Death of a Ghost (Albert Campion #6), Margery Allingham. New York: Avarang Books, 2023 (first published in 1934).

Summary: Campion and Stanislaus Oates investigate two murders connected to the house of Belle Lafcadio and the unveiling of famous works of her deceased husband John.

Fairly early on in this book, Campion and Inspector Stanislaus Oates know the identity of the murderer. But they lack evidence for an arrest. The suspenseful buildup in this book involves Campion’s efforts to expose the murderer, obtaining sufficient evidence for an arrest of a murderer clever in covering tracks. It’s a dangerous game, one that nearly costs Campion his life.

The setup is the unveiling of a painting by deceased artist John Lafcadio. Before his death, he painted a series of paintings, packed into twelve containers, one to be opened for display and sale at the home of his widow, Belle Lafcadio. Max Fustian, an art dealer, helps manage the shows and sale of the art. For seven years, all has gone well. Not so this year,

A boyfriend of Belle’s granddaughter Linda, Tommy, shows up at the show, fresh home from a painting trip to Italy, married to a model in order to bring her into the country. When the lights come on after a brief outage, Tommy is found dead of a knife wound to the heart. Suspicion hangs on Linda until Fustian confesses to the murder. His story doesn’t hold up but no one is arrested. There is not enough evidence to arrest anyone, and Campion, an old family friend of the Lafcadios doesn’t think Linda guilty.

Then odd things begin happening. All of Tommy’s work begins disappearing, including a piece in Campion’s possession. Then another murder, of Claire Potter, an artist who, along with her husband, lives at Belle’s and works in a garden studio. The cause is found to be nicotine poisoning. Some clues point clearly to the murderer, but they offer too little basis for an arrest. Drawings made by Tommy could be a key piece of evidence. A trip to the country cottage where the drawings might be found result in an encounter with the murderer and the drawings but ashes in the fireplace.

Fearing that Belle could be next on the murder list, Campion uses a remaining drawing by Tommy, provided by Linda, to lure the killer into a meeting where he puts his own life at risk, hoping to expose the killer before another connected with the Lafcadio household dies. But will it cost him his own life?

What makes this such a good read is the fascinating character of the killer, genius tinged with madness. Knowing the identity of the killer builds the suspense, given the cleverness of the killer, managing to kill Claire from a distance. We fear for Belle, then Campion. And for good reason.