What do you think?
Rate this book
Roderick Alleyn #15
Swing, Brother, Swing
Red-hot jazz meets cold-blooded murder.
When Lord Pastern Bagott takes up with the hot music of Breezy Bellair and his Boys, his disapproving wife Cecile has more than usual to be unhappy about. The band's devastatingly handsome but roguish accordionist, Carlos Rivera, has taken a rather intense and mutual interest in her precious daughter Felicite. So when a bit of strange business goes awry and actually kills him, it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.
When Lord Pastern Bagott takes up with the hot music of Breezy Bellair and his Boys, his disapproving wife Cecile has more than usual to be unhappy about. The band's devastatingly handsome but roguish accordionist, Carlos Rivera, has taken a rather intense and mutual interest in her precious daughter Felicite. So when a bit of strange business goes awry and actually kills him, it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1949
285 people are currently reading
793 people want to read
About the author
Ngaio Marsh
223 books803 followersDame Ngaio Marsh, born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900, but she was born in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
Of all the "Great Ladies" of the English mystery's golden age, including Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh alone survived to publish in the 1980s. Over a fifty-year span, from 1932 to 1982, Marsh wrote thirty-two classic English detective novels, which gained international acclaim. She did not always see herself as a writer, but first planned a career as a painter.
Marsh's first novel, A MAN LAY DEAD (1934), which she wrote in London in 1931-32, introduced the detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn: a combination of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and a realistically depicted police official at work. Throughout the 1930s Marsh painted occasionally, wrote plays for local repertory societies in New Zealand, and published detective novels. In 1937 Marsh went to England for a period. Before going back to her home country, she spent six months travelling about Europe.
All her novels feature British CID detective Roderick Alleyn. Several novels feature Marsh's other loves, the theatre and painting. A number are set around theatrical productions (Enter a Murderer, Vintage Murder, Overture to Death, Opening Night, Death at the Dolphin, and Light Thickens), and two others are about actors off stage (Final Curtain and False Scent). Her short story "'I Can Find My Way Out" is also set around a theatrical production and is the earlier "Jupiter case" referred to in Opening Night. Alleyn marries a painter, Agatha Troy, whom he meets during an investigation (Artists in Crime), and who features in several later novels.
Series:
* Roderick Alleyn
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
March 29, 2024
Years ago I read several of Ngaio Marsh's detective stories featuring DCI Roderick Alleyn and remember really enjoying them; however, I had not read this one. I am a fan of the older British detective fiction and Marsh is well known for her talent. So what happened with this book? I still read Golden Age British mysteries and love them, so I can only think that she was having a bad day when she wrote it or maybe I was having a bad day!
The story is, frankly, ridiculous and I didn't like any of the characters. None were believable and one of the main characters was such a overused stereotype that he got on my nerves after the first chapter. Even Alleyn and Fox (his assistant) seemed off their stride. The method of the murder around which the story revolves seems totally impossible.
The story drug on too long and I'll be honest......I skipped part of it to find out the solution. Maybe I have lost my taste for Marsh's books but I don't think so. I guess every popular author has a bad book and this was one of Marsh's worst, IMO. I am going to re-read another of her books that I truly enjoyed several years ago and try to figure out if it was me or the author!
The story is, frankly, ridiculous and I didn't like any of the characters. None were believable and one of the main characters was such a overused stereotype that he got on my nerves after the first chapter. Even Alleyn and Fox (his assistant) seemed off their stride. The method of the murder around which the story revolves seems totally impossible.
The story drug on too long and I'll be honest......I skipped part of it to find out the solution. Maybe I have lost my taste for Marsh's books but I don't think so. I guess every popular author has a bad book and this was one of Marsh's worst, IMO. I am going to re-read another of her books that I truly enjoyed several years ago and try to figure out if it was me or the author!
May 28, 2015
I absolutely love British mysteries. True, they are not realistic: more an exercise in cerebration than realistic criminal investigation. It is a sort of magic trick-literary sleight of hand. We try to guess - without success - "whodunit"; and we are delighted when in the last chapter, the detective tells us how the trick was performed.
Ngaio Marsh is one of queens of British crime fiction, up there with the likes of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and P.D.James. And she writes much of the same type of mystery. A murder takes place in a closed setting, with just the right amount of suspects to make it interesting and a victim against whom everybody has a grudge. I confess that, being a diehard Christie fan, I neglected most of the other mystery writers during my youth, and am just now discovering Ms. Marsh.
A Wreath for Rivera is the classic British Crime story at its best. There is the eccentric peer, who wants to play drums in the jazz band and is the prime suspect; the sleazy Mexican piano-accordionist in the same band who wants to marry his stepdaughter but unfortunately ends up on the slab; the French wife of the Lord who wants to protect her flighty daughter from the villainous libertine; and the obligatory love triangle. The action is played out during a single night and day, and the novel sizzles ahead. It's an incredibly fast read.
I had a complaint against an earlier novel by Ngaio Marsh that I saw the solution coming, so I felt let down, even though the story was good. Well, here she has redeemed herself. The thing was staring me in the face, but the red herrings were so good that slowly the eye was taken away from the hand - the classical trick of magicians. So in the end when all was revealed, I was kicking myself for not seeing it: in fact, I had considered the possibility in the beginning, but discarded it as the story progressed.
I confess this is not much of a review, but I cannot go further without revealing secrets. And I have not mastered the method hiding spoilers in-between.
Ngaio Marsh is one of queens of British crime fiction, up there with the likes of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and P.D.James. And she writes much of the same type of mystery. A murder takes place in a closed setting, with just the right amount of suspects to make it interesting and a victim against whom everybody has a grudge. I confess that, being a diehard Christie fan, I neglected most of the other mystery writers during my youth, and am just now discovering Ms. Marsh.
A Wreath for Rivera is the classic British Crime story at its best. There is the eccentric peer, who wants to play drums in the jazz band and is the prime suspect; the sleazy Mexican piano-accordionist in the same band who wants to marry his stepdaughter but unfortunately ends up on the slab; the French wife of the Lord who wants to protect her flighty daughter from the villainous libertine; and the obligatory love triangle. The action is played out during a single night and day, and the novel sizzles ahead. It's an incredibly fast read.
I had a complaint against an earlier novel by Ngaio Marsh that I saw the solution coming, so I felt let down, even though the story was good. Well, here she has redeemed herself. The thing was staring me in the face, but the red herrings were so good that slowly the eye was taken away from the hand - the classical trick of magicians. So in the end when all was revealed, I was kicking myself for not seeing it: in fact, I had considered the possibility in the beginning, but discarded it as the story progressed.
I confess this is not much of a review, but I cannot go further without revealing secrets. And I have not mastered the method hiding spoilers in-between.
February 21, 2019
Published in 1949, this is the fifteenth in the Inspector Alleyn series. It centres around an eccentric peer, Lord Pastern and Bagott, who launches himself from one fad to another. His latest obsession involves joining Breezy Bellairs, the leader of a swing band, whose piano accordanist, the oily (of course!), Carlos Rivera, is making a play for his step-daughter, Felicite, known as Fee.
With Lord Pastern’s long suffering wife, Cecile, back in attendance, after a long separation – although mainly as Lord Pastern’s obsession with Swing music, has led him back to London, where she was residing, and her deep resistance to Rivera’s attentions towards her daughter, tensions are rife. The solution seems to involve inviting Carlisle, Lord Pastern’s niece, and well regarded by Cecile, to stay with the family – a move welcomed by both Cecile and her husband. Edward Manx, a writer, and Lord Pastern’s cousin, also joins the house party.
Of course, what evolves, are various rows, emotional attachments, scenes and, eventually, murder. A bizarre stunt to shoot Rivera onstage, during one of Lord Pastern’s songs, results in a real death, with Alleyn and Troy, at the next table. Although it stretches credulity that Alleyn – and, indeed, his wife – would wish to spend the evening watching Breezy Bellairs and the Boys, it puts them on the scene and allows him to investigate with the help of the stolid Fox and a late entrance by journalist, Nigel Bathgate. This mystery involves an annoyingly eccentric peer, murder, blackmail and drugs, as well as a side story about who is secretly responsible for the agony page in a magazine.
Although this novel does feature some nice moments – there is a lovely scene where Fox discovers he is to be a godfather, for example, much of this mystery is a bit of a flat squib. It loses focus and doesn’t use characters well. Carlisle, in particular, who is a foil for much of the plot, seems to have her story unresolved at the end. Marsh does not ‘wrap up,’ her books as well as Christie, who was always adept at gathering all of the characters, however minor, and resolving their stories satisfactorily. Still, I am enjoying her books and will continue the series.
Rated 3.5
With Lord Pastern’s long suffering wife, Cecile, back in attendance, after a long separation – although mainly as Lord Pastern’s obsession with Swing music, has led him back to London, where she was residing, and her deep resistance to Rivera’s attentions towards her daughter, tensions are rife. The solution seems to involve inviting Carlisle, Lord Pastern’s niece, and well regarded by Cecile, to stay with the family – a move welcomed by both Cecile and her husband. Edward Manx, a writer, and Lord Pastern’s cousin, also joins the house party.
Of course, what evolves, are various rows, emotional attachments, scenes and, eventually, murder. A bizarre stunt to shoot Rivera onstage, during one of Lord Pastern’s songs, results in a real death, with Alleyn and Troy, at the next table. Although it stretches credulity that Alleyn – and, indeed, his wife – would wish to spend the evening watching Breezy Bellairs and the Boys, it puts them on the scene and allows him to investigate with the help of the stolid Fox and a late entrance by journalist, Nigel Bathgate. This mystery involves an annoyingly eccentric peer, murder, blackmail and drugs, as well as a side story about who is secretly responsible for the agony page in a magazine.
Although this novel does feature some nice moments – there is a lovely scene where Fox discovers he is to be a godfather, for example, much of this mystery is a bit of a flat squib. It loses focus and doesn’t use characters well. Carlisle, in particular, who is a foil for much of the plot, seems to have her story unresolved at the end. Marsh does not ‘wrap up,’ her books as well as Christie, who was always adept at gathering all of the characters, however minor, and resolving their stories satisfactorily. Still, I am enjoying her books and will continue the series.
Rated 3.5
December 27, 2016
Disappointing. This one sort of encapsulates a lot of what is sometimes wrong with these for me.
Fox and Alleyn are their usual charming selves, but there's too little of them, and they show up to late. And everyone else who is involved in the mystery is annoying.
Basically, this centres around a ridiculously eccentric English Peer. His family/friends get called together, because his step-daughter is about to make an unfortunate engagement, and he's decided to take up with a Jazz/Swing band. Then at the concert, the daugther's almost-fiance (though they had just broken it off) is killed, apparently by the crazy Peer.
The mystery itself is actually not that bad. It's just that everyone involved is kind of annoying and hateful. The dead almost-fiance is the worst... constantly jealous, and making threats, and just, whatever. I have never understood the attraction to that type. The step-daughter (Felicity) is self-centred, and overly emotional, and just kind of obnoxious. Her mother is really rigid. The Peer himself is crazy-pants
And the less said about the band itself, the better.
The only point of interest in this is the secondary romance, which is between two cousins from opposite sides of the family (they're not at all related). They've always been close. They're by far the most sensible characters (apart from Alleyn and Fox). Their interactions are charming. The terrible almost-fiance starts flirting with the female cousin (Carlisle) for a while to try and make Felicity jealous (I know, right? What a prize!). The only notable effects this has are to make Felicity super-catty and to make the other cousin (Ned) sit up and take notice. And then Feelings-Related Realizations are had by both Ned and Carlisle. And it had the potential to be super charming.
Except then
That's right, the final resolution happens off-page. Given that Ned and Carlisle were the only two characters in whom I had even the slightest interest for most of the book, that is not good enough. I'm not saying the romance needs to take over the story, but if there's going to be a secondary romance in every single one of these things, then there at least needs to be some sort of payoff at the end.
It doesn't need to be extensive, but I'm going to at least need to see the resolution.
As it stands, I found this one a bit of a mess. I mean, kudos for making me care about two of the characters, but fail on dropping that narrative ball in the end. Seriously, if you're going to have a romance as a major sub-plot of your novel (and it is a fairly major plot point), you need to end the story. Telling the reader the two characters are going to actually talk (and one assumes) work it out is completely ineffective.
As it stands, this supports my general contention that romantic relationships are not NM's strong suit. (Which again is mostly problematic because there's a secondary relationship in almost every one of these)
Fox and Alleyn are their usual charming selves, but there's too little of them, and they show up to late. And everyone else who is involved in the mystery is annoying.
Basically, this centres around a ridiculously eccentric English Peer. His family/friends get called together, because his step-daughter is about to make an unfortunate engagement, and he's decided to take up with a Jazz/Swing band. Then at the concert, the daugther's almost-fiance (though they had just broken it off) is killed, apparently by the crazy Peer.
The mystery itself is actually not that bad. It's just that everyone involved is kind of annoying and hateful. The dead almost-fiance is the worst... constantly jealous, and making threats, and just, whatever. I have never understood the attraction to that type. The step-daughter (Felicity) is self-centred, and overly emotional, and just kind of obnoxious. Her mother is really rigid. The Peer himself is crazy-pants
And the less said about the band itself, the better.
The only point of interest in this is the secondary romance, which is between two cousins from opposite sides of the family (they're not at all related). They've always been close. They're by far the most sensible characters (apart from Alleyn and Fox). Their interactions are charming. The terrible almost-fiance starts flirting with the female cousin (Carlisle) for a while to try and make Felicity jealous (I know, right? What a prize!). The only notable effects this has are to make Felicity super-catty and to make the other cousin (Ned) sit up and take notice. And then Feelings-Related Realizations are had by both Ned and Carlisle. And it had the potential to be super charming.
Except then
That's right, the final resolution happens off-page. Given that Ned and Carlisle were the only two characters in whom I had even the slightest interest for most of the book, that is not good enough. I'm not saying the romance needs to take over the story, but if there's going to be a secondary romance in every single one of these things, then there at least needs to be some sort of payoff at the end.
It doesn't need to be extensive, but I'm going to at least need to see the resolution.
As it stands, I found this one a bit of a mess. I mean, kudos for making me care about two of the characters, but fail on dropping that narrative ball in the end. Seriously, if you're going to have a romance as a major sub-plot of your novel (and it is a fairly major plot point), you need to end the story. Telling the reader the two characters are going to actually talk (and one assumes) work it out is completely ineffective.
As it stands, this supports my general contention that romantic relationships are not NM's strong suit. (Which again is mostly problematic because there's a secondary relationship in almost every one of these)
June 2, 2019
I enjoy the Chief Inspector Alleyn mysteries very much. The series, by Ngaio Marsh is right there with other classic mystery series; like those by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Elizabeth Daly, amongst others. I've read 7 or 8 of the Alleyn books and they get better with each new story. A Wreath for Rivera, also written under the title (Swing Brother Swing) is the 15th Alleyn story. I'm reading it out of sequence as I've followed them in order for the most part, but it doesn't take away any of the enjoyment by reading this one now.
There are some details of Alleyn's private life with Agatha Troy that seem to have progressed but they don't play major parts in the story. We have here the story of the family of the Marquis of Pastern and Baggott, a strange and eccentric individual, heading to watch him play in a jazz band; one of his whims. There is a murder that takes place; one which Alleyn actually witnesses as he and Troy are also at the club.
The murder investigation, lead by Alleyn and his resolute and steady team; his right-hand man, Detective Inspector Fox and the others, is a methodical process and enjoyable to follow. Alleyn is the main character but Ngaio Marsh also provides a voice to Carlisle 'Lisle' Wayne, Lord Pastern's niece, who I liked very much.
It's a quirky story; the dialogue between Alleyn and Fox is excellent. They are obviously well-used to each other and have an excellent rapport. Lord Pastern is definitely eccentric and his family also have unique characteristics. The mystery is interesting, but at times, not as important as the development of the story, the investigation and the interactions between the characters. The ending was ultimately satisfying and I liked how it was resolved. As always, I enjoy this series very much and look forward to my next one. (3.5 stars)
There are some details of Alleyn's private life with Agatha Troy that seem to have progressed but they don't play major parts in the story. We have here the story of the family of the Marquis of Pastern and Baggott, a strange and eccentric individual, heading to watch him play in a jazz band; one of his whims. There is a murder that takes place; one which Alleyn actually witnesses as he and Troy are also at the club.
The murder investigation, lead by Alleyn and his resolute and steady team; his right-hand man, Detective Inspector Fox and the others, is a methodical process and enjoyable to follow. Alleyn is the main character but Ngaio Marsh also provides a voice to Carlisle 'Lisle' Wayne, Lord Pastern's niece, who I liked very much.
It's a quirky story; the dialogue between Alleyn and Fox is excellent. They are obviously well-used to each other and have an excellent rapport. Lord Pastern is definitely eccentric and his family also have unique characteristics. The mystery is interesting, but at times, not as important as the development of the story, the investigation and the interactions between the characters. The ending was ultimately satisfying and I liked how it was resolved. As always, I enjoy this series very much and look forward to my next one. (3.5 stars)
March 4, 2013
All build-up, then -- fizzle.
There's this crazy cast of (to me rather annoying and unlikable) characters: the family of rich eccentrics, lounge musicians, drug dealers, magazine columnists... and then once we get the relationships and plot all worked out, it's over. Disappointing. I felt bad for the one pleasant character, having to put up with selfish jerks, and gropey creeps and murder and then not even getting a denouement.
And I know Marsh stereotypes of Italians and "Latins" is par for the time, but it gets a tad irksome of you read more than one mystery with an Italian/Spanish/Latin American character in a row.
March 5, 2019
This one was just okay- I read it with the Reading the Detectives group, and I got the feeling nobody was thrilled with it.
Another dysfunctional family is at the center of the action - an eccentric peer, Lord Pastern, his estranged wife, her stepdaughter, and a couple cousins. I don’t mind the dysfunctional family - the last book we read had that in spades, but at least there was humor and some sympathetic characters. I couldn’t find one likable character here - well, maybe Carlisle, the cousin who gets caught in the middle of the family drama.
Lord Pastern is an obnoxious ass - he’s been through several extreme phases, from nudism to yoga to free love, and has now become obsessed with jazz music; he seems to relish dragging his aristocratic wife through embarrassing situations, and they have been living apart (wise of her, I thought). At the beginning of this book, they are back together and he’s taken up with a rather sleazy band leader who will let the peer perform with his band; after a cheesy, incomprehensible performance, one of the musicians lies dead, seemingly shot through the heart in front of the audience.
Once Inspector Alleyn (who happened to be in the audience) and Fox begin investigating, things improved- I do like their chemistry, and enjoy watching Fox work his magic interviewing the servants! We get an all too brief glimpse of Troy, and the happy news that Fox is to be a godfather - I hope to see more of her in our next Alleyn mystery next month. I will definitely continue with this series, and look forward to reading the earlier mysteries I missed - I prefer reading series in order to follow character development, but each book in the Inspector Alleyn series can be read as a stand-alone.
Another dysfunctional family is at the center of the action - an eccentric peer, Lord Pastern, his estranged wife, her stepdaughter, and a couple cousins. I don’t mind the dysfunctional family - the last book we read had that in spades, but at least there was humor and some sympathetic characters. I couldn’t find one likable character here - well, maybe Carlisle, the cousin who gets caught in the middle of the family drama.
Lord Pastern is an obnoxious ass - he’s been through several extreme phases, from nudism to yoga to free love, and has now become obsessed with jazz music; he seems to relish dragging his aristocratic wife through embarrassing situations, and they have been living apart (wise of her, I thought). At the beginning of this book, they are back together and he’s taken up with a rather sleazy band leader who will let the peer perform with his band; after a cheesy, incomprehensible performance, one of the musicians lies dead, seemingly shot through the heart in front of the audience.
Once Inspector Alleyn (who happened to be in the audience) and Fox begin investigating, things improved- I do like their chemistry, and enjoy watching Fox work his magic interviewing the servants! We get an all too brief glimpse of Troy, and the happy news that Fox is to be a godfather - I hope to see more of her in our next Alleyn mystery next month. I will definitely continue with this series, and look forward to reading the earlier mysteries I missed - I prefer reading series in order to follow character development, but each book in the Inspector Alleyn series can be read as a stand-alone.
September 23, 2022
Fifteenth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series about a Scotland Yard detective. Set in London in the late 1940s, the focus is on an eccentric peer and his new passion as a tympanist. It was originally published in 1949.
My Take
Okayyy . . . Swing, Brother, Swing takes off with a metaphorical bang with Marsh using third person global subjective point-of-view, so we learn the thoughts, emotions, and actions of a number of characters.
Lord Pastern and Bagott is an idiosyncratic nutcase, who embraces passions one after another, from yoga, nudism, free love, a religion that embraced total immersion baptism, giving up his title, Theosophy, and more. His marriage has been a pattern of break-ups one after the other. Each followed by a reconciliation.
Sounds like George's dance steps are just like him, changeable on a whim with odd variations and eccentricities. The darling of the penny press, George keeps them in scandalous news that affronts his family and his peers. George does keep life interesting. Now that Alleyn is interviewing, George keeps to the truth, but slanted in such a way as to make himself look guilty. He helps this along by keeping back some of that truth simply because he wants to look guilty. He really was a jerk, even if he did make the story more interesting.
George is so inconsiderate of others and doesn't seem to understand how his actions affect others. Although . . . the end seems to turn this all on its head. But that bit where he insists that Syd be fired!? What a jerk. Of course, part of it is Breezy's fault. That one is so greedy! Then you get towards the end and everything turns on its head with several characters! Ya gotta love George!
Hmm, sounds like Félicité's upbringing has made her the drama-seeking person she is today. She's terrified of her current situation and yet she embraces it. I can easily see why no one in the family likes Rivera. He is an excess of emotion and what's good for the gander is not acceptable for the goose. He's so obnoxious and then he complains that his reception is unsympathetic.
One of the interesting aspects of reading vintage stories is what people did back then for entertainment. No radio. No TV. No recorded music. No video games, lol. Instead they went out to nightclubs, dancing, enjoying live music, performing skits and singing in their own homes.
Breezy's idea of the band members performing crazy music and doing stunts to keep the audience enthralled sounds like fun. I do like the magazine, Harmony, not fearing to expose wrongdoings and saying what it thinks. The storytelling game, novelettes, between Carlisle and Edward was fun, a good cognitive exercise, lol. Cecile makes a pithy comment about how war changes a man's views.
Then when it comes to the actual investigation, people are keeping secrets. It's the human condition to keep secrets, no matter what.
Fox has his specialty that Alleyn uses ruthlessly, and it's such fun. It's true what they say — the servants know everything. It appears that Manx has his own plans as well, and they're quite practical for a man with his Leftist leanings.
It's a combination of action and character with that look into the morals, mores, and cultural of that time period.
Good fun and a great read.
The Story
Between Félicité and George, the Pastern and Bagotts are upsetting life for everyone! Especially George, since he's the one who introduced Fée to Carlos, the piano accordionist who performs with Breezy Bellair and his Boys.
Then a bit of strange business goes awry and actually kills him, so it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is an aristocrat who chose to become a policeman. He's married to Agatha Troy, who is a famous painter. And she's pregnant! Sir George Alleyn had been Roddy's father who had been a friend of Cecile's family. Nigel Bathgate is a journalist friend of Alleyn's; he's employed by the Evening Chronicle.
Scotland Yard
Alleyn's team includes Inspector Fox; Dr Curtis, who is the police surgeon; Detective Sergeant (DS) Thompson is the photographer; and, DS Bailey specializes in fingerprints. More coppers include DS Gibson, DS Stott/Scott, DS Watson, DS Sallis, Sergeant Whitelaw, DS Jimson, and DS Marks. Bob is tailing Manx. Captain Entwhistle is the ballistics expert. Mr Carrick is a government analyst. Sir Grandy Morton is a famous pathologist.
Duke's Gate is . . .
. . . the Pastern and Bagott home in London where Cecile, Lady Pastern and Bagott née de Fouteaux, formerly de Suze, a stately, conservative woman who is on her second marriage, lives. Félicité de Suze is her daughter, George's stepdaughter. A supreme egoist, George Settinjer, Marquis of Pastern and Bagott, leaps from passion to passion, especially if it's outrageous for a peer of the realm. He currently embraces the tympani and writing music. Carlisle "Lisle" Wayne is Cecile's niece. The Honorable Edward Manx, a dramatic critic who does some writing for Harmony, is Cecile's second cousin.
Petronella Xantiappe "Hendy" Henderson had been Félicité's governess and now serves as secretary-companion to her and Cecile. Spence is the butler. Miss Parker is the housekeeper. Other servants include Madamoiselle Hortense; Mary, who is a parlourmaid; Myrtle; Monsieur Dupont; and, William, who is a footman. Clochemere is Pastern and Bagott's country estate. Desirée is Cecile's sister.
Breezy Bellairs is the popular band leader — a big noise along with his boys. The passionate and jealous Carlos da Rivera plays a piano accordion and claims to be from an aristocratic family in Argentina. (One of his aunts is Donna Isabella da Manuelos-Rivera and an uncle is Señor Alonza da Manuelos-Rivera who had a post at the embassy in Paris.) Syd Skelton is the tympanist. Happy Hart is the pianist. There are also four saxophonists and a double-bass.
The Metronome is a popular club where Breezy's band plays. Caesar Bonn is the manager, a shareholder, and the maître de café. David Hahn is the secretary. Dr Allington was in the audience.
The Harmony is . . .
. . . a monthly magazine that includes "The Helping Hand", a popular advice column that operates via the Personal Chat, 5 bob for a Private Chat, and is written by GPF, a.k.a. G.P. Friend, a.k.a. Guide, Philosopher, Friend.
Others mentioned include Lady Dartmoor, Mr Jeremy Thringle, Miss Penelope Santon-Clarke, and Captain Anthony Barr-Barr. Other bands that concern Breezy include The Royal Flush Swingsters, Bones Flanagan and His Merry Mixers, and the Percy Personalities. The Jivesters is another band that plays at the Metronome. Other clubs include Carmarelli's, Stein, and the Lotus Tree. Snowy Santos is a South American drug gang.
The Cover and Title
The primary color of the cover is a warm blue-gray with Marsh's signature style using a gradated "box" on the top half with the darker blending to the lighter in the center to showcase the title in a very slight gradient of white to pale gray blue. Across the middle is the stretched banner in a pale gray with the author's name in her signature art deco font of really dark blue-gray, its textured lines, and the glowing white shadow. Coming up from the bottom are one-sided scalloped lines in white raying out to the sides with their own gradients in between. The central graphic is a set of drums in green and copper. Spanning the scalloped rays is an arched banner in a pale blue-gray with the series info in a lighter blue-gray.
The title refers to George's latest passion with the band when they Swing, Brother, Swing.
My Take
Okayyy . . . Swing, Brother, Swing takes off with a metaphorical bang with Marsh using third person global subjective point-of-view, so we learn the thoughts, emotions, and actions of a number of characters.
Lord Pastern and Bagott is an idiosyncratic nutcase, who embraces passions one after another, from yoga, nudism, free love, a religion that embraced total immersion baptism, giving up his title, Theosophy, and more. His marriage has been a pattern of break-ups one after the other. Each followed by a reconciliation.
Sounds like George's dance steps are just like him, changeable on a whim with odd variations and eccentricities. The darling of the penny press, George keeps them in scandalous news that affronts his family and his peers. George does keep life interesting. Now that Alleyn is interviewing, George keeps to the truth, but slanted in such a way as to make himself look guilty. He helps this along by keeping back some of that truth simply because he wants to look guilty. He really was a jerk, even if he did make the story more interesting.
George is so inconsiderate of others and doesn't seem to understand how his actions affect others. Although . . . the end seems to turn this all on its head. But that bit where he insists that Syd be fired!? What a jerk. Of course, part of it is Breezy's fault. That one is so greedy! Then you get towards the end and everything turns on its head with several characters! Ya gotta love George!
Hmm, sounds like Félicité's upbringing has made her the drama-seeking person she is today. She's terrified of her current situation and yet she embraces it. I can easily see why no one in the family likes Rivera. He is an excess of emotion and what's good for the gander is not acceptable for the goose. He's so obnoxious and then he complains that his reception is unsympathetic.
One of the interesting aspects of reading vintage stories is what people did back then for entertainment. No radio. No TV. No recorded music. No video games, lol. Instead they went out to nightclubs, dancing, enjoying live music, performing skits and singing in their own homes.
Breezy's idea of the band members performing crazy music and doing stunts to keep the audience enthralled sounds like fun. I do like the magazine, Harmony, not fearing to expose wrongdoings and saying what it thinks. The storytelling game, novelettes, between Carlisle and Edward was fun, a good cognitive exercise, lol. Cecile makes a pithy comment about how war changes a man's views.
Then when it comes to the actual investigation, people are keeping secrets. It's the human condition to keep secrets, no matter what.
Fox has his specialty that Alleyn uses ruthlessly, and it's such fun. It's true what they say — the servants know everything. It appears that Manx has his own plans as well, and they're quite practical for a man with his Leftist leanings.
It's a combination of action and character with that look into the morals, mores, and cultural of that time period.
Good fun and a great read.
The Story
Between Félicité and George, the Pastern and Bagotts are upsetting life for everyone! Especially George, since he's the one who introduced Fée to Carlos, the piano accordionist who performs with Breezy Bellair and his Boys.
Then a bit of strange business goes awry and actually kills him, so it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is an aristocrat who chose to become a policeman. He's married to Agatha Troy, who is a famous painter. And she's pregnant! Sir George Alleyn had been Roddy's father who had been a friend of Cecile's family. Nigel Bathgate is a journalist friend of Alleyn's; he's employed by the Evening Chronicle.
Scotland Yard
Alleyn's team includes Inspector Fox; Dr Curtis, who is the police surgeon; Detective Sergeant (DS) Thompson is the photographer; and, DS Bailey specializes in fingerprints. More coppers include DS Gibson, DS Stott/Scott, DS Watson, DS Sallis, Sergeant Whitelaw, DS Jimson, and DS Marks. Bob is tailing Manx. Captain Entwhistle is the ballistics expert. Mr Carrick is a government analyst. Sir Grandy Morton is a famous pathologist.
Duke's Gate is . . .
. . . the Pastern and Bagott home in London where Cecile, Lady Pastern and Bagott née de Fouteaux, formerly de Suze, a stately, conservative woman who is on her second marriage, lives. Félicité de Suze is her daughter, George's stepdaughter. A supreme egoist, George Settinjer, Marquis of Pastern and Bagott, leaps from passion to passion, especially if it's outrageous for a peer of the realm. He currently embraces the tympani and writing music. Carlisle "Lisle" Wayne is Cecile's niece. The Honorable Edward Manx, a dramatic critic who does some writing for Harmony, is Cecile's second cousin.
Petronella Xantiappe "Hendy" Henderson had been Félicité's governess and now serves as secretary-companion to her and Cecile. Spence is the butler. Miss Parker is the housekeeper. Other servants include Madamoiselle Hortense; Mary, who is a parlourmaid; Myrtle; Monsieur Dupont; and, William, who is a footman. Clochemere is Pastern and Bagott's country estate. Desirée is Cecile's sister.
Breezy Bellairs is the popular band leader — a big noise along with his boys. The passionate and jealous Carlos da Rivera plays a piano accordion and claims to be from an aristocratic family in Argentina. (One of his aunts is Donna Isabella da Manuelos-Rivera and an uncle is Señor Alonza da Manuelos-Rivera who had a post at the embassy in Paris.) Syd Skelton is the tympanist. Happy Hart is the pianist. There are also four saxophonists and a double-bass.
The Metronome is a popular club where Breezy's band plays. Caesar Bonn is the manager, a shareholder, and the maître de café. David Hahn is the secretary. Dr Allington was in the audience.
The Harmony is . . .
. . . a monthly magazine that includes "The Helping Hand", a popular advice column that operates via the Personal Chat, 5 bob for a Private Chat, and is written by GPF, a.k.a. G.P. Friend, a.k.a. Guide, Philosopher, Friend.
Others mentioned include Lady Dartmoor, Mr Jeremy Thringle, Miss Penelope Santon-Clarke, and Captain Anthony Barr-Barr. Other bands that concern Breezy include The Royal Flush Swingsters, Bones Flanagan and His Merry Mixers, and the Percy Personalities. The Jivesters is another band that plays at the Metronome. Other clubs include Carmarelli's, Stein, and the Lotus Tree. Snowy Santos is a South American drug gang.
The Cover and Title
The primary color of the cover is a warm blue-gray with Marsh's signature style using a gradated "box" on the top half with the darker blending to the lighter in the center to showcase the title in a very slight gradient of white to pale gray blue. Across the middle is the stretched banner in a pale gray with the author's name in her signature art deco font of really dark blue-gray, its textured lines, and the glowing white shadow. Coming up from the bottom are one-sided scalloped lines in white raying out to the sides with their own gradients in between. The central graphic is a set of drums in green and copper. Spanning the scalloped rays is an arched banner in a pale blue-gray with the series info in a lighter blue-gray.
The title refers to George's latest passion with the band when they Swing, Brother, Swing.
March 22, 2020
Lord George Pastern, renowned for extreme eccentricity, seems to have finally lost his sanity when he builds up a murder case against himself. Lord Pastern has gotten into jazz and playing the drums convincing Breezy Bellair to let him do a special piece with Bellair’s famous jazz band. They do a musical number in which they intend to use a revolver and blanks. However, neither Lord Pastern nor Carlos Rivera, the villainous accordionist star of the band who has given an ultimatum to George’s step-daughter, Felicite, to announce their engagement, can agree on who will pretend to fall over dead. At the time of the performance, Rivera unexpectedly falls over despite the group’s decision to do the other routine. When Bellair bends over the musician as part of the act, he looks concerned and gets the ushers to carry Rivera out, only for the man to die before the doctor in the audience can reach him. Inspector Alleyn and Fox encounter jazz, drugs and a gossip magazine clashing with a dysfunctional society family.
July 24, 2019
A Wreath for Rivera (1st pub as Swing Brother Swing; 1949) by Ngaio Marsh finds Lord Pastern & Bagott, the very model of eccentric British aristocracy taking up jazz drumming (or becoming a tympanist, according to Marsh). His eccentric nature has reminded Curtis at the Passing Tramp of real-life eccentric Lord Berners and he (Curtis) makes a good case for Marsh using Lord Berners as a model*. Lord Pastern--to use the abbreviated form--has in the past been involved with Indian yogis, VooDoo, and nudism to name a few of his eclectic pursuits. He has forced his wife to share her home with members of an esoteric Central European sect. She has, by turns, indulged him (initially), threatened to divorce him, generally lived separately, and more recently reunited with him. She found that once the Central Europeans vacated Duke's Gate (where she had lived apart from Lord Pastern) that she could not endure the quiet. So, when her husband decided to bang away at drums, she welcomed the noise and him to Duke's Gate.
His latest passion is to perform with an actual jazz band and he convinces Breezy Bellairs to let him join Breezy Bellairs' Boys for a feature number at the Metronome club. He's even written a little song and devised a pretty little skit to go along with the number. He'll bang away at the drums and then Carlos Rivera, Breezy's star piano-accordionist, will come out and get shot (with blanks). It will be a real show stopper. Of course, Rivera is a quite unsuitable young man who has gotten entangled with Lord Pastern's step-daughter Félicité (Fée)and Lady Pastern wants the relationship quashed at all costs. When somebody loads the gun with something more deadly than blanks, she gets her wish. In spades.
Naturally, it winds up that all sorts of people might have wanted Rivera out of the way. He was putting pressure on Breezy. Other members of the band were a bit fed up with him. He flirted incessantly with Lord Pastern's niece Carlisle much to Félicité's annoyance (intended) as well as to Ned (Edward) Manx's--who has just discovered that he loves Lisle. But who hated or feared him enough to kill?
Luckily, Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience when Lord Pastern's "Hot Guy" number produces one very cold corpse. He and Fox will have to wade through musicians' jealousies, a traces of drug-dealing, a hint of blackmail, and a side-issue of the real identity of a famous agony columnist before they collar the murderer.
I think what I enjoyed most about this was the eccentricity. It may seem a bit over-the-top viewing it from today--but Lord Pastern's mad fads, Lady Pastern's holding on to her aristocratic roots in the post-war era, the silliness of the "Hot Guy" number (as proposed--not how it transpired) all create a certain atmosphere that could only take place in this book. I was glad that despite the fact that I know I must have read this back in the mists of time (when I was making my through every Marsh book my hometown library had on offer), I remembered nothing of the plot. So--although I spotted one portion of the solution I couldn't quite see how it had been managed.
One out-of-the-way thing that struck me--particularly because I've been listening to Sayers' Whose Body on audio while roaming about in the car--is that calling one's friends and colleagues by odd little endearments must have been quite a thing in Golden Age/classic mysteries. At one point, when Fox says this case may be like the "Purloined Letter," Alleyn responds with: "Fox, my cabbage, my rare edition, my objet d'art, my own special bit of bijouterie, be damned if I don't think you've caught an idea." Lord Peter throws such things about when addressing Parker and Bunter at various points. Now, if I can remember, I'm going to have to pay attention when I read others and see if this is a pattern beyond Alleyn and Wimsey....
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
His latest passion is to perform with an actual jazz band and he convinces Breezy Bellairs to let him join Breezy Bellairs' Boys for a feature number at the Metronome club. He's even written a little song and devised a pretty little skit to go along with the number. He'll bang away at the drums and then Carlos Rivera, Breezy's star piano-accordionist, will come out and get shot (with blanks). It will be a real show stopper. Of course, Rivera is a quite unsuitable young man who has gotten entangled with Lord Pastern's step-daughter Félicité (Fée)and Lady Pastern wants the relationship quashed at all costs. When somebody loads the gun with something more deadly than blanks, she gets her wish. In spades.
Naturally, it winds up that all sorts of people might have wanted Rivera out of the way. He was putting pressure on Breezy. Other members of the band were a bit fed up with him. He flirted incessantly with Lord Pastern's niece Carlisle much to Félicité's annoyance (intended) as well as to Ned (Edward) Manx's--who has just discovered that he loves Lisle. But who hated or feared him enough to kill?
Luckily, Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience when Lord Pastern's "Hot Guy" number produces one very cold corpse. He and Fox will have to wade through musicians' jealousies, a traces of drug-dealing, a hint of blackmail, and a side-issue of the real identity of a famous agony columnist before they collar the murderer.
I think what I enjoyed most about this was the eccentricity. It may seem a bit over-the-top viewing it from today--but Lord Pastern's mad fads, Lady Pastern's holding on to her aristocratic roots in the post-war era, the silliness of the "Hot Guy" number (as proposed--not how it transpired) all create a certain atmosphere that could only take place in this book. I was glad that despite the fact that I know I must have read this back in the mists of time (when I was making my through every Marsh book my hometown library had on offer), I remembered nothing of the plot. So--although I spotted one portion of the solution I couldn't quite see how it had been managed.
One out-of-the-way thing that struck me--particularly because I've been listening to Sayers' Whose Body on audio while roaming about in the car--is that calling one's friends and colleagues by odd little endearments must have been quite a thing in Golden Age/classic mysteries. At one point, when Fox says this case may be like the "Purloined Letter," Alleyn responds with: "Fox, my cabbage, my rare edition, my objet d'art, my own special bit of bijouterie, be damned if I don't think you've caught an idea." Lord Peter throws such things about when addressing Parker and Bunter at various points. Now, if I can remember, I'm going to have to pay attention when I read others and see if this is a pattern beyond Alleyn and Wimsey....
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
January 17, 2010
A highly enjoyable, riveting mystery, right up there with Night at the Vulcan as one of my favourite Marsh novels. I had almost given up on finding another book of hers that so perfectly balanced an interesting ensemble of characters, a puzzling mystery and slight romance until I picked this up.
The characters here are probably the highlight, as well as Alleyn's constant presence. The mystery here is also very much a focus, unlike some of Marsh's other novels where it's almost an afterthought. Marsh has an effortless talent for setting the scene and revealing her characters' personalities and physical description without making an infodump.
The complex relationships between the characters are very cleverly revealed through the dialogue in a few scenes; the growth of the relationship between Carlisle and Edward is particularly interesting as it unfolds, almost accidentally.
My only complaint is that unlike Night at the Vulcan, this story did not have as satisfying an ending as I thought it ought to. Alleyn succeeds in his unmasking, but more closure regarding Edward and Carlisle, as well as a resolving of misunderstandings between them, Felicite and Lord and Lady Pastern would have been highly preferred. What we have is only a hint that at least Edward would make up with Carlisle, but little else.
The characters here are probably the highlight, as well as Alleyn's constant presence. The mystery here is also very much a focus, unlike some of Marsh's other novels where it's almost an afterthought. Marsh has an effortless talent for setting the scene and revealing her characters' personalities and physical description without making an infodump.
The complex relationships between the characters are very cleverly revealed through the dialogue in a few scenes; the growth of the relationship between Carlisle and Edward is particularly interesting as it unfolds, almost accidentally.
My only complaint is that unlike Night at the Vulcan, this story did not have as satisfying an ending as I thought it ought to. Alleyn succeeds in his unmasking, but more closure regarding Edward and Carlisle, as well as a resolving of misunderstandings between them, Felicite and Lord and Lady Pastern would have been highly preferred. What we have is only a hint that at least Edward would make up with Carlisle, but little else.
May 27, 2010
The more I reread Marsh the clearer her fascination with the aristocracy stands out. She cleverly plays her series protagonist, Alleyn, as disliking the ways in which the aristocracy treat him differently because he is one of their own -- and yet we are constantly being reminded of those things about Alleyn that are clear class markers.
As for the murderer itself -- Marsh sets out a scene in which various members of the aristocracy have a good reason to commit murder and then pawns off the actual murder on a member of a group the aristocracy despises.
As for the murderer itself -- Marsh sets out a scene in which various members of the aristocracy have a good reason to commit murder and then pawns off the actual murder on a member of a group the aristocracy despises.
April 25, 2019
A very disappointing Marsh, full of caricatures and unrealistic motivations.
May 2, 2018
First sentence: From Lady Pastern and Bagott to her niece by marriage, Miss Carlisle Wayne...
Premise/plot: Carlisle Wayne has been invited to visit by her aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Pastern and Bagott. Her eccentric uncle will be performing in a band, a jazz band, and it will be an experience. Whether it will be fun or a disaster remains to be seen. Also coming to witness the spectacle is Edward Manx, a family cousin. Lord and Lady Pastern would love for their daughter, Felicite, to marry Edward. Anyone would be preferable to her current love interest, Carlos Rivera. That love affair is a bit rocky. Or else Felicite wouldn't be writing the advice column of a local newspaper!
Lord Pastern's BIG debut does not quite go according to plan. The plan includes the firing of a gun and playacting. In actuality, a murder is committed in front of an audience. Will Roderick Alleyn and his team be able to solve the crime?
My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this one! (It is the third I've read in the series. I've also read A Man Lay Dead and The Final Curtain.) I couldn't help wanting a little more however. I was intrigued by Carlisle. I felt teased by Marsh. Was Carlisle in love with Edward? Was Edward in love with Carlisle? Had they been seeing each other? How close had they gotten? Was she jealous when her cousin started flirting with Edward seemingly out of the blue? Did they work out their misunderstanding? Did they end up together? I NEED TO KNOW. As for the solving of the crime, I had two suspects in mind. I don't know that the clues definitely led to just one firm suspect. In fact, most of the clues were only given to readers AFTER the case had been solved. The detectives had an excuse for that--but it was mighty convenient for the author.
Premise/plot: Carlisle Wayne has been invited to visit by her aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Pastern and Bagott. Her eccentric uncle will be performing in a band, a jazz band, and it will be an experience. Whether it will be fun or a disaster remains to be seen. Also coming to witness the spectacle is Edward Manx, a family cousin. Lord and Lady Pastern would love for their daughter, Felicite, to marry Edward. Anyone would be preferable to her current love interest, Carlos Rivera. That love affair is a bit rocky. Or else Felicite wouldn't be writing the advice column of a local newspaper!
Lord Pastern's BIG debut does not quite go according to plan. The plan includes the firing of a gun and playacting. In actuality, a murder is committed in front of an audience. Will Roderick Alleyn and his team be able to solve the crime?
My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this one! (It is the third I've read in the series. I've also read A Man Lay Dead and The Final Curtain.) I couldn't help wanting a little more however. I was intrigued by Carlisle. I felt teased by Marsh. Was Carlisle in love with Edward? Was Edward in love with Carlisle? Had they been seeing each other? How close had they gotten? Was she jealous when her cousin started flirting with Edward seemingly out of the blue? Did they work out their misunderstanding? Did they end up together? I NEED TO KNOW. As for the solving of the crime, I had two suspects in mind. I don't know that the clues definitely led to just one firm suspect. In fact, most of the clues were only given to readers AFTER the case had been solved. The detectives had an excuse for that--but it was mighty convenient for the author.
February 6, 2018
Ngaio Marsh enters the post-war years in 1949’s Swing, Brother, Swing, titled A Wreath for Rivera in America and still published under that name on my version of the audiobook. Lord George Pastern, renowned for extreme eccentricity, seems to have finally lost his sanity when he practically builds up a murder case against himself. Lord Pastern has gotten into jazz and playing the drums convincing Breezy Bellair to let him do a special piece with Bellair’s famous jazz band. They do a musical number in which they intend to use a revolver and blanks. However, neither Lord Pastern nor Carlos Rivera, the villainous accordionist star of the band who has given an ultimatum to George’s step-daughter, Felicite, to announce their engagement, can agree on who will pretend to fall over dead. At the time of the performance, Rivera unexpectedly falls over despite the group’s decision to do the other routine. When Bellair bends over the musician as part of the act, he looks concerned and gets the ushers to carry Rivera out, only for the man to die before the doctor in the audience can reach him.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
April 26, 2020
An entertaining read. Lord Pastern an eccentric character who has dabbled in nudism, yogi’s and to the horror of his snobby wife Cecile now playing drums in a jazz band. The jazz band in is popular and led by London bandleader Breezy Bellairs. The oily Latin American piano-accordionist Carlos Rivera is having an affair with Lord Pastern's stepdaughter Felicite ("Fee"). The resident drummer Sid Skelton loathes Lord Pastern who wants to replace him as the bands drummer. Skelton is an Australian Communist as well.
Alleyn and his wife Troy are at a performance when Carlos is killed. However, the audience think it’s part of the act when Lord shoots him with a revolver or does he. Lots of red herrings and throw in the mysterious agony aunt G.P.F., drugs, blackmail and you have a good read albeit formulaic.
Alleyn and his wife Troy are at a performance when Carlos is killed. However, the audience think it’s part of the act when Lord shoots him with a revolver or does he. Lots of red herrings and throw in the mysterious agony aunt G.P.F., drugs, blackmail and you have a good read albeit formulaic.
July 13, 2020
Rather a template Marsh whodunnit - eccentric peer and his aristocratic family, murder of the unlikeable outsider, theatrics and performance and a bit of Alleyn’s former Watson Nigel Bathgate thrown one for good measure... The fact it’s a bit of a Marsh template isn’t a criticism though, as she does it so well!
Favourite subjects of Marsh’s they may be, you start to sense a change in the post war years. There’s a slightly harsher treatment of the nobility. Alleyn’s edges are slightly rougher, you can’t help but think Marsh captures the mood of the times well.
An enjoyable and diverting read, not ground-breaking and no shock twists but worth a read nonetheless.
Favourite subjects of Marsh’s they may be, you start to sense a change in the post war years. There’s a slightly harsher treatment of the nobility. Alleyn’s edges are slightly rougher, you can’t help but think Marsh captures the mood of the times well.
An enjoyable and diverting read, not ground-breaking and no shock twists but worth a read nonetheless.
March 17, 2021
The murderer in this book uses perhaps the most ridiculously improbably murder method/weapon I've ever encountered in a novel. Overall, the plausibility of this whole book is very low indeed, even for a book of this sort. So it was a reasonably pleasurable and brainless read, but not up to March's usual standards, I think.
May 26, 2021
A little bit of everything in this book. An annoying family with an eccentric head of the family who has taken up with a band where he bangs his own drums. There’s drugs, boyfriends, music, journalism and more. And a murder. Did the metronome do it? Maybe the sombrero, or perhaps a disgruntled waiter? Fox and Alleyn are at their best.
April 25, 2022
Early Bird Book Deal | I've complained before about how Marsh tended toward creating annoying Eccentric Characters instead of interesting or realistic ones, and in this book they go beyond annoying to basically unreadable. Still, the book itself wasn't the worst of hers, as long as you can put up with the people.
February 18, 2018
Inspector Alleyn and Fox encounter jazz, drugs and a gossip magazine clashing with a dysfunctional society family.
March 8, 2019
Not my favorite. Slow beginning, unlikely murder method and confusing ending. Good visit with Alleyn, Fox and Troy however.
March 17, 2022
Not Marsh's best but still a decent mystery.
February 6, 2023
2.5
Narrated by James Saxon.
Performance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrated by James Saxon.
Performance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
September 16, 2022
Eccentric Lord Pastern and Baggot has found another way to get into the news. He is muscling his way into a popular band, as drummer. The accordionist has charmed Lord Pastern's stepdaughter, and his wife despises them all. They are both making use of various family members in their familial way, until the accordionist is killed and most people's problems are solved. In steps Inspector Alleyn.
I revisit this because I enjoy the people, family and detectives.
Read 4 times, listened 7 times
I revisit this because I enjoy the people, family and detectives.
Read 4 times, listened 7 times
January 1, 2025
This was a pretty good mystery. I thought I knew who had done it fairly early on (before the murder was even committed, I had my suspicions, which did turn out correct), but the method was confusing - it seemed like no one could have done it, then everyone, then no one again. I didn't find this one as mysterious but the characters were a little more likeable (or at least amusing) than in some of the other books in the series.
Again, Ngaio Marsh seems to be a big advocate of cousins marrying, which I find icky, and some of the language is terribly outdated (70 years old language on racial and ethnic identities, for example, does not endure well at all), but the actual plot and characters are quite interesting.
Again, Ngaio Marsh seems to be a big advocate of cousins marrying, which I find icky, and some of the language is terribly outdated (70 years old language on racial and ethnic identities, for example, does not endure well at all), but the actual plot and characters are quite interesting.
November 23, 2020
I liked the set up for this one and the cast of characters, but once Alleyn stepped in to solve the crime it got boring. We also never really got any sort of satisfying conclusion for anything else other than solving the mystery. What was the purpose of setting up all the backstory with the family involved, if nothing ever came of it?
July 11, 2017
This really should be 3 1/2 stars, because it's better than a 3 but not quite a 4. Mainly because so many of the characters were either unlikable or idiotic, I guess - I still enjoyed reading it again. An eccentric peer becomes a drummer with a swing band, and drags his family along for his solo debut in a piece he has composed. The band puts up with him primarily for the publicity, because his antics have made him popular with the press. His wife would like to divorce him, and does her best to put up with his antics for the sake of her daughter Felicite (Fee). A young cousin, Carlisle Wayne, is invited to visit them in hopes that she can talk some sense into Fee, who is enamored of Carlos Rivera, the rather oily accordionist in the band and definitely NOT what her mother has in mind for Fee. Another distant cousin Edward Manx, thinks he is in love with Carlisle and joins them at every opportunity. Rivera is killed with a rather odd weapon at the end of the showpiece, and Inspector Alleyn and his wife just happen to be in the audience. There is a sort of side 'mystery' about a man called G.P.F. who writes an agony column in the magazine Harmony, and another thread involving drugs. These all intertwine into the main mystery of Rivera's death. The idiotic peer seems determined to turn suspicion on himself, and everyone seems to be hiding something they don't want to tell the police. Poor Alleyn is very frustrated by all the idiocy, but manages to see his way through it with the help of Inspector Fox.
October 16, 2009
Another lovely Marsh cozy. Though this mystery was very far-fetched and didn't have a satisfying closure, I am in love with the way this woman writes. Describing a character; "She had the air of being encased in a transparent, closely fitting film that covered her head as well as her clothes and permitted no disturbance of her surface. She had the faultless diction and balanced phraseology of the foreigner who has perfect command but no love of the English language."
Or a woman who walks into a ballroom where she had spent time dancing at balls during her teen years before the war; "Carlisle repeopled the hollow room and felt again the curious fresh gaiety of that night. She felt the cord of her programme grow flossy under the nervous pressure of her gloved fingers. She saw the names written there and read them again in the choked print of casualty lists."
Or the phrase "patently bogus."
An astute observer of human character, Ms. Marsh was.
Or a woman who walks into a ballroom where she had spent time dancing at balls during her teen years before the war; "Carlisle repeopled the hollow room and felt again the curious fresh gaiety of that night. She felt the cord of her programme grow flossy under the nervous pressure of her gloved fingers. She saw the names written there and read them again in the choked print of casualty lists."
Or the phrase "patently bogus."
An astute observer of human character, Ms. Marsh was.
April 12, 2012
Classic British Golden Age whodunit with the added asperity of a Marsh novel. Unlike Christie, she spells out the people types with clearer language, not relying on the coded euphemisms as much as Christie does. Christie seems a tad too much upper crust while Marsh seems to enjoy varieties of people more, although she tends to stick to cults and theatre people along with flighty young beneficiaries of peers. In this book, I really hated Felicite - a high maintenance type.. .though Marsh is more charitable. I wanted her to be IT, but unfortunately, I guessed who IT was right away. No matter, these are loads of fun to read. Who will hook up with whom? What else will be revealed that everyone didn't know?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews