- Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (Jun 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312966040
- ISBN-13: 978-0312966041
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.7 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,928,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Ngaio Marsh Collection - Died in the Wool
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
‘In her ironic and witty hands the mystery novel can be civilized literature.’
NEW YORK TIMES
‘Ngaio Marsh is one of the detective novelists whose books I regularly re-read, always the test of a good detective story.’
P.D. JAMES
‘In the front rank of crime-story writers.’
THE TIMES
‘The finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit. Among the crime queens, Ngaio Marsh stands out as an Empress.’
THE SUN
Product Description
Ngaio Marsh returns to her New Zealand roots to transplant the classic country house murder mystery to an upland sheep station on South Island – and produces one of her most exotic and intriguing novels.
One summer evening in 1942 Flossie Rubrick, MP, one of the most formidable women in New Zealand, goes to her husband’s wool shed to rehearse a patriotic speech – and disappears.
Three weeks later she turns up at an auction – packed inside one of her own bales of wool and very, very dead…
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A well-spun yarn, but not too colorful,
By Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Died in the Wool (Paperback)
The chief suspects in this murder mystery each describe their version of events, some eighteen months after the crime. This gives the story a most unusual and intriguing structure. The characters are well drawn, distinct without being overstated. There is also a fine sense of period and place, those being wartime New Zealand.So why a grudging three stars? Well, the solution to the puzzle is rather plodding; a systematic analysis of details rather than a brilliant insight. Also there is a general dullness about the characters and their setting. I suppose that's not surprising, given they are on a remote farm in winter, suffering the deprivations of war and trying to come to terms with an unsolved murder. But it would have benefited from the occasional comic relief or lightness of touch that Dorothy L Sayers or Conan Doyle could have brought to it. All in all, recommended for the unusual structure and setting (albeit the 'local colour' is mostly grey) and for the quality of the writing, which is very good, but don't expect a classic puzzle. The author even makes one error in the solution (don't worry, this is not a spoiler) when Alleyn says "Only (the guilty person) could have put...". Actually, one other person could have; namely the one who found said item. I will however concede that the build up to the climax is genuinely suspenseful.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual example of Marsh's storytelling, set in New Zealand,
By A Customer (Dorset) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Died in the Wool (Mass Market Paperback)
Flossie Rubrick is a formidable New Zealand Member of Parliament and lives on a remote sheep farm with members of her family, one of whom may be spying for her country's enemies.
One evening during the summer of 1942 Flossie disappears after she goes to her husband's shed to rehearse a patriotic speech. Three weeks later she turns up dead at an auction, inside one of her husband's bales of wool. Roderick Alleyn, working for military intelligence during World War II, visits New Zealand in the Autumn of 1943 to investigate possible Nazi spying and has to find out retrospectively what happened to Flossie and which of her extended family is both murderer and maybe enemy agent. The plot structure is unusual with the investigation occuring 15 months after the murder and enables Marsh to develop the character of the victim, Flossie Rubrick, in unusual detail. The New Zealand location, probably near Mount Cook, is well depicted in a story which is similar to the previous novel in the series, Colour Scheme, with Alleyn's counterespionage work providing a change from his normal police duties. The unusual plot structure, setting and storytelling in this book make for a noteworthy example of Marsh's writing and I think this is well worth reading.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent read.,
By jdjld@sentinel.karoo.co.uk (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Died in the Wool (Paperback)
This was the first Nagaio Marsh book that I have read. I am an Agatha Christie fan and really enjoy her books, but I have now found an excellent equal to Christie and would recommend Nagaio Marsh to all Murder Mystery readers.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
