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Roderick Alleyn #11
Death and the Dancing Footman
The party's over when murder makes an entrance...
With the notion of bringing together the most bitter of enemies for his own amusement, a bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party. As a brutal snowstorm strands the unhappy guests, the party receives a most unwelcome visitor: death. Now the brilliant inspector Roderick Alleyn must step in to decipher who at the party is capable of cold-blooded murder...
With the notion of bringing together the most bitter of enemies for his own amusement, a bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party. As a brutal snowstorm strands the unhappy guests, the party receives a most unwelcome visitor: death. Now the brilliant inspector Roderick Alleyn must step in to decipher who at the party is capable of cold-blooded murder...
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1941
484 people are currently reading
1413 people want to read
About the author
Ngaio Marsh
223 books804 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 272 reviews
June 26, 2020
I absolutely loved this one and it was definitely my favourite of the bind up!
The set up to this murder mystery is so dramatic because of the fact that all of these characters have a history with one another. None of them like each other for very different reasons, and nearly all of them are keeping secrets too. All these people who don’t like each other and end up in the same house which somehow happens gets snowed in? It’s a murder mystery waiting to happen. And I was so here for all the drama that went down because of the past problems they had all had with each other.
It took a while for the murder to occur and for a character to die. But I was engrossed by this point because of the complex relations between all the characters, and it was nice that I couldn’t predict who was going to die. I wasn’t even able to predict whodunnit. The ending surprised me and I think everything was very cleverly set up.
There are a lot of characters but don’t let that deter you! You’ll get the hand of them all soon enough. I didn’t think the characters were likeable ones in the beginning, but slowly I came to love them all for different reasons. I loved William especially. I loved the snowed in house setting, and the detective did a great job solving the mystery. He did recite the facts a lot, to check he got everything straight, and it did get a tad repetitive – but that is only slightly. I guess it is something you need to do when cross checking facts.
Marsh is well on the way to becoming a favourite alongside Agatha Christie at this rate.
This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2020/0...
The set up to this murder mystery is so dramatic because of the fact that all of these characters have a history with one another. None of them like each other for very different reasons, and nearly all of them are keeping secrets too. All these people who don’t like each other and end up in the same house which somehow happens gets snowed in? It’s a murder mystery waiting to happen. And I was so here for all the drama that went down because of the past problems they had all had with each other.
It took a while for the murder to occur and for a character to die. But I was engrossed by this point because of the complex relations between all the characters, and it was nice that I couldn’t predict who was going to die. I wasn’t even able to predict whodunnit. The ending surprised me and I think everything was very cleverly set up.
There are a lot of characters but don’t let that deter you! You’ll get the hand of them all soon enough. I didn’t think the characters were likeable ones in the beginning, but slowly I came to love them all for different reasons. I loved William especially. I loved the snowed in house setting, and the detective did a great job solving the mystery. He did recite the facts a lot, to check he got everything straight, and it did get a tad repetitive – but that is only slightly. I guess it is something you need to do when cross checking facts.
Marsh is well on the way to becoming a favourite alongside Agatha Christie at this rate.
This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2020/0...
May 8, 2022
Written in 1942 the story is set in an isolated house in winter. The owner Jonathan is a nasty piece of work who invites a group of people who mostly hate each other to see what will happen.
Jonathan Royal likes trouble and invites people to a house party over a weekend who clearly do not like each other. There is the Compline family with the mother Sonia and her two sons, William who is devoted and Nicholas, her favorite. There is tension as William is engaged to another guest, Chloris Wynne, who was once engaged to Nicholas. No love lost between the brothers.
There are also two beauty therapists rivals. Sonia’s friend, Hersey Amblington who owns a beauty salon, and her business rival, Madame Elise Lise. Nicholas is possibly seeing Elise, but she came with a plastic surgeon named Dr. Francis Hart. He is hated by Sonia as he disfigured her face years ago destroyed in an operation that went wrong. It’s basically the weekend house party that is going to hell in a hand basket. To round off the party Jonathan has invited the play writer Aubrey Mandrake. Jonathan is a nasty piece of work and toxic. Of course someone is murdered and they are all trapped by a blizzard. The weapon for the murder is a Māori greenstone club which is a nice touch to Ngaio Marsh New Zealand roots.
The red herrings are good but the person with the biggest motive is apparent. A good yarn with Inspector Alleyn arriving late on the scene and solving the case thanks to his working out the wireless truck. Very atmospheric novel with snow, rain and a chain smoking cast.
Jonathan Royal likes trouble and invites people to a house party over a weekend who clearly do not like each other. There is the Compline family with the mother Sonia and her two sons, William who is devoted and Nicholas, her favorite. There is tension as William is engaged to another guest, Chloris Wynne, who was once engaged to Nicholas. No love lost between the brothers.
There are also two beauty therapists rivals. Sonia’s friend, Hersey Amblington who owns a beauty salon, and her business rival, Madame Elise Lise. Nicholas is possibly seeing Elise, but she came with a plastic surgeon named Dr. Francis Hart. He is hated by Sonia as he disfigured her face years ago destroyed in an operation that went wrong. It’s basically the weekend house party that is going to hell in a hand basket. To round off the party Jonathan has invited the play writer Aubrey Mandrake. Jonathan is a nasty piece of work and toxic. Of course someone is murdered and they are all trapped by a blizzard. The weapon for the murder is a Māori greenstone club which is a nice touch to Ngaio Marsh New Zealand roots.
The red herrings are good but the person with the biggest motive is apparent. A good yarn with Inspector Alleyn arriving late on the scene and solving the case thanks to his working out the wireless truck. Very atmospheric novel with snow, rain and a chain smoking cast.
March 27, 2017
Did not like the premise at the beginning--seemed too controlling and manipulative of Jonathan Royal to have a weekend party where everyone started off with reasons not to like each other. The plastic surgery "mistake" was an interesting twist. As the book progressed, my likes and dislikes of the characters went back and forth. The romance was nice-- felt the people involved (no spoiler alert needed) were due something nice in life. And of course, snowbound people who have all sorts of quirks in their personalities makes for some sort of interesting story. I do like more Alleyn and Fox, and they were in short supply--especially Fox--although in the end, a conversation he had with Alleyn will remain my take-away from this title.
As I read these early British mysteries, what I focus on beyond the mystery story line is how the impending Nazi transgressions that were going on in the real world at the same time the books were being written or published are mentioned (or not). Slight sidebar comment: I recently read a book about Nancy Drew syndicate mysteries, and it was revealed that the publishing syndicate proactively tried to keep mention of WWII out of the books or else make it so generic as to not have it be known that WWII was going on. This way the books would be more "timeless" and not irrelevant in years further out.
In the British (and New Zealand, in this case) adult mysteries that I have been reading the past twelve months or so, the authors make allusions to events in Germany or Nazis or what was happening on the continent. And so what interested me greatly when reading this particular title was that Alleyn had a conversation with Fox where he inquired about Fox's view of the impending war (remember, the book was published in 1941). What I always find most appealing in Marsh's detective Alleyn is his depth of thought even when he is outwardly focused on police procedures. Here is the passage in Chapter XVI, Section v.
"I've never asked for your views on this war, Foxkin."
Fox stared at him. "On the war? Well, no sir, you haven't. My view is that it hasn't started."
"And mine. I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as on a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths, while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
"It's our job."
"And will continue to be so. But to hang someone--now! My god, Fox, it's almost funny."
"I see what you mean."
"It's nothing. Only one of those cold moments We'll get on with our cosy little murder."
Just a moment in the book, but it stopped me cold and provided some insight into Marsh's mind at this time. It also made me wonder if this is where the genre term "cozy mystery" originated or if it had previously been used to describe this particular mystery type that was being propagated by The Detection Club of Agatha Christie and her friends. I need to do more research on this.
As I read these early British mysteries, what I focus on beyond the mystery story line is how the impending Nazi transgressions that were going on in the real world at the same time the books were being written or published are mentioned (or not). Slight sidebar comment: I recently read a book about Nancy Drew syndicate mysteries, and it was revealed that the publishing syndicate proactively tried to keep mention of WWII out of the books or else make it so generic as to not have it be known that WWII was going on. This way the books would be more "timeless" and not irrelevant in years further out.
In the British (and New Zealand, in this case) adult mysteries that I have been reading the past twelve months or so, the authors make allusions to events in Germany or Nazis or what was happening on the continent. And so what interested me greatly when reading this particular title was that Alleyn had a conversation with Fox where he inquired about Fox's view of the impending war (remember, the book was published in 1941). What I always find most appealing in Marsh's detective Alleyn is his depth of thought even when he is outwardly focused on police procedures. Here is the passage in Chapter XVI, Section v.
"I've never asked for your views on this war, Foxkin."
Fox stared at him. "On the war? Well, no sir, you haven't. My view is that it hasn't started."
"And mine. I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as on a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths, while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
"It's our job."
"And will continue to be so. But to hang someone--now! My god, Fox, it's almost funny."
"I see what you mean."
"It's nothing. Only one of those cold moments We'll get on with our cosy little murder."
Just a moment in the book, but it stopped me cold and provided some insight into Marsh's mind at this time. It also made me wonder if this is where the genre term "cozy mystery" originated or if it had previously been used to describe this particular mystery type that was being propagated by The Detection Club of Agatha Christie and her friends. I need to do more research on this.
April 24, 2019
This is a perfectly crafted mystery which sadly, suffers from its perfection: the clues are so clear that anyone with a fair acquaintance of whodunits will guess the murderer, and the way the crime was carried out. The most interesting thing in the book is the dancing footman, and how he becomes important to the tale.
March 15, 2022
I wanted to like this more than I actually did - while there were some interesting character interactions and motivations (particularly the plastic surgery angle), this just dragged and the tone felt out of sync with the type of plot it had
October 15, 2018
Published in 1942, this is the eleventh of the series featuring Roderick Alleyn. Although this was published during wartime, and the war is mentioned, this feels more as though it were written during the very early months of the conflict, with mentions of various characters looking to enlist and comments of surgeons being needed as time goes on.
That said, wartime or not, country house parties are obviously still going on and host, Jonathan Royal, is planning one with a difference. In fact, he decides to throw a house party, where all the guests are enemies and then see what happens. So there is a lady whose face was ruined by plastic surgery, along with the surgeon who destroyed her looks, two brothers, one of whom is engaged to a young woman who was previously engaged to the other, two women who run competing beauty salons and a famous playwright, and friend of the host, who is meant to act as the audience, although he also has a secret that he wishes to keep hidden. Alongside these issues, are other complications of love and jealousy and interlocking relationships – such as the fact the two brothers are the sons of the victim of disastrous plastic surgery.
As you can imagine, a house party filled with so much intrigue and emotion, is not likely to go well. As the weather changes, and the guests are snowed in, the arguments brew and the hatred becomes, literally, murderous. Alleyn, meanwhile, is staying at the house of a rector, who appeared in an earlier novel, “Overture to Death,” and finds himself unwillingly called in to investigate events. This is a good addition to the series, with an interesting concept. So often, in Golden Age detective novels, we read of house parties which go wrong, but never usually because they are designed to do so! An enjoyable read, good setting and good cast of suspects make this very readable.
That said, wartime or not, country house parties are obviously still going on and host, Jonathan Royal, is planning one with a difference. In fact, he decides to throw a house party, where all the guests are enemies and then see what happens. So there is a lady whose face was ruined by plastic surgery, along with the surgeon who destroyed her looks, two brothers, one of whom is engaged to a young woman who was previously engaged to the other, two women who run competing beauty salons and a famous playwright, and friend of the host, who is meant to act as the audience, although he also has a secret that he wishes to keep hidden. Alongside these issues, are other complications of love and jealousy and interlocking relationships – such as the fact the two brothers are the sons of the victim of disastrous plastic surgery.
As you can imagine, a house party filled with so much intrigue and emotion, is not likely to go well. As the weather changes, and the guests are snowed in, the arguments brew and the hatred becomes, literally, murderous. Alleyn, meanwhile, is staying at the house of a rector, who appeared in an earlier novel, “Overture to Death,” and finds himself unwillingly called in to investigate events. This is a good addition to the series, with an interesting concept. So often, in Golden Age detective novels, we read of house parties which go wrong, but never usually because they are designed to do so! An enjoyable read, good setting and good cast of suspects make this very readable.
June 26, 2025
Unpleasant, unimpressive, and, worst of all, it devolved into an uninteresting logic puzzle at the end, complete with a literal chart of the characters’ motives and opportunity.
I have historically not been a fan of golden age detective novel English countryside snowed-in cozy “everyone’s a suspect”“the butler did it” Poirot style murder mysteries, but I picked this up on the cheap at a used bookstore because I wanted to try something by Ngaio Marsh. I’m glad I did if only so that I now know not to pick up anything else by her. The last few chapters in particular were written like some logic game from a kids’ workbook, say, or the LSAT. It sapped anyway any interest I had in the book, and of course killed any kind of character momentum there might have been (which, tbf, there wasn’t much so it wasn’t a huge loss).
You know, to each their own. For me - this was a great book to read right before going to sleep because it was full of objectively boring details and characters I was happy to leave behind every night. I would not recommend it for actual reading, however.
I have historically not been a fan of golden age detective novel English countryside snowed-in cozy “everyone’s a suspect”“the butler did it” Poirot style murder mysteries, but I picked this up on the cheap at a used bookstore because I wanted to try something by Ngaio Marsh. I’m glad I did if only so that I now know not to pick up anything else by her. The last few chapters in particular were written like some logic game from a kids’ workbook, say, or the LSAT. It sapped anyway any interest I had in the book, and of course killed any kind of character momentum there might have been (which, tbf, there wasn’t much so it wasn’t a huge loss).
You know, to each their own. For me - this was a great book to read right before going to sleep because it was full of objectively boring details and characters I was happy to leave behind every night. I would not recommend it for actual reading, however.
February 21, 2019
If one adjusts to the vernacular of the time (1940) and has a desire for reading a longish Dorset country house gathering designed for murder in the midst of a snowstorm - this is the book for you. The opening chapters were electric with sadistically joyful anticipation felt by the author of this gathering. I was giddy reading of the preparations by Jonathan Royal, owner of Highfold Manor who had arranged the invitation of guests most likely to kill one another as an exercise in drama most elaborate. His friend, dramatist Aubrey Mandrake, arrives early so Jonathan can reveal his guest list and hopes for the highest degree of conflicts.
Society being the civil thing that it is, the playing out of animosities will take some time. And the snow will play its part continually reminding the occupants once in residence that they cannot leave.
Eventually there will be events macabre as well as death. Of course Roderick Alleyn and his wife are visiting at the nearby vicarage with Troy painting a portrait, so it is up to Alleyn to reveal and arrest. In truth, his appearance is late in the tale as well as efficiently brief.
The "dancing footman" of the title provides alibi for a targeted, innocent individual. He does a jolly little slapping of the knees enactment to the music broadcast over the wireless between war headlines.
Society being the civil thing that it is, the playing out of animosities will take some time. And the snow will play its part continually reminding the occupants once in residence that they cannot leave.
Eventually there will be events macabre as well as death. Of course Roderick Alleyn and his wife are visiting at the nearby vicarage with Troy painting a portrait, so it is up to Alleyn to reveal and arrest. In truth, his appearance is late in the tale as well as efficiently brief.
The "dancing footman" of the title provides alibi for a targeted, innocent individual. He does a jolly little slapping of the knees enactment to the music broadcast over the wireless between war headlines.
November 12, 2018
Death & the Dancing Footman (1941) by Ngaio Marsh is one of those Golden Age mystery stand-bys: a murder at a country house party--and in the middle of a snow storm no less. But Marsh gives the standard a slight twist. Jonathan Royal, who by his own reckoning is a stifled artist, has decided to use human beings in a drama of his own contrivance. He has deliberately invited a houseful of guests where each person is at odds with at least one other person (and sometimes more). And he has invited Aubrey Mandrake, a poet dramatist, to be his impartial audience.
It came to me that human beings could, with a little judicious arrangement, be as carefully "composed" as the figures in a picture. One had only to restrict them a little, confine them within the decent boundaries of a suitable canvas, and they would make a pattern...Of course, the right--how shall I put it?--the right ingredients must be selected, and this was where I came in. I would set my palette with human colours, and the picture would paint itself.
Aubrey Mandrake is horrified. "It seems to me that you have invited stark murder to your house. Frankly, I can imagine nothing more terrifying than the prospect of this week-end." And, yet, it is the horrified fascination of someone watching a train-wreck. He can't not stay and watch the drama unfold.
And unfold it does though the guests do try to keep a civil and even sometimes party atmosphere going until Aubrey is shoved into the freezing waters of the outdoor pool and both Nicholas Compline and Dr. Francis Hart each claim the other has mistaken Aubrey for themselves and that murder has been attempted. Other attempts are made...but when death final comes, it strikes an unexpected target. Mandrake sets out through the drifts of snow to bring back Inspector Roderick Alleyn--who he knows to be staying in the near-by village. Alleyn will have to comb through all the clues to discover if it is a case of a victim by mistake or if the murderer got the results intended all along.
One of the delights of this book for me is the naming of the butler. A butler named Caper just seems so perfect for a mystery given one of its definitions as "an activity or escapade, typically one that is illicit or ridiculous." It's also quite apt in a book that has a dancing footman to have someone named after a word for "skip or dance about in a lively or playful way." Marsh must have thought it a bit much to actually name the footman Caper, but obviously couldn't resist implying that the butler might once have capered about himself when he was young.
I did find myself missing Alleyn for a huge chunk of the book. He doesn't show up until the story is two-thirds along and even then he's without Fox, his right-hand man. I enjoy their interactions very much and wish that we had had more time with their investigation. But the twist on the country house murder was very interesting and made for an enjoyable read overall.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
It came to me that human beings could, with a little judicious arrangement, be as carefully "composed" as the figures in a picture. One had only to restrict them a little, confine them within the decent boundaries of a suitable canvas, and they would make a pattern...Of course, the right--how shall I put it?--the right ingredients must be selected, and this was where I came in. I would set my palette with human colours, and the picture would paint itself.
Aubrey Mandrake is horrified. "It seems to me that you have invited stark murder to your house. Frankly, I can imagine nothing more terrifying than the prospect of this week-end." And, yet, it is the horrified fascination of someone watching a train-wreck. He can't not stay and watch the drama unfold.
And unfold it does though the guests do try to keep a civil and even sometimes party atmosphere going until Aubrey is shoved into the freezing waters of the outdoor pool and both Nicholas Compline and Dr. Francis Hart each claim the other has mistaken Aubrey for themselves and that murder has been attempted. Other attempts are made...but when death final comes, it strikes an unexpected target. Mandrake sets out through the drifts of snow to bring back Inspector Roderick Alleyn--who he knows to be staying in the near-by village. Alleyn will have to comb through all the clues to discover if it is a case of a victim by mistake or if the murderer got the results intended all along.
One of the delights of this book for me is the naming of the butler. A butler named Caper just seems so perfect for a mystery given one of its definitions as "an activity or escapade, typically one that is illicit or ridiculous." It's also quite apt in a book that has a dancing footman to have someone named after a word for "skip or dance about in a lively or playful way." Marsh must have thought it a bit much to actually name the footman Caper, but obviously couldn't resist implying that the butler might once have capered about himself when he was young.
I did find myself missing Alleyn for a huge chunk of the book. He doesn't show up until the story is two-thirds along and even then he's without Fox, his right-hand man. I enjoy their interactions very much and wish that we had had more time with their investigation. But the twist on the country house murder was very interesting and made for an enjoyable read overall.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
December 7, 2018
A very entertaining read with an eclectic cast of characters. Marsh spent a lot of time developing the story and letting us get to know all of the players, which made for a more gripping story. I was able to pick out the murderer pretty early in the going, which means it was either blatantly obvious, or I have read so many detective stories, I am finally getting good at it (I prefer to believe the latter, although it is likely it is the former). I get somewhat annoyed with ridiculously tight time lines (the killer had exactly a 3-minute window to commit the crime!), but I suppose this is a function of the murder taking place when there is a full household of people trapped in one place with limited opportunities for alibis. All in all, a very good murder mystery, and one that you could easily read out of sequence from the series.
April 16, 2024
Una propuesta que se acerca a los límites, sobre todo porque plantea el juntar a gente que se odia entre sí, que no sabe que estará junta y que por una tormenta de nieve no podrán irse.
Algo que suena demasiado cruel si lo traspasamos a la realidad pero en la ficción suena melodramático e intenso.
Hay mucha preparación para llegar al asesinato casi dos tercios del libro han pasado y sólo en ese instante entra en acción el inspector Allyen para dar con el culpable.
Identificó muchas herramientas usadas por otras escritoras de la época, pero al comparar, me doy cuenta que no están manejadas tan sabiamente pues logre descubrir mucho antes las intenciones y quien era el asesino.
El libro se extiende demasiado y la revisión exhaustiva que se hace de los pasos que dio cada personaje durante los hechos cansa, hasta volverse un poco repetitivo, es de los pocos libros de esta escritora que no he disfrutado del todo.
Algo que suena demasiado cruel si lo traspasamos a la realidad pero en la ficción suena melodramático e intenso.
Hay mucha preparación para llegar al asesinato casi dos tercios del libro han pasado y sólo en ese instante entra en acción el inspector Allyen para dar con el culpable.
Identificó muchas herramientas usadas por otras escritoras de la época, pero al comparar, me doy cuenta que no están manejadas tan sabiamente pues logre descubrir mucho antes las intenciones y quien era el asesino.
El libro se extiende demasiado y la revisión exhaustiva que se hace de los pasos que dio cada personaje durante los hechos cansa, hasta volverse un poco repetitivo, es de los pocos libros de esta escritora que no he disfrutado del todo.
November 19, 2020
I loved this book!
A country house, a weekend party filled with guests who really hate each other, a snow storm that traps them all together and a serious of attempts on various guests lives!
That plus a murder and Inspector Alleyn what's not to love and what else more do you need?
Well!! There is also the references to the "boomps-a-daisy" dance that made me laugh! That along with a Footman who is caught doing the dance whilst the murder is taking place...
A perfect read if you want a Country house mystery!
A country house, a weekend party filled with guests who really hate each other, a snow storm that traps them all together and a serious of attempts on various guests lives!
That plus a murder and Inspector Alleyn what's not to love and what else more do you need?
Well!! There is also the references to the "boomps-a-daisy" dance that made me laugh! That along with a Footman who is caught doing the dance whilst the murder is taking place...
A perfect read if you want a Country house mystery!
March 17, 2018
Jonathan, a lonely and cantankerous bachelor, decides to hold a house party of people he knows will dislike at least one other member of the party, sit back and watch the duh-rammma unfold. Kind of like "reality TV" today. However, of course he gets more than he bargained for, as an apparently dull and innocent young man is murdered in a most distressing and uncouth way--getting his head bashed in with a Maori mere! Whodunit and how, since the rest of the party were just on the other side of the door in the next room? And what's the deal with the "dancing footman" of the title? Ahhh now, that would be telling. I enjoyed the yarn, the red herrings were quite good and the language from the outset was cosy and carried me along. Not only is there a house party, but they are snowed in and therefore cut off from the outside world for the two or three days it takes for it all to happen.
A good puzzler, though it resonates with earlier works of Dorothy Sayers and Eleanor Hallowell Abbot. I was strongly reminded of EHA's Rainy Week, in which a thoroughly unpleasant couple make a habit of inviting people who don't know each other for what they know will be the rainiest week of the year, based on their talents or other aspects that will make them good unwitting characters in a psychodrama, known only to their hosts. One of the characters of Marsh's houseparty murder actually references Sayers' book by its title, which I won't mention here so as not to spoil this book for anyone who's read the other. Both were written before this Inspector Alleyn novel, so I'm not pulling the connections out of thin air. Marsh is obsessed with the female characters' hands in this book for some reason--of one she says "her hands looked exhausted"--???, and of another that she sits down and "crosses her wrists in her lap." Really? I tried that several times, and a more unnatural and uncomfortable position for the hands I cannot imagine. Maybe she originally meant to have the woman cross her ankles or her legs and decided it wasn't ladylike. I was reminded of an old sketch by Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie in which Ernie says Bert's nose is run down and his hair looks tired! Also, for some reason Marsh found it advisable to have Alleyn say things "vaguely" all the time. What that means when discussing a murder or talking to suspects, I cannot tell you.
The book did bog down a bit after the actual murder, when Alleyn, The Girl and the Anti-hero are driving over the hills through post-blizzard snow to get much-needed medical supplies. They do a lot of talking over the case--something that I, who grew up in blizzard country, know would not happen if one of the talkers-over is the driver. You don't divide your concentration when driving through deep, fresh snow on country roads with no snowtires, ABS or power steering! It got awfully "talky", but at least there wasn't a tiresome map to deal with, and it did pick up again. I thought I had the killer taped at least twice, and was wrong both times.
A good puzzler, though it resonates with earlier works of Dorothy Sayers and Eleanor Hallowell Abbot. I was strongly reminded of EHA's Rainy Week, in which a thoroughly unpleasant couple make a habit of inviting people who don't know each other for what they know will be the rainiest week of the year, based on their talents or other aspects that will make them good unwitting characters in a psychodrama, known only to their hosts. One of the characters of Marsh's houseparty murder actually references Sayers' book by its title, which I won't mention here so as not to spoil this book for anyone who's read the other. Both were written before this Inspector Alleyn novel, so I'm not pulling the connections out of thin air. Marsh is obsessed with the female characters' hands in this book for some reason--of one she says "her hands looked exhausted"--???, and of another that she sits down and "crosses her wrists in her lap." Really? I tried that several times, and a more unnatural and uncomfortable position for the hands I cannot imagine. Maybe she originally meant to have the woman cross her ankles or her legs and decided it wasn't ladylike. I was reminded of an old sketch by Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie in which Ernie says Bert's nose is run down and his hair looks tired! Also, for some reason Marsh found it advisable to have Alleyn say things "vaguely" all the time. What that means when discussing a murder or talking to suspects, I cannot tell you.
The book did bog down a bit after the actual murder, when Alleyn, The Girl and the Anti-hero are driving over the hills through post-blizzard snow to get much-needed medical supplies. They do a lot of talking over the case--something that I, who grew up in blizzard country, know would not happen if one of the talkers-over is the driver. You don't divide your concentration when driving through deep, fresh snow on country roads with no snowtires, ABS or power steering! It got awfully "talky", but at least there wasn't a tiresome map to deal with, and it did pick up again. I thought I had the killer taped at least twice, and was wrong both times.
January 19, 2020
Ah, Ngaio Marsh. What is it about you that I don't really care about whodunit?
I figured this one out. Easily. The mystery was thin and rather transparent.
But who cares? Especially when one gets to relish in her characterizations and her way with words. Descriptions like these make these cozies worth reading, even if you aren't a mystery buff;
"A popinjay," he muttered, "a stock figure of dubious gallantry." And he pronounced the noise usually associated with the word "Pshaw."
" ... [he's] bone from the eyes up if you try to talk about anything that's not quite his language."
After a good deal of demurring, Jonathan finally rang the bell. Caper answered it and accepted the news of sudden death and homicide with an aplomb which Mandrake had imagined to be at the command only of family servants in somewhat dated comedies."
"She was very grand. Her manner, as well as her skirts, seemed to rustle."
SECOND READ
Alleyn doesn't even show up in this one until about two-thirds of the way through but I didn't really miss him. And on this second read I learned about John Collier and Edwardian problem pictures. And I caught the reference to Sayers and the murder weapon in the Busman's Honeymoon (kind of rude of Marsh to put a spoiler in; she would have been pilloried on Twitter, if Twitter had existed in 1941)
World War II is a background here; references to black-out curtains and level of military service a point of contention between the brothers, one who has been in battle and the other who has been able to stay on the homefront. The book was written in 1941 and Marsh predicts the war's eventual futility through Alleyn's eyes at the end of the book; "I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as on a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
I figured this one out. Easily. The mystery was thin and rather transparent.
But who cares? Especially when one gets to relish in her characterizations and her way with words. Descriptions like these make these cozies worth reading, even if you aren't a mystery buff;
"A popinjay," he muttered, "a stock figure of dubious gallantry." And he pronounced the noise usually associated with the word "Pshaw."
" ... [he's] bone from the eyes up if you try to talk about anything that's not quite his language."
After a good deal of demurring, Jonathan finally rang the bell. Caper answered it and accepted the news of sudden death and homicide with an aplomb which Mandrake had imagined to be at the command only of family servants in somewhat dated comedies."
"She was very grand. Her manner, as well as her skirts, seemed to rustle."
SECOND READ
Alleyn doesn't even show up in this one until about two-thirds of the way through but I didn't really miss him. And on this second read I learned about John Collier and Edwardian problem pictures. And I caught the reference to Sayers and the murder weapon in the Busman's Honeymoon (kind of rude of Marsh to put a spoiler in; she would have been pilloried on Twitter, if Twitter had existed in 1941)
World War II is a background here; references to black-out curtains and level of military service a point of contention between the brothers, one who has been in battle and the other who has been able to stay on the homefront. The book was written in 1941 and Marsh predicts the war's eventual futility through Alleyn's eyes at the end of the book; "I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as on a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
June 7, 2012
Needless to say, Dame Ngaio Marsh can write some riveting mysteries: Death In A White Tie, A Man Lay Dead, and Enter A Murderer come immediately to mind. However, at times, Marsh becomes so enthralled with ridiculing some of her characters that she spends entirely too much time on the back story and her writing veers into tiresome parody. Such was the case in Overture To Death, first published in 1939. So, too, with Death and the Dancing Footman, published two years later.
The flamboyant Jonathan Royal cruelly invites six guests who are mortal enemies to a house party, counting on an upcoming wintry storm to keep them housebound and at each other's throats. Such is the twisted Royal's idea of fine entertainment. So far, so good. However, some of the other characters never transcend into three-dimensional characters: the Complines, Francis Hart, and Madame Lisse descend into exaggerated archetypes rather than real people. By the time of the murder, halfway through the book, I was ready to chuck it in, and I very nearly didn't finish the book! I never thought I'd say that about a Ngaio Marsh book! Additionally, Inspector Roderick Alleyn doesn't put in an appearance until two-thirds of the way through the book. The book could have easily be trimmed by 50 pages and have been vastly improved.
If you're looking to skip a Ngaio Marsh book, make it this one.
The flamboyant Jonathan Royal cruelly invites six guests who are mortal enemies to a house party, counting on an upcoming wintry storm to keep them housebound and at each other's throats. Such is the twisted Royal's idea of fine entertainment. So far, so good. However, some of the other characters never transcend into three-dimensional characters: the Complines, Francis Hart, and Madame Lisse descend into exaggerated archetypes rather than real people. By the time of the murder, halfway through the book, I was ready to chuck it in, and I very nearly didn't finish the book! I never thought I'd say that about a Ngaio Marsh book! Additionally, Inspector Roderick Alleyn doesn't put in an appearance until two-thirds of the way through the book. The book could have easily be trimmed by 50 pages and have been vastly improved.
If you're looking to skip a Ngaio Marsh book, make it this one.
September 6, 2022
Eleventh in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard detective. The year is 1940 and blackout rules are in effect. The story is set in Dorset. The focus is on an antagonistic weekend house party. This story was first published in 1941.
My Take
I do love it when a series brings us back into a previous story's characters. A way of catching up with life. In this case, Agatha Troy is painting the Reverend Walter Copeland from Overture to Death , 8.
Marsh uses a third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a number of characters, so we know their thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
Royal reveals his game to Mandrake who does not approve. Poor guy, Royal wants to be creative but it isn't in him. It's one reason he likes Mandrake. Royal does explain his theory of "each individual ha[ving] as many exterior realities as the number of encounters he makes", and it's another fascination.
It's fascinating to read of plastic surgery in the 1910s and so sad to know Sandra Compline felt the need for it. There is some hinting? that William's tendency to say the first thing that comes into his head is due to the trauma of seeing the result of his mother's "plastic" surgery. Marsh notes that Nicholas is just like his father, all ego and selfishness, and, as we discover, a coward who wants his cake and wants to eat it as well.
I love that William likes to paint, although his mother pooh-poohs it.
I have no time for Madame Lisse. She's so self-absorbed in herself and her career! Cold to her husband and anyone else in her life. And karma grabs her quickly, lol. Dr Hart certainly has his problems what with so many people getting hurt (or dying) and no one trusting him.
I keep being confused about "beauty specialist". Marsh makes Madame Lisse and Lady Hersey sound like they're owner/operators, but the term sounds like the ladies are doing work on the individual clients.
There's action but mostly chat as the guests complain about each other and wonder who is attempting to kill whom. It is interesting that they wonder what a play about Jonathan would be like, how each would react to a particular event.
Yep, this is such a fun party that some guests keep trying to leave the party in the middle of a blizzard.
There's conflict amongst them, mostly the lover interactions although there are business issues from the past and today, but also the enmity between Lady Hersey Amblington and Madame Lisse who operate rival beauty salons. Lisse is poaching most of Lady Hersey's upper-class clientele!
It cracks me up that Jonathan is so interested in live flowers while Mandrake prefers dead flowers, even as he considers his next play.
There is a very weird red herring in this, and i don't see what Marsh was trying to accomplish, well, except to confuse the reader.
That exciting drive to Winton St Giles through all the snow makes me grateful for snow tires. It's the drive back that gives Alleyn the opportunity to notice courtship notes.
It does end on a curious note, and I'll be curious to read on and see if we see more of Jonathan.
The Story
Jonathan Royal is bored and sets up a house party to play psychiatrist with guests who feel antagonism for the others. His intentions are good . . . and he thinks Mandrake will get some grand ideas to write about.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID at Scotland Yard. He's married to Agatha Troy, a famous painter, who is doing a portrait of Walter Copeland at Winton St Giles.
Scotland Yard
Dr Curtis is the police surgeon. Detective Inspector "Brer" Fox, a.k.a. Foxkin, is Alleyn's partner and has a great way with female domestics; Detective-Sergeant (DS) Thompson is the photographic expert; and, DS Bailey is the fingerprint expert.
Highfold Manor is . . .
. . . the country home of Jonathan "Jo" Royal in Penfelton near Cloudyfold. He has some unusual, for his time and sex, interests such as flower-arranging, ensuring their appropriateness for his guests and their rooms, and the arrangement of his house. Jonathan is also a justice of the peace. Caper is his butler. Mrs Pouting is the housekeeper. James and Thomas Bewling are Jonathan's head shepherd and his brother. Miss Fancy Bewling is the Bewlings' old aunt. Another Thomas is a footman. An ancestor, Hubert St John Worthington Royal, has a part to play. Elsie is a second housemaid.
The guests for Royal's house party include the disabled Aubrey Mandrake, who is a poetic dramatist, his real name is Stanley Footling of which he is most embarrassed; the Complines; Dr Francis Hart, formerly Doktor Franz Hartz, newly emigrated from Vienna, is a plastic surgeon; the gorgeous Madame Elise Lisse, a.k.a. the Pirate, of the Studio Lisse, who is a beauty specialist and an early refugee from Austria; Miss Chloris Wynne, who was engaged to Nicholas and is now engaged to William, has enlisted as a W.R.E.N.; and, Lady Hersey Amblington is Jonathan's distant cousin, who loves to knit and is another beauty specialist.
The Complines include Sandra, the mother who had a botched plastic surgery, a.k.a. Mrs Nicholas; William, who is home on leave and the oldest son, devoted to his mother and despised by her; and, Nicholas, who is the spoiled younger son who has a comfy situation out of the war. Deacon is Mrs Compline's maid.
Walter Copeland, is the rector of Winton St Giles. Dinah is his daughter, who intends to follow up with her acting, and is engaged to Henry Jerningham, the son of the local squire. Pen Cuckoo, the Jerningham estate, is currently shut after events two years ago in Overture to Death .
Great Chipping
Blandish is still the police superintendent. Lord Hesterdon is the chief constable. Mr Tassy is the chemist.
Mrs Ainsley is a former client of Lady Hersey's. Jane is Lady Hersey's second-in-command at the salon.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a grayish purple with the centralized gradient in the upper half serving as a background for the title with its gradient of white to pale purple. The stretched banner across the center is in a pale gray with the author's name in its art deco font in deep purple, white, and hatch marks. The bottom third is classic with its rays of one-sided scalloped rays in white with the spaces between with their own gradients of deep purple to the lighter. There are five individually posed figurines in assorted colors — one figurine is lying down, broken. They stand on a light wooden surface with the pale purple arched banner providing background for the series info in white.
The title is about timing when Death and the Dancing Footman frolic at the same time.
My Take
I do love it when a series brings us back into a previous story's characters. A way of catching up with life. In this case, Agatha Troy is painting the Reverend Walter Copeland from Overture to Death , 8.
Marsh uses a third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a number of characters, so we know their thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
Royal reveals his game to Mandrake who does not approve. Poor guy, Royal wants to be creative but it isn't in him. It's one reason he likes Mandrake. Royal does explain his theory of "each individual ha[ving] as many exterior realities as the number of encounters he makes", and it's another fascination.
It's fascinating to read of plastic surgery in the 1910s and so sad to know Sandra Compline felt the need for it. There is some hinting? that William's tendency to say the first thing that comes into his head is due to the trauma of seeing the result of his mother's "plastic" surgery. Marsh notes that Nicholas is just like his father, all ego and selfishness, and, as we discover, a coward who wants his cake and wants to eat it as well.
I love that William likes to paint, although his mother pooh-poohs it.
I have no time for Madame Lisse. She's so self-absorbed in herself and her career! Cold to her husband and anyone else in her life. And karma grabs her quickly, lol. Dr Hart certainly has his problems what with so many people getting hurt (or dying) and no one trusting him.
I keep being confused about "beauty specialist". Marsh makes Madame Lisse and Lady Hersey sound like they're owner/operators, but the term sounds like the ladies are doing work on the individual clients.
There's action but mostly chat as the guests complain about each other and wonder who is attempting to kill whom. It is interesting that they wonder what a play about Jonathan would be like, how each would react to a particular event.
Yep, this is such a fun party that some guests keep trying to leave the party in the middle of a blizzard.
There's conflict amongst them, mostly the lover interactions although there are business issues from the past and today, but also the enmity between Lady Hersey Amblington and Madame Lisse who operate rival beauty salons. Lisse is poaching most of Lady Hersey's upper-class clientele!
It cracks me up that Jonathan is so interested in live flowers while Mandrake prefers dead flowers, even as he considers his next play.
There is a very weird red herring in this, and i don't see what Marsh was trying to accomplish, well, except to confuse the reader.
That exciting drive to Winton St Giles through all the snow makes me grateful for snow tires. It's the drive back that gives Alleyn the opportunity to notice courtship notes.
It does end on a curious note, and I'll be curious to read on and see if we see more of Jonathan.
The Story
Jonathan Royal is bored and sets up a house party to play psychiatrist with guests who feel antagonism for the others. His intentions are good . . . and he thinks Mandrake will get some grand ideas to write about.
The Characters
Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID at Scotland Yard. He's married to Agatha Troy, a famous painter, who is doing a portrait of Walter Copeland at Winton St Giles.
Scotland Yard
Dr Curtis is the police surgeon. Detective Inspector "Brer" Fox, a.k.a. Foxkin, is Alleyn's partner and has a great way with female domestics; Detective-Sergeant (DS) Thompson is the photographic expert; and, DS Bailey is the fingerprint expert.
Highfold Manor is . . .
. . . the country home of Jonathan "Jo" Royal in Penfelton near Cloudyfold. He has some unusual, for his time and sex, interests such as flower-arranging, ensuring their appropriateness for his guests and their rooms, and the arrangement of his house. Jonathan is also a justice of the peace. Caper is his butler. Mrs Pouting is the housekeeper. James and Thomas Bewling are Jonathan's head shepherd and his brother. Miss Fancy Bewling is the Bewlings' old aunt. Another Thomas is a footman. An ancestor, Hubert St John Worthington Royal, has a part to play. Elsie is a second housemaid.
The guests for Royal's house party include the disabled Aubrey Mandrake, who is a poetic dramatist, his real name is Stanley Footling of which he is most embarrassed; the Complines; Dr Francis Hart, formerly Doktor Franz Hartz, newly emigrated from Vienna, is a plastic surgeon; the gorgeous Madame Elise Lisse, a.k.a. the Pirate, of the Studio Lisse, who is a beauty specialist and an early refugee from Austria; Miss Chloris Wynne, who was engaged to Nicholas and is now engaged to William, has enlisted as a W.R.E.N.; and, Lady Hersey Amblington is Jonathan's distant cousin, who loves to knit and is another beauty specialist.
The Complines include Sandra, the mother who had a botched plastic surgery, a.k.a. Mrs Nicholas; William, who is home on leave and the oldest son, devoted to his mother and despised by her; and, Nicholas, who is the spoiled younger son who has a comfy situation out of the war. Deacon is Mrs Compline's maid.
Walter Copeland, is the rector of Winton St Giles. Dinah is his daughter, who intends to follow up with her acting, and is engaged to Henry Jerningham, the son of the local squire. Pen Cuckoo, the Jerningham estate, is currently shut after events two years ago in Overture to Death .
Great Chipping
Blandish is still the police superintendent. Lord Hesterdon is the chief constable. Mr Tassy is the chemist.
Mrs Ainsley is a former client of Lady Hersey's. Jane is Lady Hersey's second-in-command at the salon.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a grayish purple with the centralized gradient in the upper half serving as a background for the title with its gradient of white to pale purple. The stretched banner across the center is in a pale gray with the author's name in its art deco font in deep purple, white, and hatch marks. The bottom third is classic with its rays of one-sided scalloped rays in white with the spaces between with their own gradients of deep purple to the lighter. There are five individually posed figurines in assorted colors — one figurine is lying down, broken. They stand on a light wooden surface with the pale purple arched banner providing background for the series info in white.
The title is about timing when Death and the Dancing Footman frolic at the same time.
April 29, 2020
A Classic Locked-Room Mystery
Review of the Fontana paperback edition (1976) of the 1942 original
While I still have a considerable number of new releases to read during the current lockdown, I have also been turning to several of the classics of the Golden Age of Crime, especially due to their cozy housebound type of narratives. The typical story of the genre has an assorted variety of guests snowbound or in an otherwise isolated location, so that the culprit definitely has to be found within the limited cast of characters. Another convention is that the victim not be too likable, so that no time is spent in mourning but instead the crime-solving can immediately begin.
Ngaio Marsh's Death and the Dancing Footman sticks to many of these conventions and even goes further by making most of the house-guests unlikable. The murder is committed in a seemingly locked room situation where the victim is heard to turn on the radio and the outside hallway is occupied by a servant who happens to take a private moment to dance along to the music on the radio while unobserved. They are able to testify that no one entered the room with the victim during the crucial time period. Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard doesn't appear until about 2/3rds of the way through the book to disentangle the events and to provide a solution.
Review of the Fontana paperback edition (1976) of the 1942 original
While I still have a considerable number of new releases to read during the current lockdown, I have also been turning to several of the classics of the Golden Age of Crime, especially due to their cozy housebound type of narratives. The typical story of the genre has an assorted variety of guests snowbound or in an otherwise isolated location, so that the culprit definitely has to be found within the limited cast of characters. Another convention is that the victim not be too likable, so that no time is spent in mourning but instead the crime-solving can immediately begin.
Ngaio Marsh's Death and the Dancing Footman sticks to many of these conventions and even goes further by making most of the house-guests unlikable. The murder is committed in a seemingly locked room situation where the victim is heard to turn on the radio and the outside hallway is occupied by a servant who happens to take a private moment to dance along to the music on the radio while unobserved. They are able to testify that no one entered the room with the victim during the crucial time period. Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard doesn't appear until about 2/3rds of the way through the book to disentangle the events and to provide a solution.
November 19, 2022
Death and the Dancing Footman only gets three stars because I really disliked most of the characters. One of the features of Marsh's mysteries is that our venerated inspector generally shows up in the second half of the novel--we get the first half to really get to know our victim and all the suspects. It makes for great mysteries, but when the novel is peopled with a casually malicious host who intentionally builds a house party of people who are mostly likely to want to murder each other, a mother who adores her good-for-nothing son and ignores her devoted son, a good looking, charismatic philanderer, his resentful brother, a sketchy plastic surgeon, a conniving, two-timing woman, and an annoying "impartial observer" who is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the readers... I spent most of the book irritated at everyone and wishing for a couple more murders.
That said, Marsh had me guessing until the last chapter, and I will likely read it again, even if I spend the entire novel wishing that someone would just stab their smug, meddling host for dragging them all into this in the first place.
That said, Marsh had me guessing until the last chapter, and I will likely read it again, even if I spend the entire novel wishing that someone would just stab their smug, meddling host for dragging them all into this in the first place.
September 25, 2020
This is the sort of book that the makers of the movie Gosford Park had in mind: houseparty at a luxurious country house, aristocratic and elegant guests, with messy lives and shameful secrets beneath their sophisticated exteriors that erupt into violence. Then in comes the police to clean up the mess before they all (except the dead and the criminal) leave to return to their sophisticated lives. In this case, the death takes a rather long time to occur, and the policeman--Alleyn, of course--shows up nearly at the end of the book and solves the crime almost instantly.
January 27, 2021
There'll always be an England where there's a muddy lane, a hoarding by a cowslip field, and curates in the rain."
"I've never asked for your views on this war, Foxkin."
Fox stared at him. "On the war? Well, no sir, you haven't. My view is that it hasn't started."
"And mine. I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths, while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
Ngaio Marsh, Death and the Dancing Footman
The timing of the story is very interesting, "On the afternoon of a Thursday early in 1940 ..."
"I've never asked for your views on this war, Foxkin."
Fox stared at him. "On the war? Well, no sir, you haven't. My view is that it hasn't started."
"And mine. I believe that in a year's time we shall look back on these frozen weeks as a strangely unreal period. Does it seem odd to you, Fox, that we should be here, so solemnly tracking down one squalid little murderer, so laboriously using our methods to peer into two deaths, while over our heads are stretched legions of guns? It's as if we stood on the edge of a cracking landslide, swatting flies."
Ngaio Marsh, Death and the Dancing Footman
The timing of the story is very interesting, "On the afternoon of a Thursday early in 1940 ..."
November 23, 2020
"In a funny sort of way it all hangs on this damned cheerful fellow, Thomas. The dancing footman. He defines the limit of the time factor and the possible movements of the murderer. Add to this tha ash, H. St. J. W. R.'s fishing-line, the stuff on the wireless, and William's drawing-pin, and there's our case."
January 12, 2023
A comparison as I’ve read Tied Up in Tinsel by Marsh recently- both take place with a snow storm; and, both involve a gathering arranged by the man who owns a large stately home. The difference with this book is that there is no event (like Christmas) to draw the people to the place. In this instance the man has invited people that he knows dislike each other to some degree to have a party/psychological event. Well what he gets is murder.
The first part of the book is not pleasant as the group is truly sniping at each other. However; once the murder happens- the drama is no long just show it’s real now. The mystery wasn’t too hard to whittle down into the who- but the systematic how and how to prove it was very interesting. Marsh does have a great way with language and with describing people and places that — while I didn’t “enjoy” the mystery I enjoyed her writing and telling of events a great deal. She has a great flare for writing characters that are believable and interesting.
The first part of the book is not pleasant as the group is truly sniping at each other. However; once the murder happens- the drama is no long just show it’s real now. The mystery wasn’t too hard to whittle down into the who- but the systematic how and how to prove it was very interesting. Marsh does have a great way with language and with describing people and places that — while I didn’t “enjoy” the mystery I enjoyed her writing and telling of events a great deal. She has a great flare for writing characters that are believable and interesting.
February 23, 2017
I loved this! I think it may be my new favourite Ngaio Marsh.
I must have read this before, but I had no memory of it. I picked out a suspect early on and thought 'I must have read this before, because X is obviously guilty.' And the story continued and more and more clues pointing to X were found--and then the rug was pulled completely out from under me. I did not see the solution--and it fell together perfectly.
Death and the Dancing Footman is also interesting because it is a book written during the war, and it manages not to be hysteric or propaganda, something that does show up in other writers of this era, and a little bit in Ngaio Marsh's other books--the ones where Alleyn is in NZ doing spy stuff. This is a solid mystery set at a time on the home front where things were grim, but still business as usual.
I must have read this before, but I had no memory of it. I picked out a suspect early on and thought 'I must have read this before, because X is obviously guilty.' And the story continued and more and more clues pointing to X were found--and then the rug was pulled completely out from under me. I did not see the solution--and it fell together perfectly.
Death and the Dancing Footman is also interesting because it is a book written during the war, and it manages not to be hysteric or propaganda, something that does show up in other writers of this era, and a little bit in Ngaio Marsh's other books--the ones where Alleyn is in NZ doing spy stuff. This is a solid mystery set at a time on the home front where things were grim, but still business as usual.
February 14, 2019
2019 Reread
Tempted to change my rating, but am not, because it's probably mood dependent and this is one of the better mysteries.
This did not work well on reread. Everyone is far too unlikeable, including the host, who invites a completely unsuitable combination of people, many of whom don't like each other, to a house party, just so he can watch the ensuing fireworks. I was left thinking it was a shame he wasn't the murder victim.
Add to that, Alleyn doesn't show up until the last third of the novel, and I was underwhelmed. So much so, that I'm not adding an 'official' read date, because this could be more accurately described as a '2019 skim'.
Note to self: in future, consider skipping
2016
3.5 stars, but rounding up, because I think it's one of the better Marsh's.
The pros:
-They mystery itself is solid. And sort of appropriately unpleasant.
-There is no Nigel Bathgate, who, when he has a reason to be around is fine, but when he doesn't is tedious (e.g.: "A Surfeit of Lampreys)
-Troy makes an exceptionally brief appearance
-The host is fairly awful, in an effective way. He invites a bunch of people who hate each other to his house for the weekend, because he's bored, and interested in psychology. And surprise, surprise, someone winds up dead.
-I kind of like the secondary romance, even if it's another case of super insta-love.
The (minor) cons:
-It takes 2/3 of the book for Alleyn to put it an appearance.
-The snowstorm feels awfully convenient.
-A lot of the characters are fairly terrible.
Still, I liked this one. This one is an effective character driven mystery.
Tempted to change my rating, but am not, because it's probably mood dependent and this is one of the better mysteries.
This did not work well on reread. Everyone is far too unlikeable, including the host, who invites a completely unsuitable combination of people, many of whom don't like each other, to a house party, just so he can watch the ensuing fireworks. I was left thinking it was a shame he wasn't the murder victim.
Add to that, Alleyn doesn't show up until the last third of the novel, and I was underwhelmed. So much so, that I'm not adding an 'official' read date, because this could be more accurately described as a '2019 skim'.
Note to self: in future, consider skipping
2016
3.5 stars, but rounding up, because I think it's one of the better Marsh's.
The pros:
-They mystery itself is solid. And sort of appropriately unpleasant.
-There is no Nigel Bathgate, who, when he has a reason to be around is fine, but when he doesn't is tedious (e.g.: "A Surfeit of Lampreys)
-Troy makes an exceptionally brief appearance
-The host is fairly awful, in an effective way. He invites a bunch of people who hate each other to his house for the weekend, because he's bored, and interested in psychology. And surprise, surprise, someone winds up dead.
-I kind of like the secondary romance, even if it's another case of super insta-love.
The (minor) cons:
-It takes 2/3 of the book for Alleyn to put it an appearance.
-The snowstorm feels awfully convenient.
-A lot of the characters are fairly terrible.
Still, I liked this one. This one is an effective character driven mystery.
September 29, 2011
E' anche più bello dei gialli della Christie, ai quali, come si legge nella quarta di copertina, è sempre stato paragonato. Ricorda molto i giochi da tavolo tipo Cluedo, dove l'azione si svolge tutta all'interno di una lussuosa dimora di inizio/metà Novecento con tanto di maggiordomo. Ma vi anticipo che non è stato lui. A dire il vero non è che il colpo di scena finale sia così stupefacente e la maggior parte dei lettori saprà su chi far cadere i giusti sospetti già un paio di capitoli dopo il delitto, ma è piacevole il ritratto dei personaggi, l'intrecciarsi delle loro vicende e le debolezze che nascondono un passato abbastanza travagliato. Di azione ce n'è veramente poca e a forza di leggere i particolari delle tre stanze clou (salottino, fumoir e biblioteca), le si impara a conoscere quasi fossero parte di casa nostra. E' un giallo "di ambientazione", anche se, svolgendosi in un periodo notevole come la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, un legame con gli eventi storici avrebbe aggiunto sale alla faccenda. Comunque molto ben scritto.
August 27, 2018
(08/21/18 at 6:15pm CST) So far, I have only gotten through the list of Jonathan's invited guests and I chuckled. I must say, he is deliciously sneaky to compile this list of unsuspecting guests who have issues with one another. This mix of people will definitely bring the high drama. Let's raise the curtain and see what transpires. (I think this appeals to a dark part of my humor.) No wonder someone ends up liquidated. "It seems to me," said Mandrake, "that you have invited stark murder to your house. Frankly, I can imagine nothing more terrifying than the prospect of this weekend. What do you propose to do with them?"
Jonathan replied, "Let them enact their drama."
(08/24/18 at 8pm CST) I have finished this bit of theatrics. Even though I correctly guessed the murderer, it was still enthralling. Interestingly, it mentioned the term "cosy murder."
Jonathan replied, "Let them enact their drama."
(08/24/18 at 8pm CST) I have finished this bit of theatrics. Even though I correctly guessed the murderer, it was still enthralling. Interestingly, it mentioned the term "cosy murder."
February 15, 2023
What I'd call a 'solid' Marsh. Not quite enough here to love, but interesting and enjoyable. Alleyn only makes an appearance at the end of the book, effortlessly uncovering an 'obvious' murderer.
April 17, 2012
One of the better ones, I have all of her books but one and can't find it.
June 15, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
June 6, 2016
Very odd book in this series. The story just dragged on and on, and went round in circles. Alleyn didn't make an appearance until nearly the end.
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