The complete series of Ngaio Marsh reissues concludes with the re-publication of this 20th anniversary edition of this, her final novel.Peregrine Jay, owner of the Dolphin Theatre, is putting on a magnificent production of Macbeth, the play that, superstition says, always brings bad luck. But one night the claymore swings and the dummy's head is more than real: murder behind the scene. Luckily, Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn is in the audience…
Often regarded as her most interesting book and set on New Zealand’s North Island, Ngaio Marsh herself considered this to be her best-written novel.It was a horrible death – Maurice Questing was lured into a pool of boiling mud and left there to die.Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, far from home on a wartime quest for German agents, knew that any number of people could have killed him: the English exiles he’d hated, the New Zealanders he’d despised or the Maoris he’d insulted. Even the spies...
A classic Ngaio Marsh novel in which a game of darts in an English pub has gruesome consequences.At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of playing darts, but on this occasion an experiment takes the place of the usual game – a fatal experiment which calls for investigation.A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play...
A quirky Roderick Alleyn mystery about faith, greed – and murder.Times are good in the Cornish village of Portcarrow, as hundreds of unfortunates flock to taste the miraculous waters of Pixie Falls.Then Miss Emily Pride inherits the celebrated land on which Portcarrow stands and wants to put an end to the villagers’ thriving trade in miracle cures, especially Miss Elspeth Costs’s gift shop.But someone puts an end to Miss Cost herself, and Miss Pride’s guardian angel, Superintendent Roderick...
One of Ngaio Marsh’s most ingenious novels.The April Fool’s Day had been a roaring success for all, it seemed – except for poor Mr Cartell who had ended up in the ditch – for ever.Then there was the case of Mr Percival Pyke Period’s letter of condolence, sent before the body was found – not to mention the family squabbles.It was a puzzling crime for Superintendent Alleyn…
One of Ngaio Marsh’s most popular novels, this time featuring one of her best creations – Lucy Lockett, the crime-solving cat.When the exuberant president of Ng’ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief Superintendent Alleyn, is called in to persuade him otherwise.Consequently, on the night of the embassy’s reception the house and grounds are stiff with police. Nevertheless, an assassin does strike, and Alleyn...
A country house murder, artistic insight and the post-war reunion of Alleyn and Troy combine in Ngaio Marsh’s wittiest and most readable novel.Agatha Troy, world famous portrait painter, is inveigled into accepting a commission to paint the 70-year-old Sir Henry Ancred, Bart., the Grand Old Man of the stage. But just as she has completed her portrait, the old actor dies.The dramatic circumstances of his death are such that Scotland Yard is called in – in the person of Troy’s long-absent husband,...
Another classic Ngaio Marsh novel reissued.The music rises to a climax: Lord Pastern aims his revolver and fires. The figure in the spotlight falls – and the coup-de-théatre has become murder… Has the eccentric peer let hatred of his future son-in-law go too far? Or will a tangle of jealousies and blackmail reveal to Inspector Alleyn an altogether different murderer?
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime’s first book, the third volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.DEATH IN A WHITE TIEThe season has begun. Débutantes and chaperones are planning their gala dinners – and the blackmailer is planning strategies to stalk his next victim. But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn knows that something is up and has already planted his friend Lord Gospell at the dinner. But someone else has...
Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime’s first book, the sixth volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.OPENING NIGHTDreams of stardom lured Martyn Tarne from faraway New Zealand to a soul-destroying round of West End agents and managers in search of work. Now, driven by sheer necessity, she accepts the humble job of dresser to the Vulcan Theatre's leading lady. But the eagerly awaited opening night brings a strange turn of the...