False Scent (1959) by Ngaio Marsh - SPOILER Thread

[Susan]

Welcome to the 21st novel in the Roderick Alleyn series, which sees Marsh turning back to the theatre for inspiration.

Mary Bellamy, darling of the London stage, holds a 50th birthday party, a gala for everyone who loves her and fears her power. Then someone uses a deadly insect spray on Mary instead of the azaleas. The suspects, all very theatrically, are playing the part of mourners. Superintendent Alleyn has to find out which one played the murderer…

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Judy]

Although I enjoyed this book, I was a bit frustrated by the punning title, which I think makes it obvious that the insect spray has been put into the perfume bottle - so I was wanting Alleyn and Fox to discover this supposedly surprising plot twist much earlier! (It didn't make me realise who did it though.)

Too many GA mysteries seem to have this kind of spoiler in the title - I won't give more examples, though, for obvious reasons. :)

[Susan]

I agree it was a bit of a giveaway. I just finished this today, and it did seem obvious - although the whole book takes place over one day, so I suppose they were not too slow on the uptake :)

[Tracey]

It was quite refreshing to have all the book over a day. I can't remember if Marsh wrote any others like that.

Didn't quite follow the romance between Richard and Anelida. Would have liked a bit more of her bookselling uncle. I even suspected him for a short while, especially when the parma violets were mentioned - although I kept imagining a gift of the sweets rather than the flower!

[Jill]

I did think that even without the title give away, the plant spray was mentioned almost at the start of the book anyway.

[ShanDizzy]

I don't know what to think of this story. I gave it 3 stars though. Like you have said, the means of Mary's demise was obvious. And I thought the murderer was her husband for a few reasons - 1st Mary's temperament and attitude towards her husband; 2nd his reaction when Mary sprayed the scent for the 1st time; 3rd when it was revealed that he was a perfectionist when some treasured trinket (can't remember what it was) got broken by the maid & he gave it away. Although I vacillated towards the end thinking maybe the murderer was Mr. Marchant because Mary was a stockholder with the Management. All in all, not a bad way to spend a few hours.

[Judy]

I had forgotten it all takes place over a day. I have a feeling Spinsters in Jeopardy, the one with Alleyn, Troy and Ricky chasing about in Europe, was also over a very short period, but not just one day!

[Susan]

I would love a bookshop next door. Also, I loved the way that Octavius used his shop to sit in, during the evenings, with the fire and comfy chairs. I think I want to move in!

[Judy]

Tracey, I also suspected Anelida's uncle when the violets were mentioned! I did suspect the husband too but wasn't certain. The young lovers usually seem to be in the clear in Marsh mysteries.

[Susan]

That's true. More than a little romance in, "Knock, Murderer, Knock!" this month too. It does seem that young lovers are fairly safe.

[Louise]

I was completely baffled by the ending. Didn’t understand it at all. I thought Richard was born before Mary married Charles, and that was why she passed him off as an orphan. But if Charles thought he was Richard’s father, why the need for any such pretence? Was Mary having it off with both of them at once? How did she manage That? It made no sense to me. Also, it’s 1960 and the house is full of servants, Butler, cook, old nanny, devoted dresser, I mean really. In 1960 you’d be lucky to get a charlady to come in twice a week.

[Susan]

Louise, I do agree about the servants. This didn't feel like a novel published in 1960 and I suppose Marsh is relying on the idea of theatre people having dressers, etc.

I am currently reading The Skull Beneath the Skin our buddy read and I am really enjoying it, but I find that is similar - it feels like a novel written in an earlier time.

[Michaela]

I wondered about the servants too! I thought it would perhaps take place in the 20s, if not earlier!

As I mentioned on the other thread I found the beginning very slow, but once the murder was committed, it was better.

I agree about the suspicious husband, and I was sure Richard wasn´t the culprit, as he was mentioned a lot in the beginning.

[Bicky]

I felt that the husband was the murderer because of his admonishment to not further use the spray which I felt was sure to make her use it. But I never thought of it as a test. I also was confused by the application of the spray from two different distances.

[Bicky]

Tracey wrote: "It was quite refreshing to have all the book over a day. I can't remember if Marsh wrote any others like that.

I think Opening Night (Night at the Vulcan) was also resolved the same night.

[Bicky]

Louise wrote: "I was completely baffled by the ending. Didn’t understand it at all. I thought Richard was born before Mary married Charles, and that was why she passed him off as an orphan. But if Charles thought..."

I was also confused as to how Charles could think Richard was his biological son and if so why hide it?

[Tracey]

Bicky wrote: "Tracey wrote: "It was quite refreshing to have all the book over a day. I can't remember if Marsh wrote any others like that.

I think Opening Night (Night at the Vulcan) was also resolved the same..."
Well remembered!

[Louise]

Bicky wrote: "Louise wrote: "I was completely baffled by the ending. Didn’t understand it at all. I thought Richard was born before Mary married Charles, and that was why she passed him off as an orphan. But if ..."
Glad I wasn’t the only one! I thought I must be missing something, but try as I might, I can’t find anything in the text that makes sense of it.

[Leslie]

Louise wrote: "Bicky wrote: "Louise wrote: "I was completely baffled by the ending. Didn’t understand it at all. I thought Richard was born before Mary married Charles, and that was why she passed him off as an o..."

I just assumed that Mary slept with Charles before the marriage. In fact, it seemed in character for her to have had her eye on Charles even while she was with the Colonel and for her to have seduced Charles once she discovered that she was pregnant.

Regarding the application of the spray from two different distances, Alleyn explained this at the end. The fine drops from a distance were from when Mary sprayed herself; the closer splotches were from when, after the maid (I forget her name) found her and Charles rushed up to the room, he discovered she wasn't dead yet so he sprayed her again from a short distance.

I suspected Charles as soon as I read the story about how he got rid of the damaged Chinese statuette. There were plenty of clues about Richard's parentage too.

[Louise]

Leslie wrote: "Louise wrote: "Bicky wrote: "Louise wrote: "I was completely baffled by the ending. Didn’t understand it at all. I thought Richard was born before Mary married Charles, and that was why she passed ..."

Yes, but if she slept with Charles, and he thought he was the father, why didn’t they just get married and raise Richard as their own?

[Judy]

Unless I'm getting mixed up about the plot, I assumed this was because it would have been regarded as disgraceful to have a child out of wedlock, even if she later married the father. So she decided to "adopt" her own child.

This often happened in real life - for instance film star Loretta Young's adopted daughter Judy was really her own child.

However, this seems more like an attitude from a slightly earlier era, so maybe another example of Marsh writing a book which seems to be set at a slightly earlier period?

[Judy]

Although, doing a double-take, I suppose that wouldn't have stopped her telling him she was pregnant and having the child *in* wedlock... so now I'm getting confused.

[Tara]

I enjoyed this, mostly because I found the dialogue to be comprehensible, which isn't always the case in Marsh novels. I guessed it was Charles around the time Alleyn and Floy were discussing him using the bathroom after he had been sequestered in the dressing room to rest. It seemed the opportune time to empty the bottles out. I also agree that the nagging to not use the spray felt like reverse psychology.
I would also totally move into the Pegasus bookshop-that place sounds just delightful!