The ancient publishing firm of Barnabas was a well established and inherently conservative firm, and not even the disappearance of one of the directors in the early years of the century had upset the settled order of things. Yet, it was certainly disconcerting when some twenty years later the same thing happened again. At first nobody thought it fit to enquire what happened. Paul was such a violent and impulsive person, he had been known to do odd things before. Gina, Paul's pretty American wife, was too used to her husbands behaviour, whilst Mike, the youngest partner and in love with Gina, tried hard not to think about it at all. A few mornings after Paul's disappearance he was found dead in the firm's strong room. Not even the presence of Albert Campion, friend of the family, could overcome the unpleasantness that ensued and the fearful persistence of the police who established that Paul had been murdered.
This started out very ordinarily and it looked like it was going to be a run of the mill 'locked room' murder mystery with a very limited cast of characters but its a slow burn and at the halfway stage it kicks into life and become genuinely clever.
Allingham as always has Campion's man , Lugg, along to add some levity to proceedings.
A good read out of 1936.
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