From
the back cover of the 1983 Bantam edition: "The Fine Art
of Murder: Mrs. Gabrielle Ivory was nearly ninety, but she simply
had to be told. Skulduggery was afoot at the renowned Ivory Art
Gallery in Sallet Square. A series of malicious mishaps was pushing
the family business toward ruin. But with proprietor Meyrick
Ivory in China, his bumbling son-in-law Robert was incapable
of handling the crisis. The slashing of a valuable painting was
the last straw - or so the Ivory family thought until the night
of the murder. That evening someone removed Robert from the picture
permanently. But who? Was it his ambitious assistant, Lucar?
His neurotic wife, Phillida? The outraged artist, David Field?
Meyrick's spinster secretary, Miss Dorset? Or could it have been
the indomitable Gabrielle Ivory herself?"
Interestingly, the front cover of the Bantam edition of this
book claims that Black Plumes is "An Albert Campion
Mystery" - this is incorrect. Campion does not appear in
the novel.
From
the back cover of the 1983 Bantam edition: "The Fine Art
of Murder: Mrs. Gabrielle Ivory was nearly ninety, but she simply
had to be told. Skulduggery was afoot at the renowned Ivory Art
Gallery in Sallet Square. A series of malicious mishaps was pushing
the family business toward ruin. But with proprietor Meyrick
Ivory in China, his bumbling son-in-law Robert was incapable
of handling the crisis. The slashing of a valuable painting was
the last straw - or so the Ivory family thought until the night
of the murder. That evening someone removed Robert from the picture
permanently. But who? Was it his ambitious assistant, Lucar?
His neurotic wife, Phillida? The outraged artist, David Field?
Meyrick's spinster secretary, Miss Dorset? Or could it have been
the indomitable Gabrielle Ivory herself?"
