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Flowers for the Judge (1936) is the seventh Albert Campion mystery and one of our March/April 2019 Buddy Reads.

Our Campion reads now have their own folder, so will be easy for any group member to negotiate, if they wish to join us in reading this popular series.

Scandal, secrets and suspicions abound when one of the directors at the prestigious publishing house of Barnabas is found dead, locked in the company’s strongroom.

All eyes are on the other partners at the firm � cousins of the dead man with much to gain from his demise � and all rumours hint at a connection to the disappearance of another director decades earlier.

Desperate to salvage their reputation, the cousins turn to Albert Campion � but will his investigations clear the Barnabas family name, or besmirch it forever?

Feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

Ok, didn’t want to ask this in the other thread, but Allingham was a little too elliptical for me in the end (maybe Ritchie wrote it!), but are we to believe Ritchie killed John, then took off for his brother’s circus, where he’d spent all those holidays?

So we’re to believe all those years ago, both brothers were chaffing at the cold, sanitized world of the family publishing firm they felt locked into, to the point that they literally ran away and joined the circus (after selling a legendary naughty antique manuscript to pay for said circus?) Well, one brother did, the other joined him at holidays...

I felt the ending was rather surreal, but charming- what adult doesn’t feel like running away at some point? France, check - circus, meh, no thanks!

I think in a contest between Marsh and Allingham about who does the best humorous job writing a mystery centered around a dysfunctional family with more money and secrets than sense, right now I’d give it to Marsh. But I look forward to rereading the next Allingham with the group.

From what I remember Ritchie definitely killed John in a very similar manner to his (John's) method. I think Campion made a comment about Ritchie serving as the king's executioner. And I wonder if Ritchie is the judge referred to in the title.

I also found the ending surreal and charming. Evidently running away to join the circus is a long-standing dream (probably outdated now).

Sandy wrote: "From what I remember Ritchie definitely killed John in a very similar manner to his (John's) method. I think Campion made a comment about Ritchie serving as the king executioner. And I wonder if Ri..."

I wanted to when I was a kid - clever Barnabas brothers actually did it! Yes, Campion says something at the end about the King’s Executioner when Mike asks him where he got the bun from. I assumed that’s what he was inferring, but I wanted to make sure - and then the clues about the scene of John’s death, a towel at the bottom of the outside of the door pointing away from suicide - I was surprised the police went along with that...

Currently I like Allingham's dysfunctional family better than Marsh's but that could change with each book.

Sandy wrote: "I also found the ending surreal and charming.."

Me too, I loved that angle - especially as their escape was also honouring their dead mother. And that Tom was now living with the lady who had all the snakes!

For me that ending made up for the rather dull trial part.

I quite liked the description of the Old Bailey

The mysterious escape - vaulting over the wall - was a little surreal. I do think that Allingham tended towards the magical and slightly supernatural, far more than other GA authors, or, at least the Big Four. She is definitely tamping this down, as the series goes on, but can't seem to resist the occasional oddity, such as the Circus story. I am warming to her though, and to Campion.

For dysfunctional families, I think I prefer Ngaio Marsh. For plotting, definitely Christie. In terms of a detective's background, and family, I would go for Sayers. The joy, of course, is that we don't have to choose, we can enjoy them all in their own way.

Pamela wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I also found the ending surreal and charming.."

Me too, I loved that angle - especially as their escape was also honouring their dead mother. And that Tom was now living with the lad..."

Lol, true! I had forgotten about the snakes. And the story of their mother was sad - I was glad they got to break away from the stuffy existence that would’ve made them miserable.

Susan in NC wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I also found the ending surreal and charming.."

Me too, I loved that angle - especially as their escape was also honouring their dead mother. And that Tom was now livi..."

I think running a publishing company sounds a pretty dream job!

Susan wrote: "The mysterious escape - vaulting over the wall - was a little surreal. I do think that Allingham tended towards the magical and slightly supernatural, far more than other GA authors, or, at least t..."

I agree with all of your statements about which authors handle each area the best - and am grateful we can enjoy and compare them all!

Susan wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I also found the ending surreal and charming.."

Me too, I loved that angle - especially as their escape was also honouring their dead mother. And t..."

Agreed, and frankly, if I were Ritchie, I’d rather be a professional reader than a circus clown, but to each his own...

Me too, Susan!

I'm continuing to enjoy Allingham and and glad she's concentrated more on the personal/family aspect of crime/mystery rather than the gangs.

What did everyone make of Ritchie? He was certainly odd, both in terms of his physical movements and also with his odd way of speaking-short to one-word phrases in a rather staccato rhythm, his longing for solitude/isolation, and his rather bizarre living quarters-again his isolation (not living with the rest of the family) but also the strange furnishings/way of arranging his room. This is in contrast to his brother who apparently was an entirely "normal" member of the firm until his sudden disappearance. Then he chooses to kill his cousin (justifiably many would argue, but still...). Any thoughts on what Allingham was suggesting with this character?

I agree with Pamela that "For me that ending made up for the rather dull trial part."

I was expecting great things but the great Uncle turned out to be a damp squib. The ending, however implausible, was fun.

I have not understood the title.

Frances, my thought on the way Ritchie arranged the furniture in his room was that it gave him space to practice his art without knocking things over. I can barely find space for a few yoga exercises and his technique of clearing the floor sounded good to me.

Ooh, good thinking! That makes sense.

Sandy, a great explanation.

Sandy wrote: "Frances, my thought on the way Ritchie arranged the furniture in his room was that it gave him space to practice his art without knocking things over. I can barely find space for a few yoga exercis..."

Oh, clever, that makes sense!

I've finished this now and really enjoyed it. On the circus element, Margery Allingham's brother, Philip Allingham, travelled with gypsies and travelling showmen and wrote a book about that way of life, Cheapjack.

They also had a gypsy ancestor, and there is a character based on her in a non-mystery novel that Allingham wrote based on her own family, Dance of the Years.

I'd read this before more than once, but didn't remember much except that when Campion went to open the cupboard door I knew there wasn't going to be a cupboard and that he would nearly fall out! I have a feeling something similar to that happens in another mystery I've read too.

I had a feeling that Tom Barnabas would reappear and turn out to the killer, so my memory played me up there!

Bicky wrote: "I have not understood the title. ..."

I've just been puzzling over this too. I think it refers to the start of the trial, where the judge, Lord Lumley, has a formal bouquet of flowers, which dates back to a tradition where there used to be herbs and flowers to clean the air and keep disease away (funnily enough, I've just read the court scene in A Tale of Two Cities, where herbs like this are mentioned too!)

The title is a bit obscure, though, as it doesn't have anything much to do with the main plot!

Judy wrote: "Bicky wrote: "I have not understood the title. ..."

I've just been puzzling over this too. I think it refers to the start of the trial, where the judge, Lord Lumley, has a formal bouquet of flower..."

No it doesn’t, but after someone pointed out the title earlier, I paid attention as I read, and that was the only reference I noticed to flowers.

At the start, It slightly makes you think that a judge will be given flowers with poison in them, or that he will be murdered and there will be flowers on his grave ... but clearly I've been reading too many GA novels with cryptic references in the titles!

It must be the formal bouquet though that does not make any sense, considering that the trial was a sideshow.

Interesting to hear that Allingham had links to the circus. I recall that circuses were huge then - I vividly recall Enid Blyton's circus books and the excitement of the idea of running away to join the circus!

The title was, indeed, cryptic. A little mystery in itself...