Source: Purchased
Description: The party's over when murder makes an entrance...
With the notion of bringing together the most bitter of enemies for his own amusement, a bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party. As a brutal snowstorm strands the unhappy guests, the party receives a most unwelcome visitor: death. Now the brilliant inspector Roderick Alleyn must step in to decipher who at the party is capable of cold-blooded murder...
Genre: Mystery - Classic
Why I Picked This Book: I'm slowly reading my way through the Ngaio Marsh books and this was the next one on my shelf.
My Impression: While this is technically an Inspector Alleyn book he really doesn't show up until the last quarter. Before that it is just the guest list of a house party designed to be absolutely awful with guests who all hate each other, a famous playwright who is a bit of an outsider, and a host who is joyfully pulling the strings. Until things take a much more serious tone.
Why I Picked This Book: I'm slowly reading my way through the Ngaio Marsh books and this was the next one on my shelf.
My Impression: While this is technically an Inspector Alleyn book he really doesn't show up until the last quarter. Before that it is just the guest list of a house party designed to be absolutely awful with guests who all hate each other, a famous playwright who is a bit of an outsider, and a host who is joyfully pulling the strings. Until things take a much more serious tone.
This was a good and enjoyable mystery. The victim was a surprise and there seems to be no opportunity for anyone to have been the killer. The dancing footman is in fact pivotal to the investigation which is kind of fun. I love an isolated house party mystery and in this one not only are they in an out of the way house but they are trapped by a blizzard and generally miserable weather. I did guess a little bit of the how but there were still a lot of surprises in the unraveling. Alleyn has a nice presence - just enough to put all the pieces together but not so much where he becomes the focus of the story.
I've found Marsh to be a bit inconsistent but this book and the previous book (Overture to Death) I read by her have both been so much fun. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I'm looking forward to my next book by her and getting the rest of the Marsh books I don't have.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes! It's a fun classic mystery.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes! It's a fun classic mystery.
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