From the author of TIED UP IN TINSEL, PHOTO-FINISH and FALSE SCENT, a crime novel featuring Inspector Alleyn, who witnesses a birthday surprise that goes horribly wrong.
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Quite good
Advantages:
Good plot
Disadvantages:
Very slow moving at the beginning
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Introduction Although often quoted as being one of the queens of whodunnits alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio (pronounced Nye-oh) Marsh does not seem to have remained as popular and it is more difficult to find her books readily available. This is for a number of reasons, which I will discuss in the course of this review. Although from New Zealand, Marsh is responsible for the creation of Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard. This particular book was first published in 1937, but it is possible to buy reprints from the 1990s.
The author Ngaio Marsh was born and bred in New Zealand. She wrote some 24 murder mysteries before her death. Her other love was the theatre - she was responsible for reviving New Zealand's interest in live theatre, for which she received a damery in 1966.
The plot The story is centred around a theatre group from the West End, who are touring around New Zealand. Roderick Alleyn, recently having had a major operation, is recuperating in New Zealand. On a train, he meets the theatre group, one member of which he knows. He is concerned to find that the owner of the theatre company and husband of the leading lady was nearly killed during the course of the journey and a sum of money is stolen from another member of the group.
Following a successful show in the next port of call, the group have a party for the leading lady, Carolyn Dacres, to which Alleyn has also been invited. Her husband has rigged up a system for a huge bottle of wine to be lowered slowly from the ceiling. Unfortunately, the system has been tampered with and the bottle of champagne comes crashing down to land on the husband, killing him instantly.
Of course, nearly every member of the group is a possible suspect. Alleyn becomes involved in the investigation at the invitation of the New Zealand police force. But could his usual ability to see things clearly be clouded by his feelings for Carolyn Dacres?
The characters We find out very little about Roderick Alleyn in this book. He does become slightly more human in later books when he meets his wife, but is is still always quite a distant character, reminding me somewhat of PD James' Dagleish. We find out what we need to know about the other characters and no more. This did not really alter my enjoyment of the story, but I would have liked to have had more of an affinity with the lead character.
Conclusion Advantages:
1) Good plot, clever ending 2) It is clear that the author knows a lot about the theatre - this comes over vividly and strongly. 3) In my version, there is a list of characters and their roles at the beginning of the book, which helps to understand who was who - there are a lot of characters and some have complicated names.
Disadvantages: 1) A very slow beginning. I almost gave up several times. 2) The language is very old-fashioned - the girlfriend of one of the police officers is referred to as his 'best girl' and the others frequently come up with comments such as 'you divine donkey' and 'this is too frightful'. This is off-putting and is, I think, the main reason that Marsh has lost popularity over the years compared with Agatha Christie.
On the whole, though, the book is well-written, the plot is strong and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the crime fiction genre. If you're new to the genre though, I would strongly recommend starting with a more modern author such as Minette Walters.
Available from Amazon for £5.59, published by HarperCollins. ISBN: 0006512550. 256 pages.
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