New Zealand crime novelist Dame Ngaio Marsh is often considered to be one of the four "Queens of Crime" along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham. She is most famous for her Scotland Yard detective Roderick Alleyn (pronounced "Allen").
In keeping with my sidekick syndrome, my favorite character of the series is Alleyn's sidekick, Nigel Bathgate, a young journalist who often argues with Alleyn about what he can and cannot publish in his newspaper regarding the cases they are "working on together". Nigel is quite happy-go-lucky and makes an interesting contrast to the more serious Alleyn, providing a sort of Watson/Hastings character (even though the books are not told in first person). Sadly, Nigel stopped appearing in the later novels (which I suspect is part of the reason I find them slightly dry). *sniff*
Roderick Alleyn is oddly similar to Sayers' Lord Peter. Both come from privileged backgrounds, both have older brothers, both have served in WWI. Lord Peter marries a writer; Roderick Alleyn marries an artist. Lord Peter has Bunter; Roderick Alleyn has Fox. The major difference being that while Lord Peter is somewhat nervy due to his war experiences, Roderick Alleyn seems to be made of sterner stuff and his war record is rarely mentioned.
Besides writing, Ngaio Marsh was also a well-known actress, and her books frequently feature actors or theaters. I feel like her plots aren't as thrilling as Agatha Christie's (although that's not to say that they don't have their moments), but they are definitely interesting reads, especially if there is bantering going on between Alleyn and Nigel (why did you leave, Nigel? Why? *sobs*)
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I have been reading "Ngaio Marsh, Her Life in Crime". Marsh was a well-known director. Most of the time she was directing as well as writing, and the book is full of notes to her publisher that she will get the next book finished whenever! The descriptions of the plays are very interesting indeed.
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed to say I have never read any Ngaio Marsh. Will obviously have to do something to rectify this...
ReplyDeleteNgaio Marsh isn't an easy writer to get into (speaking personally). I like Christie a lot but I held back from Sayers and Marsh for a long time, and I only tried about half of an Allingham book.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to read something by Marsh I'd suggest starting with the earlier books--the first one, Enter a Murderer, is pretty good.
Was the book "Ngaio Marsh: Her Life In Crime" written by Marsh herself? Or were the notes to her publisher just used as background info?
Ngaio Marsh, Her Life in Crime was written after Marsh's death by Joanne Drayton. Marsh was, I believe, largely responsible for creating a lively New Zealand theatre. Certainly, the book concentrates on the theatre side of her life, and the descriptions and reports of shows with which she was involved show a person deeply committed to the stage.
ReplyDeleteThere is an excellent series of dramatizations of the books by the BBC with Jeremy Clyde as Alleyn. They get repeated on Radio 4 Extra frequently. There are also other versions available on CD.
ReplyDeleteI must try and see if I can find the BBC adaption somewhere! They sound interesting.
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