Death in a White Tie / Overture to Death / Death at the Bar

Roderick Alleyn

by Ngaio Marsh

Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime's first book, the third volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Murder Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Golden Age Mystery

848 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dame 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

Reviews

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of the Roderick Alleyn books. Two of the three were dramatized in the 1990s. It's interesting to see how similar the stories are in general, while diverting in some of the details. So there's a degree familiarity to reading the stories, if you saw the series, but there are enough differences to keep up your interest. The last of the three stories in this collection was written in 1939, the tv series was moved to post WW2, so it is like look back at a world that has gone forever.

If you like detective and mystery stories you will love this.

[Jane Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover carries quotes from both the Telegraph and the Sun describing these stories as "classical". I suppose they mean "classic". The three books in this omnibus date from the 1930s. They feature a toff detective, Alleyn, solving murders among the upper crust and the lower orders. The first is mildly entertaining. The other two are more complicated and less interesting, and the third is thoroughly patronising.

[Feeling-bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ms. Marsh's writing. This was a re-read after many years, and I enjoyed all three mysteries all over again. Alleyn was my crush when I first begin reading Ms. Marsh's books, but time has tarnished the image somewhat, and I sometimes found him annoying. The class divides of the time and the prejudices stemming from them are very clear in her books, and they make one feel disgusted at times. Apart from that, I can't wait to re-read the next books in this series.

[Saara Sen-Basuchoudhary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good murder mystery and all three of these were amazing. I love Alleyn as a detective, especially his relationships with Fox and Bathgate (and, of course, Troy! although she’s not in them nearly as much as I want her to be). All in all, Marsh is obviously an experienced, talented mystery writer and has been reviewed by so many people but she’s always worth the hype.

[Martin Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Death in a White Tie. Entertaining, keeps you guessing all the way through. Not her best, by far, but still a worthwhile period whodunnit read.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three of my favourites, have read and reread all these books so many times

[pearl_seeker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, 45 pages in, and the murder mystery still has no murder! There is just a lot of trite goings-on amongst the debutante set of 1930s London. Marsh takes A LONG TIME to get to the actual plot. She spends the first 51 pages just laying out who all the players were; that is really boring...and confusing.

I'm disappointed and won't be reading another Marsh any time soon. Her characters are very 2-dimensional. Considering how much time she spends talking about them, you learn very little about them and feel as if you have no grasp on their personalities at all.

[Penelope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is only for OVERTURE IN DEATH -

3.5 - nearly 4 Stars - for OVERTURE IN DEATH a Classic English Mystery and a series which I discovered many years ago and have decided to revisit - I enjoyed it.
MY RATING GUIDE -
1= dnf/What was that?; 2= Nope, not for me; 3= Yes, Okay/Good; 3.5= I ENJOYED IT; 4= I liked it a lot; 5= A favorite, it was great!

OVERTURE IN DEATH - A small Dorset village busybody and spinster woman is suddenly and publicly killed by an unknown person just prior to the beginning performance of an amateur village play. As a known troublesome woman, plenty of the local people and gentry could possibly have had a motive for her death. CID Inspective Alleyn and his team arrive and investigate the case.

OVERTURE IN DEATH, #8 (originally published in 1939) is a CID Roderick Alleyn Mystery written by Ngaio Marsh. This is a Classic English Mystery series similar in style to Agatha Christie, M Allingham, and Dorothy Sayers. OVERTURE IN DEATH can be read and enjoyed as a standalone title. Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn/MMC has since become engaged to accomplished painter Agatha Troy, who he met in book #6. Troy is mentioned briefly in OVERTURE IN DEATH. Additional regular characters and members of Alleyn’s investigative team from previous novels also appear as secondary characters.

I first read and enjoyed the Roderick Alleyn Mysteries series years ago. This time I listened to the audio version narrated by Wanda McCaddon which I liked. As I enjoyed OID, I will most likely read/listen again to this book at some point and continue on with the series. I recommend OVERTURE IN DEATH and the Roderick Alleyn mystery series to readers who enjoy Classic English mysteries in the style of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham or Dorothy Sayers, and/or Historical Police Procedurals. A sense of life during this period in England is present in these novels. The style is somewhat dry with low angst. OID is mainly a Clean read, except for occasional language, as mentioned below.

READER CAUTIONS ~
VIOLENCE - Not really. This is a murder mystery but the death occurs off-scene. Description is minimal and the focus moves to discovering the perpetrator.
PROFANITY - Yes. Strong language is used on occasion.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - No, none.

[Gillian Kevern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wish that Harper Collins had made these novels available as separate volumes instead of combing them into one omnibus. It's huge, unwieldy and difficult to read and to take places with me. That said, one of these omnibuses will last you from Auckland to Narita which is a 12 hour flight, so it isn't all bad.

Death in a White Tie: 4.5

I didn't enjoy this one the first time I read it because I really liked Bunchy, the victim, and I felt his death very strongly. A really strong mystery, I entirely forgot the solution. Second time around, I still felt sorry for Bunchy.

Overture to Death: 5

Possibly my favourite Ngaio Marsh. Death by piano. What is there to dislike?

Death at the Bar: 4

The first Ngaio Marsh I ever read. First time round, I was an indignant teenager and I couldn't finish it because I was really upset at the wrong person being murdered. Second time around, I felt the atmosphere of the place too strongly. I don't think I fully took the mystery in. This reading, I really appreciated it for what it was. I had completely forgotten the solution. I also saw a lot more about the victim that younger-me had missed. Definitely not someone I should be regretting.

The Figure Quoted: 3.5

One of those stories that seems to depend on context no longer available. Cute but I feel like I'm missing something.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the first story was my favourite, followed by the second. The third was fine, but less vivid and personable than Marsh's other work, I thought.

***
Upon rereading, this holds true! The portrait of a detective detecting the death of a friend is moving, and the small-town-two-spinsters-sordidness of the second is also well done. I still don't love the third: the dénouement is a little far-stretched.

[Barbara Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

We bought ourselves the whole Alleyn series for Christmas and I'm working my way through them. Have to suspend my political and social views to enjoy them but it's worth it for a good bit of escapism.

[Daryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Ngaio Marsh mystery. She was a fantastic, skillful writer. Each of her novels are such a delight!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as any Ngaio Marsh book and by that I mean amazing. The first 2 books are great, the 3rd story is not one of my favourites but still great.