Traitor's Purse
First edition (UK)
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| Author | Margery Allingham |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Albert Campion |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Heinemann (UK) |
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Publication date
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1941 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | (Vintage, Random House) |
| Preceded by | The Fashion in Shrouds |
| Followed by | Coroner's Pidgin |
Traitor's Purse is a crime novel written by Margery Allingham. It was originally published in 1941 in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in the United States by Doubleday, New York as The Sabotage Murder Mystery. It is the eleventh novel in the Albert Campion series and is set during the Second World War.
Albert Campion wakes in hospital suffering from amnesia. He knows there is something vital he must do, but he cannot remember what it is – or even his own name. He finds himself on the run, suspected of attacking a policeman, as he tries to avert a catastrophe.
The action takes place during the early years of the Second World War in the fictional town of Bridge in South West England, which is run by an ancient hereditary organisation, the Masters of Bridge.
In the early days of World War II, a man wakes in a country hospital to find he cannot remember anything prior to his arrival except that he has something vital to do, somehow connected to the number fifteen. He hears voices outside discussing an unconscious patient – who they say has killed a policeman and will be hanged. Assuming that he is the patient being discussed, the man escapes in a stolen car but soon realises he is being followed. Instead of the police, however, the car is driven by a woman who appears to assisting the amnesiac man in his mission; she refers to him as "Albert Campion". The car also contains an old man, Mr Anscombe. After seeing Anscombe home, the two continue to the house of Lee Aubrey, the head of a local scientific research body called the Institute, with whom they are staying. Campion begins to remember the woman, who is called Amanda, and due to their familiarity begins to assume that they are married, only to be shocked when Amanda informs him she wants to break off their engagement. As such, he does not tell her about his amnesia.
Campion receives a letter from Stanislaus Oates, an acquaintance from Scotland Yard, telling him to investigate Anscombe – moments before Superintendent Hutch of the local police arrives to inform the party that Anscombe is dead. Campion, the last person to see Anscombe alive, accompanies Hutch to the scene of the death, and the two are joined by Pyne, a fellow guest of Aubrey's. Pyne's familiar, friendly manner convinces Campion that the two are friends, prompting him to confide in Pyne. Campion is thus horrified when, after Pyne leaves, Hutch informs him that they had only met three days before.
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