The Nursing Home Murder (Roderick Alleyn, #3) in Reading the Detectives

Apr 21, 2019 Lemar rated it did not like it

Shelves: mystery

Say it ain’t so Ngaio. Finding out a writer who is like a favorite aunt used to have an interest in eugenics is pretty depressing. It pretty much wrecked this book for me and if I read another it will have to be one written after World War II. I can only hope she evolved and I believe in allowing people to evolve. This wasn’t a full on book about it but just that somebody so smart didn’t reject that lethal fascist bullshit out of hand puts me off. Big time.
While intellectually I can see that th ...more

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May 12, 2015 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the third novel featuring Roderick Alleyn and was first published in 1935. Home Secretary, Sir Derek O’Callaghan is very involved in introducing a Bill to deal with anarchists and has received several threats to his life. During the beginning of this novel, we are aware that Sir Derek has been having serious abdominal pains and has ignored suggestions he seek medical help until after the Bill has been successful. Sir Derek’s wife, the icy cool Cicely, does not press him to accept help, b ...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Roger Pettit rated it liked it

Ngaio Marsh, a New Zealander, was one of a group of women writers who dominated what is sometimes known as the Golden Age of British detective fiction that occurred in the 1930s and the 1940s. The others were Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham. Marsh does not have Christie's fiendish ingenuity when it comes to plotting (a characteristic which, in my view, is what sets Christie apart from other writers of her era and since, and which has resulted in her continued pre-eminence Ngaio Marsh, a New Zealander, was one of a group of women writers who dominated what is sometimes known as the Golden Age of British detective fiction that occurred in the 1930s and the 1940s. The others were Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham. Marsh does not have Christie's fiendish ingenuity when it comes to plotting (a characteristic which, in my view, is what sets Christie apart from other writers of her era and since, and which has resulted in her continued pre-eminence in the field even though it is almost 40 years since her death). However, Marsh is usually very good at characterisation. "The Nursing Home Murder" is not perhaps one of her best books. The characterisation is not as good as in many of her others. The story is a straightforward potboiler of a whodunit. Its purpose is to provide a few hours of entertainment (on a train journey, before sleep, etc.). And, on that basis, it succeeds.

The plot concerns the murder of the Home Secretary, Sir Derek O'Callaghan, who dies a short time after having an operation for acute appendicitis at a private hospital. The surgeon who was in charge of the operation, the eminent Sir John Phillips, had good reasons for committing the murder - but so did several other people, some of whom were also involved in the surgical process that resulted in Sir Derek's demise. The investigation into the murder is led by Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a professional policeman, who appears in most of Marsh's novels. Although a career detective, Alleyn is not your usual police officer (even by the standards of the 1930s, the decade in which this story was first published and is set). He is an aristocrat. He has a servant (Vassily) and an apartment in central London. He knows the Prime Minister personally. He sports a dinner jacket when dining at home. And, to cap it all, he has a love of Shakespeare (he is partial to the first scene in Hamlet!). He is at ease with people (for example, Establishment figures) with whom most professional detectives would be uneasy. I give nothing away when I tell you that he does, of course, get to the bottom of the events depicted in the story.

Although not one of Ngaio Marsh's best books, "The Nursing Home Murder" is a reasonably good read. The plot, which revolves around the use of the drug hyoscine, is complex. (As with many such stories of this type, the novel is perhaps best read in one sitting, if the reader has the necessary time. In that way, it is easier to follow the detail of the plot.) It goes almost without saying that it is frankly incredible and unrealistic in places - but that tends to be a feature of stories such as this (after all, the plot of one of Agatha Christie's very best books, "And Then There Were None", is completely implausible!). The characterisation is limited and, indeed, in a number of instances, is stereotypical. I was not convinced, for example, by the meeting of Communist sympathisers described in the story or by the seemingly simplistic portrayal of some of its participants. Another problem is that there is only a very limited change of scenery during the book's 187 pages. However, Marsh writes in a readable style that has one turning the pages eager to find out what happens next.

"The Nursing Home Murder" is by no means a classic of the genre. It is unlikely to live long in the memory. But it provides a few hours of solid diversion from the stresses and anxieties of modern life - no bad thing in itself. 6/10.

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Oct 01, 2012 Abbey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: myst-police, reviewed, series, vintage, myst-fems-project, myst-set-andor-auth-uk

1935, written with help on background by Henry Jellett.
#3 Inspector Roderick Alleyn, Scotland Yard, London;
famous - and hated - politician goes into private hospital for appendicitis operation and dies under peculiar circumstances; classic cosy thriller, three-and-one-half-stars, not her very best but still entertaining.

Sir Derek O'Callaghan, Home Secretary, is in the process of introducing a stringent anti-Bolshivism bill in Parliament when he becomes very ill and is rushed to the private ho 1935, written with help on background by Henry Jellett.
#3 Inspector Roderick Alleyn, Scotland Yard, London;
famous - and hated - politician goes into private hospital for appendicitis operation and dies under peculiar circumstances; classic cosy thriller, three-and-one-half-stars, not her very best but still entertaining.

Sir Derek O'Callaghan, Home Secretary, is in the process of introducing a stringent anti-Bolshivism bill in Parliament when he becomes very ill and is rushed to the private hospital of his friend and doctor Sir John Phillips, for an operation. In 1935 an appendix opperation was not an easy nor terribly safe thing, so it's all rather touch-and-go, especially since Sir Derek has been battling the pain for quite a while now, and peritonitis has set in. When Sir Derek dies shortly after the operation at first no-one questions the death certificate, but as more information comes out Roderick Alleyn is called in to try and make sense of what might be an extremely tricky - and newsworthy - case of murder.

Good pacing and a lot of variety in the suspect pool move things along: there's Bolshevik activists out for his blood, an ex-lover and her wannabe husband (who just happens to be the surgeon), a peculiar anaesthetist with an unusual bee in his bonnet, a Bolshie-leaning nurse who got to be far too close to Sir Derek, Derek's loopy sister Ruth, and his very cold and brisk wife. And that's not counting all his political enemies - or friends.

This early Marsh novel has all the good things she cultivated for so many years in her writing: smooth, complex plots, gently satirical but evocative snapshots of all sorts of people in her rareified sort of circle, a decent pace, and most of the classic elements (i.e., fair play, lots of suspects, each with a perfectly viable and well-presented motive, and a "gather the suspects" moment at the end). This early novel has, however, a few things she, happily, quickly outgrew - a slight tendency towards "cute!!", a dim reporter/Watson and his adorable fiance, Bolshie plots, and a peculiar Russian manservant for Alleyn. No Troy as yet, Fox is present but has limited face-time; they're my favorite characters in her long series. And I've always disliked the reporter/Watson character and thankfully she gives him up after only a couple more books.

This is only her third novel, and despite its few flaws, it's a very creditable 1930s classic style mystery, quite dated in style now but still rather enjoyable. ...more

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Mar 10, 2018 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, vintage-mystery, british-mystery, marsh-challenge, bought-2018

The Nursing Home Murder (1935) is the third Inspector Alleyn novel by Ngaio Marsh. The Bolshevik's have reared their ugly heads again (see A Man Lay Dead) and have been sending death threats to Sir Derek Callaghan, the Home Secretary. Sir Derek is due to present a very important bill before Parliament and there are those who would prefer that bill never see the light of day. He has also been experiencing bouts of extreme abdominal pain--refusing to see a doctor until he has launched his bill. Bu The Nursing Home Murder (1935) is the third Inspector Alleyn novel by Ngaio Marsh. The Bolshevik's have reared their ugly heads again (see A Man Lay Dead) and have been sending death threats to Sir Derek Callaghan, the Home Secretary. Sir Derek is due to present a very important bill before Parliament and there are those who would prefer that bill never see the light of day. He has also been experiencing bouts of extreme abdominal pain--refusing to see a doctor until he has launched his bill. But in the middle of his speech, the spasms are so great that he falls unconscious.

His colleagues are aware that his doctor is Sir John Phillips and he is rushed to Phillips' hospital where he will be in the most capable hands. But no one is aware of the serious argument the two men had just the night before or that Sir John has threatened the Home Secretary's life. Nor are they aware of Nurse Harden who will be in the operating room--a woman who has recently been cast aside as Sir Derek's mistress and is the reason for Sir John's animosity. But these aren't the only ones with cause to hate the incapacitated man. Nurse Banks is a member of the anarchist society who threatened Sir Derek's life. And though Dr. Roberts, the anesthesiologist, may not have a known hatred for the man on the table, he does have some odd and obsessive ideas about eugenics. And Dr. Thoms, also present for the operation, behaves a bit oddly as well. It doesn't help that Sir Derek's slightly loopy sister has been stuffing him with patent medicines that may have been provided by a chemist with Bolshevik leanings. Needless to say, after what seems to have been a successful operation on a perforated appendix, Sir Derek dies and his death is ascribed to heart failure.

Lady O'Callaghan isn't having it. She's quite certain that the anarchists have gotten to her husband somehow. That is...until she discovers the threatening letter that Nurse Jane Harden was foolish enough to write. Convinced that her husband has been murdered, she calls Scotland Yard and demands a postmortem. Inspector Alleyn interviews her and her butler, Nash--who reveals that he overheard Sir John threaten his employer as well--and reluctantly agrees that a postmortem is indicated. Lady O'Callaghan's fears are proved to be well-founded when the p.m. reveals that Sir Derek died from an overdose of hyoscine.

It doesn't take Alleyn and Inspector Fox long to ferret out all the motives, but they have difficulty pinpointing the opportunity. In the operating room it would be difficult for anyone to mess about with the injections without someone else noticing. Alleyn finally resorts to that standard of crime fiction--the reenactment. And it is during the performance that he is given the clue that leads him to the culprit.

This installment of the Alleyn stories again has Nigel Bathgate--but he has been relegated to the sidelines. Alleyn uses him (and his girlfriend) to help scope out a meeting of the anarchists, uses them as a sounding board for a synopsis of the case to date, and then as an audience for the final wrap-up and explanation scene. Honestly--roles that Inspector Fox could have filled more successfully (and will in later novels). Bathgate as a Watson-like character seems to be losing his charm. Fortunately, the same is not true of Alleyn and Fox and I thoroughly enjoyed their investigation--especially the reenactment scenes. ★★★ and a half. [rounded to four here]

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

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Oct 11, 2015 Ellen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-sleuth, marsh, mystery-roderick-alleyn, my-favorites

The Nursing Home Murders by Ngaio Marsh.

This was my first Ngaio Marsh/Inspector Alleyn mystery I've read in book form. Marvelously written with vivid detail given to each personality.

The Home Secretary has a painful case of appendicitis and is taken to the hospital. Unfortunately Sir Derek O'Callaghan waited a bit too late and dies shortly after the surgery. But is that all to this death?

Lady O'Callaghan doesn't believe Sir Derek died of natural causes and employs Inspector Alleyn to do some inv ...more

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May 16, 2018 ShanDizzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What a refreshing change from Heyer's Inspector Hemmingway, with his caustic tongue and plain rudeness to people! Inspector Alleyn has a keen mind and impeccable manners and he dignifies others around him no matter their station in life. And let's not forget the redoubtable Fox as he assists Alleyn. I like their interactions and dialogue with one another. I am truly enjoying this series. ...more

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May 01, 2019 Zander rated it did not like it

Shelves: ngaio-marsh

Unlike her theater and art world based mysteries this one has not held up very well. It's hard to understand why anyone would be in love with the murder victim nor is the reason for the murder very clear. The description of the political world and the anarchists both seem rather farcical and perhaps that is the goal. This is so far the book I disliked the most in the Alleyn with hysterical women and dated views on frankly everything even for the timeframe. ...more

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Mar 10, 2018 Frances rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery-series

I'm still not sure about this series (this is the 3rd of Marsh's mysteries)-in this case the plot was pretty farfetched even for a mystery! ...more

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Feb 13, 2018 Susan rated it really liked it

This is the third novel featuring Roderick Alleyn and was first published in 1935. Home Secretary, Sir Derek O’Callaghan is very involved in introducing a Bill to deal with anarchists and has received several threats to his life. During the beginning of this novel, we are aware that Sir Derek has been having serious abdominal pains and has ignored suggestions he seek medical help until after the Bill has been successful. Sir Derek’s wife, the icy cool Cicely, does not press him to accept help, b ...more

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