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maplessence's review
4.0
Maybe I'm going soft, but I'm getting fonder of Ngaio Marsh and her upper class sleuth, Roderick Alleyn!
This book makes it clear I've been pronouncing his name wrong all these years. It's Allen not Al-laine. & he is enjoying a holiday in Marsh's native New Zealand.Members of the Incorporated Playhouses acting troup offer Alleyne a seat in their train carriage. They are all on their way to the fictitious town of Middleton, near Ohakune in the centre of the North Island..
Alleyn is invited to their latest production & of course there is a murder. Typically for Marsh the murder is staged (Ha! Staged - I kill me!) in a highly unlikely way and (also to me highly unlikely) Alleyn ends up assisting the local police.
What I liked was revisiting old fashioned kiwi slang. I'm old enough to remember some of these now dated expressions. We do still say we are "feeling crook" if we are unwell, less likely to "go crook" if we are angry.
& I promise we aren't so sensitive to criticism of "God's Own Country" as we used to be.
There are also signs of how real Alleyn is becoming to Marsh. His character changes often in the previous books - in the case of [b:A Man Lay Dead|280847|A Man Lay Dead (Roderick Alleyn, #1)|Ngaio Marsh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1331112594s/280847.jpg|868823] often in the same chapter! This book he is more consistent - & with less of the upper class angst that is a tiresome feature in some of her later books. Marsh even has Alleyn as an author;
This reminded me so much of my made up world as a young teen that I gave an affectionate giggle!
I also liked the cast of characters and the inventively named chapters. The latter is just fun, but the former helps this reader keep a large cast straight. I wish more modern mystery writers would do this.
Lastly, I can't resist this quote from this 1937 novel.
Prescient.
This book makes it clear I've been pronouncing his name wrong all these years. It's Allen not Al-laine. & he is enjoying a holiday in Marsh's native New Zealand.Members of the Incorporated Playhouses acting troup offer Alleyne a seat in their train carriage. They are all on their way to the fictitious town of Middleton, near Ohakune in the centre of the North Island..
The Daylight Limited train crossing the Hapuawhenua Viaduct north of Ohakune, ca 1930s(National Library Collection)
Alleyn is invited to their latest production & of course there is a murder. Typically for Marsh the murder is staged (Ha! Staged - I kill me!) in a highly unlikely way and (also to me highly unlikely) Alleyn ends up assisting the local police.
What I liked was revisiting old fashioned kiwi slang. I'm old enough to remember some of these now dated expressions. We do still say we are "feeling crook" if we are unwell, less likely to "go crook" if we are angry.
& I promise we aren't so sensitive to criticism of "God's Own Country" as we used to be.
There are also signs of how real Alleyn is becoming to Marsh. His character changes often in the previous books - in the case of [b:A Man Lay Dead|280847|A Man Lay Dead (Roderick Alleyn, #1)|Ngaio Marsh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1331112594s/280847.jpg|868823] often in the same chapter! This book he is more consistent - & with less of the upper class angst that is a tiresome feature in some of her later books. Marsh even has Alleyn as an author;
This reminded me so much of my made up world as a young teen that I gave an affectionate giggle!
I also liked the cast of characters and the inventively named chapters. The latter is just fun, but the former helps this reader keep a large cast straight. I wish more modern mystery writers would do this.
Lastly, I can't resist this quote from this 1937 novel.
"What do you think,Mr Alleyn? If there's another war will the young chaps come at it, same as we did, thinking it's great? And get the same jolt? What do you reckon?"
"I'm afraid to speculate," said Alleyn.
Prescient.
the_maggieg's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
After five books, I've decided that Ngaio Marsh isn't a particularly good writer, but does craft a good mystery
shlee64's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
adamreads2022's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kathleenitpdx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
kimscozyreads's review against another edition
3.0
So many thoughts. I had a hard time getting into this book, I think in large part because there was so much dated slang that I had trouble making sense of- and even trouble finding translation for. However, parts of it were quite engrossing, and I thought the murder plot aspect of the book was fantastically well done- 5 stars on its own.
Much like my experience with A Carribean Mystery, parts of it were quite racist and orientalist- in this case to the Maori. However, despite being 30 years older, it also seems strikingly progressive in some regards here... Dr. Te Pokiha more or less complains about cultural appropriation to Alleyn's listening ear, a concept so many refuse to entertain even today. He even points out the white New Zealanders' common practice of giving their children Maori name for aesthetic reasons, which impressed me given that this is precisely what happened with Ngaio's own name!
Rude treatment of a tiki by the English in the presence of Dr Te Pokiha was squarely condemned, as was the bigotry and use of racial slur from a white character.
However, Alleyn's own thoughts are jarring to read pretty much every place the word "savage" is used.
This is the first book I've read from Ngaio Marsh. I did notice she's quite a bit wordier than Christie in general when it comes to descriptions.
Much like my experience with A Carribean Mystery, parts of it were quite racist and orientalist- in this case to the Maori. However, despite being 30 years older, it also seems strikingly progressive in some regards here... Dr. Te Pokiha more or less complains about cultural appropriation to Alleyn's listening ear, a concept so many refuse to entertain even today. He even points out the white New Zealanders' common practice of giving their children Maori name for aesthetic reasons, which impressed me given that this is precisely what happened with Ngaio's own name!
Rude treatment of a tiki by the English in the presence of Dr Te Pokiha was squarely condemned, as was the bigotry and use of racial slur from a white character.
However, Alleyn's own thoughts are jarring to read pretty much every place the word "savage" is used.
This is the first book I've read from Ngaio Marsh. I did notice she's quite a bit wordier than Christie in general when it comes to descriptions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
me2brett's review against another edition
3.0
As I remarked (I think) in my review for Enter a Murderer, it's fun to read Marsh writing about theatre people because she was one. That this story is set in New Zealand, Marsh's home, doubles the fun of seeing someone write about their world(s).
The mystery is fun and the plot twists entertaining. I particularly enjoyed Alleyn's inner monologue when dealing with the local police force, reflecting on the sometimes awkward relationship between metropole and commonwealth.
The mystery is fun and the plot twists entertaining. I particularly enjoyed Alleyn's inner monologue when dealing with the local police force, reflecting on the sometimes awkward relationship between metropole and commonwealth.
sadiqua_fatima's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
julia_may's review against another edition
2.0
This was just okay. This is one of her theatre based novels so there's a lot of theatrical jargon and technical information about the backstage operations. Honestly, I did not enjoy it. This edition was also lacking the map of the theatre, making it even harder to follow who went where when. I also felt like there were too many characters for a locked room style of mystery, some of them too similar to each other, in the "disreputable young man* category. On the positive side, I didn't guess who did it and there was so much variety with the characters that none annoyed me.
What I really didn't appreciate was all the references to Maoris as "savages". In this regard, the book really hasn't aged well.
Edit: the more I think about this book, the less I like it. Downgraded to 2 stars.
What I really didn't appreciate was all the references to Maoris as "savages". In this regard, the book really hasn't aged well.
Edit: the more I think about this book, the less I like it. Downgraded to 2 stars.