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Vintage Murder (Roderick Alleyn, #5)

Ngaio Marsh

Start date: May 1, 2018

Finish date: May 31, 2018

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The fifth book in our Ngaio Marsh challenge
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* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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What Members Thought

May 07, 2018 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, marsh-challenge, vintage-mystery, mystery, mount-tbr-2018

Vintage Murder (1937) by Ngaio Marsh finds Inspector Roderick Alleyn on a rest cure holiday in the large island country of New Zealand. He's recovering from some unnamed injury acquired in the line of duty and he's hoping for a trip full of nothing but peace and quiet. However, while traveling cross-country by train he encounters a touring acting company which includes one familiar face (found in the earlier story Enter a Murderer) and he makes friends with others. This results in an invitation Vintage Murder (1937) by Ngaio Marsh finds Inspector Roderick Alleyn on a rest cure holiday in the large island country of New Zealand. He's recovering from some unnamed injury acquired in the line of duty and he's hoping for a trip full of nothing but peace and quiet. However, while traveling cross-country by train he encounters a touring acting company which includes one familiar face (found in the earlier story Enter a Murderer) and he makes friends with others. This results in an invitation to a performance and the company's after-party--which will also honor the leading lady's birthday.

He should have known that he was in for a very different sort of drama when said leading lady Carolyn Dacres's husband is nearly shoved off the train and a large sum of money is stolen from another cast member. It definitely doesn't surprise the reader that murder strikes during the birthday party and Alfred Meyer, the husband, is the victim. One might be surprised that the murder weapon is huge jeroboam of champagne that drops unceremoniously upon his head during what is supposed to be a pleasant surprise for the birthday girl.

The local police assume it is an accident--a slight miscalculation of the angle of descent. But Alleyn is forced to gently lead them to the clues he's already spotted which point to a more sinister explanation. He then treads a narrow path--trying not to step on official toes--on a busman's holiday to help discover who had the opportunity to tamper with the champagne surprise package as well as a motive to kill the inoffensive company producer. They wind their way through suspect interviews looking for anyone who lacks an alibi for the critical time period and find themselves with several motives, but apparently no one with opportunity. It will take a careful review of the time table and looking at the scene of action from another point of view before Alleyn finally spots the culprit.

I really enjoy the Marsh books set in the theater world. As I mentioned in my review of Enter a Murderer, her interest in and love of the acting world really shows in the detail she provides and the treatment of the characters. Favorite bits are the journey on the train and Alleyn's interactions with Dr. Rangi Te Pokiha, a Maori doctor. The plot style is a bit repetitive (from the earlier theater book)--relying again on who was where during the critical period and who had access to the equipment--but still interesting and well-done. The critical draw-back for me was the lack of Inspector Fox--though Alleyn does consult him by telegram and address him in letters. The Alleyn/Fox duo is a partnership I enjoy seeing in action. ★★★ and a half stars. [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 08, 2014 Lemar rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

How had I missed Ngaio Marsh for so long? It must have been the silent 'g' that hinted at a dry British superiority that in fact could not be further from the truth. This is a hip, funny, clever mystery that takes place in a theater, a setting Marsh knew and brings fully to life. Vintage Murder unfolds in New Zealand. Wikipedia informed me that Marsh was born there so I was intrigued to read the only one of her mysteries set there.

Vintage Murder was written in 1937 and in many instances shows h ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 Becky rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018reviews, 2018goodrule-old

First sentence: The clop and roar of the train was an uneasy element somewhere at the back of the tall man's dreams.

Premise/plot: Inspector Alleyn can't escape work on his vacation to New Zealand. He finds himself in company with a company--a touring theatre company. He socializes with them on the train to their shared destination. He keeps on socializing with them once they arrive. A few are aware of who he is--the famous Inspector--but many are not. At a big party after their opening show, a p ...more

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Sep 19, 2015 Teri-K rated it really liked it

Shelves: old-favorites, historical-mystery, mystery-golden-age

This is the first book of the series to take place in the author's home country of New Zealand, though it gives the reader less feel for the country than the later books. Instead we get a detailed look into the world of the theater, where Marsh was also at home. A fun touch for those reading the series in order is the return of Susan Max from Enter a Murderer, the #2 book.

No one could ever accuse Marsh of not playing fair with the reader when it comes to her mysteries. All the details you need t ...more

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May 12, 2019 Zander rated it really liked it

Shelves: ngaio-marsh

A better than average Marsh.
Pros:
1. Alleyn is present from the beginning
2. Marsh writes most realistically when writing about New Zealand and the theater both of which she was very familiar and it's much better than when she tries to write about the British gentry or aristocracy.
3. It's short and moves a pretty brisk pace for a Marsh book which are often glacially slow in plot.
4. Unique murder weapon
5. Some wonderful passages about New Zealand, the potential of war and good characterizations o A better than average Marsh.
Pros:
1. Alleyn is present from the beginning
2. Marsh writes most realistically when writing about New Zealand and the theater both of which she was very familiar and it's much better than when she tries to write about the British gentry or aristocracy.
3. It's short and moves a pretty brisk pace for a Marsh book which are often glacially slow in plot.
4. Unique murder weapon
5. Some wonderful passages about New Zealand, the potential of war and good characterizations of the New Zealand police that show Marsh actually was a good writer when she wasn't doing romance or even the main mystery plot.
6. The character of the Maori doctor expressed the negative aspects of colonialism and white supremacy and the worth of Maori culture and heritage and that was a much needed counterpoint to the colonialism.

Cons:
1. It's racist in general in it's view of the Maori even when it compliments them, whether it's the character's view or the author's actual view is hard to tell. The most racist people are the bad people but even the ones that praise the Maori use the racist trope of the noble savage, a word that is used many times. There is also the n word used. It's clear from the text that the writer thinks that the New Zealanders are less racist than in the UK or America and that may have been true at the time but it all seems still horribly racist 80 years later.

2. The romance and the trope of the detective falling for the lead female suspect. It never played well. Marsh in general has poor romances in her novels. There rarely seems to be any true passion, almost not actual relationship development. She never married and while she claimed to not be a lesbian her only longterm deep relationships were with a series of women whom she lived with and considered her dearest friends.

3. I dislike how much Alleyn gets along with the local police and how famous he is. Perhaps in 1937 in the UK and New Zealand he would have been that big of deal especially since he has write a police book but the way he is basically considered wonderful by everyone seems unrealistic but maybe I am just used to modern detective stories where the FBI or Scotland Yard and the local are rarely chummy.

Overall compared to her English noble manor house mysteries this is a much better book.
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Mar 11, 2017 Jenn Estepp rated it liked it

Shelves: kindling, sleuths-and-gumshoes, libraries-are-great

Somewhat surprised to get another theater-set mystery, so soon after the last, but I guess I really shouldn't be given Marsh's personal history. This one felt a little muddled and I wish that some of the characters had been a little more distinct. But, I did really like that it was New Zealand set and there was a peek at transitional/Maori culture - although a very, of it's time Colonial peek, which would probably raise some objections. ...more

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May 19, 2011 Abbey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

1937, #5 Roderick Alleyn, CID, on holiday in New Zealand; cosy police procedural, theatrical, classic.

A nice little man dies a horrible death as he attempts a surprise gift for his beloved wife, lead actress in his touring company of Artistes. Death in the theater, as only Dame Ngaio can do it, plus some lovely comments on life in NZ. Her obvious affection for NZ, and her simultaneous enjoyment of artistic types and annoyance with them, all shine through, in this tightly woven, well-plotted tal ...more

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