Last Ditch

 

by Ngaio Marsh (read by Nadia May) c. 1976

Roderick Alleyn, Book 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 06-06-05

Language: English

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

ASIN:  B0009W0496

Publisher's Summary 

Young Ricky Alleyn has come to the picturesque  fishing village of Deep Cove to write. Though the sleepy little town  offers few diversions, Ricky manages to find the most distracting one of  all: murder. For in a muddy ditch, he sees a dead equestrienne whose last leap was anything but an accident. And when Ricky himself  disappears, the case becomes a horse of a different color for his  father, Inspector Roderick Alleyn.          

And not a baby any more makes three

 

Father and son share the scene.  This one was a lot fun in a leisure suit and drug squad kind of way. I like the way that Ngaio Marsh has kept up with the times and used it to her advantage. Alleyn is at once timeless and dated.  Timeless because he is accepting of the world around him but dated because he seems just a bit out of step with the times and very much an elder statesman. All in all, Marsh balances the yin and the yang of Alleyn and of the story.

Four stars to an author who  has kept up with times and kept her writing fresh.

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.

Final Curtain

 

by Ngaio Marsh (read by Nadia May) c.1947

An Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration side read

Audible Plus

 

It's always the quiet ones

So much fun! Ancreton Manor is full of some of the most interesting characters that you would never want to meet in real life -- or maybe you have already, but not all living under the same roof! Inspector Alleyn and his wife share the stage in this one. Troy sets the scene and Alleyn arrives back in England after three war years in New Zealand just in time to solve the mystery.

Four stars.

Death at the Dolphin

 

by Ngaio Marsh (read by James Saxon) c. 1967

Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration, October side read

I am beginning to think that I like Ngaio Marsh more than Agatha Christie

 

 I love that this is set in a theater around the production of a play. Marsh was not just an author but she was a playwright, producer and director as well. She knows all the moving parts and weaves them into the tale deftly.

One thing that I like about Marsh is that she is not always in a hurry to get to the foul deed. She takes her time with the set up, giving us time to get to know the cast of characters and the situation, maybe even dropping a few clues along the way. It's the anticipation -- waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering who the victim will be and when and where it will take place.

Four stars.

Colour Scheme

 

by Ngaio Marsh (read by Nadia May)

Book 12: Roderick Alleyn

Audible Plus Catalog

 

 

Spies and murders

I am definitely running out of things to say about Ngaio Marsh, but since I like her books, I expect that there are going to be a lot more short and sweet blog entries just cataloging the fact that I have read the book.

During World War II, Inspector Alleyn is in New Zealand ferreting out enemy spies when he gets sucked into the murder investigation of one of these possible agents.  The setting of the book at a run-down hotel at a hot spring in northern New Zealand is charming -- that is, if anything about a murder mystery should ever be considered charming. 

Three and a half stars

September. 2020: To Be Read

Many thanks to Blogger for the absurd layout of this page. One day I will figure how to make images work on this platform.
So this is my TBR shelf, books I have lined up waiting to read. It will grow between now and January 11 when my Audible account renews and I receive my annual allotment of 24 credits. I have to spend my 10 remaining 2020 credits before then. I like to get the best bang for my buck, so I hold on to them, hoping to find something in the next 2 for 1 or 3 for 2 sale.
Audible just added something called Audible Plus and I can stream certain books for free. Great! Now I don't have to depend on my local library when I want something new to read but I don't want it badly enough to waste a credit on it.