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Ngaio Marsh
By the Author
Black As He's Painted
When the exuberant president of Ng'ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief…
Scales Of Justice
The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell…
Light Thickens
Peregrine Jay, owner of the Dolphin Theatre, is putting on a magnificent production of Macbeth, the play that, superstition says, always brings bad luck. But…
A Man Lay Dead
Wealthy Sir Hubert Handesley's original and lively weekend house-parties are deservedly famous. To amuse his guests, he has devised a new form of the fashionable…
Photo Finish
The luxury mansion on New Zealand's Lake Waihoe was the ideal place for the world-famous soprano to rest after her triumphant tour. Chief Superintendent Alleyn…
The Nursing Home Murder
Sir John Phillips, the Harley Street surgeon, and his beautiful nurse Jane Harden are almost too nervous to operate. The emergency case on the table…
Surfeit Of Lampreys
Lord Pastern fired his revolver. The figure in the spotlight fell and the coup-de-theatre had become murder. Could Inspector Alleyn believe Pastern had let hatred…
Last Ditch
Rickie Alleyn, son of the famed detective Roderick Alleyn had taken to the peaceful Channel Island village of Deep Cove to write his book. However,…
Death In Ecstasy
Once again, Roderick Alleyn is on the case of a killer who plucked the life from the newest initiate of The House of the Sacred…
Death at the Dolphin
When the bombed-out Dolphin Theatre is given to Peregrine Jay by a mysterious wealthy patron, he is overjoyed. And when the mysterious oil millionaire also…
Clutch of Constables
'He looks upon the murders that he did in fact perform as tiresome and regrettable necessities,' reflected Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn on the international crook…
When in Rome
When their guide disappears mysteriously in the depths of a Roman Basilica, the members of Mr Sebastian Mailer's tour group seem strangely unperturbed. But when…
Tied Up in Tinsel
Holed up at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate for Christmas, Troy Alleyn is to paint the man's portrait and, while she's there, view the Druid Christmas…
Singing In The Shrouds
On a cold February night the police find the third corpse on the quayside in the Pool of London, her body covered with flower petals…
Final Curtain
Agatha Troy, world famous portrait painter, is inveigled into accepting a commission to paint the 70-year-old Sir Henry Ancred, Bart., the Grand Old Man of…
Spinsters in Jeopardy
En route to a family vacation on the French Riviera, Inspector Roderick Alleyn glimpses from the train a shocking tableau. In a moonlit window a…
Off With His Head
When the pesky Anna Bunz arrives at Mardian to investigate the rare survival of folk-dancing still practised there, she quickly antagonizes the villagers. But Mrs…
Enter A Murderer
The Crime was committed on stage at the Unicorn Theatre, when an unloaded gun fired a very real bullet; the victim was Arthur Surbonadier, an…
Death And The Dancing Footman
It began as an entertainment: eight people, many of them enemies, gathered for a winter weekend by a host with a love for theatre. They…
Colour Scheme
It was a horrible death - Maurice Questing was lured into a pool of boiling mud and left there to die. Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn,…
Death at the Bar
At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. They are in the habit of…
Died in the Wool
World War II rages on, and Inspector Alleyn continues as the Special Branch's eyes and ears in New Zealand. While his primary brief is spy-catching,…
Grave Mistake
With two husbands dead, a daughter marrying the wrong man and a debilitating disease, it is no wonder that Sybil Foster took her own life.…
Opening Night
Dreams of stardom had lured Martyn Tarne from faraway New Zealand to make the dreary, soul-destroying round of West End agents and managers in search…
Swing, Brother, Swing
Lord Pastern fired his revolver. The figure in the spotlight fell and the coup-de-theatre had become murder. Could Inspector Alleyn believe Pastern had let hatred…
False Scent
Mary Bellamy is the sweetheart of the London stage, fluffy as only an elderly lady of 50(!) can be. Her fans and friends-and who didn't…
Hand in Glove
The April Fool's Day had been a roaring success for all, it seemed - except for poor Mr Cartell who had ended up in the…
Dead Water
Times are good in the Cornish village of Portcarrow, as hundreds of unfortunates flock to taste the miraculous waters of Pixie Falls. Then Miss Emily…
Death In A White Tie
The London season has begun. But while debutantes and chaperones plan their luncheons and balls a deadly blackmailer is stalking the highest echelons of society.…
Overture To Death
It was planned as an act of charity: a new piano for the parish hall, an amusing play to finance the gift. The question now…
Artists In Crime
When murder upsets the creative tranquility of an artists' colony, Scotland Yard sends in its most famous investigator. And what begins as a routine case…
Vintage Murder
New Zealand theatrical manager Alfred Meyer wanted to celebrate his wife's birthday in style. The piece de résistance would be the jeroboam of champagne which…