Death at the Bar (Dead Letter Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ngaio Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dead Letter Mysteries | Publication Date: March 15, 1998

A local pub serves up a curious brew-of murder...

Settling in for a cozy night of brandy and darts at the pub, an inebriated lawyer suffers a seemingly harmless dart puncture. But within moments of his injury, the unlucky barrister loses more than a simple game of darts-he loses his life. Called in to investigate this alleged accident, Inspector Roderick Alleyn wonders about the rules of this friendly bar game-and probes into a pub full of motives for murder...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York magazine

About the Author

From her first book in 1934 to her final volume just before her death in 1982, Ngaio Marsh's work has remained legendary, and is often compared to that of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. During her celebrated fifty-year career, Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, was named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, won numerous prestigious awards, and penned 32 mystery novels.

Now St. Martin's Dead Letter Mysteries is thrilled to make all of Marsh's novels available again for old fans to relish and new ones to discover. So sit back, draw the curtains, lock the doors, and put yourself in the hands of Grande Dame of detective novels...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (March 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312964269
• ISBN-13: 978-0312964269
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,024,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very clever plot, May 31, 2000

By 

MK Writer "hedwig_owl" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death at the Bar (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've just started reading Ngaio Marsh's mysteries, so I don't know if this book is a "typical" Marsh mystery, but I certainly hope so. The characters were well-drawn, and the plot quite brilliant. A man dies while playing darts, because it appears that a dart daubed with cyanide sticks in the back of his hand. Almost everyone has a motive, and the evidence at hand can point to almost any of them. Reading this novel is like threading a conch-shell. You slip in a piece of string and it snakes through various chambers and entries until it finally comes out at the end. I was a big Christie fan, but now I think I'll be moving on to Marsh.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Intricate Poisoning, July 13, 2003

By 

hacklehorn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death at the Bar (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

One of Marsh's most tightly-knit jobs. Victim a famous K.C., poisoned with KNC in the private taproom of a Devon inn while taking part in a demonstration of darts-throwing; plenty of good circumstantial detail leads to supposition of impossible crime. Alleyn, called in both by publican and by local police, does a splendid and fast (24 hours) job of discovering murderer, whose identity is a masterly demonstration in diverting suspicion from the most likely person. Method ingeniously simple, and hence convincing: a very neat job. Virtuoso display of logic at the end, including a delightful false solution propounded by a most amusing Chief Constable.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dart over to this one!, November 27, 2000

By 

c. john evans (Northport, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death at the Bar (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps not one of her more richly written efforts, but buoyed by a marvellous mystery plot, set in a wonderful English pub. Darts and beer, a fatal combination.