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Dec 19, 2008

Jamie rated it:

An unremarkable English country house murder mystery. I read this because it's the first book with her recurring detective Roderick Alleyn. He's a poor substitute for Peter Wimsey. I might try one more to see if they get better.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 26, 2011

Miriam rated it:

Marsh introduced her famous detective in this mystery, and you can tell that she wasn't entirely sure what personality to go with. At times he reads like Wimsey playing a silly ass, at other times he is crude or clever in the manner of a Bright Young Thing; he takes the official police hard-line one moment only to suddenly behave in unprofessional and even inappropriate ways. I suspect she was trying to write realistically complex character, but the overall effect is one of schizophrenia and imp More...

9 comments like (18 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Cera rated it:

I really loved this for the same reason a lot of people disliked it -- the character of Roderick Alleyn. By making Alleyn a _Scotland Yard_ detective who also seems to be a gentleman, Marsh creates a tension that surfaces throughout the story; the other characters can't decide whether they like him for his gentlemanly qualities or despise him for his professional ones. This is very different from the private gentleman who choses detection as a hobby, such as Sayer's Wimsey, or Christie's Poiro More...

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Jun 14, 2011

Philip rated it:

I figured it's time I finally got acquainted with Ngaio Marsh and her detective, Inspector Alleyn, so as is my custom I'm starting with the first novel in the series, which first appeared in 1934.

It's very much in the traditional "English Country Manor-house" mysteries of the "Golden Age" - a handful of people are brought together for a weekend, and one of them turns up dead.

For many years one of Marsh's publishers emblazoned a reviewer's claim that " More...

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Oct 06, 2010

Jill rated it:

This is the first Marsh book in the Roderick Alleyn series and it shows. In this initial appearance, he is a fatuous twit, who is reminiscent of Lord Peter Wimsey but not as likable or well realized. It appears that Marsh was trying to find her character's personality and as the series progressed, and he changed, he became one of the beloved detectives of the Golden Years of British mystery.....but he gets off to a shaky start here.

The story is an English country house murder and is More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Denae rated it:

Roderick Alleyn, the detective around whom this book centers, is what made this 3 stars instead of 2, since Goodreads doesn't have the half-star option. I will probably read more by Ngaio Marsh but still prefer Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. They breathed more life into their characters, in my opinion. That being said, this was a solid English country house mystery. It kept me guessing, had a satisfying number of plot twists, and had an enjoyably sardonic and quirky detective. I would recom More...

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Aug 20, 2009

Natalie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 12, 2011

Dylan rated it:

The first Roderick Alleyn book is surprisingly disjointed for a short and relatively simple murder mystery. Although in truth it might be better described as having two plots, which are tenuously (and uninterestingly) related and both trite in their own ways. The confusion of the plots distracts from the characters (i.e. the suspects) so much that the bland, vanilla group remain largely indistinguishable all the way to the mystery's inevitable anticlimax, which is both absurd and seemingly less More...

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Dec 16, 2010

Andrea rated it:

The first of the Alleyn mysteries is a confused and not particularly impressive piece. Exotic daggers, secret societies, unnecessary torture scenes. Alleyn is also all over the place, closer to Campion than the ascetic grandee of later books. Stripped of extra encumbrances, the character of the killer is a satisfying one, but overall this is not a particularly compelling book.

Nigel Bathgate features mainly in the first few of the Alleyn mysteries, evidently intended to be a Watson More...

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Mar 06, 2011

Sheila rated it:

A reread of an old favorite. Ngaio Marsh's first novel, this story takes place in an English country house where a parlor game of "Murder" results in a real murder committed with a real dagger. Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn comes to the rescue and eventually figures out whodunit. In this cast of well-drawn characters, my favorite was the naive young journalist Nigel Bathgate, who, at 25, "had outgrown that horror of enthusiasm which is so characteristic of youth-grown- More...

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Nov 09, 2009

Nancy rated it:

This talented writer can do better than this rather hum-drum country house murder. The last Marsh mystery I read was more a series of fascinating character studies than a by-the-books puzzle and I really looked forward to reading more of her books. But, A Man Lay Dead truly disappointed. It was all clues and procedure and very little else. It bored me immeasurably, but if you read mysteries because you like to solve the crime yourself, this might work for you. The puzzle is carefully laid-out, r More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Abbey rated it:

BOTTOM LINE: Thoroughly old-fashioned "good read!", with an aristo-detective, all the suspects gathered in A Great House for a weekend house party, a peculiar murder method, wild Bolsheviks complicating everything, family intrigues galore, an affable-but-dim Watson - what's not to like? First mystery novel (1934) from a now-classic author isn't challenging, brilliant, or particularly special, but is still entertaining, giving a hint of her good books yet to come and, as is usual with M More...

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Apr 29, 2008

Catherine rated it:

One of the four notable Queens of Crime who wrote highly-regarded mysteries in the early- and mid-20th century, Marsh began her series with this first murder mystery featuring Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. She wrote it when she was young, in the early 1930s, and the book reveals the flaws of a tyro author with aspirations to write a best-seller. The plot includes devious and suspicious Russians, a secret cabal, a tragic love triangle, an ancient and taboo weapon, and the requisite pair o More...

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Feb 12, 2008

Nancy rated it:

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 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 part More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Morag rated it:

Roderick Alleyn's first, tentative outing. He is not much of a personality yet.
We have a standard murder at a house party, and like all these books, the victim gets what he deserves. The guests are fairly stock characters - mine host, his beautiful ward, a May and September married couple, an enigmatic and beautiful woman, a man-about-town, a journalist and a Russian, to add colour. A sub plot develops about the Russian and really is completely unnecessary. It subtracts from the story if a More...

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Sep 12, 2011

robyn rated it:

Thankfully, Alleyn will never be this precious again. But as first books in a series go, not too bad.

We are introduced to the inspector, who I quite like as sleuths go, but who in this first book is a little bumptious, and to Nigel Bathgate, who at this early stage is actually bearable; Fox is not yet in evidence. The plot is a tiny bit threadbare (a secret Russian society, for one thing), but the murder and the solution are inventive and satisfying.

Later in the series s More...

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Dec 17, 2009

LJ rated it:

A MAN LAY DEAD (Police Procedural-England-1930s) – G+
Marsh, Naigo – 1st in series
St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1997
Introducing Inspector Roderick Alleyn, who is called to the country home of Sir Hubert Handesley. Sir Hubert had arranged "The Murder Game" as entertainment for his weekend guests. Unfortunately, someone is playing for real and one of the guests is found dead.
*** This is a good introduction to a delightful series set in the classic English manor house. More...

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Oct 13, 2010

Madison rated it:

While the first Alleyn book shows plenty of Marsh's greatest strengths, her wonderfully transparent prose and easy characterization, it lacks much of the mystery technique she later developed. This actually makes it more charming than some of the subsequent books as it careens from procedure to espionage to romance in a rather haphazard plot that finally falls victim to Marsh's fatal flaw: the murderer is the one with the least interesting motive. Still good fun.

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Sep 13, 2008

HD rated it:

As a total fan of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe I had to read this Grand Dame of mystery that shared my last name!

I found the work to be very entertaining in a light sort of way. What I really enjoyed was her phrasing and word choices since they are from a different time and also particular to the U.K.

It is a short book, but it took me a long time to read since it just didn't keep my attention for long stretches. In fairness, it is my "bedside" book and I've been More...

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Sep 14, 2010

Diane rated it:

Smoothly, cleverly written; Marsh was one of the great detective writers during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Of course its dated now, and many references are lost on me as an American, but I could still catch some Shakespeare and Gilbert and Sullivan quotes that she sprinkles through her unusual detective's speech. Her characters emerge from the pages gradually and clearly; the mystery is clever and believable. Excellent.

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Jul 16, 2011

Joy rated it:

I read this book because my husband put it on the iPod to listen to on my long drives to and from work. I don't read a lot of mysteries.

It wasn't a bad read. I had a little adjustment to make to get used the the writing style and I had problems getting into the book. The beginning had a rather abrupt entrance with a lot of characters thrown at you all at once. And the murderer wasn't the person I expected it to be. Otherwise, not a bad mystery at all.

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Nov 23, 2009

Sian rated it:

I've come to this one having just watched the BBC adaptation, and I was delightfully surpised at how spare the novel is -- mostly lines of dialogue with the occasional action hung on it. And very quirky dialogue at that. The sense of humor that took a moment to emerge in the adaptation is present from Alleyn's first appearance. In fact, for sheer lightness of approach, I think he out-Whimsey's Whimsey. Fascinating!

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Jan 29, 2012

Anne rated it:

Ah the classic British weekend in the country murder mystery. I liked it in the end, but had a tough time getting going and keeping the characters straight. There also seemed to be one plot too many. Although not as strong as the better Agatha Christie mysteries, A Man Lay Dead is still an enjoyable read. I'm interested to try some more and see how Marsh develops Roderick Alleyn.

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Dec 02, 2007

Writerlibrarian rated it:

Short read. Interesting. In the same vein as Agatha Christie, with less frills and Georgette Heyer but with less snappy dialogs. Written in about the same era early 30's. This is her first published novel and the bow of her main character Inspector Roderick Alleyn. He's somewhat mysterious and connected to the higher class but we know little about him and it's one of the flaws I see in this novel, the plot takes all the space with little time for the lead character to establish himself. We know More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Becca rated it:

Although a bit trite and formulaic I liked the character of Roderick Alleyn more so than some of his contemporary detectives like whimsy or campion. Plus, I just liked his wit. More subtle than some and it develops over the course of Ngaio marsh's series(I am a few more along). But then I like English country house murder books like some people like Nora Roberts. Comforting!

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Feb 09, 2011

Wendy rated it:

This old mystery, written in 1934, is definitely a period piece. A pleasant enough read -- no strain on the brain at all. In fact, it might be as well if you read it while you're dozing. It's charming, in its way, with its dose of secret societies and upper crust privilege, and the solution is ridiculous enough to be worth the read, if only for a chuckle.

Mystery novels have come a long way, baby!

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Dec 31, 2010

Jen rated it:

An adorable little first novel by mystery writer Marsh. I wanted to pinch its little cheek. I haven't read any other of her books, but I understand they get better with more sophisticated mysteries. Still, I like to start at the beginning of a series whenever I can, and if I read more Marsh, it'll be nice to see the development of her detective Roderick Alleyn

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Bettie rated it:

Ngaio Marsh's first detective story - written in 1932. Dramatised by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enyd Williams.

When a murder takes place at a country house party, it poses another baffling case for Inspector Alleyn...

Starring Jeremy Clyde (AKA A J Raffles ).First broadcast in 2001 on BBC Radio 4.

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Apr 05, 2010

Penwiper rated it:

My first Marshes were some of her later ones, so it was interesting to go back and read her earliest book. Far more simplistic, with a rather silly Russian underworld subplot thrown in for good measure - I agree with others who have recommended starting with her later books, and am glad I did so. Not bad, but she just clearly hasn't hit her stride yet.

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Feb 04, 2009

Susan rated it:

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.

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