More Work for the Undertaker

1948 novel by Margery Allingham

More Work for the Undertaker

First edition

Author| Margery Allingham
Language| English
Series| Albert Campion
Genre| Crime novel
Publisher| William Heinemann

Publication date

| 1948
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Preceded by| Coroner's Pidgin
Followed by| The Tiger in the Smoke

More Work for the Undertaker is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1948, in the United Kingdom by William Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday, New York. It is the thirteenth novel in the Albert Campion series.

The book focuses on Apron Street, an isolated neighbourhood in London. Going "up Apron street" has become a byword for a criminal vanishing. This proves to be done by the Bowels family, the undertakers of the title. More sinister proves to be the effort of the local banker to eliminate the eccentric Palinode family, which has inherited shares of stock once thought worthless. The banker proves also to be the moving force behind the service the Bowels family runs for criminals.

## Note on the Title

[edit]

Allingham may have taken the title from a comical music-hall song More Work for the Undertaker written in 1895 by Fred W. Leigh (1871 - 1924)[1][2]

The chorus of this song is traditionally sung by Yale when they are winning against Harvard.[3]

## References

[edit]

* Margery Allingham, More Work for the Undertaker, (London: William Heinemann, 1948)
* Margery Allingham, More Work for the Undertaker, (Vintage, Random House, 2007)

1. ^ "More Work" song music
2. ^ "More Work" song lyrics
3. ^ Mark F. Bernstein, Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession p. 70 (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2001)

## External links

[edit]

* An Allingham bibliography, with dates and publishers, from the UK Margery Allingham Society

* v
* t
* e

Albert Campion stories by Margery Allingham

Novels|

* The Crime at Black Dudley (1929)
* Mystery Mile (1930)
* Look to the Lady (1931)
* Police at the Funeral (1931)
* Sweet Danger (1933)
* Death of a Ghost (1934)
* Flowers for the Judge (1936)
* The Case of the Late Pig (1937)
* Dancers in Mourning (1937)
* The Fashion in Shrouds (1938)
* Traitor's Purse (1941)
* Coroner's Pidgin (1945)
* More Work for the Undertaker (1948)
* The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
* The Beckoning Lady (1955)
* Hide My Eyes (1958)
* The China Governess (1962)
* The Mind Readers (1965)
* Cargo of Eagles (1968)

Characters|

* Albert Campion
* Magersfontein Lugg

Adaptations|

* Tiger in the Smoke (1956 film)
* Campion (1959 TV series)
* Campion (1989 TV series)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template