Overture to Death

 

by Ngaio Marsh (read by Wanda McCaddon) c. 1939

Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration: October side-read

 

 

Series: Roderick Alleyn, Book 8

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 09-01-11

Language: English

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Publisher's Summary

Who in the quiet village of Chipping would kill wealthy spinster Idris Campanula? Plenty of people—among them her fellow cast members from a troubled charity production. Miss Campanula was a spiteful gossip, gleefully destroying others’ lives merely for her own excitement. But once Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives, he quickly realizes that the murderer might have killed the wrong woman—and may soon stage a repeat performance.

Rivalry among between the biddies

 

Okay, so the murder itself is a bit farfetched but the characters in this English village mystery and their many subplots kept me going, trying to figure out just whodunit.  This is an early Marsh and to a certain extent lacks the maturity and sophistication of her later work but the red herring keeps flowing and she keeps us guessing until the last minute.

Three and a half stars.