Полиция на похоронах

Mardzheri Luiza Ėllingem - angliĭskai͡a pisatelʹnit͡sa, prinadlezhashchai͡a "zolotomu veku angliĭskoĭ literatury", priznannai͡a "koroleva detektiva" nari͡adu s Agatoĭ Kristi, Doroti Sėĭers i Naĭo Marsh. Naibolʹshui͡u izvestnostʹ priobreli knigi Ėllingem o syshchike-dzhentlʹmene Alʹberte Kėmpione. V ėtot tom voshli chetvertyĭ, pi͡atyĭ i shestoĭ romany ee glavnogo t͡sikla. Chleny chopornogo angliĭskogo semeĭstva zhivut zamknuto; krome rodstvennykh uz, ikh svi͡azyvaet davni͡ai͡a vzaimnai͡a neprii͡aznʹ. Kogda odin iz nikh ischezaet, a cherez neskolʹko dneĭ iz reki vylavlivai͡ut ego trup, podozrenie padaet na rodstvennika, kotoryĭ poslednim videl pogibshego. Boi͡asʹ izlishneĭ oglaski i zhelai͡a maksimalʹno ogranichitʹ svoe obshchenie s polit͡sieĭ, glava semeĭstva poruchaet rassledovanie Alʹbertu Kėmpionu. Bezvestnoe mikroskopicheskoe korolevstvo Averna, zateri͡avsheesi͡a v gorakh, posle zemletri͡asenii͡a poluchaet vykhod k Adriaticheskomu mori͡u, i vdobavok tam obnaruzhivai͡ut neftʹ. Chtoby takoĭ lakomyĭ kusochek ne ushel v chuzhie ruki, Alʹbertu Kėmpionu predstoit vzhitʹsi͡a v rolʹ "naslednogo paladina" - i dobytʹ veshchestvennye podtverzhdenii͡a prava Britanii na ėtu zemli͡u. Dzhon Lafkadio, schitavshiĭ sebi͡a velichaĭshim khudozhnikom posle Rembrandta, pered konchinoĭ upakoval i opechatal dvenadt͡satʹ svoikh kartin i zaveshchal torzhestvenno predʺi͡avli͡atʹ ikh publike po odnoĭ v kazhdui͡u godovshchinu ego ukhoda iz zhizni. Semʹ raz ėtot ėkst͡sentrichnyĭ ritual prokhodil gladko, no v vosʹmoĭ on byl prervan ubiĭstvom, rassledovatʹ kotoroe predstoit Kėmpionu.

Margery Louise Ellingham is an English writer who belongs to the "golden age of English literature", recognized as the "queen of the detective story" along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Nyo Marsh. Ellingham's books about the gentleman detective Albert Campion are most famous. This volume includes the fourth, fifth and sixth novels of her main cycle. The members of the prim English family live in isolation; apart from family ties, they share a long-standing mutual dislike. When one of them disappears, and a few days later his corpse is fished out of the river, suspicion falls on the relative who was the last to see the deceased. Fearing unnecessary publicity and wanting to limit his communication with the police as much as possible, the head of the family assigns the investigation to Albert Campion. The obscure microscopic kingdom of Averna, lost in the mountains, gets access to the Adriatic Sea after an earthquake, and in addition, oil is discovered there. To ensure that such a tasty morsel does not fall into the wrong hands, Albert Campion will have to get used to the role of the "hereditary paladin" — and get physical evidence of Britain's right to this land. John Lafcadio, who considered himself the greatest artist since Rembrandt, packed and sealed twelve of his paintings before his death and bequeathed them to the public one on each anniversary of his passing. Seven times this eccentric ritual went smoothly, but the eighth time it was interrupted by a murder, which Campion has to investigate.