The Tiger in the Smoke
First edition
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| Author | Margery Allingham |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Albert Campion |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
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Publication date
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1952 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | More Work for the Undertaker |
| Followed by | The Beckoning Lady |
The Tiger in the Smoke is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1952 in the United Kingdom by Chatto & Windus and in the United States by Doubleday. It is the fourteenth novel in the Albert Campion series.
Author J. K. Rowling revealed that is her favorite crime novel.
Meg Elginbrodde, a young war widow whose husband was presumed killed during the D-Day landings, has been receiving mysterious photographs that suggest he is still alive. As a thick and overwhelming pea soup fog begins to descend upon London, she meets with her cousin, the detective Albert Campion, and Inspector Charles Luke, at a train station to meet with an individual who claims to know her husband's whereabouts. Meg appears to recognise a man disembarking from a train as her husband, but when apprehended the man is revealed to be a recently paroled convict called "Duds" Morrison who has somehow acquired an old, distinctive coat of Elginbrodde's. Duds is arrested but soon released without charge. Unknown to the others, Meg's new fiancee Geoffrey Levitt, who is driven to jealousy by the uncertainty of knowing whether Elginbrodde is actually alive, accosts Duds after his release and tries to bribe him for information regarding Elginbrodde. Before he can learn anything, the two men are attacked by a gang of criminals disguised as a street band made up of beggars and impoverished veterans. The gang demand that Duds reveal the whereabouts of Duds's employer, a man they refer to only as "the Gaffer", who has apparently cheated them out of something valuable. When Duds tries to flee, the gang attack him, leading to the gang leader, the albino Tiddy Doll, accidentally kicking him to death. The gang kidnap Geoffrey and, disguising him as a fellow beggar, hold him hostage.
Investigating how Duds acquired the coat, Meg's father Canon Avril discovers that a member of his household staff gave it to Mrs Lucy Cash, a local loan shark, in order to settle a debt. Levitt's unusual disappearance begins to arouse suspicion that he is involved in the murder of Duds. However, during the investigation three people, including a young police detective, are brutally stabbed to death in a nearby house, triggering a public outcry. The murderer is quickly identified as Jack Havoc, a violent and mysterious convict who recently escaped after murdering a prominent doctor who was attempting to treat him. Learning that Havoc served with Elginbrodde during the war, it soon becomes clear to Campion and Luke that Havoc is "the Gaffer". Meg, accompanied by Campion's wife Amanda, goes to her and Levitt's future home to destroy wartime letters she received from Elginbrodde in an attempt to find closure, but while they are there Havoc breaks in and begins to ransack the house, clearly searching for something. Meg flees to seek help while Amanda stays to observe Havoc. Before Havoc can discover her, the house is stormed by the police, but Havoc manages a lucky escape.
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