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Death at the Dolphin

Ngaio Marsh

Start date: December 1, 2019

Finish date: December 31, 2019

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: Last in our 2-year Ngaio Marsh challenge - but we will be scheduling her remaining books as buddy reads!
[close] Last in our 2-year Ngaio Marsh challenge - but we will be scheduling her remaining books as buddy reads!

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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

Dec 02, 2019 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ngaio Marsh returns to the theatre for this, her twenty fourth mystery, featuring Alleyn. Peregrine Jay visits The Dolphin Theatre – blitzed and bombed out – which he longs to restore. However, he has an accident, which sees him falling through the stage and nearly drowning. Rescued by a wealthy, secretive, businessman, he finds that the gentleman in question is suddenly willing to buy the theatre, restore it and set Peregrine up as the manager. Along with his friend, Jeremy Jones, the two young ...more

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Sep 17, 2021 Lady Wesley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-golden-age-or-similar, listened

Another Marsh mystery set in a theater. Lots of interesting background and surprising twists.

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May 13, 2011 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, silver-age-mystery, mystery, marsh-challenge, mount-tbr-2019

May 14, 2011 review:
Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh is a mystery whose title hold a double meaning. The Dolphin refers in part to the Dolphin Theatre which has been recently restored and opens to the public with a brand new play by Peregrine Jay. It also refers to the odd murder weapon used to dispatch the nightwatchman at the theatre. One of a pair of statuettes given by the theatre's patron upon its opening--it is quite heavy and quite deadly. Murder occurs when a thief tries to make off with th May 14, 2011 review:
Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh is a mystery whose title hold a double meaning. The Dolphin refers in part to the Dolphin Theatre which has been recently restored and opens to the public with a brand new play by Peregrine Jay. It also refers to the odd murder weapon used to dispatch the nightwatchman at the theatre. One of a pair of statuettes given by the theatre's patron upon its opening--it is quite heavy and quite deadly. Murder occurs when a thief tries to make off with the recently discovered Shakespearean glove and letters which have inspired Peregrine's play The Glove. Someone realizes that there are unscrupulous collectors who will pay large sums without worrying too much about how the item was obtained. But who among the small cast of suspects had the opportunity? It is up to Inspector Roderick Alleyn to sort among the beautiful femme fatale, the terribly vain leading man, the sharp-tongued supporting actor, the woman scorned, the actor with a penchant for puzzles (and figuring out combinations), the house manager, and the patron who prefers to remain in the background yet was in his box on the fateful night.

Although this mystery takes a while to get to the main action--there is no murder till about half-way through--the lead up is very interesting. It gives plenty of background on the theatre itself and several of the main characters and provides several small clues and possible red herrings for later. Alleyn and Inspector Fox work well off one another as usual. The only slightly tedious bit is sitting through all the interviews. A very nice, tidy, little mystery. Ngaio Marsh really enjoys the theatre and it shows. (four stars when read in 2011)

December 18, 2019 review:
As I noted the last time I read this, the mystery takes quite a while to get to the main action--there is no murder until about half-way through. But the lead-up is quite interesting. Peregrine Jay's first visit to the theater and his encounter with Conducis provide a nice back-drop to the main story. I also enjoyed the build-up of the story and play surrounding Shakespeare and the glove that was supposed to belong to his son. Jay is able to make the items and the incident into a very affecting play. The characters of the actors are perhaps a bit stereotyped, but it does make for a lot of sarcastic back-chat and witty in-fighting.

I was a tad disappointed this time round that Marsh wasn't able to fool me at all--often if it has been long enough I'm able to read some of these vintage mysteries and still be unsure of the solution. This particular plot I remembered right down to the last detail. But overall I still enjoyed the set-up and the interactions of the characters enough that I've nearly given it the same rating as before. ★★★ and 1/2 for this go-round. ...more

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Mar 15, 2017 Teri-K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, old-favorites, mystery-golden-age, great-to-re-read, z-permanent-bookshelf

This is one of my favorite of the series. That's a bit surprising since Alleyn doesn't show up till about half way through and Troy isn't in it at all. But the real main character, Peregrine Jay, is wonderfully real and very likable. I love every page spent in his company.

Also, this book takes full advantage of Marsh's experience in the theater as Jay writes, hires, and produces a play during this book. The main actors in the play manage to escape typecasting, which is also good.

Add in a touch ...more

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Jan 15, 2020 Franky rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime, 2020-reading-challenge, mystery

Although I felt like This was sort of a slow go for me at the beginning, in the end I felt like the exposition was quite necessary as Marsh puts together the pieces that will later follow. It seemed like Marsh spends quite a good deal of time setting up the subsequent mystery at hand. During this time (at least the first 100 pages or so) for a big chunk of exposition where we learn not only about many of the cast of characters, but also in and outs and background of The Dolphin Theatre and many Although I felt like This was sort of a slow go for me at the beginning, in the end I felt like the exposition was quite necessary as Marsh puts together the pieces that will later follow. It seemed like Marsh spends quite a good deal of time setting up the subsequent mystery at hand. During this time (at least the first 100 pages or so) for a big chunk of exposition where we learn not only about many of the cast of characters, but also in and outs and background of The Dolphin Theatre and many of the key ingredients to the plot that will set up the murder mystery, namely an amazing artifact, the actual glove of Hamnet as well as some background into two principle characters, playwright Peregrine Jay as well as eccentric owner, Vassily Conducis.

My early skepticisms were quite unfounded. I came to really enjoy the reading experience of Death at the Dolphin. I think things were nicely plotted and fell into place quite well, and the pace definitely picks up once the murder is afoot and a certain Roderick Alleyn enters the scene to begin his investigation into said murder (and theft). Clearly Marsh’s love of acting, the stage and theatre is on display and influenced in this book and I found it a fun backdrop for the murder investigation.

As far as the various cast of players, I had a difficult time in the beginning understanding who was who, but I think there is enough in the way of dialogue to decipher a little of their personalities by the end of the novel (as some of these personalities really come to light as we head towards the big reveal and unearthing of the crime). The various players offered the right amount of conflict, shenanigans, and drama (of the other sort) to create not only well placed tension, but a smidge of comic relief at times.

I’m not very good at figuring out the murderers in mysteries, so suffice to say I was quite intrigued during the latter portions of Death at the Dolphin to find out how the puzzle would come together. In the end, it was quite a fun and entertaining read. This was my first exposure to reading any of Marsh’s novels, so I’m very interested in reading more like this one (with the theatre as the background) or any in the Alleyn series. Overall, very impressed.
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Dec 11, 2019 ShanDizzy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Unfortunately, for me, this isn't one of Marsh's better Alleyn mysteries. As other reviewers have said, the last half of the story fell flat.

It was the Chief Commander who was his immediate senior at the Yard. Alleyn listened with disgust to his story. "- and so Fred Gibson thought that as you know Conducis and had a hand in the installation, he'd better call us. He just missed you at the Yard. All things considered I think you'd better take over, Rory. It's a big one. Murder. Double, if the bo ...more

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Oct 04, 2021 Christine PNW rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I did like this one a lot.

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

Shelves: mystery

It's an enjoyable mystery and I like the glimpse of the theater, fictional though it may be. It's a fun read, not great, but just what I was looking for. Marsh is one of my favorite mystery writers. ...more

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