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Roderick Alleyn #20
Singing in the Shrouds
In a rare serial killer plot, Inspector Alleyn pursues a strangler with a romantic streak (he likes to leave his victims with a flower and a song) aboard a ship, the Cape Farewell, whose passenger-list and crew is fairly littered with potential suspects.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1958
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900 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
May 25, 2022
An easy read. Alleyn is on the Cape Farewell ship sailing to Capetown. One of the passengers is a murderer. Three women have been strangled in London the last one had clenched in her hand a torn piece of the embankment notice given to passengers. The ship is a freighter which also takes several passengers.
Alleyn goes aboard as a passenger and is up against a Captain who refuses to believe a murderer is on board. The murderer is a man. Alleyn manages to get the alibis from the passengers and eliminates a few as suspects.
Who did it? Mr Merryman the bachelor pedantic teacher, Mr Cuddy with his wife, Mr McAngus or is it Mr Dale the television star who likes to play practical jokes. There is a nice twist with the final victim and an enjoyable read with good characterisations.
Alleyn goes aboard as a passenger and is up against a Captain who refuses to believe a murderer is on board. The murderer is a man. Alleyn manages to get the alibis from the passengers and eliminates a few as suspects.
Who did it? Mr Merryman the bachelor pedantic teacher, Mr Cuddy with his wife, Mr McAngus or is it Mr Dale the television star who likes to play practical jokes. There is a nice twist with the final victim and an enjoyable read with good characterisations.
July 14, 2011
I felt almost giddy to be reading Marsh again, and was having such fun with her style and her humor and all the good stuff that comes with a victims-confined-on-a-cruise murder; but the last quarter of the book was so oppressively heavy with the various bigotries of the time (and not in a fun, "OMG how offensive!" way) that I'm feeling a little deflated here at the end.
A bit of the good stuff:
"Mrs. Dillington-Blick, who might have been thought to be already in full flower, awarded herself a sort of bonus in effulgence. Everything about her blossomed madly. 'Fun!' she seemed to be saying. 'This is what I'm really good at. We're all going to like this.' She bathed Alleyn in her personality. Her eyes shone, her lips were moist, but small hands fluttered at the ends of her Rubensesque arms."
Mrs. Dillington-Blick ("a tidy armful and knows it") is really a great character, and dammit she is fun, though there are times you want to give her a time-out.
The bad stuff:
Classism, racism and heterosexism are known entities in these things. They are frequently hilarious or even charmingly naive (I'm thinking of Christie's The Man in the Brown Suit). And it always interests me to see how blandly affectionate most of the Great Dames of detective fiction can be toward their lesbian characters, in particular (Christie again comes to mind, with A Murder is Announced). But in my opinion, Marsh manages to be quite cruel in this one. The "queer steward" is treated titteringly from the beginning (this worsens into something rather more vile as the narrative develops), but the "sexless" and broken-hearted Miss Abbott (who "runs like a man") has an exceptionally poor time of it at the hands of her author. The lesson she learns at the end of the novel is dismal. "It's a mistake for a lonely woman to form an engrossing friendship. One should have the courage of one's loneliness," she says to Alleyn, in farewell. And he agrees so whole-heartedly that he recommends singing a song in gratitude for this valuable new wisdom.
The working class couple is there for us to sneer at as well, of course, mostly because they don't know enough Shakespeare to contribute to flirty, academic banter. That's pretty run-of-the-mill stuff for these mysteries, though, and probably wouldn't bother me if I weren't already horrified at how obvious Marsh was being about whose murders would be tragedies and whose murders would be really not too bad, all things considered.
You know, I really didn't mean for this review to be so negative. I was having such a great time at first -- for most of it really -- that I was reading bits of it to friends and laughing constantly. But, gosh, those last fifty pages or so were depressing, and I feel sure they were not meant to be -- the book has what you might call a happy ending, after all, and a very low body count, really. But since I only just now finished it, it's my impressions of the last bit that are foremost right now. You should probably take it with a grain of salt.
I still love you, Inspector Alleyn. You just have your head up your ass sometimes.
A bit of the good stuff:
"Mrs. Dillington-Blick, who might have been thought to be already in full flower, awarded herself a sort of bonus in effulgence. Everything about her blossomed madly. 'Fun!' she seemed to be saying. 'This is what I'm really good at. We're all going to like this.' She bathed Alleyn in her personality. Her eyes shone, her lips were moist, but small hands fluttered at the ends of her Rubensesque arms."
Mrs. Dillington-Blick ("a tidy armful and knows it") is really a great character, and dammit she is fun, though there are times you want to give her a time-out.
The bad stuff:
Classism, racism and heterosexism are known entities in these things. They are frequently hilarious or even charmingly naive (I'm thinking of Christie's The Man in the Brown Suit). And it always interests me to see how blandly affectionate most of the Great Dames of detective fiction can be toward their lesbian characters, in particular (Christie again comes to mind, with A Murder is Announced). But in my opinion, Marsh manages to be quite cruel in this one. The "queer steward" is treated titteringly from the beginning (this worsens into something rather more vile as the narrative develops), but the "sexless" and broken-hearted Miss Abbott (who "runs like a man") has an exceptionally poor time of it at the hands of her author. The lesson she learns at the end of the novel is dismal. "It's a mistake for a lonely woman to form an engrossing friendship. One should have the courage of one's loneliness," she says to Alleyn, in farewell. And he agrees so whole-heartedly that he recommends singing a song in gratitude for this valuable new wisdom.
The working class couple is there for us to sneer at as well, of course, mostly because they don't know enough Shakespeare to contribute to flirty, academic banter. That's pretty run-of-the-mill stuff for these mysteries, though, and probably wouldn't bother me if I weren't already horrified at how obvious Marsh was being about whose murders would be tragedies and whose murders would be really not too bad, all things considered.
You know, I really didn't mean for this review to be so negative. I was having such a great time at first -- for most of it really -- that I was reading bits of it to friends and laughing constantly. But, gosh, those last fifty pages or so were depressing, and I feel sure they were not meant to be -- the book has what you might call a happy ending, after all, and a very low body count, really. But since I only just now finished it, it's my impressions of the last bit that are foremost right now. You should probably take it with a grain of salt.
I still love you, Inspector Alleyn. You just have your head up your ass sometimes.
August 3, 2019
This is the twentieth novel in the Roderick Alleyn series, published in 1959. I have found Ngaio Marsh to be quite inconsistent – some of her mysteries are excellent and others not nearly so good. This is one of the better ones, with a good opening. It begins on the docks, with a group of passengers boarding The Cape Farewell, heading for South Africa. Among those boarding is a young woman whose engagement has recently broken off, the ship’s doctor, a television personality (a new, and rather amusing career, you feel, which is much derided by many of those aboard), the beautiful Mrs Dillington-Blick, the gruff, manly, Catherine Abbott, an elderly bachelor, a priest, an unpleasant teacher and Mr and Mrs Cuddy, who feel they are looked down upon by the others.
A young woman, delivering some flowers to Mrs Dillington-Blick is murdered by the ‘flower murderer,’ who is known for leaving flowers on the body of the woman he kills. Alleyn is sent on board, as the murderer is suspected to be one of the passengers and tries to infiltrate the group and discover their thoughts on the killer. With a manly, female passenger and an effeminate, male steward, Marsh enlarges the possible suspects and the young, broken hearted Jemima and attractive Mrs Dillington-Blick, good, possible victims. Marsh manages some good twists and the setting, onboard ship, with an unhelpful Captain, makes Alleyn’s job difficult and adds some extra tension. Marsh has not managed to achieve the success of her early books for me, but this is a good addition to the series. I did listen to this on Audible, but James Saxton was not the best narrator and his choice of voices/accents was, at times, bizarre.
Rated 3.5
A young woman, delivering some flowers to Mrs Dillington-Blick is murdered by the ‘flower murderer,’ who is known for leaving flowers on the body of the woman he kills. Alleyn is sent on board, as the murderer is suspected to be one of the passengers and tries to infiltrate the group and discover their thoughts on the killer. With a manly, female passenger and an effeminate, male steward, Marsh enlarges the possible suspects and the young, broken hearted Jemima and attractive Mrs Dillington-Blick, good, possible victims. Marsh manages some good twists and the setting, onboard ship, with an unhelpful Captain, makes Alleyn’s job difficult and adds some extra tension. Marsh has not managed to achieve the success of her early books for me, but this is a good addition to the series. I did listen to this on Audible, but James Saxton was not the best narrator and his choice of voices/accents was, at times, bizarre.
Rated 3.5
December 30, 2024
Siempre he pensado que Ngaio Marsh es la gemela malvada de Agatha Christie, comparten reglas muy definidas como el ambiente cerrado, número definido de sospechosos, pistas a la vista, pero Ngaio le avienta unas gotitas extras de maldad, situaciones fuera de lo políticamente correcto, una oscuridad no tan contenida y muchas veces inesperada.
El inspector Roderick se embarca con un puñado de personajes variopintos así como una tripulación poco ortodoxa teniendo una mezcla ideal para macerar a fuego lento un asesino, está ahí entre todos ellos, el problema es encontrarlo antes de que el barco llegue al destino.
Una de las novelas más sólidas de esta serie, donde existe un giro en la personalidad y motivación del asesino si lo comparamos con los libros anteriores, esto le dota una profundidad que se agradece.
Sin duda me ha hecho pasar un muy buen rato.
El inspector Roderick se embarca con un puñado de personajes variopintos así como una tripulación poco ortodoxa teniendo una mezcla ideal para macerar a fuego lento un asesino, está ahí entre todos ellos, el problema es encontrarlo antes de que el barco llegue al destino.
Una de las novelas más sólidas de esta serie, donde existe un giro en la personalidad y motivación del asesino si lo comparamos con los libros anteriores, esto le dota una profundidad que se agradece.
Sin duda me ha hecho pasar un muy buen rato.
September 24, 2019
Alleyn has to discover which member of a ship's passengers is serial killer, if indeed any of them, while undercover and with a ship's captain who doesn't believe the killer is on board. Marsh does an excellent job of describing the characters and growing tension between them. I suspected the guilty party but only as much as I suspected each of the suspects in turn - the denouement was splendid!
March 16, 2019
I had my review erased accidentally. Wondering what key did that to me. I had just typed something of the mood Marsh successfully set to start us on this tightly plotted mystery. "In the pool of London and further east all through the dockyards the fog lay heavy. Lights swam like moons in their own halos...Beyond their illuminated places the dockyards vanished. The gang loading the Cape Farewell moved from light into nothingness."
It is a most peculiar group of passengers aligned for this cruise where Alleyn arranges to board at sea to capture his serial murderer when another body is found after Cape Farewell launches.
20th in Alleyn series, published 1959
For me, I much prefer the books that include Alleyn's wife in the narrative.
It is a most peculiar group of passengers aligned for this cruise where Alleyn arranges to board at sea to capture his serial murderer when another body is found after Cape Farewell launches.
20th in Alleyn series, published 1959
For me, I much prefer the books that include Alleyn's wife in the narrative.
February 2, 2017
Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh is the 20th Superintendent Roderick Alleyn mystery novel.The latest victim of the "flower murderer" is discovered clutching a piece of a torn embarkation notice for Cape Farewell and Superintendent Alleyn boards the ship to catch the killer. An interesting, enjoyable book of the classic detective style. It misses the usual supporting characters who only play a minor role from afar. Superintendent Alleyn is superb as always.
July 25, 2014
A very good "contained" mystery as Roderick Alleyn finds a serial killer among the passengers on a ship bound for an African cruise.
August 1, 2019
This was okay - I listened to the Audible for part of it, and the narrator affected several really annoying accents for some of the characters, several of whom were rather bizarre and unlikable. I wasn’t sure if it was the narrator’s acting or the way Marsh wrote the characters. I also missed Fox, Alleyn’s long-time sidekick at Scotland Yard.
The book opens in a wonderfully atmospheric scene at the London docks, as a constable patrols the foggy, cold quayside and passengers arrive to board a ship departing at midnight. It was a great start, with a dead woman discovered by the constable- strangled, with flowers tossed on her chest. She’s likely the latest victim of a possible serial killer, and since she’s clutching a torn bit of a boarding document from the ship, Scotland Yard thinks the murderer may be aboard. Inspector Alleyn comes aboard at Portsmouth, undercover, to keep an eye on the passengers and crew and investigate.
Without Fox and the usual investigative machinery usually at his disposal, Alleyn tries to blend in and observe the ship’s inhabitants - several of whom seemed possible as the murderer, seeming unlikable, unbalanced, or just plain odd. Some of their actions and reactions were rather inexplicable to me, especially when the murderer strikes again; I’m not sure if this was Marsh’s elliptical writing style, or a product of the time the novel was written, or what. I’ve run into this before with Marsh’s writing - I’ve been reading a mystery of hers every month with the Reading the Detectives group, and sometimes I’m really not sure what she’s trying to say...also, with this particular narration, my enjoyment was definitely affected by the bizarre accents and acting the narrator chose to use. I may have enjoyed this one more if I had read the whole book.
Anyway, I enjoyed several parts of the mystery, but it wasn’t a favorite. I was surprised at the identity of the killer, and the motive seemed to reek of pop psychology, but at the time of writing (early 50s), perhaps these theories were emerging into mainstream books and movies.
The book opens in a wonderfully atmospheric scene at the London docks, as a constable patrols the foggy, cold quayside and passengers arrive to board a ship departing at midnight. It was a great start, with a dead woman discovered by the constable- strangled, with flowers tossed on her chest. She’s likely the latest victim of a possible serial killer, and since she’s clutching a torn bit of a boarding document from the ship, Scotland Yard thinks the murderer may be aboard. Inspector Alleyn comes aboard at Portsmouth, undercover, to keep an eye on the passengers and crew and investigate.
Without Fox and the usual investigative machinery usually at his disposal, Alleyn tries to blend in and observe the ship’s inhabitants - several of whom seemed possible as the murderer, seeming unlikable, unbalanced, or just plain odd. Some of their actions and reactions were rather inexplicable to me, especially when the murderer strikes again; I’m not sure if this was Marsh’s elliptical writing style, or a product of the time the novel was written, or what. I’ve run into this before with Marsh’s writing - I’ve been reading a mystery of hers every month with the Reading the Detectives group, and sometimes I’m really not sure what she’s trying to say...also, with this particular narration, my enjoyment was definitely affected by the bizarre accents and acting the narrator chose to use. I may have enjoyed this one more if I had read the whole book.
Anyway, I enjoyed several parts of the mystery, but it wasn’t a favorite. I was surprised at the identity of the killer, and the motive seemed to reek of pop psychology, but at the time of writing (early 50s), perhaps these theories were emerging into mainstream books and movies.
August 1, 2019
Father Jourdain & Alleyn are walking on deck after returning from an excursion - 'They walked together down the well-deck on the port side. When they had reached the little verandah aft of the engine house, they stopped while Alleyn lit his pipe. The night was still very warm, but they had run into a stiff breeze and the ship was alive with it. There was a high thrumming sound in the shrouds. "Someone singing," Alleyn said.
"Isn't it the wind in those ropes? Shrouds, don't they call them? I wonder why."
"These cases," said Alleyn, "are the worst of the lot from our point of view. We can pick a card-sharp or a con-man or a sneak-thief or a gunman or a dozen other bad lots by certain mannerisms and tricks of behaviour. They develop occupational habits and they generally keep company with their own kind. But not the man who, having never before been in trouble with the police, begins, perhaps latish in life, to strangle women at ten-day intervals and leave flowers on their faces. He's a job for the psychiatrist if ever there was one, and he doesn't go in for psychiatry. He's merely an example. But of what? The result of bad housing conditions or a possessive mother or a kick on the head at football or a bullying schoolmaster or a series of regrettable grandparents? Again, your guess is as good as mine. He is. He exists. He may behave with perfect propriety in every possible aspect of his life but this one. He may be, and often is, a colourless little fellow who trots to and fro upon his lawful occasions for, say, fifty years, seven months, and a day. On the day after that he trots out and becomes a murderer. Probably there have been certain eccentricities of behaviour which he's been at great pains to conceal and which have suddenly become inadequate. Whatever compulsion it is that hounds him into his appointed crime, it now takes over. He lets go and becomes a monster."
"Isn't it the wind in those ropes? Shrouds, don't they call them? I wonder why."
"These cases," said Alleyn, "are the worst of the lot from our point of view. We can pick a card-sharp or a con-man or a sneak-thief or a gunman or a dozen other bad lots by certain mannerisms and tricks of behaviour. They develop occupational habits and they generally keep company with their own kind. But not the man who, having never before been in trouble with the police, begins, perhaps latish in life, to strangle women at ten-day intervals and leave flowers on their faces. He's a job for the psychiatrist if ever there was one, and he doesn't go in for psychiatry. He's merely an example. But of what? The result of bad housing conditions or a possessive mother or a kick on the head at football or a bullying schoolmaster or a series of regrettable grandparents? Again, your guess is as good as mine. He is. He exists. He may behave with perfect propriety in every possible aspect of his life but this one. He may be, and often is, a colourless little fellow who trots to and fro upon his lawful occasions for, say, fifty years, seven months, and a day. On the day after that he trots out and becomes a murderer. Probably there have been certain eccentricities of behaviour which he's been at great pains to conceal and which have suddenly become inadequate. Whatever compulsion it is that hounds him into his appointed crime, it now takes over. He lets go and becomes a monster."
February 8, 2021
Een whodunit van de bovenste plank, zoals we van Ngaio Marsh wel mogen verwachten.
Inspecteur Alleyn van Scotland Yard moet het deze keer op zijn eentje doen, zonder de help van Fox en een bevriende journalist. Fox speelt enkel op de achtergrond mee en zijn rol beperkt zich tot het controleren van de alibis. Alleyn krijgt wel hulp, lokaal op het schip van twee personen die initieel bij de verdachten horen maar die al snel vrijgepleit kunnen worden.
Een groot deel van het boek bestaat uit de interactie van de 7 verdachten met elkaar, met Alleyn en met de bemanning. Achtergronden van zowel personen als omgeving worden nauwkeurig beschreven, voorkeuren en antipathieën worden deskundig gevoed en desgewenst door mekaar geschud.
Het is moeilijk maar in deze niet onmogelijk om de moordenaar te vinden als je als lezer goed oplet en tevens al voldoende beslagen bent in het genre van de whodunit.
De tropische sfeer kwam bij mij (-10°) niet zo goed tot zijn recht, voor de rest is de schrijfstijl van Marsh erg meeslepend en nodigt zeker uit tot het meebeleven van het verhaal. Een andere tijd en een plaats waar de meesten onder ons enkel van kunnen dromen... en dat lukt ook perfekt.
Inspecteur Alleyn van Scotland Yard moet het deze keer op zijn eentje doen, zonder de help van Fox en een bevriende journalist. Fox speelt enkel op de achtergrond mee en zijn rol beperkt zich tot het controleren van de alibis. Alleyn krijgt wel hulp, lokaal op het schip van twee personen die initieel bij de verdachten horen maar die al snel vrijgepleit kunnen worden.
Een groot deel van het boek bestaat uit de interactie van de 7 verdachten met elkaar, met Alleyn en met de bemanning. Achtergronden van zowel personen als omgeving worden nauwkeurig beschreven, voorkeuren en antipathieën worden deskundig gevoed en desgewenst door mekaar geschud.
Het is moeilijk maar in deze niet onmogelijk om de moordenaar te vinden als je als lezer goed oplet en tevens al voldoende beslagen bent in het genre van de whodunit.
De tropische sfeer kwam bij mij (-10°) niet zo goed tot zijn recht, voor de rest is de schrijfstijl van Marsh erg meeslepend en nodigt zeker uit tot het meebeleven van het verhaal. Een andere tijd en een plaats waar de meesten onder ons enkel van kunnen dromen... en dat lukt ook perfekt.
February 3, 2021
B:
Again, Marsh is switching it up a little here, with this tale of a group of passengers stuck on a ship bound for South Africa with a serial killer who strikes every ten days. I found this one of the most engaging Alleyn entries (took just two days to complete) with a shrewdly fleshed-out set of characters and some witty comedy. With the motive excised, though, it does feel that it's up to Marsh to keep us guessing about the murderer, and a couple of moments in the middle of the novel signpost it too clearly for me. But then it could just be that I'm getting wise to her tricks by now.
Again, Marsh is switching it up a little here, with this tale of a group of passengers stuck on a ship bound for South Africa with a serial killer who strikes every ten days. I found this one of the most engaging Alleyn entries (took just two days to complete) with a shrewdly fleshed-out set of characters and some witty comedy. With the motive excised, though, it does feel that it's up to Marsh to keep us guessing about the murderer, and a couple of moments in the middle of the novel signpost it too clearly for me. But then it could just be that I'm getting wise to her tricks by now.
November 13, 2021
Stars: 3.5, rounded up. Roderick Alleyn is in this from almost the beginning -- unlike many of Marsh's books where he shows up rather too late to suit me. I enjoyed the interesting characters, even the unpleasant ones, and I totally did not figure out whodunnit. In fact, there is an interesting twist toward the end that took me completely by surprise.
James Saxon's narration was not his best. I have listened to many of them and found the quality uneven. But Marsh's writing here is lovely, and I sometimes felt like I was on the boat with the characters.
James Saxon's narration was not his best. I have listened to many of them and found the quality uneven. But Marsh's writing here is lovely, and I sometimes felt like I was on the boat with the characters.
August 26, 2019
Singing in the Shrouds (1958) by Ngaio Marsh finds Inspector Roderick Alleyn pursuing a serial killer who follows his deed with a bit of song. Three young women have been found strangled to death--their cheap necklaces broken and their bodies strewn with flowers. Witnesses in the vicinity of the murders report hearing a high-pitched male voice singing at about the time officials believe the deaths to have occurred. The last victim was a girl from a flower shop who had been sent to deliver flowers to Mrs. Dillington-Blick, a passenger on the South Africa-bound Cape Farewell. Clutched in the dead woman's hand was an embarkation notice from the ship which leads the police to believe that the murderer is also a passenger on the ship.
Alleyn joins the ship at its next port of call--but incognito. Neither Scotland Yard nor the ship's company (and captain) want to alarm the passengers or give the culprit warning if he really is on board, so he appears C. J. Broderick, cousin of chairman of the shipping company. He mingles with the passengers and crew and finds that his prime suspects include: Mrs. Dillington-Blick, a rubenesque beauty who has men buzzing round her like bees round a honey pot; Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy, a stodgy middle class couple who don't quite get the jokes; Katherine Abbot, a woman of somewhat masculine build who is an expert on church music; Mr. Philip Merryman, an acerbic retired schoolmaster; Father Charles Jourdain, an Anglo-Catholic priest; Brigid Carmichael, a young woman whose engagement has ended badly; Mr. Aubyn Dale, a television personality who is taking a trip to calm his nerves; Mr. Donald McAngus, an elderly bachelor; and Dr. Timothy Makepiece, the newly-boarded ship's doctor who also specializes in psychiatry.
Unfortunately, the captain resents his presence and even actively hobbles a few of his efforts--though he does participate in a little game of "how good is your memory" to elicit a few alibis for the night of one of the Flower Murders. In the wake of this (and after cabling Fox to check up on the details), Alleyn is able to eliminate the good doctor and priest from the suspect list and enlists their aid in keeping watch over the women. There is a final murder before Alleyn can lay the murder by the heels. And even then he has to force a confession through a highly dramatic scene.
There are several things to like about this one--including the opening scene on the foggy London docks. Very atmospheric and full of suspense. I also enjoyed the closed-scene setting of the shipboard murder. It's nice to have Alleyn introduced early on and watch him work throughout though having Jourdain and Makepiece pinch-hit for the missing Fox and company doesn't work quite as well. I like Makepiece best when he is spending his time with Brigid (who gets over her broken engagement fairly rapidly). It's also a shame that Marsh cuts her suspect pool down...it's not nearly as difficult to spot the killer when you have Fox cabling the all-clear on potential suspects.
Still..it's an entertaining mystery and Marsh produces an interesting serial killer plot for Alleyn to unravel. ★★★ and a half.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. thanks.
Alleyn joins the ship at its next port of call--but incognito. Neither Scotland Yard nor the ship's company (and captain) want to alarm the passengers or give the culprit warning if he really is on board, so he appears C. J. Broderick, cousin of chairman of the shipping company. He mingles with the passengers and crew and finds that his prime suspects include: Mrs. Dillington-Blick, a rubenesque beauty who has men buzzing round her like bees round a honey pot; Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy, a stodgy middle class couple who don't quite get the jokes; Katherine Abbot, a woman of somewhat masculine build who is an expert on church music; Mr. Philip Merryman, an acerbic retired schoolmaster; Father Charles Jourdain, an Anglo-Catholic priest; Brigid Carmichael, a young woman whose engagement has ended badly; Mr. Aubyn Dale, a television personality who is taking a trip to calm his nerves; Mr. Donald McAngus, an elderly bachelor; and Dr. Timothy Makepiece, the newly-boarded ship's doctor who also specializes in psychiatry.
Unfortunately, the captain resents his presence and even actively hobbles a few of his efforts--though he does participate in a little game of "how good is your memory" to elicit a few alibis for the night of one of the Flower Murders. In the wake of this (and after cabling Fox to check up on the details), Alleyn is able to eliminate the good doctor and priest from the suspect list and enlists their aid in keeping watch over the women. There is a final murder before Alleyn can lay the murder by the heels. And even then he has to force a confession through a highly dramatic scene.
There are several things to like about this one--including the opening scene on the foggy London docks. Very atmospheric and full of suspense. I also enjoyed the closed-scene setting of the shipboard murder. It's nice to have Alleyn introduced early on and watch him work throughout though having Jourdain and Makepiece pinch-hit for the missing Fox and company doesn't work quite as well. I like Makepiece best when he is spending his time with Brigid (who gets over her broken engagement fairly rapidly). It's also a shame that Marsh cuts her suspect pool down...it's not nearly as difficult to spot the killer when you have Fox cabling the all-clear on potential suspects.
Still..it's an entertaining mystery and Marsh produces an interesting serial killer plot for Alleyn to unravel. ★★★ and a half.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. thanks.
July 24, 2018
First sentence: In the Pool of London and farther east all through the dockyards the fog lay heavy. Lights swam like moons in their own halos. Insignificant buildings, being simplified, became dramatic.
Premise/plot: Singing in the Shrouds is the twentieth novel in Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mystery series. Cape Farewell is about to steam out to sea when a body is discovered near the docks. It is believed that the murderer is a passenger on the ship. Inspector Alleyn joins the ship--in disguise--the next day. He not only wants to find the murderer--who has already struck three times--but to prevent another murder from occurring. This serial killer is striking every ten days. And the voyage is much longer than ten days! Can Alleyn discover the murderer among the passengers without being discovered himself?
My thoughts: I am loving Ngaio Marsh. I am. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get to her mystery novels. I enjoyed getting to know the passengers. There were some interesting characters among them--some prove Alleyn's great allies. One of the passengers was a 1950s version of Jerry Springer--a television personality of a reality talk show where guests bring him their personal troubles.
When it comes to separating the easygoing from the exacting passenger, stewards are not easily deceived. But Dennis had been taken in by Mr. Merryman. The spectacles, the rumpled hair and cherubic countenance had led him to diagnose absence of mind, benevolence and timidity. He was bitterly disappointed when Mr. Merryman now gave unmistakable signs of being a Holy Terror. (24)
It's the greatest mistake to think that jealousy is necessarily a fault. On the contrary, it may very well sharpen the perception. (54)
'Alibis,' Mr. Merryman said grandly, 'are in the same category as statistics: in the last analysis they prove nothing.' (85)
Premise/plot: Singing in the Shrouds is the twentieth novel in Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mystery series. Cape Farewell is about to steam out to sea when a body is discovered near the docks. It is believed that the murderer is a passenger on the ship. Inspector Alleyn joins the ship--in disguise--the next day. He not only wants to find the murderer--who has already struck three times--but to prevent another murder from occurring. This serial killer is striking every ten days. And the voyage is much longer than ten days! Can Alleyn discover the murderer among the passengers without being discovered himself?
My thoughts: I am loving Ngaio Marsh. I am. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get to her mystery novels. I enjoyed getting to know the passengers. There were some interesting characters among them--some prove Alleyn's great allies. One of the passengers was a 1950s version of Jerry Springer--a television personality of a reality talk show where guests bring him their personal troubles.
When it comes to separating the easygoing from the exacting passenger, stewards are not easily deceived. But Dennis had been taken in by Mr. Merryman. The spectacles, the rumpled hair and cherubic countenance had led him to diagnose absence of mind, benevolence and timidity. He was bitterly disappointed when Mr. Merryman now gave unmistakable signs of being a Holy Terror. (24)
It's the greatest mistake to think that jealousy is necessarily a fault. On the contrary, it may very well sharpen the perception. (54)
'Alibis,' Mr. Merryman said grandly, 'are in the same category as statistics: in the last analysis they prove nothing.' (85)
May 7, 2011
I really enjoyed this mystery and agree with the book reviews that she's better than Agatha Christie. The story takes place on board a cruise ship and the detective, Inspector Alleyn is incognito as he hunts for a serial killer who may be on board. Of course, at the time they weren't called serial killers and the psychological profiles for serial killers weren't really developed like you'd see on a crime show today. I think that's part of what made it so interesting. Also, Alleyn writes up his "casebook" in a letter to his wife and indicates pretty early on that he has a good idea who the killer is, though he doesn't let us know until the end. Excellent setting and character development as well.
January 6, 2017
I really quite liked this one. I think I am a sucker for books set on ships (I blame Dragons in the Waters). Maybe it's just that I like the limited cast of characters. I think it works particularly well for murder mysteries. I wasn't sure I'd like this one, but I did in the end.
Also, the secondary romance is particularly strong, for this series.
Oh, and I adore Alleyn writing letters to his wife.
2017 Reading Challenge - A book involving travel
Also, the secondary romance is particularly strong, for this series.
Oh, and I adore Alleyn writing letters to his wife.
2017 Reading Challenge - A book involving travel
October 6, 2018
Entertaining as always, though I prefer the books in which Troy and Fox appear. Great snapshot of life in the intimate community of a not-really-cruise-ship.
June 27, 2025
The novel was both too short and too long.
Paradoxical?
Not really.
Let me explain.
As I was reading, I was struck by how different the novel is when compared to Christie. AC's novels (I've read all her mysteries) have tasty baits, befuddling mysteries, romantic subplots, two dimensional characters, limited vocabulary, zappy dialogue, dry humour, minimal action, short scenes, multiple cliffhangers, memorable explications, and intriguing romantic conclusions. Marsh, on the contrary, although I have only read a few of her novels, seems to go for engaging plots and three dimensional characters. The humour is similar; however, Marsh's wit is comparatively elitist. This comes through in vocabulary too. She uses language that is often not of everyday use, and, hence, the sentences feel laboured. The dialogues too are elaborate, and often unrealistic. The action is minimal; but the scenes, while short, are never zappy. Lengthy discussions, often pointless, verbose, and of an academic nature, weigh the book down. (In this aspect, Marsh is similar to Sayers.)
Cliffhangers are practically non-existent; the denouement and conclusion drag on for ages, er pages.
This is not to trash Marsh.
Her strengths are not immediately apparent, and something generally not sought in detective fiction. Her characters are proper breathing and kicking individuals, governed by desires and passions that cannot be simplistically classified, as Poirot infamously does multiple times in AC novels. Yes, they are not just love and greed.
As the stories are about grappling with the dark angel in his innumerable forms, the plots are engaging.
All this gives Marsh the license to examine societal mores and hold court on outdated notions of binaries. But this very aspect makes the work's focus seem more suited for a literary novel than detective fiction.
However, Marsh never loses focus of the detection angle; and this is to the novel's detriment, as it falls between two stools, while trying to straddle both.
This novel could have been a top notch mystery if 1/4th was edited, and could have been a literary classic if the political and psychological and the religious aspects were mined optimally. But that would turn it into a tome, albeit a worthy one.
Well! It just shows how much authors owe their editors. If only Marsh had an editor who pushed her to choose between the two, or at least had chosen for her, and had been nippy with the scissors.
If only.
Paradoxical?
Not really.
Let me explain.
As I was reading, I was struck by how different the novel is when compared to Christie. AC's novels (I've read all her mysteries) have tasty baits, befuddling mysteries, romantic subplots, two dimensional characters, limited vocabulary, zappy dialogue, dry humour, minimal action, short scenes, multiple cliffhangers, memorable explications, and intriguing romantic conclusions. Marsh, on the contrary, although I have only read a few of her novels, seems to go for engaging plots and three dimensional characters. The humour is similar; however, Marsh's wit is comparatively elitist. This comes through in vocabulary too. She uses language that is often not of everyday use, and, hence, the sentences feel laboured. The dialogues too are elaborate, and often unrealistic. The action is minimal; but the scenes, while short, are never zappy. Lengthy discussions, often pointless, verbose, and of an academic nature, weigh the book down. (In this aspect, Marsh is similar to Sayers.)
Cliffhangers are practically non-existent; the denouement and conclusion drag on for ages, er pages.
This is not to trash Marsh.
Her strengths are not immediately apparent, and something generally not sought in detective fiction. Her characters are proper breathing and kicking individuals, governed by desires and passions that cannot be simplistically classified, as Poirot infamously does multiple times in AC novels. Yes, they are not just love and greed.
As the stories are about grappling with the dark angel in his innumerable forms, the plots are engaging.
All this gives Marsh the license to examine societal mores and hold court on outdated notions of binaries. But this very aspect makes the work's focus seem more suited for a literary novel than detective fiction.
However, Marsh never loses focus of the detection angle; and this is to the novel's detriment, as it falls between two stools, while trying to straddle both.
This novel could have been a top notch mystery if 1/4th was edited, and could have been a literary classic if the political and psychological and the religious aspects were mined optimally. But that would turn it into a tome, albeit a worthy one.
Well! It just shows how much authors owe their editors. If only Marsh had an editor who pushed her to choose between the two, or at least had chosen for her, and had been nippy with the scissors.
If only.
April 10, 2025
The Golden Age of mystery is just my favorite- I’m happy I found this author!
October 2, 2021
3.5 stars
December 27, 2021
Summary: Alleyn joins a ship bound for Cape Town seeking a serial murderer, one of nine passengers.
Hmm. This isn’t my idea of a good time. A cruise on a cargo ship with eight other passengers, all strangers. Add to that the possibility of a serial murderer on board, one of those passengers. That’s the scenario Ngaio Marsh has created in this installment of the Roderick Alleyn mysteries.
An eccentric group comes aboard the Cape Farewell, captained by Jasper Bannerman, an old sea dog used to being in charge–perhaps too much so. Mrs. Ruby Dillington-Blick is a widowed socialite, living large in every sense, used to being adored. Fred and Ethel Cuddy are a middle-class, middle-aged couple. Katherine Abbott is a spinster specializing in church music, with large hands and feet! Philip Merryman is a fussy retired schoolmaster. Jemima Carmichael is on the cruise to heal from a broken engagement. Dr. Timothy Makepiece signed on as ship’s doctor to travel to South Africa. Aubyn Dale is an alcoholic TV emcee skating very close to a breakdown. And Mr. Donald McAngus is an elderly, stamp-collecting bachelor.
Just before the ship sailed, a young girl is murdered near the docks. The murder has all the marks of “the Flower Killer,” who strangles the victims with a necklace, found broken, strews flower petals over them, and departs the scene singing. The murderer has killed at ten day intervals. The girl is found just as the Cape Farewell departs. Part of an embarkation notice for the ship is found in her hand.
The suspicion is that the murderer is one of the passengers. They all had been in the vicinity prior to sailing. Alleyn is assigned the case, boarding at Portsmouth, assuming the identity of a shipping company official. He has to investigate without appearing to do so or alarming the passengers. And Bannerman is less than willing to help. He doesn’t believe any of these passengers could be the murderer. But the case is urgent. The next ten day interval will expire while the ship is at sea. There could be another victim.
This is one of my favorites so far. There is a budding love affair between Jemima and the doctor. The doctor and the priest have alibis that check out and become silent partners with Alleyn in watching out for the women. Marsh does well in leaving both red herrings and avoids giving away the murderer. We can’t help but admire Mrs. Dillington-Blick, as do all the men around her. I found myself wondering a bit about the mysterious Katherine Abbott. And I didn’t want anything to happen to Jemima, who struck me as the perfect murder victim. This makes for a great holiday or vacation read!
Hmm. This isn’t my idea of a good time. A cruise on a cargo ship with eight other passengers, all strangers. Add to that the possibility of a serial murderer on board, one of those passengers. That’s the scenario Ngaio Marsh has created in this installment of the Roderick Alleyn mysteries.
An eccentric group comes aboard the Cape Farewell, captained by Jasper Bannerman, an old sea dog used to being in charge–perhaps too much so. Mrs. Ruby Dillington-Blick is a widowed socialite, living large in every sense, used to being adored. Fred and Ethel Cuddy are a middle-class, middle-aged couple. Katherine Abbott is a spinster specializing in church music, with large hands and feet! Philip Merryman is a fussy retired schoolmaster. Jemima Carmichael is on the cruise to heal from a broken engagement. Dr. Timothy Makepiece signed on as ship’s doctor to travel to South Africa. Aubyn Dale is an alcoholic TV emcee skating very close to a breakdown. And Mr. Donald McAngus is an elderly, stamp-collecting bachelor.
Just before the ship sailed, a young girl is murdered near the docks. The murder has all the marks of “the Flower Killer,” who strangles the victims with a necklace, found broken, strews flower petals over them, and departs the scene singing. The murderer has killed at ten day intervals. The girl is found just as the Cape Farewell departs. Part of an embarkation notice for the ship is found in her hand.
The suspicion is that the murderer is one of the passengers. They all had been in the vicinity prior to sailing. Alleyn is assigned the case, boarding at Portsmouth, assuming the identity of a shipping company official. He has to investigate without appearing to do so or alarming the passengers. And Bannerman is less than willing to help. He doesn’t believe any of these passengers could be the murderer. But the case is urgent. The next ten day interval will expire while the ship is at sea. There could be another victim.
This is one of my favorites so far. There is a budding love affair between Jemima and the doctor. The doctor and the priest have alibis that check out and become silent partners with Alleyn in watching out for the women. Marsh does well in leaving both red herrings and avoids giving away the murderer. We can’t help but admire Mrs. Dillington-Blick, as do all the men around her. I found myself wondering a bit about the mysterious Katherine Abbott. And I didn’t want anything to happen to Jemima, who struck me as the perfect murder victim. This makes for a great holiday or vacation read!
March 13, 2018
A serial killer is at work in what becomes one of Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn’s most urgent and dramatic cases in Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh. The S.S. Cape Farewell sets sail from London to South Africa just as the beat policeman discovers the third such body, with the signature flowers spread over the body and the sound of singing showing off the trademarks of the “Flower Murderer.” The strangled woman clasps an embarkation ticket to the ship, causing Alleyn to be sent to the ship from Portsmouth in order to look for the murderer. He does this despite all the objections of Captain Bannerman, who stubbornly refuses to accept that one of his passengers could be a murderer no matter what kind of evidence builds up.
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
November 25, 2015
Inspector Alleyn takes a cruise, because the Flower Murderer killed a girl who was delivering flowers to a lady just before departure time, and then came aboard natural as could be and took his place among the passengers. The lady who should have gotten the flowers turns out to be a comic charmer, thanks to Marsh's sharp eye. Each passenger plus some of the crew has individualistic features that help create the maze Alleyn follows.
At the time Marsh wrote, she was a star mystery author because, like Sayers, her books were as much novels as puzzles. Nowadays, that's a common part of the genre, but Marsh is still a star because her mystery novels don't rely on gore to entrap blood-loving readers. (As one who raved about Giles Blunt's BLACK FLY SEASON, I can't look down my nose as convincingly as I would like to here.) Marsh's charms depend on story, setting, people and plot.
At the time Marsh wrote, she was a star mystery author because, like Sayers, her books were as much novels as puzzles. Nowadays, that's a common part of the genre, but Marsh is still a star because her mystery novels don't rely on gore to entrap blood-loving readers. (As one who raved about Giles Blunt's BLACK FLY SEASON, I can't look down my nose as convincingly as I would like to here.) Marsh's charms depend on story, setting, people and plot.
August 17, 2017
The weakest in this series so far, I think. Nothing special in the way of characters, in fact most of them are pretty unattractive. Setting not the most interesting. Fox and Co. are back at the Yard whilst Alleyn makes do with a couple of deputized passengers. No revelations of Alleyn's background or character. When the murderer is eventually revealed, his motivation seems kind of trumped-up. On to the next and hope it's just a momentary lapse.
Something about the old 1958 edition that filled my hold, rebound in ugly orange buckram, reminded me of shelving mysteries of this vintage as a library page in the 1960s. Never imagined then that I'd be reading them today.
Something about the old 1958 edition that filled my hold, rebound in ugly orange buckram, reminded me of shelving mysteries of this vintage as a library page in the 1960s. Never imagined then that I'd be reading them today.
May 12, 2021
Really enjoyed this book. Marsh is a master of the country house, aristocratic murder but every now and then she does something completely different - like here, and it works brilliantly!
A small group of passengers stuck on a ship to South Africa possibly with one of them being a psychopathic murderer. Can Alleyn find who it is before they kill again?
The concept really works, the character development is great and most of all there’s a light and humourous style of writing here that barks back to Marsh’s much earlier work.
A small group of passengers stuck on a ship to South Africa possibly with one of them being a psychopathic murderer. Can Alleyn find who it is before they kill again?
The concept really works, the character development is great and most of all there’s a light and humourous style of writing here that barks back to Marsh’s much earlier work.
December 25, 2015
I've only read two of her books so far both both fares the same: delightful writing, predictable but nevertheless exhausting homophobia and classism, and a puzzlingly anticlimactic ending. I will probably keep reading her to pass the time, but it's certainly obvious why she hasn't held up over time the way Christie and Sayers did.
January 1, 2019
Alleyne is called in to join a cruise ship bound for South Africa as it is likely a serial murderer is on board. Most of the setting is on board ship as Alleyne mingles with the passengers (including a T.V. celebrity, wealthy divorcee, retired teacher, priest, and doctor) and crew in the attempt to catch the criminal.
January 12, 2022
I thought it started well, but It petered out quickly. Characters that I sympathize with are treated cruelly. A lot of bigotry in this one. The premise was great - eight passengers on a ship and one is a murderer. This could have been an engrossing story. If only the author had liked her characters a little bit more.
July 28, 2018
Entertaining read of a serial killer who is likely aboard the Cape Farewell. Interesting characters and humorous sections. It’s a dated book, so of course one will come across some things that would be offensive by today’s standards.
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