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Death and the Dancing Footman (Roderick Alleyn, #11)

Ngaio Marsh

Start date: November 1, 2018

Finish date: November 30, 2018

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The last-but-one book in our 2018 Ngaio Marsh challenge - but the good news is that the challenge is cont…more
[close] The last-but-one book in our 2018 Ngaio Marsh challenge - but the good news is that the challenge is continuing next year

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
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What Members Thought

Oct 15, 2018 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 de ...more

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

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

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 Au 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. ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 ShanDizzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

(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 ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Jinx rated it liked it

I tried and failed to finish a number of Ngaio Marsh's books - this is the first I've successfully completed. This may have been due to the fact I listened to it on audio, narrated by James Saxon. Not sure she is the author me me when it comes to mysteries, but I'm glad I've finally finished one of her books. ...more

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Oct 31, 2018 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: ngaio-marsh

This is the story of a snowbound house party where everyone dislikes everyone else. Orchestrated by a host, who is a very unlikable character, really out for his own amusement. All of the party guests are not nice people and obviously all suspect each other of any misdeeds that occur. Eventually they all decide on one person being the villain, and take steps to keep them away from the others. Alleyn does not turn up until a good way into the second half of the book.
The light interlude was of co ...more

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Dec 26, 2018 Sandy rated it liked it

Shelves: x2018-inspector-alleyn-challenge

I missed the banter between Fox and Alleyn in this one.

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Nov 20, 2016 Melinda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well the author fooled me. I was positive the guilty party was another character. I was so wrong. Enjoyed this mystery yet I don't think it is one I would want to read again. ...more

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