Death at the Dolphin [Paperback]

Although it is a bit short on actual mystery, KILLER DOLPHIN is probably the best-written of Marsh's novels set in the theatrical world, offering a sharply-written peep behind the curtain into a way of life that combines creativity, hysteria, obnoxious egos, and unexpected self-discipline.

On a whim, a promising young director tours a dilapidated theatre and almost falls to his death, only to be unexpectedly rescued by the property's eccentric and incredibly wealthy owner. The incident sets in motion a chain of unexpected events: the property owner, who is in possession of a glove made by William Shakespeare, rennovates the theatre and installs the young man as artistic director--who in turn writes a play inspired by the Shakespeare glove--which is in turn displayed to promote the play. But with such a valuable artifact in the mix, theft and murder are inevitable.

Marsh writes this particular novel with remarkable brilliance--so much so that the slightness of the story is actually rather beside the point. KILLER DOLPHIN is a remarkably well-written work, and should be required reading for all Marsh fans.

In "Killer Dolphin", an Inspector Alleyn mystery, Ngaio Marsh takes her celebrated detective into the world of the theatre: The Dolphin Theatre, to be exact. Alleyn himself makes a late appearance; for the first part of the book, the protagonist is Peregrine Jay (originally from New Zealand), a playwright and theatrical director who becomes caught up in theft, murder, betrayal, and even romance. The crime revolves around a glove reputed to belong to the son of the greatest English playwright (I won't spoil it!) and its connection to a shadowy billionaire. By the time Alleyn appears, Jay has witnessed backstage romance, intrigue, and mercurial tempers that threaten the production and possibly even the actors' lives. Marsh captures the theatrical world well, and expresses the diverse personalities and creativity that flourish on the live stage. She also delivers suspense and just enough romance to satisfy the reader without detracting from the main plot and character development. A good diversion.

"Mayde by my father for my sonne on his XI birthedy and never worne butte ync"

- note purportedly written by William Shakespeare, accompanying an elegant child-sized glove

If the reader expects a conventional puzzle, this book may disappoint; it's a novel deeply concerned with showing the life of a working theatre during a major production. The crime (which is all the more shocking for the extended development) erupts into the story a third of the way through the book, and serves to bring the characters under a searching examination as well as to set the mystery on its way. As in some of Marsh's other theatrical mystery novels, life off stage is often a distorted reflection of the current production, and players who die on stage may well face death off it.

Peregrine Jay and his flatmate Jeremy Jones are both theatre professionals, but on the production side rather than as actors, one as a director and sometime playwright, the other as a designer - and as their flat is directly across the river from the dilapidated Dolphin Theatre, Peregrine eventually notices it and wangles his way inside to sightsee under the guise of the theatre's ancient "for sale" notices. (Apart from having been out of use as a playhouse for many years, it was damaged in the Blitz and never repaired.) In his fascination with the decayed splendor of the building, Peregrine falls through a hole in the stage into a well of filthy rainwater.

Peregrine's accident proves to be a lucky break; the theatre's landlord, the eccentric Mr. Conducis, drops in to look the place over before Peregrine drowns, and not only saves him, but reaches out just a little from his shell and carts Peregrine off to be cleaned up by his household staff - possibly just the possessive reaction one might have toward a life one has just saved, mixed with the natural reaction of a man who had himself nearly drowned in a shipwreck some years earlier. With some hot rum in him after the shock of nearly drowning in icy water, Peregrine is unusually eloquent in defence of the Dolphin as a beautiful riverside playhouse that could be recreated as a first-class working theatre in the tradition of the Globe.

From this chance meeting arise two events that will change Peregrine's life: an inspiration for a new play, and a job offer.

Conducis owns an antique child's glove with apparent provenance that it was made for Hamnet Shakespeare, the playwright's only son who died as a boy. From this glimpse grows Peregrine's next play, THE GLOVE, written over the next several weeks as experts (at Peregrine's suggestion) begin officially authenticating the glove. (Peregrine's friend Jeremy, meanwhile, works with him on shadow-casting the play and eventually designing the production, while clarifying for the reader how a passionate expert on such artifacts would react to the possible existence of such a relic, not least to the desirability of keeping it in England, preferably in a museum.)

The job offer materializes when Conducis opts to renovate rather than demolish the Dolphin, and engages Peregrine to help run the rebuilt theatre, which will reopen with the first production of THE GLOVE (eventually helped along with the burst of publicity arising from the unveiling of the real glove).

Much of the interest of the story lies in the story-within-the-story - Peregrine's interpretation of Shakespeare's personal tragedy as shown in THE GLOVE. The living players, for their part, interact in ways that mirror those of their roles on stage, sometimes echoing them, sometimes in contrast. Gertrude Bracey, as Shakespeare's wife, is truly jealous of Destiny Meade, who as the Dark Lady plays her rival for Shakespeare - but over their real-life relationships with Harry Grove, another supporting player. Grove, in turn, likes taking the mickey out of colleagues who consider themselves a cut above him, particularly hot-tempered star Marcus Knight. As for Trevor Vere, the bratty boy playing Hamnet, he really *is* neglected by a performing parent, though she's a professional musician in a small way who seems to make her main living by managing his career. Even the utterly professional Emily Dunne as Shakespeare's sister reflects her role as the one kind of woman Shakespeare could've got along with, as she wins the heart of the real playwright - whom she won't date, as Peregrine's currently her boss.

In a play with less prestige attached, the cast might disintegrate amid the stresses generated by Knight's egotism, Grove's teasing, various players' attempts to upstage one another as scenes are blocked out, and general mayhem over romantic tangles. However, THE GLOVE is earmarked for success, so the cast remains in their pressure-cooker as the theatre reopens in a blaze of publicity with its namesake prominently on display.

Then six months into the play's run, Mr. Conducis announces that the real glove is to be sold to an American collector, and hell is let loose. The glove's special case is smashed open on its last night in the Dolphin, as is the head of the theatre's night watchman (who has been quietly developed as an appealing character to that point, making the crime doubly horrible). To cap it off, young Trevor apparently witnessed the crime and was badly injured. Alleyn is called in thanks to his experience in similar cases, and sets out to open the secrets of all hearts with his knack for extracting confidences under questioning.

I recommend the unabridged audio edition narrated by James Saxon, as well as his reading of its sequel, LIGHT THICKENS. As with much of Marsh's work, the story particularly shines when performed rather than simply read on the page.