Light Thickens

This is supposedly the last book that Marsh wrote and I can't help but wonder if someone finished it for her. This book was tedious and the murder while fully anticipated was still out of left field. What I mean is from the beginning of the book which focuses on Shakespeare's Macbeth, the when and t......more

Originally published on my blog here in October 1999. It is perhaps fitting that Ngaio Marsh's last novel should have a theatrical setting, given the importance of the theatre in her life. (Symmetrically, her first novel, Enter A Murderer, is also set in a theatre during a production of Macbeth.) It......more

The last book of the Alleyn series now read and appreciated but not wholeheartedly enjoyed. A Macbeth production in London is portrayed in detail and would be of interest to lovers of that play. Me not so much. Alleyn is in the audience opening night for the beheading that actually occurs.......more

Ngaio Marsh writes the traditional "cosy" British mystery, with a murder presented like a mathematical puzzle, solved ingeniously by the detective leaving the rest of the characters and readers gasping. Though not as intricate as the plots of Agatha Christie, Dame Ngaio also writes very clever myste......more

The last title in my 32 book quest to read all of the Roderick Alleyn books in order. Found it slow going. Although I have just seen Macbeth in the past 6 months and understood many of the allusions to the play, I found them a bit annoying in the book. Love Peregrine Jay and his family and remember......more