematic in other areas of the story too. I appreciate that this mystery was written in different times, but even so, I think it is a bit much when Campion offers this advice to his sister, who is upset over a thwarted love affair: ‘What you need, my girl, is a good cry or a nice rape – either, I should think.’ Seriously who would suggest this to their sibling? And Campion isn’t saying it jokingly and if even if he was, it still wouldn’t be great. This does not feel hugely in keeping with the other novels by Allingham that I have read, so I guess I was more shocked at its inclusion. At least Val has some kind of retort for this deeply unpleasant piece of advice:

“There is a section of your generation who talks about rape as a cure for all ills, like old Aunt Beth used to talk about flannel next to the skin,” she said witheringly. “This mania for sex-to-do-you-good is idiotic.”

So why does Allingham put such an ‘idiotic’ statement in the mouth of Campion, her protagonist? Campion follows up this brotherly advice with more delightful remarks on women later in the narrative:

‘Most women were alarming in that way, he reflected again. They muddled through to truth in the most dangerous and infuriating fashion. All the same they were not quite so clever as they thought they were, which was as it should be, of course, but odd considering their remarkable penetration in most other practical matters. It was astonishing how the simple, direct reactions of the ordinary male eluded them.’

Perhaps I am more used to the TV version of Campion, a version which doesn’t retain these sorts of remarks.

Unlike The Case of the Late Pig or The Tiger in the Smoke, this Allingham reading experience was unfortunately a bit of a drudge. Despite my best efforts I really struggled to be grabbed by this book. In addition, there is a dissatisfying need for a trap to be set so the killer can reveal themselves, but even this takes a long time to be built up and executed. I did like the bit where the trap is used though. There is some good tension in the timing of when and how the killer shows up to try and murder Campion.

SPOILER WARNING: The next section is written in ROT13 Code, as it discusses the solution.

Zl znva ceboyrz jvgu gur fbyhgvba vf gung gurer ner ab pyhrf gung gur zheqrere vf n qvnorgvp (naq unf orra hfvat gurve vafhyva gb zheqre crbcyr). Juvyfg navzny vafhyva jnf ninvynoyr va gur 1930f, qvnorgrf gerngzrag jnf fgvyy sne sebz jung vg vf gbqnl naq lrg gur zheqrere fubjf ab fvtaf bs fhssrevat sebz qvnorgrf. Gurer vf ab rivqrapr bs ulcbf abe crevbqf bs uvtu oybbq fhtne va juvpu gurl ner guvefgl naq qevaxvat ybgf bs jngre naq gura hfvat gur gbvyrg n ybg nf n pbafrdhrapr. Va snpg, guvf qvnorgvp xvyyre frrzf gb unir na nohaqnapr bs raretl. Pnzcvba xabjf gurl’er n qvnorgvp nf ur svaqf bhg guvf vasbezngvba sebz gurve qbpgbe va Senapr, ohg guvf vf abg gbyq gb gur ernqre hagvy gur raq. Cerfhznoyl nfxvat gur qbpgbe jnf gur bayl jnl Pnzcvba jnf tbvat gb svaq bhg. Creuncf Nyyvatunz qvqa’g xabj ubj gb pbaivapvatyl nqq pyhrf cbvagvat gbjneqf guvf vasbezngvba, vagb gur cybg. Vg qbrf srry engure gnttrq ba gb gur raq. N glcr 1 qvnorgvp zlfrys, V nz phevbhf nf gb jurgure gur vafhyva jbhyq unir gnxra sbhe ubhef gb xvyy fbzrbar. V jbhyq unir gubhtug vg zvtug xvyy fbbare, ohg creuncf navzny vafhyva bs gur ren jbexrq fybjre? Qhr gb vzchevgvrf, navzny vafhyva vf zrnag gb unir cebqhprq ybpny naq flfgrzvp fvqr-rssrpgf, vapyhqvat nyyretvp ernpgvbaf. V jbaqre vs gung pbhyq unir znlor orra hgvyvfrq va gur cybg va fbzr jnl. Jung ner bgure crbcyr’f gubhtugf ba gur fbyhgvba?

Rating: 3/5