Publisher Description

"There's always a good murder around if ye know where to look for it," declares Professor John Stubbs. "It may be masqueradin' as accidental death or suicide," he solemnly adds, "but once ye start rootin' around ye'll find that it's murder." And murder it is, on public display in London's controversial new modern art museum. When the unveiling of a contemporary masterpiece reveals the body of a prominent art dealer dangling from a picture hook, Professor Stubbs is faced with a rogue's gallery of suspects: librarian Douglas Newsome, an aspiring poet with a desperate thirst for alcohol; Alec Carr, an avant-garde interior decorator tied to the apron strings of his gin-soaked mother; Dr. Cornelius Bellamy, a pompous windbag of an art critic; and Miss Emily Wallenstein, nervous patron of the arts. Originally published in 1946, and never before in the U.S., Swing Low, Swing Death is one of a series of seven novels featuring Professor Stubbs, the beer-swilling, pipe-smoking amateur detective. Poet and art historian Ruthven Todd, writing as R. T. Campbell, vividly recaptures the atmosphere of postwar London and his brisk, humorous narrative is brightened with many droll allusions to the works of T. S. Eliot, Kipling, Shakespeare, and other poets. AUTHOR: Ruthven Campbell Todd (1914–1978) was a Scottish-born poet, scholar, art critic, and fantasy novelist who wrote a series of detective novels under the name R. T. Campbell.

Author Biography

Ruthven Campbell Todd (1914-1978) was a Scottish-born poet, scholar, art critic, and fantasy novelist who wrote a series of detective novels under the name R. T. Campbell.

Table of Contents

Part 1 1. Autumnal Geometry 2. Small Metaphysical Interior 3. Melancholy of a Day 4. Delights of the Poet 5. The Disquieting Muses 6. Morning Meditations 7. Enigma of an Afternoon Part 2 1. The Joy of Return 2. The Joys of a Strange Hour 3. Nostalgia of the Infinite 4. Uncertainty of the Poet 5. Soothsayer's Recompense 6. Revolt of the Sage 7. Serenity of the Scholar 8. The Blinding Light 9. Conquest of the Philosopher

Long Description

First time published in the United States! In this cracking crime classic by the author of Bodies in a Bookshop, Professor John Stubbs is called to the opening of London's new, Bauhaus-styled Museum of Modern Art. But he's not there to verify the authenticities of the Van Goghs and Gauguins - it seems that there's a corpse hanging from an exhibit wall, and it's not part of the permanent collection.

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