Colour Scheme
A review of Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh
Colour Scheme, the twelfth in Marsh’s Roderick Alleyn series and originally published in 1943, is a wonderfully atmospheric tale set in her native New Zealand. It was a surprise to me that the horrors of the Second World War impinged upon that country, but two vessels are torpedoed by a German submarine, after flashing lights have been seen coming from the hills near the health spa of Wai-ata-Tapu. As well as murder we have a hunt for a fifth columnist.
Readers who are eagerly anticipating another of Marsh’s gruesomely ingenious murders have to bide their time as Maurice Questing, the victim, survives until around the midway point before he fatally plunges into a pool of boiling volcanic mud, not a pleasant way to go. Alleyn is conspicuous by his absence, only appearing by name on a couple of occasions as the big pot who has come from London to investigate fifth columnist activities on the islands. As befits his role, he appears at the spa incognito, although it is fairly easy to spot which character he is and, we learn later, some of the residents at the spa are in the secret. Ostensibly, the police investigation is carried out by the local bobby, Webley.
Marsh has collected a motley crew of characters at the spa, which is poorly managed by the Claires, the Colonel and his wife, and their two children, the annoying Barbara and Simon who is keen to get into the air force. Surprisingly, there are guests, who include Maurice Questing whom no one likes. There are suspicions that he is the fifth columnist, a view held fervently by Claire’s brother-in-law, Dr James Ackrington, and he is a pest amongst the womenfolk, but he clearly has a hold over the Claires, he has ambitions to take over and transform the fortunes of the spa and it is he that is instrumental in luring the Shakespearean actor, Geoffrey Gaunt, together with his secretary, Dickon Bell, and his dresser, Alfred Colly, there. Septimus Falls also has an invite from him, or at least he claims.
Added to the mix are the drunken Smith, whom Questing almost lures into the path of an approaching train but who then seems to kiss and make up with him, and, adding local colour, a Maori clan led by Rua, and two of whom help out at the spa. Marsh’s love of her home country and her sensitivity and respect for the Maori culture is beautifully portrayed in this book. While tolerating the settlers, the Maoris are concerned to protect their ancient lands, their traditions, and their artefacts which Questing seems determined to dig up and sell for gain.
The Maoris hold a concert in honour of the great thespian at which he reprises his favourite roles. On his way back to the spa he disappears. Investigations reveal shifting alibis and more than enough reasons for most of the party to have killed him. The culprit is really only one of two it could possibly have been, if Marsh has played fair with the clues, although their movements and motives take some working out. Part of the key to resolving the mystery is red-green colour vision deficiency, to give its medical name and which is hinted at in the book’s title.
This is a little different from a straightforward detective novel and none the poorer for it. Marsh enjoys the opportunity to set the scene in a languid fashion, painting the country she loved and exploring the characters, frustrations, motivations, and jealousies of her suspects. I enjoyed it.
