- Unknown Binding
- ASIN: B0014M99EQ
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
The Ngaio Marsh Collection - Died in the Wool
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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
Format: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.
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