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London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2000
Description
Crime comes to a country house: "Any Ngaio Marsh story is certain to be Grade A, and this one is no exception." --The New York Times This classic from the Golden Age of British mystery opens during a country-house party between the two world wars--servants bustling, gin flowing, the gentlemen in dinner jackets, the ladies all slink and smolder. Even more delicious: The host, Sir Hubert Handesley, has invented a new and especially exciting version of that beloved parlor entertainment, The Murder Game . . . "It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York Magazine "A peerless practitioner of the slightly surreal, English-village comedy-mystery." --Kirkus Reviews
User reviews
LibraryThing member smik
This is Ngaio Marsh's debut novel, a classic country house party murder mystery, where the reader is tempted to map the location of all of the characters at the location of the murder. Nigel Bathgate, with his cousin Charles Rankin, is attending his first houseparty at Frampton. He has heard these
This is not Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's first murder case, although it is Ngaio Marsh's first novel. Alleyn is already a seasoned detective, with a reputation for thorough and careful sleuthing. His reputation preceds him. He arrives at Frampton from Scotland Yard the morning after the murder. The body has already been moved, and the local constabulary and the police doctor are already in attendance.
In essence what Marsh does in this first novel is establish some of the characteristics which will become Alleyn's "signature" in subsequent novels. Alleyn does not appear as the other characters expect a detective to be. He is tall, cultured, detached, thorough, and objective. He professes to have a poor memory and keeps a small note book of important facts, with an alphabetical index. We learn that Alleyn is an Oxford man who initially became a diplomat, before turning to policing. He likes to inspect things first hand, and likes to reconstruct events until he gets them right. He may also lay traps for suspects. In A MAN LAY DEAD he decides one of the characters is innocent, and then uses him as his "Watson", not only involving him in some of the sleuthing, but also as a sounding board for his deductions. Thus we see the action often through two sets of eyes, both Alleyn's and the other characters.
This is an interesting novel as Marsh has included the element of "the Russian threat". First of all there is the Russian dagger with which the victim is stabbed, then the Russian butler who disappears, the house guest who is a Russian espionage agent, and then the Russian secret society that binds them all together. A MAN LAY DEAD was published in 1934 and is indicative of the fear of Russian communism that had had Europe in its thrall for the previous decade or so.
Ngaio Marsh is a New Zealander but this novel puts her right into the vein of the Golden Age writers like Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham. It is a British cozy murder mystery through and through. In A MAN LAY DEAD she is exploring a classic scenario, and bringing a new sleuth onto the crime fiction scene. There is no hint of her Antipodean origins. The language, the slang, the setting are thoroughly British.
From a 21st century point of view A MAN LAY DEAD has survived 8 decades pretty well. We wouldn't put it at the top of the tree these days, because there are things that date it. Marsh was more concerned to write a carefully constructed whodunnit, and not so taken with "why". Nevertheless it is very readable.
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houseparties hosted by Sir Hubert Handesley are both "original" and unpretentious. There will seven or eight guests, and, upon arrival, he learns that the main event will be a Murder. Sir Hubert has his own rules for the Murder Game, and eventually a murder there is, but not the theatrically staged one they have anticipated.This is not Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's first murder case, although it is Ngaio Marsh's first novel. Alleyn is already a seasoned detective, with a reputation for thorough and careful sleuthing. His reputation preceds him. He arrives at Frampton from Scotland Yard the morning after the murder. The body has already been moved, and the local constabulary and the police doctor are already in attendance.
In essence what Marsh does in this first novel is establish some of the characteristics which will become Alleyn's "signature" in subsequent novels. Alleyn does not appear as the other characters expect a detective to be. He is tall, cultured, detached, thorough, and objective. He professes to have a poor memory and keeps a small note book of important facts, with an alphabetical index. We learn that Alleyn is an Oxford man who initially became a diplomat, before turning to policing. He likes to inspect things first hand, and likes to reconstruct events until he gets them right. He may also lay traps for suspects. In A MAN LAY DEAD he decides one of the characters is innocent, and then uses him as his "Watson", not only involving him in some of the sleuthing, but also as a sounding board for his deductions. Thus we see the action often through two sets of eyes, both Alleyn's and the other characters.
This is an interesting novel as Marsh has included the element of "the Russian threat". First of all there is the Russian dagger with which the victim is stabbed, then the Russian butler who disappears, the house guest who is a Russian espionage agent, and then the Russian secret society that binds them all together. A MAN LAY DEAD was published in 1934 and is indicative of the fear of Russian communism that had had Europe in its thrall for the previous decade or so.
Ngaio Marsh is a New Zealander but this novel puts her right into the vein of the Golden Age writers like Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham. It is a British cozy murder mystery through and through. In A MAN LAY DEAD she is exploring a classic scenario, and bringing a new sleuth onto the crime fiction scene. There is no hint of her Antipodean origins. The language, the slang, the setting are thoroughly British.
From a 21st century point of view A MAN LAY DEAD has survived 8 decades pretty well. We wouldn't put it at the top of the tree these days, because there are things that date it. Marsh was more concerned to write a carefully constructed whodunnit, and not so taken with "why". Nevertheless it is very readable.
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LibraryThing member wdwilson3
Well, it was her first...
Detective: Alleyn is OK as a sleuth, but seems to involve the possible suspects in a lot of risky business. Not according to the Scotland Yard manual.
Plot: Motive OK, method preposterous. Outlandish Russian cult irrelevant and also preposterous.
Dialogue: Tedious 1934
Detective: Alleyn is OK as a sleuth, but seems to involve the possible suspects in a lot of risky business. Not according to the Scotland Yard manual.
Plot: Motive OK, method preposterous. Outlandish Russian cult irrelevant and also preposterous.
Dialogue: Tedious 1934
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upper-class English at times, dialects (Russian and lower-class) heavy handed. Some of the allusions and catch phrases of the time would, I'm sure, puzzle a modern Brit as much as this Yank. Show Less
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
2.5**
The first mystery novel by Marsh introduces Inspector Detective Roderick Alleyn. At Sir Hubert Handesley’s country house party, five guests have gathered for a parlor game of “Murder.” It’s all in fun, until the lights come back on and there is an actual corpse. Given the prominence of
I can clearly see how Marsh became known as one of the “Queens of Crime” alongside Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. However, I found this to be slow-moving and unnecessarily complicated by a side plot involving sedition and Russian spies . There are a few nods to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, which I did appreciate, and a budding romance which I did not.
I’m glad I finally read something by Marsh; not sure if I’ll read another.
The first mystery novel by Marsh introduces Inspector Detective Roderick Alleyn. At Sir Hubert Handesley’s country house party, five guests have gathered for a parlor game of “Murder.” It’s all in fun, until the lights come back on and there is an actual corpse. Given the prominence of
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the household, Scotland Yard is called in. By the time Alleyn arrives from London the victim’s body has been moved, everyone has an alibi, and the butler has gone missing. I can clearly see how Marsh became known as one of the “Queens of Crime” alongside Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. However, I found this to be slow-moving and unnecessarily complicated
I’m glad I finally read something by Marsh; not sure if I’ll read another.
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LibraryThing member themulhern
A very superficial country house investigation. The forced whimsicality is just awful and Alleyn's snottiness is unbearable. The casualness with which people who have published pamphlets attacking the government can be arrested makes one really value the Bill of Rights of one's own country. The
Michael Innes did this so much better. Even, e.g. Hamlet, Revenge! (1937), which does contain a romance is so much more interesting.
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whole Communist subplot is woefully dumb. The obligatory romance is just pathetic. The mystery itself is not bad at all, but the unmasking of the murderer is ridiculous. This was published between the two world wars (1934), but WWII is not on the mind of any of the guests.Michael Innes did this so much better. Even, e.g. Hamlet, Revenge! (1937), which does contain a romance is so much more interesting.
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
A young reporter is enjoying an upper-class British house party when abruptly, someone is found dead!
I can't say I enjoyed this. There's an entire subplot concerning a Bolshevic satanic cult (?!)that goes nowhere, and isn't even an effective red herring. This is the first Inspector Alleyn book, The murderer springs out of the bath, pulls on gloves, slides down a bannister face-first, yoinks a dagger conveniently nearby, and stabs his victim who just so happens to be standing with his back directly in front of the bannister? No one on earth would plan a murder that way! And there's no way that Alleyn figured out that the murderer did it that way, when his only evidence was that the murderer wore a glove! How does that prove that someone slid down the bannister face-first, let alone which person did it? Ridiculous!
I'll try one more Marsh book, by virtue of her reputation, and then I think I'll call it quits.
I can't say I enjoyed this. There's an entire subplot concerning a Bolshevic satanic cult (?!)
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and it's clear that Marsh isn't sure how to write him yet. His personality is all over the place: one moment he's burbling Bright Young Things slang, the next he's cold and remote, the next he's romantically morose. It doesn't read like a complex character so much as one without any fixed characterization. The mystery itself is very frustrating, because there's no way it should have worked. I'll try one more Marsh book, by virtue of her reputation, and then I think I'll call it quits.
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LibraryThing member missizicks
I really enjoyed this. It was my first reading of a Marsh novel, having concentrated on Christie in the past. The writing is witty and the characters very believable. Chief Inspector Alleyn is a sharp man who tries to dissemble his cleverness while reading his suspects. I liked him instantly as a
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character. The crime was a classic - hateful womanising bachelor who has numerous beneficiaries on his death, some of whom have good reason for wanting him dead, attends house party in the country with those beneficiaries - with an added sprinkling of Russian intrigue. I recommend it if you're a fan of Golden Age crime and like me haven't explored much beyond Christie. I'll be reading more Marsh now. Show Less
LibraryThing member nina.jon
The first of the Inspector Alleyn and the first Ngaio Marsh I've read. I read it quickly, in a morning, but didn't enjoy it less because of that. It's a classic country house murder mystery where some not very nice person gets done in, in a spectacular manner. As usual there are a host of suspects,
Nina Jon is the author of the newly released Magpie Murders, a series of short murder mysteries with a Cluedo-esque element.
She is also the author of the Jane Hetherington's Adventures in Detection crime and mystery series, about private detective Jane Hetherington.
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all with motives, any one of whom could have done it, except each have an alibi. The good Inspector painstakingly works his way through the clues and red herrings, the snatches of overheard conversation and the dropped buttons, until he reaches a conclusion. The clues and red herrings may not be quite as cunning and inexplicable as they are in Christie and Conan Doyle, but they're clever nonetheless and designed to catch the reader out. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good whodunnit where the culprit is eventually revealed at the end.Nina Jon is the author of the newly released Magpie Murders, a series of short murder mysteries with a Cluedo-esque element.
She is also the author of the Jane Hetherington's Adventures in Detection crime and mystery series, about private detective Jane Hetherington.
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LibraryThing member LibraryCin
A group of people are invited to a house party where there will be a game of Murder played. Unfortunately, there ends up being a real murder instead of just a game.
The premise was interesting and the book was o.k. There are a lot of characters to get to know, but I had a tendency to lose interest,
The premise was interesting and the book was o.k. There are a lot of characters to get to know, but I had a tendency to lose interest,
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so I wasn't able to keep good track of who was who. I found it interesting that the book followed the point of view, not of the inspector (who is apparently featured in a number of books by Marsh), but of one of the guests. It was quick to read, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member Meredy
Six-word review: Cheerfully outlandish cozy delivers comfy quickie.
Extended review:
Ngaio Marsh's first Inspector Alleyn mystery, and my first Ngaio Marsh, is everything we look for in a British detective yarn of the golden 1930s. A house party at a country estate takes a ghastly turn when one of
Extended review:
Ngaio Marsh's first Inspector Alleyn mystery, and my first Ngaio Marsh, is everything we look for in a British detective yarn of the golden 1930s. A house party at a country estate takes a ghastly turn when one of
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the guests is found with a knife in his back, and no one is above suspicion. Secret romances, jealous triangles, Russian conspirators, and watchful domestics keep the pages turning while a clever sleuth ferrets clues and sets traps. What more could we ask? Show Less
LibraryThing member nmhale
This is the first book in the Roderick Alleyn series, a mystery very much in line with Agatha Christy's style of murder and mayhem: clever investigator (although Roderick happens to also be a police officer), a crew of suspects that all have secrets to hide even if they aren't the murderer, a death
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that frequently involves the upper class, and therefore lots of big, musty mansions that hold as many secrets as rooms to serve as the setting. I love this type of mystery, as formulaic as they can be. If you love the formula, then seeing an author employ it exceptionally well is quite enjoyable. Marsh does add some elements to make her series unique. Alleyn is actually an aristocrat himself, who has chosen to work in the police force. Many of the mysteries feature the theater and the stage in someway. She deals with more police procedural details than the usual sleuth investigator story. That being said, this first in the series starts out with a very standard plot: guests are invited to a mansion for a weekend of a mystery game, where a mock murder occurs and they must unravel the clues to discover the killer. Of course, a real corpse turns up all too soon, and a real investigator is called in to figure out "who (actually) done it". Done before? Yes. But Marsh does it so well that it can be said that many of the examples today are imitating her, and it was a fun read. Clever enough, with a good mix of interesting and shady characters, to push me into adding this mystery series to my list of old regulars. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
At a house party with a mix of guests there's a murder game planed which turns terribly messy when the body turns out to be really dead. . Inspector Alleyn is called and with the help of a young journalist and one of the young ladies at the party he investigates.
Intermingled with some dastardly
Intermingled with some dastardly
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Russian plotting! The Russians are is very cliched and the accents... the less said the better. But a product of it's time and quite a good read for all that. I enjoyed it and the characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
This book really isn't my favorite Ngaio Marsh mystery. It's understandable that it's not really that good (imho) since it was her first novel and that she was competing with two other mystery greats at the time this was written: Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. I know, having read others, that
summary, no spoilers:
Ah! The ever classic English country house murder in all of its glory. At this particular country house, Frantock, young reporter Nigel Bathgate has accompanied his cousin Charles Rankin for a weekend stay. While there, the guests are invited to play "Murders," in which an unknown "murderer" is supposed to tap someone on the shoulder and say "you're the corpse." At that point, a gong is sounded and the fun is supposed to begin with the rest of the company trying to deduce who is the murderer. Well, someone forgot to tell a murderer that this was just a game; after the gong sounds, one of the group is found dead, and it's for real. Enter Inspector Alleyn and his associates to solve the case.
All the classic elements are here: the country house, the multitude of subjects & motives, several red herrings and a baffling solution. This was fine. What really was not fine was the "Russian element" that sort of took way too much time and energy in the book. I think that truly if she'd just focused on the murder & its solution, it could have been a lot better. But that's just my opinion, and god knows I'm a very hard-to-please mystery reader.
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she could and did do much better, so we'll chalk it up to this being her debut.summary, no spoilers:
Ah! The ever classic English country house murder in all of its glory. At this particular country house, Frantock, young reporter Nigel Bathgate has accompanied his cousin Charles Rankin for a weekend stay. While there, the guests are invited to play "Murders," in which an unknown "murderer" is supposed to tap someone on the shoulder and say "you're the corpse." At that point, a gong is sounded and the fun is supposed to begin with the rest of the company trying to deduce who is the murderer. Well, someone forgot to tell a murderer that this was just a game; after the gong sounds, one of the group is found dead, and it's for real. Enter Inspector Alleyn and his associates to solve the case.
All the classic elements are here: the country house, the multitude of subjects & motives, several red herrings and a baffling solution. This was fine. What really was not fine was the "Russian element" that sort of took way too much time and energy in the book. I think that truly if she'd just focused on the murder & its solution, it could have been a lot better. But that's just my opinion, and god knows I'm a very hard-to-please mystery reader.
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LibraryThing member lahochstetler
This is a classic, country house murder mystery, and the first of the Alleyn mysteries. I really think Marsh is at her best writing this sort of English countryside whodunit. A weekend house party leads to a body with a ceremonial dagger thrust in its back. In the house there are blossoming
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relationships, some mysterious Russians, a secret brotherhood, and Alleyn is called in to investigate. The result is a fast-moving and satisfying mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member ParadisePorch
A MAN LAY DEAD by Ngaio Marsh (Vintage Mystery Fiction, 1930s England) 3.5 star rating
Somehow, as I was growing up and cutting teeth on Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, I missed knowing about New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh. I love how the Web has made the world so small! I started to read Marsh
I must confess that, although I remember enjoying reading this, I cannot remember a single thing about it except that there were a number of upper class, foolish people (I think it was this book) and that Inspector Alleyn is a fascinating man.
Alleyn produced from his pocket his inevitable and rather insignificant Woolworth note-book.
“Meet my brain,” he said, “without it I’m done.”
No doubt, today it would be an iGadget but since I still use a paper notebook, I’m glad he “lived” when he did. I’m going to continue reading this series.
Read this if: you want to start reading at the beginning of Marsh’s writing career, and make an introduction to Roderick Alleyn. 3½ stars
Somehow, as I was growing up and cutting teeth on Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, I missed knowing about New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh. I love how the Web has made the world so small! I started to read Marsh
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with Death of a Fool in January of this year. I was intrigued enough to start at the beginning and find this first in the series (1934) featuring Inspector Roderick Alleyn.I must confess that, although I remember enjoying reading this, I cannot remember a single thing about it except that there were a number of upper class, foolish people (I think it was this book) and that Inspector Alleyn is a fascinating man.
Alleyn produced from his pocket his inevitable and rather insignificant Woolworth note-book.
“Meet my brain,” he said, “without it I’m done.”
No doubt, today it would be an iGadget but since I still use a paper notebook, I’m glad he “lived” when he did. I’m going to continue reading this series.
Read this if: you want to start reading at the beginning of Marsh’s writing career, and make an introduction to Roderick Alleyn. 3½ stars
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
Having just reread this for the first time in a long while, I found it interesting to see how Chief Inspector Alleyn has changed over the course of the series. This isn't Marsh's best, but it is still a extremely enjoyable English country house murder mystery.
LibraryThing member Figgles
The very first Roderick Allyen mystery! It sits tighly within the conventions of its time (1930s) and genre (murder at a country house party, bolshevik red herrings) but is a very impressive debut and you could do far worse than introduce yourself to Roderick Alleyn than with this, his first
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outing... Show Less
LibraryThing member fourbears
This is an Agatha-Christie-type murder novel, in a country house even. The first in Marsh’s series about Inspector Alleyn. It’s not a genre that I get excited about any more frankly, but at the same time I have to admit, I didn’t figure out who was guilty before the end and that I appreciate.
LibraryThing member mmyoung
Reading this I am surprised that Marsh goes on to become one of the grande dames of mystery writing. The seeds are hard to see. An utterly routine house party murder with the usual rube goldberg murder -- with a side dish of ridiculous secret societies that did nothing to advance the plot.
LibraryThing member RubyScarlett
This is closer to 4 stars, really, but I think Alleyn could have been developed better. The country house mystery is very good though I would have appreciated more humour. Will definitely read more, it's not outstanding but it's a cut above the rest, for sure.
LibraryThing member LARA335
I love a country-house murder-mystery, so looking forward to this by one of the queens of crime fiction. Hadn't read her before, and not overly impressed by this first outing. A lack of description, and not much scene-setting, and some daft business with a Bolshevik secret society. But enough of a
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puzzle that I will probably attempt another. Show Less
LibraryThing member Vivl
I enjoyed the mystery, which as always was well written and interesting, but missed the more fully developed characters of Alleyn & Fox from the later novels.
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The first in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn series, A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh was published in 1934 and established another great mystery series during that genre’s golden age. The setting is a weekend house party where the guests are getting ready to play the popular game of Murder, but when
As the introduction to this series, A May Lay Dead is an entertaining read but not particularly outstanding. The actual murder method was, however, most ingenious and that, along with the classic gathering of all suspects for the big reveal at the end gave the book a fun edge. About her main character, Marsh seemed a little unsure, but I suspect Alleyn’s character gets developed more fully as the series moves along.
I am a fan of mysteries written during this time period, and I will definitely be continuing on with this series if only to see how and where Ngaio Marsh fits into the hierarchy of Christie, Sayers and Tey, etc.
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the lights are turned back on, one of the party is lying dead in the hall. Scotland Yard’s Inspector Alleyn is dispatched to investigate as this case is a real puzzler with all the guests being able to account for their whereabouts. Not only is Alleyn able to figure out who the murderer is, he also is able to shut down a ring of Bolshevik conspirators.As the introduction to this series, A May Lay Dead is an entertaining read but not particularly outstanding. The actual murder method was, however, most ingenious and that, along with the classic gathering of all suspects for the big reveal at the end gave the book a fun edge. About her main character, Marsh seemed a little unsure, but I suspect Alleyn’s character gets developed more fully as the series moves along.
I am a fan of mysteries written during this time period, and I will definitely be continuing on with this series if only to see how and where Ngaio Marsh fits into the hierarchy of Christie, Sayers and Tey, etc.
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LibraryThing member BrokenTune
Alleyn looked at him with a curious air of compassion.
‘Not even yet?’ he said.
‘Whose were the prints?’
‘That I am not going to tell you. Oh, believe me, Bathgate, not out of any desire to figure as the mysterious omnipotent detective. That would be impossibly vulgar. No. I am not telling
Well, that was one of the silliest GA detective stories I have read. Not bad or horrible or totally off-putting, but entirely implausible. So, implausible that I even want to call it "cute".
So, when Alleyn stated (see quote above) that the QED had not been established, yet, I may have laughed out loud. I may also have laughed again at the end of the book.
I am glad I have read A Man Lay Dead after having already another of Marsh's books, because I already know that Marsh can write a splendid mystery. It's just that A Man Lay Dead is not it.
Now that this first book is out of the way, I look forward to the rest of the series, tho.
‘Not even yet?’ he said.
‘Whose were the prints?’
‘That I am not going to tell you. Oh, believe me, Bathgate, not out of any desire to figure as the mysterious omnipotent detective. That would be impossibly vulgar. No. I am not telling
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you because there is still that bit of my brains that cannot quite accept the QED of the theorem.Well, that was one of the silliest GA detective stories I have read. Not bad or horrible or totally off-putting, but entirely implausible. So, implausible that I even want to call it "cute".
So, when Alleyn stated (see quote above) that the QED had not been established, yet, I may have laughed out loud. I may also have laughed again at the end of the book.
I am glad I have read A Man Lay Dead after having already another of Marsh's books, because I already know that Marsh can write a splendid mystery. It's just that A Man Lay Dead is not it.
Now that this first book is out of the way, I look forward to the rest of the series, tho.
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LibraryThing member nordie
At Sir Hubert Handesley's country house party, five guests have gathered for the uproarious parlor game of "Murder." Yet no one is laughing when the lights come up on an actual corpse, the good-looking and mysterious Charles Rankin. Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to find a
Cant believe I've read so many Alleyn books, but have taken this long to get to read #1.
This book starts with Nigel Bathgate, junior reporter and ongoing stalwart of the series, being invited to a country house weekend with his cousin. There he meets Angela, and a number of other characters, and during a game of "murders" finds his cousin murdered with a knife in his back.
Alleyn arrives to investigate, still young and an Inspector (somehow morphing into the better known CHIEF inspector near the end of the book. The other usual cast - such as Fox - dont make it into this first novel. There is a little diversion (Maguffin) over the Russian community in London, which allows for the dagger to be used in the murder.
Alleyn is a little moodier than in later novels, still being young and possibly not fleshed out as in later novels. Not sure I would have continued with the series had I come across this book first.
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complete collection of alibis, a missing butler, and an intricate puzzle of betrayal and sedition in the search for the key player in this deadly gameCant believe I've read so many Alleyn books, but have taken this long to get to read #1.
This book starts with Nigel Bathgate, junior reporter and ongoing stalwart of the series, being invited to a country house weekend with his cousin. There he meets Angela, and a number of other characters, and during a game of "murders" finds his cousin murdered with a knife in his back.
Alleyn arrives to investigate, still young and an Inspector (somehow morphing into the better known CHIEF inspector near the end of the book. The other usual cast - such as Fox - dont make it into this first novel. There is a little diversion (Maguffin) over the Russian community in London, which allows for the dagger to be used in the murder.
Alleyn is a little moodier than in later novels, still being young and possibly not fleshed out as in later novels. Not sure I would have continued with the series had I come across this book first.
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LibraryThing member beentsy
Does exactly what it says on the label - proper English manor house mystery.
I rather like Allen. I may read one or two more to see how his character fleshes out.
I rather like Allen. I may read one or two more to see how his character fleshes out.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1934
Physical description
176 p.
ISBN
9780007944682