Margery Allingham 
Traitor’s Purse 

"If I had to vote for the single best detective story, this would be it." -A.S. Byatt Celebrated amateur detective Albert Campion awakes in hospital, accused of attacking a police officer and suffering from acute amnesia. All he can remember is that he was on a mission of vital importance to His Majesty’s government before his accident. On the run from the police and unable to recognize even his faithful servant or his beloved fiancee, Campion struggles desperately to put the pieces together-while World War II rages and the very fate of England is at stake.Published in 1941, Traitor’s Purse is "a wartime masterpiece" (The Guardian)."Uncommonly exciting stuff, replete with Allingham’s skill in story-building and the plausible characters that make her as much a fine novelist as a mystery writer." -The New Republic"Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light. And she has another quality, not usually associated with crime stories, elegance." -Agatha Christie