Black Plumes

A classic from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. One of the best books by a mystery novelist whose work is always of first rank. The New York Times
 
Something is afoot at the Ivory Gallery in London. A string of suspicious incidentsa Kang-Tse vase broken, a specially commissioned catalog burned, and now a painting slashedhas young Frances Ivory on edge. She suspects that the instigator is her stepsisters husband, Robert Madrigal, but theres not much she can do about it while her father is out of the country.
 
Robert is even interfering in Francess love life, encouraging her to marry his loathsome assistant. To stop his infernal matchmaking, Frances agrees to a sham engagement with the painter whose work was defaced. But when Robert disappears after a confrontation with the artist, hes found stashed in a cupboard, dead. Frances is now drawn into a mystery that will have her second-guessing her family, her fiancÉ, and even herself . . .
 
Praise for Margery Allingham
 
Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light. Agatha Christie
 
The best of mystery writers. The New Yorker
 
Dont start reading these books unless you are confident that you can handle addiction. The Independent
 
One of the finest Golden-Age crime novelists. The Sunday Telegraph See more